Where Can Wisdom Be Found?

1“ Surely there is a mine for silver,

and a place for the gold that they refine.

2Iron is taken from the dust,

and from rock copper is smelted.

3An end he has set for the darkness,

yet to every limit he is searching out,

a stone in darkness and the shadow of death.

4He opens a shaft away from habitation;

those forgotten by the foot,

they hang down away from man, and they sway.

5The earth, from which bread comes forth,

and underneath is turned as by fire—

6a place of sapphire are its stones,

and dust of gold is unto it.

7The path no bird of prey knows,

and no eye of a falcon has seen it.

8The sons of pride have not trodden it,

and the lion has not passed over it.

9Against the flinty rock he stretched out his hand;

he overturns the hills from the root.

10In the rocks he cuts out channels,

and his eye sees every precious thing.

11The rivers he has bound from weeping,†

and a hidden thing he brings to light.

12And wisdom—from where is it found?

And where is this place of understanding?

13Man does not know its value,

and it is not found in the land of the living.

14The deep says, ‘It is not in me,’

and the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’

15Gold cannot be given for it,

nor can silver be weighed for its price.

16It is not valued with the gold of Ophir,

with precious onyx or sapphire.

17Gold and crystal cannot equal it,

or is its exchange a vessel of fine gold.

18Coral and quartz are not to be mentioned;

and the acquisition of wisdom is more than rubies.

19The topaz of Cush† cannot equal it,

nor it is valued in pure gold.

20And the wisdom, from where does it come?

And where is this place of understanding?

21And is it hidden from the eyes of every living thing;

even from the birds of the heavens it is concealed.

22Abaddon† and Death say,

‘We have heard a report of it with our ears.’

23God has understood its way,

and He has known its place.

24For He looks to the ends of the earth,

and He sees under all the heavens,

25to make for the wind a weight,

and He portioned out the waters by measure,

26in His making a limit for the rain,

and a path for the flash of the thunders—

27then He saw and recounted it;

He established it and also searched it out.

28And He said to the man, ‘Behold,

the fear of the Lord—that is wisdom,

and the turning aside from evil is understanding.’”