Job 28
Contemporary English Version
Job Continues
Gold and Silver Are Mined
28 Gold and silver are mined,
then purified;
2 the same is done
with iron and copper.
3 Miners carry lanterns
deep into the darkness
to search for these metals.
4 They dig tunnels
in distant, unknown places,
where they dangle by ropes.
5 Far beneath the grain fields,
fires are built
to break loose those rocks
6 that have jewels or gold.[a]
7 Miners go to places unseen
by the eyes of hawks;
8 they walk on soil unknown
to the proudest lions.
9 With their own hands
they remove sharp rocks
and uproot mountains.
10 They dig through the rocks
in search of jewels
and precious metals.
11 They also uncover
the sources of[b] rivers
and discover secret places.
Where Is Wisdom Found?
12 (A) But where is wisdom found?
13 (B) No human knows the way.[c]
14 Nor can it be discovered
in the deepest sea.
* 15 It is worth much more
than silver or pure gold
16 or precious stones.
17 Nothing is its equal—
not gold or costly glass.[d]
18 Wisdom is worth much more than
coral, jasper,[e] or rubies.
19 All the topaz[f] of Ethiopia[g]
and the finest gold
cannot compare with it.
20 Where then is wisdom?
21 It is hidden from human eyes
and even from birds.
22 Death and destruction
have merely heard rumors
about where it is found.
23 (C) God is the only one who knows
the way to wisdom;
24 he alone sees everything
beneath the heavens.
25 When God divided out
the wind and the water,
26 and when he decided the path
for rain and lightning,
27 (D) he also determined the truth
and defined wisdom.
28 (E) God told us, “Wisdom means
that you respect me, the Lord,
and turn from sin.”
Footnotes
- 28.6 gold: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verses 5,6.
- 28.11 uncover the sources of: Two ancient translations; Hebrew “dam up.”
- 28.13 the way: Or “its worth.”
- 28.17 costly glass: In the ancient world, objects made of glass were costly.
- 28.18 jasper: A valuable stone, usually green or clear.
- 28.19 topaz: A valuable, yellow stone.
- 28.19 Ethiopia: The Hebrew text has “Cush,” which was a region south of Egypt that included parts of the present countries of Ethiopia and Sudan.
Job 28
English Standard Version
Job Continues: Where Is Wisdom?
28 “Surely there is a mine for silver,
and a place for gold that they (A)refine.
2 Iron is taken out of the earth,
and copper is smelted from the ore.
3 Man puts an end to darkness
and searches out to the farthest limit
the ore in (B)gloom and (C)deep darkness.
4 He opens shafts in a valley away from where anyone lives;
they are forgotten by travelers;
they hang in the air, far away from mankind; they swing to and fro.
5 As for the earth, (D)out of it comes bread,
but underneath it is turned up as by fire.
6 Its stones are the place of (E)sapphires,[a]
and it has dust of gold.
7 “That path no bird of prey knows,
and the falcon's eye has not seen it.
8 (F)The proud beasts have not trodden it;
(G)the lion has not passed over it.
9 “Man puts his hand to (H)the flinty rock
and overturns mountains by the roots.
10 He cuts out channels in the rocks,
and his eye sees every precious thing.
11 He dams up the streams so that they do not trickle,
and the thing that is hidden he brings out to light.
12 (I)“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 (J)the land of the living.
14 (K)The deep says, ‘It is not in me,’
and the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’
15 It (L)cannot be bought for gold,
and silver cannot be weighed as its price.
16 It cannot be valued in (M)the gold of (N)Ophir,
in precious (O)onyx or (P)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 (Q)coral or of crystal;
the price of wisdom is above (R)(S)pearls.
19 (T)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 (U)all living
and concealed from the birds of the air.
22 (V)Abaddon and Death say,
‘We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.’
23 (W)“God understands the way to it,
and he knows its place.
24 For he (X)looks to the ends of the earth
and sees everything under the heavens.
25 When he (Y)gave to the wind its weight
and apportioned the waters by measure,
26 when he made a decree for the rain
and (Z)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, (AA)the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom,
and to (AB)turn away from evil is understanding.’”
Footnotes
- Job 28:6 Or lapis lazuli; also verse 16
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