III. Job’s Search for Wisdom (28:1-28)
34
No Known Road to Wisdom
28:1 Surely1
there is a mine2
for silver,
and a place where gold is refined.3
28:2 Iron is taken from the ground,4
and rock is poured out5
as copper.
28:3 Man puts an end to the darkness;6
he searches the farthest recesses
for the stone in the blackest darkness.7
28:4 Far from where people live8
he cuts a shaft
in places forgotten by the foot of man,9
far from men he dangles and sways.10
28:5 The earth, from which food comes,
is overturned below by fire;11
28:6 a place whose stones are sapphire12
and which contains dust of gold;13
28:7 a path14
that no bird of prey knows,
no falcon’s15
eye has seen it.
28:8 Proud beasts16
have not set foot on it,
and no lion17
has passed over it.
28:9 On the flinty rock man has laid18
his hand;
mountains he has overturned at their bases.19
28:10 He has cut out channels20
through the rocks;
his eye have seen all that is precious.21
28:11 He has searched22
the sources23
of the rivers
and what was hidden he has brought into the light.
No Price Can Buy Wisdom
28:12 But wisdom, where can it be found?
Where is the place of understanding?
28:13 Man does not know its place;24
it cannot be found in the land of the living.
28:14 The deep25
says, “It is not with26
me.”
And the sea says, “It is not with me.”
28:15 Fine gold cannot be given in exchange for it,
nor can its price be weighed in silver.
28:16 It cannot be bought27
with the gold of Ophir,
with precious onyx28
or sapphires.
28:17 Neither gold nor crystal29
can be compared with it,
nor is a vase30
of gold its exchange price.
28:18 Of coral and jasper no mention will be made,
the price31
of wisdom is more than pearls.32
28:19 The topaz of Cush33
cannot be compared with it;
it cannot be bought with pure gold.
God Alone Has Wisdom
28:20 But wisdom, from where does it come?34
Where is the place of understanding?
28:21 For35
it has been hidden
from the eyes of every living creature,
and from the birds of the air it has been concealed.
28:22 Destruction and Death say,
“With our ears we have heard its report.”
28:23 God understands the way to it,
and he alone knows its place.
28:24 For he looks to the ends of the earth
and sees everything under the heavens.
28:25 When he made36
the force of the wind
and measured37
the waters with a gauge.
28:26 When he imposed a limit38
for the rain,
and a path for the thunderstorm,
28:27 then he looked at it and appraised it;39
he established40
it and examined it closely.41
28:28 and he said to man,
“The fear of the LORD—that is wisdom,
and to turn from evil is understanding.”42