Old/New Testament

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.’”

² “How I wish for the months that have passed.
    I wish for the days when God watched over me.
³ I wish for the days when God’s lamp shined on my head.
    And I wish for the time I walked through darkness by his light.
⁴ I wish for the days when I was at my strongest,
    when God’s close friendship blessed my house.
⁵ That was when my children were all around me.
    And God All-Powerful was still with me.
⁶ Life was so good. It was as if my path were covered with cream.
    It was as if even the rocks poured out streams of olive oil for me.
⁷ I would go to the city gate
    and sit in the public square.
⁸ When the young men saw me, they would step out of my way.
    And the old men would stand up in respect for me.
⁹ The leading men stopped speaking
    and covered their mouths with their hands.
¹⁰ The voices of the important men were quiet.
    It was as if each man’s tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth.
¹¹ Anyone who heard me said good things about me.
    And those who saw me praised me.
¹² This was because I saved the poor who cried for help.
    And I saved the orphan who had no one to help him.
¹³ The dying person blessed me.
    And I made the widow’s heart sing.
¹⁴ I put on right living as if it were clothing.
    I wore fairness as if it were my robe and my turban.
¹⁵ I tried to be eyes for the blind.
    And I tried to be feet for those who were crippled.
¹⁶ I was like a father to needy people.
    And I took the side of strangers when they were in trouble.
¹⁷ I broke the fangs of evil people.
    And I snatched from their teeth the people they wanted to hurt.

¹⁸ “I thought, ‘I will live for as many days as there are grains of sand.
    And I will die in my own house.
¹⁹ I will be like a tree whose roots reach down to the water.
    The dew will lie on the branches all night.
²⁰ New honors will come to me continually.
    I will always have great strength.’

²¹ “People listened to me carefully.
    They waited quietly for my advice.
²² After I finished speaking, they spoke no more.
    My words fell very gently on their ears.
²³ They waited for me as they would for rain.
    They drank in my words as if they were spring rain.
²⁴ I smiled at them when they doubted.
    And my approval was important to them.
²⁵ I chose the right way for them and was their leader.
    I lived like a king among his army.
    I was like a person who gives comfort to sad people.