Job 28:1-28 CSB

[1] Surely there is a mine for silver and a place where gold is refined. [2] Iron is taken from the ground, and copper is smelted from ore. [3] A miner puts an end to the darkness; he probes the deepest recesses for ore in the gloomy darkness. [4] He cuts a shaft far from human habitation, in places unknown to those who walk above ground. Suspended far away from people, the miners swing back and forth. [5] Food may come from the earth, but below the surface the earth is transformed as by fire. [6] Its rocks are a source of lapis lazuli, containing flecks of gold. [7] No bird of prey knows that path; no falcon's eye has seen it. [8] Proud beasts have never walked on it; no lion has ever prowled over it. [9] The miner uses a flint tool and turns up ore from the root of the mountains. [10] He cuts out channels in the rocks, and his eyes spot every treasure. [11] He dams up the streams from flowing so that he may bring to light what is hidden. [12] But where can wisdom be found, and where is understanding located? [13] No one can know its value, since it cannot be found in the land of the living. [14] The ocean depths say, "It's not in me," while the sea declares, "I don't have it." [15] Gold cannot be exchanged for it, and silver cannot be weighed out for its price. [16] Wisdom cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, in precious onyx or lapis lazuli. [17] Gold and glass do not compare with it, and articles of fine gold cannot be exchanged for it. [18] Coral and quartz are not worth mentioning. The price of wisdom is beyond pearls. [19] Topaz from Cush cannot compare with it, and it cannot be valued in pure gold. [20] Where then does wisdom come from, and where is understanding located? [21] It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing and concealed from the birds of the sky. [22] Abaddon and Death say, "We have heard news of it with our ears." [23] But God understands the way to wisdom, and he knows its location. [24] For he looks to the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens. [25] When God fixed the weight of the wind and distributed the water by measure, [26] when he established a limit for the rain and a path for the lightning, [27] he considered wisdom and evaluated it; he established it and examined it. [28] He said to mankind, "The fear of the Lord-that is wisdom. And to turn from evil is understanding."