¹⁶ How much better to get wisdom than gold,
    and good judgment than silver!

¹⁹ My gifts are better than gold, even the purest gold,
    my wages better than sterling silver!

¹² Wisdom and money can get you almost anything,
    but only wisdom can save your life.

¹⁵ Wisdom is more precious than rubies;
    nothing you desire can compare with her.
¹⁶ She offers you long life in her right hand,
    and riches and honor in her left.
¹⁷ She will guide you down delightful paths;
    all her ways are satisfying.
¹⁸ Wisdom is a tree of life to those who embrace her;
    happy are those who hold her tightly.

¹³ No one knows where to find it,^[a]
    for it is not found among the living.
¹⁴ ‘It is not here,’ says the ocean.
    ‘Nor is it here,’ says the sea.
¹⁵ It cannot be bought with gold.
    It cannot be purchased with silver.
¹⁶ It’s worth more than all the gold of Ophir,
    greater than precious onyx or lapis lazuli.
¹⁷ Wisdom is more valuable than gold and crystal.
    It cannot be purchased with jewels mounted in fine gold.
¹⁸ Coral and jasper are worthless in trying to get it.
    The price of wisdom is far above rubies.
¹⁹ Precious peridot from Ethiopia^[b] cannot be exchanged for it.
    It’s worth more than the purest gold.

²⁰ “But do people know where to find wisdom?
    Where can they find understanding?
²¹ It is hidden from the eyes of all humanity.
    Even the sharp-eyed birds in the sky cannot discover it.
²² Destruction^[c] and Death say,
    ‘We’ve heard only rumors of where wisdom can be found.’

²³ “God alone understands the way to wisdom;
    he knows where it can be found,
²⁴ for he looks throughout the whole earth
    and sees everything under the heavens.
²⁵ He decided how hard the winds should blow
    and how much rain should fall.
²⁶ He made the laws for the rain
    and laid out a path for the lightning.
²⁷ Then he saw wisdom and evaluated it.
    He set it in place and examined it thoroughly.
²⁸ And this is what he says to all humanity:
‘The fear of the Lord is true wisdom;
    to forsake evil is real understanding.’”