Job 28

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The Value of Wisdom

28 <1> There are mines where people get silver

and places where people melt gold to make it pure.

<2> Miners dig iron from the ground.

Copper is melted from the rocks.

<3> Miners carry lights into the caves.

They search deep into the caves

and look for rocks in the deep darkness.

<4> Miners dig deep into the ground,

following the veins of ore.

They go deep down into the ground

far away from where people live,

down where no one else has been before.

They hang from ropes far below ground,

far away from others.

<5> Food grows on the ground above.

But underground, it is different-

as if everything were melted by fire.

<6> Underground there are sapphires[65]

and grains of pure gold.

<7> Wild birds know nothing about

the paths under the ground.

No falcon[66] has ever seen those dark paths.

<8> Wild animals haven't walked there.

Lions haven't traveled that way.

<9> Miners dig the hardest rocks.

They dig away at the mountains and make them bare.

<10> They cut tunnels through the rocks.

They see all the rock's treasures.

<11> They make dams to stop the water.

They bring hidden things out into the light.

<12> "But where can a person find wisdom?

Where can we go to find understanding?

<13> We don't know how valuable wisdom is.

People on earth cannot dig in the ground and find wisdom.

<14> The deep ocean says,

'Wisdom is not here with me.'

The sea says,

'Wisdom is not here with me.'

<15> You cannot buy wisdom with even the purest gold.

There isn't enough silver in the world to buy wisdom.

<16> You cannot buy wisdom with gold from Ophir

or precious onyx[67] or sapphires.

<17> Wisdom is worth more than gold or crystal.

Expensive jewels set in gold cannot buy wisdom.

<18> Wisdom is worth more than coral[68] and jasper.[69]

Wisdom is more precious than rubies.

<19> The topaz[70] from the country of Ethiopia

is not as precious as wisdom.

You cannot buy wisdom with pure gold.

<20> "So where does wisdom come from?

Where can we find understanding?

<21> Wisdom is hidden from every living thing on earth.

Even birds in the sky cannot see wisdom.

<22> Death and destruction[71] say,

'We haven't found wisdom;

we have only heard rumors about it.'

<23> "Only God knows the way to wisdom.

Only he knows where wisdom is.

<24> He can see to the very ends of the earth.

He sees everything under the sky.

<25> God gave the wind its power.

He decided how big to make the oceans.

<26> He decided where to send the rain

and where the thunderstorms should go.

<27> He saw wisdom and discussed it.

He examined wisdom and saw how much it was worth.

<28> Then he said to humans,

'To fear and respect the Lord is wisdom.

To turn away from evil is understanding.'"