Job 28
Complete Jewish Bible
28 “There are mines for silver
and places where gold is refined;
2 iron is extracted from the earth,
and copper is smelted from ore.
3 Miners conquer the darkness
and dig as far in as they can,
to the ore in gloom and deep darkness.
4 There where no one lives, they break open a shaft;
the feet passing over are oblivious to them;
far from people, suspended in space,
they swing to and fro.
5 “While the earth is [peacefully] yielding bread,
underneath, it is being convulsed as if by fire;
6 its rocks have veins of sapphire,
and there are flecks of gold.
7 Birds of prey don’t know that path,
no falcon’s eye has seen it,
8 the proud beasts have never set foot on it,
no lion has ever passed over it.
9 “[The miner] attacks the flint,
overturns mountains at their roots,
10 and cuts out galleries in the rock,
all the while watching for something of value.
11 He dams up streams to keep them from flooding,
and brings what was hidden out into the light.
12 “But where can wisdom be found?
Where is the source of understanding?
13 No one knows its value,
and it can’t be found in the land of the living.
14 The deep says, ‘It isn’t in me,’
and the sea says, ‘It isn’t with me.’
15 It can’t be obtained with gold,
nor can silver be weighed out to buy it.
16 It can’t be purchased with choice gold from Ofir,
or with precious onyx or sapphires.
17 Neither gold nor glass can be compared with it;
nor can it be exchanged for a bowl of fine gold,
18 let alone coral or crystal;
for indeed, the price of wisdom is above that of pearls.
19 It can’t be compared with Ethiopian topaz,
and it can’t be valued with pure gold.
20 “So where does wisdom come from?
where is the source of understanding,
21 inasmuch as it is hidden from the eyes of all living
and kept secret from the birds flying around in the sky?
22 Destruction and Death say,
‘We have heard a rumor about it with our ears.’
23 “God understands its way,
and he knows its place.
24 For he can see to the ends of the earth
and view everything under heaven.
25 When he determined the force of the wind
and parceled out water by measure,
26 when he made a law for the rain
and cleared a path for the thunderbolts;
27 then he saw [wisdom] and declared it,
yes, he set it up and searched it out.
28 And to human beings he said,
‘Look, fear of Adonai is wisdom!
Shunning evil is understanding!’”
Job 28
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Job’s Hymn to Wisdom
28 Surely there is a mine for silver
and a place where gold is refined.
2 Iron is taken from the ground,
and copper is smelted from ore.
3 A miner puts an end to the darkness;
he probes[a] the deepest recesses
for ore in the gloomy darkness.
4 He cuts a shaft far from human habitation,
in places unknown to those who walk above ground.[b]
Suspended far away from people,
the miners swing back and forth.
5 Food may come from the earth,
but below the surface the earth is transformed as by fire.
6 Its rocks are a source of sapphire,[c](A)
containing flecks of gold.
7 No bird of prey knows that path;
no falcon’s eye has seen it.
8 Proud beasts have never walked on it;
no lion has ever prowled over it.
9 The miner strikes the flint
and transforms the mountains at their foundations.
10 He cuts out channels in the rocks,
and his eyes spot every treasure.
11 He dams up the streams from flowing[d]
so that he may bring to light what is hidden.
12 But where can wisdom(B) be found,
and where is understanding located?
13 No man can know its value,[e]
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.”(C)
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,(D)
in precious onyx or sapphire.[f](E)
17 Gold and glass do not compare with it,
and articles of fine gold cannot be exchanged for it.(F)
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(G) 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 limited the water by measure,(H)
26 when He established a limit[g] for the rain(I)
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 is this: wisdom.
And to turn from evil is understanding.”(J)
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.