Job 28
The Voice
28 Job: There is a place where silver is mined,
a place where gold is refined.
2 There iron is dug from the earth,
and copper is smelted from ore.
3 Humans put an end to darkness,
and search in every last corner
For the ore that is in gloom and darkness.
4 In the earth they cut a shaft
in a place forgotten, far from the beaten path;
They descend on ropes,
swinging dangerously back and forth.
5 The ground above yields food;
the earth below is turned as if fire has destroyed it
6 Where earth gives up sapphires from her rocks
and bits of gold from her dirt.
7 No bird of prey knows this way, this secret path down below;
no falcon’s eye has ever peered into it.
8 No proud beast has ever reached this place;
no lordly lion has marched over it.
9 The miner breaks apart flinty stone,
uprooting the ancient mountains.
10 He carves tunnels through the rock,
revealing precious treasures.
11 He dams up[a] the underground streams until they cease seeping,
and he brings out into the light what was hidden there in the darkness.
12 But where is wisdom found,
and where does understanding dwell?
Proverbs 1:20–33 and 8:3–36 give the best articulated picture of wisdom in the Bible. Personified there as Lady Wisdom, this character was created by God long before His creation of the world—which she then aided in. After creation, she wanted nothing more than to be with humanity and help them to have full, truthful lives; but here Job explains that wisdom is now hidden. Certainly God knows where she is, although He isn’t telling; but humans have a better chance of finding immeasurable wealth than of attaining wisdom. This is because she is only found on one road, and that’s the God-fearing road of piety. In order to find wisdom, one must allow God to direct him there; and ironically, the knowledge that God must direct lives is wisdom itself!
13 Job: No human perceives wisdom’s true value,
nor has she been found in the land of the living.
14 The deep says, “She is not to be seen within me.”
“Nor within me,” says the voice of the raging sea.
15 No gold can be given in trade for wisdom,
nor a sum of silver weighed out as her price.
16 She cannot be bought with all the gold of Ophir,
neither with onyx nor sapphire.
17 The shimmer of gold and brightness of glass cannot compare,
and no refined gold jewelry is worth her in trade.
18 Perish the mention of coral and crystal;
even more than pearls is the value of wisdom.
19 Ethiopian topaz—unequal as well;
even gold, unalloyed, is too paltry indeed.
20 Then from where does wisdom come?
Where does understanding dwell?
21 She is hidden away from every eye,
even from birds looking down from the sky.
22 Destruction and Death have both confessed,
“Rumors are all we know about her.”
23 God understands wisdom’s path and way;
her place is known to Him alone.
24 For He gazes out to the edge of the earth,
sees all that falls beneath the sky overhead.
25 He lent the wind its weight and force
and measured out the waters’ spread.
26 When He set a limit on the rain that falls
and made the thunderbolt a road to race,
27 Then He saw wisdom and made her known,
He settled her and searched out for her a place.
28 And to humankind, He said, “Now, the fear of the Lord is wisdom,
and to depart from evil is understanding.”
Footnotes
- 28:11 Hebrew manuscripts read, “He searches.”
Job 28
Expanded Bible
28 “There are mines where people dig silver
and places where gold is ·made pure [refined].
2 Iron is taken from the ·ground [dust],
and copper is ·melted out of [poured from the] rocks.
3 ·Miners [L They] ·bring lights [L put an end to darkness]
and ·search deep into the mines [L investigate every limit]
for ore in thick darkness.
4 They ·dig a tunnel [sink a shaft] far from where people live,
·where no one has ever walked [L a place forgotten by human feet];
they work far from people, ·swinging and swaying from ropes [L they sway suspended].
5 ·Food grows on top of the earth [L Bread/Food comes out of the earth],
but below ground things are ·changed [overturned] as if by fire.
6 ·Sapphires [or Lapis lazuli] are found in rocks,
and gold dust is also found there.
7 No ·hawk [bird of prey] knows that path;
the ·falcon [or black kite] has not seen it.
8 Proud animals have not walked there,
and no lions cross over it.
9 ·Miners [L They] ·hit [L put their hands to] the rocks of flint
·and dig away at the bottom of the mountains [upturning the mountains from their root].
10 They cut tunnels through the rock
and see all the ·treasures [precious things] there.
11 They ·search for places where rivers begin [or dam up the sources of the rivers]
and bring things hidden out into the light.
12 “But where can wisdom be found,
and where ·does understanding live [is understanding]?
13 People do not understand ·the value of wisdom [L its price];
it cannot be found ·among those who are alive [L in the land of the living].
14 The ·deep ocean [or Deep] says, ‘It’s not in me;’
the ·sea [or Sea; C the Deep and Sea may represent the forces of chaos] says, ‘It’s not in me.’
15 Wisdom cannot be bought with gold,
and its cost cannot be weighed in silver.
16 Wisdom cannot be bought with ·fine gold [L the gold of Ophir; 22:24]
or with ·valuable [precious] onyx or ·sapphire gems [or lapis lazuli].
17 Gold and ·crystal [or glass] ·are not as valuable as wisdom [L cannot match it],
and you cannot buy it with jewels of gold.
18 Coral and ·jasper [or crystal; C the identification of gems is often uncertain] are not worth talking about,
and the price of wisdom is much greater than ·rubies [or pearls].
19 The ·topaz [or chrysolite] from ·Cush [Ethiopia] cannot compare to wisdom;
it cannot be bought with the purest gold.
20 “So where does wisdom come from,
and where does understanding live?
21 It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing,
[L concealed] even from the birds of ·the air [L the sky; heaven].
22 ·The places of destruction [L Abaddon] and ·death [or Death; C the forces of the underworld] say,
‘We have heard reports about it.’
23 Only God understands the way to wisdom,
and he alone knows ·where it lives [L its place],
24 because he looks to the ·farthest parts [ends] of the earth
and sees everything under ·the sky [or heaven].
25 When God gave ·power [substance; L weight] to the wind
and measured the water,
26 when he made ·rules [or limits] for the rain
and set a path for a thunderstorm to follow,
27 then he looked at ·wisdom [L it] and ·decided its worth [L declared it];
he ·set wisdom up [L established it] and ·tested [or investigated] it.
28 Then he said to humans,
‘The fear of the Lord is wisdom [Prov. 1:7];
to ·stay [or turn] away from evil is understanding [Prov. 3:7].’”
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.