Job 28:12-28

English Standard Version

^12 (A)“But where shall wisdom be found?
    And where is the place of understanding?
¹³ Man does not know its worth,
    and it is not found in ^(B)the land of the living.
^14 (C)The deep says, ‘It is not in me,’
    and the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’
¹⁵ It ^(D)cannot be bought for gold,
    and silver cannot be weighed as its price.
¹⁶ It cannot be valued in ^(E)the gold of ^(F)Ophir,
    in precious ^(G)onyx or ^(H)sapphire.
¹⁷ Gold and glass cannot equal it,
    nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.
¹⁸ No mention shall be made of ^(I)coral or of crystal;
    the price of wisdom is above ^(J)(K)pearls.
^19 (L)The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it,
    nor can it be valued in pure gold.

²⁰ “From where, then, does wisdom come?
    And where is the place of understanding?
²¹ It is hidden from the eyes of ^(M)all living
    and concealed from the birds of the air.
^22 (N)Abaddon and Death say,
    ‘We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.’

^23 (O)“God understands the way to it,
    and he knows its place.
²⁴ For he ^(P)looks to the ends of the earth
    and sees everything under the heavens.
²⁵ When he ^(Q)gave to the wind its weight
    and apportioned the waters by measure,
²⁶ when he made a decree for the rain
    and ^(R)a way for the lightning of the thunder,
²⁷ then he saw it and declared it;
    he established it, and searched it out.
²⁸ And he said to man,
‘Behold, ^(S)the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom,
    and to ^(T)turn away from evil is understanding.’”