Job 28 · Clearspring

Where Can Wisdom Be Found?

¹“Surely there is a mine for silver and a place where gold is refined.+ ²Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore.+ ³Man puts an end to the darkness; he probes the farthest recesses for ore in deepest darkness.+ ⁴Far from human habitation he cuts a shaft in places forgotten by the foot of man. Far from men he dangles and sways.+ ⁵Food may come from the earth, but from below it is transformed as by fire.+ ⁶Its rocks are the source of sapphires, containing flecks of gold.+ ⁷No bird of prey knows that path; no falcon’s eye has seen it.+ ⁸Proud beasts have never trodden it; no lion has ever prowled over it.+ ⁹The miner strikes the flint; he overturns mountains at their base.+ ¹⁰He hews out channels in the rocks, and his eyes spot every treasure.+ ¹¹He stops up the sources of the streams to bring what is hidden to light.+ ¹²But where can wisdom be found, and where does understanding dwell?+ ¹³No man can know its value, nor is it found in the land of the living.+ ¹⁴The ocean depths say, ‘It is not in me,’ while the sea declares, ‘ It is not with me.’+ ¹⁵It cannot be bought with gold, nor can its price be weighed out in silver.+ ¹⁶It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, in precious onyx or sapphire.+ ¹⁷Neither gold nor crystal can compare to it, nor jewels of fine gold be exchanged for it.+ ¹⁸Coral and quartz are unworthy of mention; the price of wisdom is beyond rubies.+ ¹⁹Topaz from Cush cannot compare to it, nor can it be valued in pure gold.+ ²⁰From where, then, does wisdom come, and where does understanding dwell?+ ²¹It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing and concealed from the birds of the air.+ ²²Abaddon and Death say, ‘We have heard a rumor about it.’+ ²³But God understands its way, and He knows its place.+ ²⁴For He looks to the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens.+ ²⁵When God fixed the weight of the wind and measured out the waters,+ ²⁶when He set a limit for the rain and a path for the thunderbolt,+ ²⁷then He looked at wisdom and appraised it; He established it and searched it out.+ ²⁸And He said to man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”+

Where Can Wisdom Be Found?

Study Job 28