There is a knowledge of natural things.

28:1 “Surely there is a mine for silver,
and a place for gold which they refine.

28:2 Iron is taken out of the earth,
and copper is smelted out of the ore.

28:3 Man sets an end to darkness,
and searches out, to the furthest bound,
the stones of obscurity and of thick darkness.

28:4 He breaks open a shaft away from where people live.
They are forgotten by the foot.
They hang far from men, they swing back and forth.

28:5 As for the earth, out of it comes bread;
Underneath it is turned up as it were by fire.

28:6 Sapphires come from its rocks.
It has dust of gold.

28:7 That path no bird of prey knows,
neither has the falcon’s eye seen it.

28:8 The proud animals have not trodden it,
nor has the fierce lion passed by there.

28:9 He puts forth his hand on the flinty rock,
and he overturns the mountains by the roots.

28:10 He cuts out channels among the rocks.
His eye sees every precious thing.

28:11 He binds the streams that they don’t trickle.
The thing that is hidden he brings forth to light.

But wisdom is an excellent gift of God.

28:12 “But where shall wisdom be found?
Where is the place of understanding?

28:13 Man doesn’t know its price;
Neither is it found in the land of the living.

28:14 The deep says,

‘It isn’t in me.’

The sea says,

‘It isn’t with me.’

28:15 It can’t be gotten for gold,
neither shall silver be weighed for its price.

28:16 It can’t be valued with the gold of Ophir,
with the precious onyx, or the sapphire.

28:17 Gold and glass can’t equal it,
neither shall it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.

28:18 No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal.
Yes, the price of wisdom is above rubies.

28:19 The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it,
Neither shall it be valued with pure gold.

28:20 Whence then comes wisdom?
Where is the place of understanding?

28:21 Seeing it is hidden from the eyes of all living,
and kept close from the birds of the sky.

28:22 Destruction and Death say,
‘We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.’

28:23 “God understands its way,
and he knows its place.

28:24 For he looks to the ends of the earth,
and sees under the whole sky.

28:25 He establishes the force of the wind.
Yes, he measures out the waters by measure.

28:26 When he made a decree for the rain,
and a way for the lightning of the thunder;

28:27 then he saw it, and declared it.
He established it, yes, and searched it out.

28:28 To man he said,

‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom.
To depart from evil is understanding.’”