III. Job’s Search for Wisdom (28:1-28)
No Known Road to Wisdom 128:1 “Surely 2 there is a mine 3 for silver,
and a place where gold is refined. 4
28:2 Iron is taken from the ground, 5
and rock is poured out 6 as copper.
28:3 Man puts an end to the darkness; 7
he searches the farthest recesses
for the ore in the deepest darkness. 8
28:4 Far from where people live 9 he sinks a shaft,
in places travelers have long forgotten, 10
far from other people he dangles and sways. 11
28:5 The earth, from which food comes,
is overturned below as though by fire; 12
28:6 a place whose stones are sapphires 13
and which contains dust of gold; 14
28:7 a hidden path 15 no bird of prey knows –
no falcon’s 16 eye has spotted it.
28:8 Proud beasts 17 have not set foot on it,
and no lion has passed along it.
28:9 On the flinty rock man has set to work 18 with his hand;
he has overturned mountains at their bases. 19
28:10 He has cut out channels 20 through the rocks;
his eyes have spotted 21 every precious thing.
28:11 He has searched 22 the sources 23 of the rivers
and what was hidden he has brought into the light.
28:12 “But wisdom – where can it be found?
Where is the place of understanding?
28:13 Mankind does not know its place; 24
it cannot be found in the land of the living.
28:14 The deep 25 says, ‘It is not with 26 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 out in silver.
28:16 It cannot be measured out for purchase 27 with the gold of Ophir,
with precious onyx 28 or sapphires.
28:17 Neither gold nor crystal 29 can be compared with it,
nor can a vase 30 of gold match its worth.
28:18 Of coral and jasper no mention will be made;
the price 31 of wisdom is more than pearls. 32
28:19 The topaz of Cush 33 cannot be compared with it;
it cannot be purchased with pure gold.
28:20 “But wisdom – where does it come from? 34
Where is the place of understanding?
28:21 For 35 it has been hidden
from the eyes of every living creature,
and from the birds of the sky it has been concealed.
28:22 Destruction 36 and Death say,
‘With our ears we have heard a rumor about where it can be found.’ 37
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 observes everything under the heavens.
28:25 When he made 38 the force of the wind
and measured 39 the waters with a gauge.
28:26 When he imposed a limit 40 for the rain,
and a path for the thunderstorm, 41
28:27 then he looked at wisdom 42 and assessed its value; 43
he established 44 it and examined it closely. 45
28:28 And he said to mankind,
‘The fear of the Lord 46 – that is wisdom,
and to turn away from evil is understanding.’” 47