Job 28:12–28

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.

¹⁷Neither gold nor crystal can compare to it,

nor jewels of fine gold be exchanged for it.

¹⁸Coral and quartz are unworthy of mention;

the price of wisdom is beyond rubies.

¹⁹Topaz from Cush^b cannot compare to it,

nor can it be valued in pure gold.

²⁰From where, then, does wisdom come,

and where does understanding dwell?

²¹It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing

and concealed from the birds of the air.

²²Abaddon^c and Death say,

‘We have heard a rumor about it.’

²³But God understands its way,

and He knows its place.

²⁴For He looks to the ends of the earth

and sees everything under the heavens.

²⁵When God fixed the weight of the wind

and measured out the waters,

²⁶when He set a limit for the rain

and a path for the thunderbolt,

²⁷then He looked at wisdom and appraised it;

He established it and searched it out.

²⁸And He said to man, ‘Behold,

the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom,

and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”