Read the Bible

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 [fn] 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 [fn] 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."'