- 1. ¶ SURELY there is a mine for silver, and a place where gold is refined.
- 2. Iron is taken out of the earth, and brass is smelted out of the stone.
- 3. God sets an end to darkness, and knows the end of everything, the deep and dark mine and the shadow of death.
- 4. They have inherited a ruined mine from an alien people; they are gone astray from the right path and their number has diminished from among men.
- 5. They lay open the earth, out of which comes sustenance; and from under it is turned up material as if it were burned with fire.
- 6. The stones of it are the place where sapphires are found, and it has dust of gold in its paths.
- 7. There is a path which no bird knows, and the vulture’s eye has not seen;
- 8. Wild beasts have not trodden it, nor has the lion passed by it.
- 9. The miner puts forth his hand upon the hard rock to break it; he overturns the mountains from their foundations.
- 10. He divides the rivers by his might; and his eye sees every precious thing.
- 11. He binds up the rivers that they may not overflow; and the thing that is hid, he brings forth to light.
- 12. But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding thereof?
- 13. No man knows the treasure thereof; neither is it found except in the land of the living.
- 14. ¶ The depth says, It is not in me, and the sea says, It is not with me.
- 15. It cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be counted for its price.
- 16. It cannot be exchanged with the gold of Ophir, with precious onyx or sapphire.
- 17. The gold and the crystal cannot equal it; nor can precious pearls, jewels, and emeralds equal it.
- 18. For the price of wisdom is above that of precious stones. Nor can colored gems, emeralds, and diamonds equal it.
- 19. For the price of wisdom is above everything, and nothing can equal it. The pearls of Ethiopia and the topaz cannot equal it.
- 20. ¶ Whence then comes wisdom? And where is the place of understanding?
- 21. It is hid from the eyes of all living, and concealed from the fowls of the air.
- 22. Destruction and death say, We have heard the report of it with our ears.
- 23. Because only God understands the way of it, and he knows the place thereof.
- 24. For he looks to the ends of the earth, and sees under the whole heaven;
- 25. For he made a weight for the wind, and meted it out by the measure.
- 26. He made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning and the thunder.
- 27. Then he saw it, and declared it; he measured it, yea, and searched it out.
- 28. And to man he said, Behold, the reverence of God, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.
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