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28:1  “Surely there is a mine for silver, And a place where they refine gold.
28:2  “Iron is taken out of the earth, And copper is smelted from the stone ore.
28:3  “Man puts an end to darkness [by bringing in a light], And to the farthest bounds he searches out The rock buried in gloom and deep shadow.
28:4  “He breaks open (mine) shafts far away from where people live, [In places] forgotten by the [human] foot; They dangle [in the mines] and hang away from men.
28:5  “[As for] the earth, out of it comes food, But underneath [its surface, down deep] it is turned over as fire.
28:6  “Its stones are the bed of sapphires; It holds dust of gold.
28:7  “The path [deep within] no bird of prey knows, And the falcon’s eye has not caught sight of it.
28:8  “The proud beasts [and their young] have not walked on it, Nor has the fierce lion passed over it.
28:9  “Man puts his hand on [and tears apart] the flinty rock; He overturns the mountains at the base [looking for treasure].
28:10  “He cuts out channels and passages among the rocks; And his eye sees every precious thing.
28:11  “Man dams up the streams from flowing [so that they do not trickle into the mine], And what is hidden he brings out to the light.
28:12  “But where can wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding?
28:13  “Man does not know the value of it; Nor is it found in the land of the living.
28:14  “The deep says, ‘It is not in me’; And the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’
28:15  “It cannot be obtained for pure gold, Nor can silver be weighed as its price.
28:16  “It cannot be valued in [terms of] the gold of Ophir, In the precious onyx or beryl, or the sapphire.
28:17  “Gold and glass cannot equal wisdom, Nor can it be exchanged for articles of fine gold.
28:18  “No mention of coral and crystal can be made; For the possession of wisdom is even above [that of] rubies or pearls.
28:19  “The topaz of Ethiopia cannot compare with it, Nor can it be valued in pure gold.
28:20  “From where then does wisdom come? And where is the place of understanding?
28:21  “It is hidden from the eyes of all the living And concealed from the birds of the heavens.
28:22  “Abaddon (the place of destruction) and Death say, ‘We have [only] heard a report of it with our ears.’
28:23  “God understands the way [to wisdom] And He knows its place [for wisdom is with God alone].
28:24  “For He looks to the ends of the earth And sees everything under the heavens.
28:25  “When He gave weight and pressure to the wind And allotted the waters by measure,
28:26  When He made a limit for the rain And a way for the thunderbolt,
28:27  Then He saw wisdom and declared it; He established it and searched it out.
28:28  “But to man He said, ‘Behold, the reverential and worshipful fear of the Lord—that is wisdom; And to depart from evil is understanding.’”