# Job 28 (New King James Version)
Job's Discourse on Wisdom

##### Chapter 28
###### 1 "Surely there is a mine for silver,  
And a place _where_ gold is refined.  

###### 2 Iron is taken from the earth,  
And copper _is_ smelted _from_ ore.  

###### 3 _Man_ puts an end to darkness,  
And searches every recess  
For ore in the darkness and the shadow of death.  

###### 4 He breaks open a shaft away from people;  
_In places_ forgotten by feet  
They hang far away from men;  
They swing to and fro.  

###### 5 _As for_ the earth, from it comes bread,  
But underneath it is turned up as by fire;  

###### 6 Its stones _are_ the source of sapphires,  
And it contains gold dust.  

###### 7 _That_ path no bird knows,  
Nor has the falcon's eye seen it.  

###### 8 The proud lions 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 roots.  

###### 10 He cuts out channels in the rocks,  
And his eye sees every precious thing.  

###### 11 He dams up the streams from trickling;  
_What is_ hidden he brings forth to 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 It cannot be purchased for gold,  
Nor can silver be weighed _for_ its price.  

###### 16 It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,  
In precious onyx or sapphire.  

###### 17 Neither gold nor crystal can equal it,  
Nor can it be exchanged for jewelry of fine gold.  

###### 18 No mention shall be made of coral or quartz,  
For the price of wisdom _is_ above rubies.  

###### 19 The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it,  
Nor can it be valued in pure gold.

###### 20 "From where then does wisdom come?  
And where _is_ the place of understanding?  

###### 21 It is hidden from the eyes of all living,  
And concealed from the birds of the air.  

###### 22 Destruction and Death say,  
'We have heard a report about 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 heavens,  

###### 25 To establish a weight for the wind,  
And apportion the waters by measure.  

###### 26 When He made a law for the rain,  
And a path for the thunderbolt,  

###### 27 Then He saw _wisdom_ and declared it;  
He prepared it, indeed, He 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.' "