Job 28
Lexham English Bible
Job’s Discourse on Wisdom
28 “Indeed, there is a mine for silver
and a place for gold to be refined.[a]
2 Iron is taken from dust,
and he pours out copper from ore.
3 He puts an end to darkness,
and he searches out the farthest limits
for the ore in gloom and deep shadow.
4 He breaks open a mine shaft away from where people dwell;[b]
those who are forgotten by travelers,[c]
they dangle, they sway far away from human beings.
5 As for the earth, from it comes food,[d]
but[e] underneath it, it is turned up as by fire.
6 Its stones are the place of sapphire,
and the earthen dirt has[f] gold.
7 “It is a path a bird of prey does not know
and the black kite’s eye has not seen.
8 Proud wild animals[g] have not trodden it;
the lion in its prime has not prowled over it.
9 He puts his hand on the hard rock;
he overturns mountains by the roots.
10 He cuts out tunnels in the rocks,
and his eye sees every treasure.
11 He dams up rivers from their sources,
and he brings secret things to the light.
12 “But[h] from where will wisdom be found?
And where in the world[i] is the place of understanding?
13 A human being does not know its proper value,
and it is not 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 “Refined gold cannot be gotten in its place,
and silver cannot be weighed out as its price.
16 It cannot be bought for the gold of Ophir,
for precious onyx or[j] sapphire.
17 Gold and glass cannot be compared with it,
and its substitution cannot be an ornament of refined gold.
18 Black corals and crystal will not be mentioned,
and wisdom’s price is more than red corals.
19 The topaz of Cush cannot be compared with it;
it cannot be bought for pure gold.
20 Indeed,[k] from where does wisdom come?
And where in the world[l] is the place of understanding?
21 It is hidden from the eyes of all living,
and it is concealed from the birds of the heaven.
22 Abaddon and Death say,
‘We heard its rumor with our ears.’
23 “God understands its way,
and he knows its place,
24 for he himself[m] looks to the end of the earth;
he sees under all the heaven.
25 When he gave[n] weight to the wind
and he apportioned the waters by measure,
26 when he made[o] a rule for the rain
and a way for the thunder’s lightning bolt,
27 then he saw it and talked about it;
he established it, and moreover, he explored it.
28 And to the human beings he said,
‘Look, the fear of the Lord is wisdom,
and to depart from evil is understanding.’”
Footnotes
- Job 28:1 Literally “for the gold they refine”
- Job 28:4 Literally “from with dwelling”
- Job 28:4 Literally “by feet”
- Job 28:5 Or “bread”
- Job 28:5 Hebrew “and”
- Job 28:6 Literally “for it”
- Job 28:8 Literally “The sons of pride”
- Job 28:12 Hebrew “And”
- Job 28:12 Literally “where this”
- Job 28:16 Hebrew “and”
- Job 28:20 Hebrew “And”
- Job 28:20 Literally “where this”
- Job 28:24 Emphatic personal pronoun
- Job 28:25 Literally “To give”
- Job 28:26 Literally “at his making”
Job 28
King James Version
28 Surely there is a vein for the silver, and a place for gold where they fine it.
2 Iron is taken out of the earth, and brass is molten out of the stone.
3 He setteth an end to darkness, and searcheth out all perfection: the stones of darkness, and the shadow of death.
4 The flood breaketh out from the inhabitant; even the waters forgotten of the foot: they are dried up, they are gone away from men.
5 As for the earth, out of it cometh bread: and under it is turned up as it were fire.
6 The stones of it are the place of sapphires: and it hath dust of gold.
7 There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture's eye hath not seen:
8 The lion's whelps have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion passed by it.
9 He putteth forth his hand upon the rock; he overturneth the mountains by the roots.
10 He cutteth out rivers among the rocks; and his eye seeth every precious thing.
11 He bindeth the floods from overflowing; and the thing that is hid bringeth he forth to light.
12 But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding?
13 Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither is it found in the land of the living.
14 The depth saith, It is not in me: and the sea saith, It is not with me.
15 It cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof.
16 It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire.
17 The gold and the crystal cannot equal it: and the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine gold.
18 No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls: for the price of wisdom is above rubies.
19 The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, neither shall it be valued with pure gold.
20 Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding?
21 Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of the air.
22 Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame thereof with our ears.
23 God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof.
24 For he looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heaven;
25 To make the weight for the winds; and he weigheth the waters by measure.
26 When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder:
27 Then did he see it, and declare it; he prepared it, yea, and searched it out.
28 And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.
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