Job 28 The Amalgamation

Undoubtedly, there are mines for silver,

   And places to refine gold,

Iron is extracted from the earth,

    Copper is smelted out of stone.

He has set a boundary on the darkness,

   Probing to the utmost limits,

      For ore in gloom and death’s darkness.

Cleaving channels deep within the hole,

   Never trodden by human foot,

      Bereft even of wandering men.

The dirt no longer yielding food,

   While below is transformed as if by fire,

A place where the stones are sapphires,

   And the dust is gold.

Its path no bird of prey knows,

   Never beheld by the falcon’s eye.

The proud beasts have not trodden it,

   Nor have the lions passed over it.

He puts his hand to the flinty rock,

   Overturning the roots of the mountain.

He hews out channels through the rock,

   His eye sees every precious thing.

He binds up the flow of waters,

   He brings to light the things hidden.

But wisdom, where can it be found?

   Where does understanding dwell?

Mortals do not know the way to it,

   For it is not found in the land of the living.

The deep says, ‘Not in me.’

   The sea says, ‘Not with me.’

It cannot be acquired for even the finest gold,

   Nor can silver be weighed out as its price.

It cannot be weighed using the gold of Ophir,

   Nor precious onyx, nor sapphires.

Neither gold nor glass can equal it,

   Nor can fine gold objects be exchanged for it.

Coral and Crystal? Not worth mentioning,

 For the price of wisdom is beyond jewels.

The topaz of Cush does not compare,

   Nor can it be weighed against pure gold.

Whence then does wisdom come?

   Understanding, where is its place?

For it is hidden from the eyes of all living,

   Concealed even from those of the heavens.

Death and the underworld say,

   ‘Only an echo od it has reached our ears.’

God understands the way to it,

   He knows its place.

For God sees even to the ends of the earth,

   Observes everything under the heavens.

He established the density of wind,

   Apportioned the measure of water.

When He set the pattern for the rain,

   And the path for the thunderbolt.

Then God looked upon wisdom, giving it description,

   He established it, probing its place.

But to man He has said,

   Behold, to be in awe of the Lord – that is wisdom,

   To avoid evil – that is understanding.

  

Job 270