28:1 “Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place where gold is refined.
28:2 Iron is taken from the ground, and rock is poured out as copper.
28:3 Man puts an end to the darkness; he searches the farthest recesses for the ore in the deepest darkness.
28:4 Far from where people live he sinks a shaft, in places travelers have long forgotten, far from other people he dangles and sways.
28:5 The earth, from which food comes, is overturned below as though by fire;
28:6 a place whose stones are sapphires and which contains dust of gold;
28:7 a hidden path no bird of prey knows — no falcon’s eye has spotted it.
28:8 Proud beasts have not set foot on it, and no lion has passed along it.
28:9 On the flinty rock man has set to work with his hand; he has overturned mountains at their bases.
28:10 He has cut out channels through the rocks; his eyes have spotted every precious thing.
28:11 He has searched the sources of the rivers and what was hidden he has brought into the light.
28:12 “But wisdom — where can it be found? Where is the place of understanding?
28:13 Mankind does not know its place; it cannot be found in the land of the living.
28:14 The deep says, ‘It is not with me.’ And the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’
28:15 Fine gold cannot be given in exchange for it, nor can its price be weighed out in silver.
28:16 It cannot be measured out for purchase with the gold of Ophir, with precious onyx or sapphires.
28:17 Neither gold nor crystal can be compared with it, nor can a vase of gold match its worth.