1: "Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place for gold which they refine.
2: Iron is taken out of the earth, and copper is smelted out of the ore.
3: Man sets an end to darkness, and searches out, to the furthest bound, 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; Underneath it is turned up as it were by fire.
6: Sapphires come from its rocks. It has dust of gold.
7: That path no bird of prey knows, neither 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 forth 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 don't trickle. The thing that is hidden he brings forth to light.
12: "But where shall wisdom be found? Where is the place of understanding?
13: Man doesn't know its price; Neither 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 can't be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for its price.
16: It can't be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire.
17: Gold and glass can't equal it, neither shall it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.
18: No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal. Yes, the price of wisdom is above rubies.
19: The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, Neither shall it be valued with pure gold.
20: Where then does wisdom come from? 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 measures 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, 'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom. To depart from evil is understanding.'"