¹³ Wisdom and strength belong to God;
counsel and understanding are his.^(A)

¹² But where can wisdom^(A) be found,
and where is understanding located?
¹³ No one can know its value,^[a]
since it cannot be found in the land of the living.
¹⁴ The ocean depths say, “It’s not in me,”
while the sea declares, “I don’t have it.”^(B)
15 Gold cannot be exchanged for it,
and silver cannot be weighed out for its price.
¹⁶ Wisdom cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,^(C)
in precious onyx or lapis lazuli.^(D)
17 Gold and glass do not compare with it,
and articles of fine gold cannot be exchanged for it.^(E)
18 Coral and quartz are not worth mentioning.
The price of wisdom is beyond pearls.
¹⁹ Topaz from Cush cannot compare with it,
and it cannot be valued in pure gold.

²⁰ Where then does wisdom come from,
and where is understanding located?
²¹ It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing
and concealed from the birds of the sky.
²² Abaddon and Death^(F) say,
“We have heard news of it with our ears.”
²³ But God understands the way to wisdom,
and he knows its location.
²⁴ For he looks to the ends of the earth
and sees everything under the heavens.
²⁵ When God fixed the weight of the wind
and distributed the water by measure,^(G)
26 when he established a limit^[b] for the rain^(H)
and a path for the lightning,
²⁷ he considered wisdom and evaluated it;
he established it and examined it.
²⁸ He said to mankind,
“The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom.
And to turn from evil is understanding.”^(I)