New American Standard Bible 1995 | NET Bible |
1"Surely there is a mine for silver And a place where they refine gold. | 1"Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place where gold is refined. |
2"Iron is taken from the dust, And copper is smelted from rock. | 2Iron is taken from the ground, and rock is poured out as copper. |
3"Man puts an end to darkness, And to the farthest limit he searches out The rock in gloom and deep shadow. | 3Man puts an end to the darkness; he searches the farthest recesses for the ore in the deepest darkness. |
4"He sinks a shaft far from habitation, Forgotten by the foot; They hang and swing to and fro far from men. | 4Far from where people live he sinks a shaft, in places travelers have long forgotten, far from other people he dangles and sways. |
5"The earth, from it comes food, And underneath it is turned up as fire. | 5The earth, from which food comes, is overturned below as though by fire; |
6"Its rocks are the source of sapphires, And its dust contains gold. | 6a place whose stones are sapphires and which contains dust of gold; |
7"The path no bird of prey knows, Nor has the falcon's eye caught sight of it. | 7a hidden path no bird of prey knows--no falcon's eye has spotted it. |
8"The proud beasts have not trodden it, Nor has the fierce lion passed over it. | 8Proud beasts have not set foot on it, and no lion has passed along it. |
9"He puts his hand on the flint; He overturns the mountains at the base. | 9On the flinty rock man has set to work with his hand; he has overturned mountains at their bases. |
10"He hews out channels through the rocks, And his eye sees anything precious. | 10He has cut out channels through the rocks; his eyes have spotted every precious thing. |
11"He dams up the streams from flowing, And what is hidden he brings out to the light. | 11He has searched the sources of the rivers and what was hidden he has brought into the light. |
12"But where can wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? | 12"But wisdom--where can it be found? Where is the place of understanding? |
13"Man does not know its value, Nor is it found in the land of the living. | 13Mankind does not know its place; it cannot be 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.' | 14The deep says, 'It is not with me.' And the sea says, 'It is not with me.' |
15"Pure gold cannot be given in exchange for it, Nor can silver be weighed as its price. | 15Fine gold cannot be given in exchange for it, nor can its price be weighed out in silver. |
16"It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, In precious onyx, or sapphire. | 16It cannot be measured out for purchase with the gold of Ophir, with precious onyx or sapphires. |
17"Gold or glass cannot equal it, Nor can it be exchanged for articles of fine gold. | 17Neither gold nor crystal can be compared with it, nor can a vase of gold match its worth. |
18"Coral and crystal are not to be mentioned; And the acquisition of wisdom is above that of pearls. | 18Of coral and jasper no mention will be made; the price of wisdom is more than pearls. |
19"The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it, Nor can it be valued in pure gold. | 19The topaz of Cush cannot be compared with it; it cannot be purchased with pure gold. |
20"Where then does wisdom come from? And where is the place of understanding? | 20"But wisdom--where does it come from? Where is the place of understanding? |
21"Thus it is hidden from the eyes of all living And concealed from the birds of the sky. | 21For it has been hidden from the eyes of every living creature, and from the birds of the sky it has been concealed. |
22"Abaddon and Death say, 'With our ears we have heard a report of it.' | 22Destruction and Death say, 'With our ears we have heard a rumor about where it can be found.' |
23"God understands its way, And He knows its place. | 23God understands the way to it, and he alone knows its place. |
24"For He looks to the ends of the earth And sees everything under the heavens. | 24For he looks to the ends of the earth and observes everything under the heavens. |
25"When He imparted weight to the wind And meted out the waters by measure, | 25When he made the force of the wind and measured the waters with a gauge. |
26When He set a limit for the rain And a course for the thunderbolt, | 26When he imposed a limit for the rain, and a path for the thunderstorm, |
27Then He saw it and declared it; He established it and also searched it out. | 27then he looked at wisdom and assessed its value; he established it and examined it closely. |
28"And to man He said, 'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; And to depart from evil is understanding.'" | 28And he said to mankind, 'The fear of the LORD--that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.'" |
New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit //www.lockman.org | NET Bible copyright © 1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. //netbible.com. Used by permission. All rights reserved. |
|