The Earth’s Treasures
1 “Surely there is a mine for silver
and a place for the refinement of gold.
2 Iron is taken from the earth
and copper is smelted from ore.
3 Man puts an end to darkness,
and searches out, to the furthest bounds,
the stones of obscurity and of thick darkness
4 He 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.
5 As for the earth, out of it comes bread,
but underneath it is turned up as by fire.
6 Sapphires come from its rocks.
It has dust of gold.
7 That path no bird of prey knows,
nor has the falcon’s eye seen it.
8 The proud animals have not trodden it,
nor has the fierce lion passed by there.
9 He puts his hand on the flinty rock,
and he overturns the mountains by the roots.
10 He cuts out channels among the rocks.
His eye sees every precious thing.
11 He binds the streams that they do not trickle.
The thing that is hidden he brings out to light.
12 But where will wisdom be found?
Where is the place of understanding?
13 Man does not know its price,
nor is it found in the land of the living.
14 The deep says, ‘It isn’t in me.’
The sea says, ‘It isn’t with me.’
15 It cannot be gotten for gold,
nor will silver be weighed for its price.
16 It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir,
with the precious onyx, or the sapphire.
17 Gold and glass cannot equal it,
nor will it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.
18 No mention will be made of coral or of crystal.
Yes, the price of wisdom is above rubies.
19 The topaz of Ethiopia will not equal it,
nor will it be valued with pure gold.
20 From where then does wisdom come?
Where is the place of understanding?
21 Seeing it is hidden from the eyes of all living,
and kept close from the birds of the sky.
22 Destruction and Death say,
‘We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.’
23 God understands its way,
and he knows its place.
24 For he looks to the ends of the earth
and sees under the whole sky.
25 He establishes the force of the wind.
Yes, he weighs out the waters by measure.
26 When he made a decree for the rain
and a way for the lightning of the thunder,
27 then he saw it and declared it.
He established it, yes, and searched it out.
28 To man he said,
‘The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom.
To depart from evil is understanding.’ ”