Job Chapter 28

¹ “There’s a mine for silver

and a refinery for gold.

² Iron comes out of the ground,

and people can smelt copper.

³ They use a torch in the darkness

and go in as far they can,

searching for the ore in gloom and deep shadow.

⁴ They sink mine shafts far from where people live

and go down them, dangling on ropes,

swinging back and forth.

⁵ People grow food on top of the ground;

but far below, the ground melts as if by fire.       

Job 28:1-5

⁶ Its rocks yield lapis lazuli,         

whose flecks glitter like gold.

⁷ Birds of prey can’t get to it;

no falcon has seen it.

⁸ Proud animals don’t set foot in it;

fierce lions don’t prowl there.

⁹ Miners find flint

and tear down mountains to get at it.

¹⁰ They chisel out tunnels in the rock

to discover precious stones.

¹¹ They dam up trickling streams

and bring hidden treasure out to light.                

Job 28:6-11

¹² “But where can people discover wisdom?

Where is intelligence located?

¹³ People don’t know what it’s worth;

they can’t find it where people live.

¹⁴ The deep says, ‘It’s not here’;

the sea says, ‘It’s not inside me.’

¹⁵ Pure gold doesn’t exchange for it;

silver doesn’t weigh out equal to its price.

¹⁶ Its value can’t be calculated in the gold from Ophir,

in precious onyx or lapis lazuli.                          

Job 28:12-16

¹⁷ Gold or crystal can’t match it;

it can’t be traded for articles made from fine gold.

¹⁸ Coral and crystal can’t be mentioned with it;

acquiring wisdom is more important than buying pearls.

¹⁹ The topaz in Nubia can’t compare to it;

it can’t be measured in terms of pure gold.

²⁰ Where then does wisdom come from?

Where’s it located?

²¹ Nothing alive can see it;

it’s hid from the birds in the sky.

²² Abaddon and Death say,

‘We haven’t heard any report about it.’               Job 28:17-22

²³ “God knows where it is

and understands how to get to it.

²⁴ He can see all the way to the end of the earth

and everything that’s under the sky.

²⁵ When he decided how hard the wind should blow

and how much rain should fall,

²⁶ when he decreed the way rain should form

and the course a thunderbolt should follow,

²⁷ then he looked at wisdom and appraised it;

he put it in place and tested it.

²⁸ He told humanity, ‘Respecting the Lord shows wisdom;

getting away from sin brings insight.’”

Job 28:23-28