📖 Job 28
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III. Job’s Search for Wisdom(28:1-28)No Known Road to Wisdom“Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place where gold is refined.
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Iron is taken from the ground, and rock is poured out as copper.
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Man puts an end to the darkness; he searches the farthest recesses for the ore in the deepest darkness.
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Far from where people live he sinks a shaft, in places travelers have long forgotten, far from other people he dangles and sways.
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The earth, from which food comes, is overturned below as though by fire;
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a place whose stones are sapphires and which contains dust of gold;
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a hidden path no bird of prey knows– no falcon’s eye has spotted it.
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Proud beasts have not set foot on it, and no lion has passed along it.
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On the flinty rock man has set to work with his hand; he has overturned mountains at their bases.
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He has cut out channels through the rocks; his eyes have spotted every precious thing.
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He has searched the sources of the rivers and what was hidden he has brought into the light.
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No Price Can Buy Wisdom“But wisdom– where can it be found? Where is the place of understanding?
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Mankind does not know its place; it cannot be found in the land of the living.
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The deep says,‘It is not with me.’ And the sea says,‘It is not with me.’
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Fine gold cannot be given in exchange for it, nor can its price be weighed out in silver.
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It cannot be measured out for purchase with the gold of Ophir, with precious onyx or sapphires.
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Neither gold nor crystal can be compared with it, nor can a vase of gold match its worth.
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Of coral and jasper no mention will be made; the price of wisdom is more than pearls.
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The topaz of Cush cannot be compared with it; it cannot be purchased with pure gold.
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God Alone Has Wisdom“But wisdom– where does it come from? Where is the place of understanding?
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For it has been hidden from the eyes of every living creature, and from the birds of the sky it has been concealed.
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Destruction and Death say,‘With our ears we have heard a rumor about where it can be found.’
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God understands the way to it, and he alone knows its place.
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For he looks to the ends of the earth and observes everything under the heavens.
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When he made the force of the wind and measured the waters with a gauge,
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when he imposed a limit for the rain, and a path for the thunderstorm,
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then he looked at wisdom and assessed its value; he established it and examined it closely.
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And he said to mankind,‘The fear of the LORD– that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”