Job 28

1Surely there is a mine for silver, And a place for gold which they refine.

1There are mines where people find silver and places where they refine gold.

2Iron is taken out of the earth, And copper is molten out of the stone.

2Iron is dug out of the ground, and copper is smelted from ore.

3Man setteth an end to darkness, And searcheth out, to the furthest bound, The stones of obscurity and of thick darkness.

3Miners bring light into the darkness; they search the deepest corners for ore in the gloom and deep shadows.

4He breaketh open a shaft away from where men sojourn; They are forgotten of the foot; They hang afar from men, they swing to and fro.

4They sink shafts far from where people live, in places forgotten by those who walk above; far from human contact, they dangle and sway.

5As for the earth, out of it cometh bread; And underneath it is turned up as it were by fire.

5Food grows on the surface of the earth, but below the ground, it is turned over as if by fire.

6The stones thereof are the place of sapphires, And it hath dust of gold.

6Its rocks contain sapphires, and its dust contains flecks of gold.

7That path no bird of prey knoweth, Neither hath the falcon’s eye seen it:

7No bird of prey knows the path to those treasures, and no hawk’s eye has ever seen them.

8The proud beasts have not trodden it, Nor hath the fierce lion passed thereby.

8Proud animals have not walked there, and no fierce lion has passed through it.

9He putteth forth his hand upon the flinty rock; He overturneth the mountains by the roots.

9The miner strikes the hard flint with his hand and overturns mountains at their very roots.

10He cutteth out channels among the rocks; And his eye seeth every precious thing.

10He cuts tunnels through the rocks, and his eyes spot every precious thing.

11He bindeth the streams that they trickle not; And the thing that is hid bringeth he forth to light.

11He dams up streams so they do not trickle, bringing hidden things into the light.

12But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding?

12But where can wisdom be found? Where does understanding live?

13Man knoweth not the price thereof; Neither is it found in the land of the living.

13No human knows its true value, and it cannot be found in the land of the living.

14The deep saith, It is not in me; And the sea saith, It is not with me.

14The deep ocean says, 'It is not in me,' and the sea says, 'It is not here with me.'

15It cannot be gotten for gold, Neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof.

15Wisdom cannot be bought with the purest gold, and its price cannot be weighed out in silver.

16It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, With the precious onyx, or the sapphire.

16It cannot be bought with gold from Ophir, or with precious onyx or sapphires.

17Gold and glass cannot equal it, Neither shall it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.

17Neither gold nor crystal can compare to it; it cannot be traded for jewelry made of fine gold.

18No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal: Yea, the price of wisdom is above rubies.

18Don't even mention coral or jasper; the price of wisdom is much higher than rubies.

19The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, Neither shall it be valued with pure gold.

19Topaz from Ethiopia cannot equal it, and it cannot be valued against pure gold.

20Whence then cometh wisdom? And where is the place of understanding?

20Where, then, does wisdom come from? Where is the place where understanding lives?

21Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, And kept close from the birds of the heavens.

21It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing and even kept secret from the birds of the sky.

22Destruction and Death say, We have heard a rumor thereof with our ears.

22Destruction and Death say, 'We have only heard rumors of it with our ears.'

23God understandeth the way thereof, And he knoweth the place thereof.

23God is the only one who understands the way to it; He is the only one who knows where it stays.

24For he looketh to the ends of the earth, And seeth under the whole heaven;

24For He looks to the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens.

25To make a weight for the wind: Yea, he meteth out the waters by measure.

25When He gave the wind its force and measured out the limits of the waters,

26When he made a decree for the rain, And a way for the lightning of the thunder;

26when He made a rule for the rain and a path for the thunderstorm,

27Then did he see it, and declare it; He established it, yea, and searched it out.

27then He saw wisdom and looked at it closely; He established it and tested it.

28And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; And to depart from evil is understanding.

28And He said to mankind, 'Look, to fear the Lord is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.'