Job 28:12-19

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

¹² “But where shall wisdom be found?
    And where is the place of understanding?
¹³ Mortals do not know the way to it,^[a]
    and it is not found in the land of the living.
¹⁴ The deep says, ‘It is not in me,’
    and the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’
¹⁵ It cannot be gotten for gold,
    and silver cannot be weighed out as its price.
¹⁶ It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,
    in precious onyx or sapphire.^[b]
17 Gold and glass cannot equal it,
    nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.
¹⁸ No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal;
    the price of wisdom is above pearls.
¹⁹ The chrysolite of Ethiopia^[c] cannot compare with it,
    nor can it be valued in pure gold.