Job 28

¹“Surely there is a mine for silver and a place where gold is refined.

²Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore.

³Man puts an end to the darkness; he probes the farthest recesses for ore in deepest darkness.

⁴Far from human habitation he cuts a shaft in places forgotten by the foot of man. Far from men he dangles and sways.

⁵Food may come from the earth, but from below it is transformed as by fire.

⁶Its rocks are the source of sapphires, containing flecks of gold.

⁷No bird of prey knows that path; no falcon’s eye has seen it.

⁸Proud beasts have never trodden it; no lion has ever prowled over it.

⁹The miner strikes the flint; he overturns mountains at their base.

¹⁰He hews out channels in the rocks, and his eyes spot every treasure.

¹¹He stops up the sources of the streams to bring what is hidden to light.

¹²But where can wisdom be found, and where does understanding dwell?

¹³No man can know its value, nor is it found in the land of the living.

¹⁴The ocean depths say, ‘It is not in me,’ while the sea declares, ‘It is not with me.’

¹⁵It cannot be bought with gold, nor can its price be weighed out in silver.

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

Neither gold nor crystal can compare to it, nor jewels of fine gold be exchanged for it.