Job 28

¹The siluer surely hath his veyne, and ye gold his place, where they take it.

²Yron is taken out of the dust, and brasse is molten out of the stone.

³God putteth an end to darkenesse, and he tryeth the perfection of all things: he setteth a bond of darkenesse, and of the shadowe of death.

⁴The flood breaketh out against the inhabitant, and the waters forgotten of the foote, being higher then man, are gone away.

⁵Out of the same earth commeth bread, and vnder it, as it were fire is turned vp.

⁶The stones thereof are a place of saphirs, and the dust of it is golde.

⁷There is a path which no foule hath knowen, neyther hath the kites eye seene it.

⁸The lyons whelpes haue not walked it, nor the lyon passed thereby.

⁹He putteth his hand vpon the rockes, and ouerthroweth the mountaines by the rootes.

¹⁰He breaketh riuers in the rockes, and his eye seeth euery precious thing.

¹¹He bindeth the floods, that they doe not ouerflowe, and the thing that is hid, bringeth he to light.

¹²But where is wisdome found? and where is the place of vnderstanding?

¹³Man knoweth not the price thereof: for it is not found in the land of the liuing.

¹⁴The depth sayth, It is not in mee: the sea also sayth, It is not with me.

¹⁵Golde shall not be giuen for it, neyther shall siluer be weighed for the price thereof.

¹⁶It shall not be valued with the wedge of golde of Ophir, nor with the precious onix, nor the saphir.

¹⁷The golde nor the chrystall shall be equall vnto it, nor the exchange shalbe for plate of fine golde.

¹⁸No mention shall be made of coral, nor of the gabish: for wisedome is more precious then pearles.

¹⁹The Topaz of Ethiopia shall not be equall vnto it, neither shall it be valued with the wedge of pure gold.

²⁰Whence then commeth wisedome? and where is the place of vnderstanding,

²¹Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all the liuing, and is hid from the foules of the heauen?

²²Destruction and death say, We haue heard the fame thereof with our eares.

²³But God vnderstandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof.

²⁴For he beholdeth the endes of the world, and seeth all that is vnder heauen,

²⁵To make the weight of the windes, and to weigh the waters by measure.

²⁶When he made a decree for the rayne, and a way for the lightening of the thunders,

²⁷Then did he see it, and counted it: he prepared it and also considered it.

²⁸And vnto man he said, Behold, the feare of the Lord is wisedome, and to depart from euil is vnderstanding.

Job 28

¹Surely there is a vein for the silver, and a place for gold where they fine it.

²Iron is taken out of the earth, and brass is molten out of the stone.

³He setteth an end to darkness, and searcheth out all perfection: the stones of darkness, and the shadow of death.

⁴The flood breaketh out from the inhabitant; even the waters forgotten of the foot: they are dried up, they are gone away from men.

⁵As for the earth, out of it cometh bread: and under it is turned up as it were fire.

⁶The stones of it are the place of sapphires: and it hath dust of gold.

⁷There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture’s eye hath not seen:

⁸The lion’s whelps have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion passed by it.

⁹He putteth forth his hand upon the rock; he overturneth the mountains by the roots.

¹⁰He cutteth out rivers among the rocks; and his eye seeth every precious thing.

¹¹He bindeth the floods from overflowing; and the thing that is hid bringeth he forth to light.

¹²But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding?

¹³Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither is it found in the land of the living.

¹⁴The depth saith, It is not in me: and the sea saith, It is not with me.

¹⁵It cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof.

¹⁶It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire.

¹⁷The gold and the crystal cannot equal it: and the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine gold.

¹⁸No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls: for the price of wisdom is above rubies.

¹⁹The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, neither shall it be valued with pure gold.

²⁰Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding?

²¹Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of the air.

²²Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame thereof with our ears.

²³God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof.

²⁴For he looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heaven;

²⁵To make the weight for the winds; and he weigheth the waters by measure.

²⁶When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder:

²⁷Then did he see it, and declare it; he prepared it, yea, and searched it out.

²⁸And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.