28 “There are mines where people dig silver.
    And there are places where gold is made pure.
² Iron is taken out of the ground.
    And copper is melted out of rocks.
³ Miners bring light into the mines.
    They search even the deepest parts of the mines.
    They look for metal in places of thick darkness.
⁴ Miners dig a tunnel far away from where people live.
    They dig it where people never go.
    They work far away from people, swinging and swaying from ropes.
⁵ Food grows on top of the earth.
    But below ground things are changed as if by fire.
⁶ Sapphires are found in rocks.
    And the dust of the earth contains gold.
⁷ No hawk knows the path.
    The falcon has not seen it.
⁸ Proud animals have not walked on this path.
    And no lions cross over it.
⁹ Men hit the rocks of flint.
    They dig away at the bottom of the mountains.
¹⁰ Miners cut tunnels through the rock.
    They see all the treasures there.
¹¹ They search the places where rivers begin.
    And they bring things hidden there out into the light.

¹² “But where can wisdom be found.
    Where does understanding live?
¹³ People do not understand the value of wisdom.
    It cannot be found among living people.
¹⁴ The deep ocean says, ‘It’s not in me.’
    The sea says, ‘It’s not in me.’
¹⁵ Wisdom cannot be bought with the best gold.
    Its cost cannot be weighed in silver.
¹⁶ Wisdom cannot be bought with fine gold.
    It cannot be bought with valuable onyx or sapphire gems.
¹⁷ Gold and crystal are not as valuable as wisdom.
    And you cannot buy it with jewels of gold.
¹⁸ Coral and jasper are not even worth talking about.
    The price of wisdom is much greater than rubies.
¹⁹ The topaz from Cush cannot compare to wisdom.
    It cannot even be bought with the purest gold.

²⁰ “So from where does wisdom come?
    And where does understanding live?
²¹ It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing.
    It is hidden even from the birds of the air.
²² The places of destruction and death say,
    ‘We have only heard reports about it.’
²³ God understands the way to wisdom.
    And he is the only one who knows where it lives.
²⁴ This is because God sees to the farthest parts of the earth.
    And he sees everything under the heavens.
²⁵ Wisdom began when God gave power to the wind.
    It was when he measured the water and put limits on it.
²⁶ It was when God made rules for the rain.
    And he set a path for a thunderstorm to follow.
²⁷ Then God looked at wisdom and decided its worth.
    He set wisdom up and tested it.
²⁸ Then he said to man,
    ‘The fear of the Lord is wisdom,
    and to stay away from evil is understanding.’”