28 “Surely there is a ^[a]mine for silver
And a place ^[b]where they refine gold.
² “Iron is taken from the dust,
And copper is smelted from rock.
³ “Man puts an end to darkness,
And ^(A)to the farthest limit he searches out
The rock in gloom and deep shadow.
⁴ “He ^[c]sinks a shaft far from ^[d]habitation,
Forgotten by the foot;
They hang and swing to and fro far from men.
⁵ “The earth, from it comes food,
And underneath it is turned up as fire.
⁶ “Its rocks are the ^[e]source of sapphires,
And its dust contains gold.
⁷ “The path no bird of prey knows,
Nor has the falcon’s eye caught sight of it.
⁸ “The ^[f]proud beasts have not trodden it,
Nor has the fierce lion passed over it.
⁹ “He puts his hand on the flint;
He overturns the mountains at the ^[g]base.
¹⁰ “He hews out channels through the rocks,
And his eye sees anything precious.
¹¹ “He dams up the streams from ^[h]flowing,
And what is hidden he brings out to the light.

¹² “But ^(B)where can wisdom be found?
And where is the place of understanding?
¹³ “^(C)Man does not know its value,
Nor is it 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 “^(D)Pure gold cannot be given in exchange for it,
Nor can silver be weighed as its price.
¹⁶ “It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,
In precious onyx, or sapphire.
¹⁷ “^(E)Gold or glass cannot equal it,
Nor can it be exchanged for articles of fine gold.
¹⁸ “Coral and crystal are not to be mentioned;
And the acquisition of ^(F)wisdom is above that of pearls.
¹⁹ “The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it,
Nor can it be valued in ^(G)pure gold.
²⁰ “^(H)Where then does wisdom come from?
And where is the place of understanding?
²¹ “Thus it is hidden from the eyes of all living
And concealed from the birds of the sky.
²² “^[i](I)Abaddon and Death say,
‘With our ears we have heard a report of it.’

¹⁰ For ^(A)wisdom will enter your heart
And ^(B)knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;
¹¹ Discretion will ^(C)guard you,
Understanding will watch over you,
¹² To ^(D)deliver you from the way of evil,
From the man who speaks ^(E)perverse things;
¹³ From those who ^(F)leave the paths of uprightness
To walk in the ^(G)ways of darkness;
¹⁴ Who ^(H)delight in doing evil
And rejoice in the perversity of evil;
¹⁵ Whose paths are ^(I)crooked,
And who are devious in their ways;
¹⁶ To ^(J)deliver you from the strange woman,
From the ^[a](K)adulteress who flatters with her words;
¹⁷ That leaves the ^(L)companion of her youth
And forgets the ^(M)covenant of her God;
¹⁸ For ^(N)her house ^[b]sinks down to death
And her tracks lead to the ^[c]dead;
¹⁹ None ^(O)who go to her return again,
Nor do they reach the ^(P)paths of life.