Job Continues
Gold and Silver Are Mined
28 Gold and silver are mined,
then purified;
2 the same is done
with iron and copper.
3 Miners carry lanterns
deep into the darkness
to search for these metals.
4 They dig tunnels
in distant, unknown places,
where they dangle by ropes.
5 Far beneath the grain fields,
fires are built
to break loose those rocks
6 that have jewels or gold.[a]
7 Miners go to places unseen
by the eyes of hawks;
8 they walk on soil unknown
to the proudest lions.
9 With their own hands
they remove sharp rocks
and uproot mountains.
10 They dig through the rocks
in search of jewels
and precious metals.
11 They also uncover
the sources of[b] rivers
and discover secret places.
Where Is Wisdom Found?
12 (A) But where is wisdom found?
13 (B) No human knows the way.[c]
14 Nor can it be discovered
in the deepest sea.
* 15 It is worth much more
than silver or pure gold
16 or precious stones.
17 Nothing is its equal—
not gold or costly glass.[d]
18 Wisdom is worth much more than
coral, jasper,[e] or rubies.
19 All the topaz[f] of Ethiopia[g]
and the finest gold
cannot compare with it.
20 Where then is wisdom?
21 It is hidden from human eyes
and even from birds.
22 Death and destruction
have merely heard rumors
about where it is found.
23 (C) God is the only one who knows
the way to wisdom;
24 he alone sees everything
beneath the heavens.
25 When God divided out
the wind and the water,
26 and when he decided the path
for rain and lightning,
27 (D) he also determined the truth
and defined wisdom.
28 (E) God told us, “Wisdom means
that you respect me, the Lord,
and turn from sin.”
Footnotes
- 28.6 gold: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verses 5,6.
- 28.11 uncover the sources of: Two ancient translations; Hebrew “dam up.”
- 28.13 the way: Or “its worth.”
- 28.17 costly glass: In the ancient world, objects made of glass were costly.
- 28.18 jasper: A valuable stone, usually green or clear.
- 28.19 topaz: A valuable, yellow stone.
- 28.19 Ethiopia: The Hebrew text has “Cush,” which was a region south of Egypt that included parts of the present countries of Ethiopia and Sudan.