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¹ Surely there is a mine for the silver, and a place where they refine gold.² Iron is taken out of the earth, and bronze is smelted from stone.³ He sets an end to darkness, and to every extremity He searches out a stone of darkness and death-shade.⁴ He opens a shaft far from the visitor; they are forgotten by man's foot; they hang far from men; they swing to and fro.⁵ As to the earth, out of it comes bread; and underneath it, it is turned up like fire.⁶ The place of sapphires is in its stones, and it has dust of gold.⁷ There is a path not known to birds of prey, nor has a falcon's eye caught sight of it;⁸ the sons of pride have not trodden on it; the lion has not passed by it.⁹ He places his hand on the flint places; He overturns mountains by the roots.¹⁰ He cuts out rivers among the rocks, and His eye sees every precious thing.¹¹ He restrains the floods from overflowing; and He brings the hidden thing to light.¹² But where shall 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 instead of it, and silver cannot be weighed as its price.¹⁶ It cannot be weighed against the gold of Ophir, against precious onyx, or sapphire;¹⁷ gold and crystal cannot be ranked with it, nor its exchange a vessel of fine gold.¹⁸ Coral and rock crystal cannot be mentioned; yea, the getting of wisdom is above jewels.¹⁹ The topaz of Ethiopia cannot be ranked with it; it cannot be weighed against pure gold.

²⁰ Where then does wisdom come from, and where is the place of understanding?²¹ Yea, it is hidden from the eyes of all living, and concealed from the birds of the heavens;²² the Place of Ruin and Death say, We have heard its fame with our ears.²³ God knows its way, and He knows its place.²⁴ For He looks to the ends of the earth, and sees under all the heavens;²⁵ making a weight for the winds and measuring out the waters by measure.²⁶ When He made a decree for the rain, and a way for the flash, the thunderclap,²⁷ then He saw it, and declared it; He prepared it, and He also searched it out.²⁸ And to man He said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom! And to turn from evil is understanding.