¹ “Surely there is a mine for silver
And a place where they refine gold. ² “Iron is taken from the dust,
And copper is smelted from rock. ³ “Man puts an end to darkness,
And to the farthest limit he searches out
The rock in gloom and deep shadow. ⁴ “He sinks a shaft far from habitation,
Forgotten by the foot;
They hang and swing to and fro far from men. ⁵ “The earth, from it comes food,
And underneath it is turned up as fire. ⁶ “Its rocks are the source of sapphires,
And its dust contains gold. ⁷ “The path no bird of prey knows,
Nor has the falcon’s eye caught sight of it. ⁸ “The proud beasts have not trodden it,
Nor has the fierce lion passed over it. ⁹ “He puts his hand on the flint;
He overturns the mountains at the base. ¹⁰ “He hews out channels through the rocks,
And his eye sees anything precious. ¹¹ “He dams up the streams from flowing,
And what is hidden he brings out to the light. The Search for Wisdom Is Harder ¹² “But where can wisdom be found?
And where is the place of understanding? ¹³ “Man does not know its value,
Nor is it 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 “Pure gold cannot be given in exchange for it,
Nor can silver be weighed as its price. ¹⁶ “It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,
In precious onyx, or sapphire. ¹⁷ “Gold or glass cannot equal it,
Nor can it be exchanged for articles of fine gold. ¹⁸ “Coral and crystal are not to be mentioned;
And the acquisition of wisdom is above that of pearls. ¹⁹ “The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it,
Nor can it be valued in pure gold. ²⁰ “Where then does wisdom come from?
And 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. ²² “Abaddon and Death say,
‘With our ears we have heard a report of it.’ ²³ “God understands its way,
And He knows its place. ²⁴ “For He looks to the ends of the earth
And sees everything under the heavens. ²⁵ “When He imparted weight to the wind
And meted out the waters by measure, ²⁶ When He set a limit for the rain
And a course for the thunderbolt, ²⁷ Then He saw it and declared it;
He established it and also searched it out. ²⁸ “And to man He said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom;
And to depart from evil is understanding.’”