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Interlude: Where Wisdom Is Found

28‘Surely there is a mine for silver,
   and a place for gold to be refined.
² Iron is taken out of the earth,
   and copper is smelted from ore.
³ Miners put^* an end to darkness,
   and search out to the farthest bound
   the ore in gloom and deep darkness.
⁴ They open shafts in a valley away from human habitation;
   they are forgotten by travellers,
   they sway suspended, remote from people.
⁵ As for the earth, out of it comes bread;
   but underneath it is turned up as by fire.
⁶ Its stones are the place of sapphires,^*
   and its dust contains gold.

⁷ ‘That path no bird of prey knows,
   and the falcon’s eye has not seen it.
⁸ The proud wild animals have not trodden it;
   the lion has not passed over it.

⁹ ‘They put their hand to the flinty rock,
   and overturn mountains by the roots.
¹⁰ They cut out channels in the rocks,
   and their eyes see every precious thing.
¹¹ The sources of the rivers they probe;^*
   hidden things they bring to light.

¹² ‘But where shall wisdom be found?
   And where is the place of understanding?
¹³ Mortals do not know the way to it,^*
   and it is not 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 bought for gold,
   and silver cannot be weighed out as its price.
¹⁶ It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,
   in precious onyx or sapphire.^*
17 Gold and glass cannot equal it,
   nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.
¹⁸ No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal;
   the price of wisdom is above pearls.
¹⁹ The chrysolite of Ethiopia^* cannot compare with it,
   nor can it be valued in pure gold.

²⁰ ‘Where then does wisdom come from?
   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 Abaddon and Death say,
   “We have heard a rumour of it with our ears.”

²³ ‘God understands the way to it,
   and he knows its place.
²⁴ For he looks to the ends of the earth,
   and sees everything under the heavens.
²⁵ When he gave to the wind its weight,
   and apportioned out the waters by measure;
²⁶ when he made a decree for the rain,
   and a way for the thunderbolt;
²⁷ then he saw it and declared it;
   he established it, and searched it out.
²⁸ And he said to humankind,
“Truly, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom;
   and to depart from evil is understanding.” ’