¹“Indeed, there is a mine for silver and a place ⌞for gold to be refined⌟. ²Iron is taken from dust, and he pours out copper from ore. ³He puts an end to darkness, and he searches out the farthest limits for the ore in gloom and deep shadow. ⁴He breaks open a mine shaft ⌞away from where people dwell⌟; those who are forgotten ⌞by travelers⌟, they dangle, they sway far away from human beings. ⁵As for the earth, from it comes food, but underneath it, it is turned up as by fire. ⁶Its stones are the place of sapphire, and the earthen dirt ⌞has⌟ gold. ⁷“It is a path a bird of prey does not know and the black kite’s eye has not seen. ⁸⌞Proud wild animals⌟ have not trodden it; the lion in its prime has not prowled over it. ⁹He puts his hand on the hard rock; he overturns mountains by the roots. ¹⁰He cuts out tunnels in the rocks, and his eye sees every treasure. ¹¹He dams up rivers from their sources, and he brings secret things to the light. ¹²“But from where will wisdom be found? And ⌞where in the world⌟ is the place of understanding? ¹³A human being does not know its proper value, and it is not found in the land of the living. ¹⁴The deep says, ‘It is not in me,’ and the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’ ¹⁵“Refined gold cannot be gotten in its place, and silver cannot be weighed out as its price. ¹⁶It cannot be bought for the gold of Ophir, for precious onyx or sapphire. ¹⁷Gold and glass cannot be compared with it, and its substitution cannot be an ornament of refined gold. ¹⁸Black corals and crystal will not be mentioned, and wisdom’s price is more than red corals. ¹⁹The topaz of Cush cannot be compared with it; it cannot be bought for pure gold. ²⁰Indeed, from where does wisdom come? And ⌞where in the world⌟ is the place of understanding? ²¹It is hidden from the eyes of all living, and it is concealed from the birds of the heaven. ²²Abaddon and Death say, ‘We heard its rumor with our ears.’ ²³“God understands its way, and he knows its place, ²⁴for he himself looks to the end of the earth; he sees under all the heaven. ²⁵⌞When he gave⌟ weight to the wind and he apportioned the waters by measure, ²⁶⌞when he made⌟ a rule for the rain and a way for the thunder’s lightning bolt, ²⁷then he saw it and talked about it; he established it, and moreover, he explored it. ²⁸And to the human beings he said, ‘Look, the fear of the Lord is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding.’ ”