Job 28 · Clearspring

Where Can Wisdom Be Found?

¹“Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place for gold which they refine.+ ²Iron is taken out of the earth, and copper is smelted out of the ore.+ ³Man sets an end to darkness, and searches out, to the furthest bound, the stones of obscurity and of thick darkness.+ ⁴He breaks open a shaft away from where people live. They are forgotten by the foot. They hang far from men, they swing back and forth.+ ⁵As for the earth, out of it comes bread; Underneath it is turned up as it were by fire.+ ⁶Sapphires come from its rocks. It has dust of gold.+ ⁷That path no bird of prey knows, neither has the falcon’s eye seen it.+ ⁸The proud animals have not trodden it, nor has the fierce lion passed by there.+ ⁹He puts his hand on the flinty rock, and he overturns the mountains by the roots.+ ¹⁰He cuts out channels among the rocks. His eye sees every precious thing.+ ¹¹He binds the streams that they don’t trickle. The thing that is hidden he brings out to light.+ ¹²“But where shall wisdom be found? Where is the place of understanding?+ ¹³Man doesn’t know its price; Neither is it found in the land of the living.+ ¹⁴The deep says, ‘It isn’t in me.’ The sea says, ‘It isn’t with me.’+ ¹⁵It can’t be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for its price.+ ¹⁶It can’t be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire.+ ¹⁷Gold and glass can’t equal it, neither shall it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.+ ¹⁸No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal. Yes, the price of wisdom is above rubies.+ ¹⁹The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, Neither shall it be valued with pure gold.+ ²⁰Where then does wisdom come from? Where is the place of understanding?+ ²¹Seeing it is hidden from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the birds of the sky.+ ²²Destruction and Death say, ‘We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.’+ ²³“God understands its way, and he knows its place.+ ²⁴For he looks to the ends of the earth, and sees under the whole sky.+ ²⁵He establishes the force of the wind. Yes, he measures out the waters by measure.+ ²⁶When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder;+ ²⁷then he saw it, and declared it. He established it, yes, and searched it out.+ ²⁸To man he said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom. To depart from evil is understanding.’”+

Where Can Wisdom Be Found?

Study Job 28