281 "Surely there is a mine for silver And a place where they refine gold . 2 "Iron is taken from the dust , And copper is smelted from rock . 3 "Man puts an end to darkness , And to the farthest limit he searches out The rock in gloom and deep shadow . 4 "He sinks a shaft far from habitation , Forgotten by the foot ; They hang and swing to and fro far from men . 5 "The earth , from it comes food , And underneath it is turned up as fire . 6 "Its rocks are the source of sapphires , And its dust contains gold . 7 "The path no bird of prey knows , Nor has the falcon's eye caught sight of it. 8 "The proud beasts have not trodden it, Nor has the fierce lion passed over it. 9 "He puts his hand on the flint ; He overturns the mountains at the base . 10 "He hews out channels through the rocks , And his eye sees anything precious . 11 "He dams up the streams from flowing , And what is hidden he brings out to the light . 12 "But where can wisdom be found ? And where is the place of understanding ? 13 " Man does not know its value , Nor is it found in the land of the living .
14 "The deep says , 'It is not in me'; And the sea says , 'It is not with me.' 15 " Pure gold cannot be given in exchange for it, Nor can silver be weighed as its price . 16 "It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir , In precious onyx , or sapphire . 17 " Gold or glass cannot equal it, Nor can it be exchanged for articles of fine gold . 18 "Coral and crystal are not to be mentioned ; And the acquisition of wisdom is above that of pearls . 19 "The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it, Nor can it be valued in pure gold .
20 " Where then does wisdom come from? And where is the place of understanding ? 21 "Thus it is hidden from the eyes of all living And concealed from the birds of the sky . 22 " Abaddon and Death say , 'With our ears we have heard a report of it.' 23 " God understands its way , And He knows its place . 24 "For He looks to the ends of the earth And sees everything under the heavens . 25 "When He imparted weight to the wind And meted out the waters by measure , 26 When He set a limit for the rain And a course for the thunderbolt e , 27 Then He saw it and declared it; He established it and also searched it out. 28 "And to man He said , 'Behold , the fear of the Lord , that is wisdom ; And to depart from evil is understanding .' "
