Job 28 :: English Standard Version (ESV)

Job Continues: Where Is Wisdom?

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

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

Job 28:3Man puts an end to darkness
and searches out to the farthest limit
the ore in gloom and deep darkness.

Job 28:4He opens shafts in a valley away from where anyone lives;
they are forgotten by travelers;
they hang in the air, far away from mankind; they swing to and fro.

Job 28:5

Job 28:5As for the earth, out of it comes bread,
but underneath it is turned up as by fire.

Job 28:6

Job 28:6Its stones are the place of sapphires,[fn]
and it has dust of gold.

Job 28:7

Job 28:7“That path no bird of prey knows,
and the falcon’s eye has not seen it.

Job 28:8

Job 28:8The proud beasts have not trodden it;
the lion has not passed over it.

Job 28:9

Job 28:9“Man puts his hand to the flinty rock
and overturns mountains by the roots.

Job 28:10

Job 28:10He cuts out channels in the rocks,
and his eye sees every precious thing.

Job 28:11

Job 28:11He dams up the streams so that they do not trickle,
and the thing that is hidden he brings out to light.

Job 28:12

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

Job 28:13

Job 28:13Man does not know its worth,
and it is not found in the land of the living.

Job 28:14

Job 28:14The deep says, ‘It is not in me,’
and the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’

Job 28:15

Job 28:15It cannot be bought for gold,
and silver cannot be weighed as its price.

Job 28:16

Job 28:16It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,
in precious onyx or sapphire.

Job 28:17

Job 28:17Gold and glass cannot equal it,
nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.

Job 28:18

Job 28:18No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal;
the price of wisdom is above pearls.

Job 28:19

Job 28:19The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it,
nor can it be valued in pure gold.

Job 28:20

Job 28:20“From where, then, does wisdom come?
And where is the place of understanding?

Job 28:21

Job 28:21It is hidden from the eyes of all living
and concealed from the birds of the air.

Job 28:22

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

Job 28:23

Job 28:23“God understands the way to it,
and he knows its place.

Job 28:24

Job 28:24For he looks to the ends of the earth
and sees everything under the heavens.

Job 28:25

Job 28:25When he gave to the wind its weight
and apportioned the waters by measure,

Job 28:26

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

Job 28:27

Job 28:27then he saw it and declared it;
he established it, and searched it out.

Job 28:28

Job 28:28And he said to man,
‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom,
and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”

See the ESV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

ESV Footnotes

(28:6)

Or lapis lazuli; also verse 16

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Books and Bibles, a Publishing Ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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For more information on this translation, see the ESV Preface.

Job Chapter 28 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New King James Version New Living Translation New International Version Christian Standard Bible New American Standard Bible 2020 New American Standard Bible 1995 Legacy Standard Bible Amplified Bible New English Translation Revised Standard Version American Standard Version Young's Literal Translation Darby Translation Webster's Bible Hebrew Names Version Latin Vulgate Westminster Leningrad Codex Septuagint Smith Van Dyck Arabic Bible Open New Arabic Version Brenton's English Septuagint Reina Valera 1909 Reina-Valera 1960 Bible in Basic English Chinese Traditional Union Espanol Moderno Korean Holy Bible Louis Segond German Luther Russian Synodal Translation Sagradas Escrituras

Job 28 :: English Standard Version (ESV)

Job Continues: Where Is Wisdom?

ESV Footnotes

Job Chapter 28 — Additional Translations:

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