BibleInTonguesWEB
Job 28
A standalone poem on wisdom interrupts the debate. It opens with mining: men sink shafts after silver, gold, and sapphire, tunneling where no falcon's eye reaches, overturning mountains by the roots to drag hidden things into light. The pivot comes at verse 12 — but where is wisdom found? Not in the deep, not in the sea, not buyable with the gold of Ophir. The chapter's quiet argument: humans can reach buried ore but not buried wisdom.
- 1
“Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place for gold which they refine.
- 2
Iron is taken out of the earth, and copper is smelted out of the ore.
- 3
Man sets an end to darkness, and searches out, to the furthest bound, the stones of obscurity and of thick darkness.
- 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.
- 5
As for the earth, out of it comes bread. Underneath it is turned up as it were by fire.
- 6
Sapphires come from its rocks. It has dust of gold.
- 7
That path no bird of prey knows, neither has the falcon’s eye seen it.
- 8
The proud animals have not trodden it, nor has the fierce lion passed by there.
- 9
He puts his hand on the flinty rock, and he overturns the mountains by the roots.
- 10
He cuts out channels among the rocks. His eye sees every precious thing.
- 11
He binds the streams that they don’t trickle. The thing that is hidden he brings out to light.
- 12
“But where will wisdom be found? Where is the place of understanding?
- 13
Man doesn’t know its price, and it isn’t found in the land of the living.
- 14
The deep says, ‘It isn’t in me.’ The sea says, ‘It isn’t with me.’
- 15
It can’t be gotten for gold, neither will silver be weighed for its price.
- 16
It can’t be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire.
- 17
Gold and glass can’t equal it, neither will it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.
- 18
No mention will be made of coral or of crystal. Yes, the price of wisdom is above rubies.
- 19
The topaz of Ethiopia will not equal it. It won’t be valued with pure gold.
- 20
Where then does wisdom come from? Where is the place of understanding?
- 21
Seeing it is hidden from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the birds of the sky.
- 22
Destruction and Death say, ‘We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.’
- 23
“God understands its way, and he knows its place.
- 24
For he looks to the ends of the earth, and sees under the whole sky.
- 25
He establishes the force of the wind. Yes, he measures out the waters by measure.
- 26
When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder,
- 27
then he saw it, and declared it. He established it, yes, and searched it out.
- 28
To man he said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom. To depart from evil is understanding.’”
- 1
“Certamente há uma mina para a prata, e um lugar para o ouro que eles refinam.
- 2
O ferro é tirado da terra, e o cobre é fundido do minério.
- 3
O homem põe fim à escuridão, e esquadrinha, até o limite mais distante, as pedras da obscuridade e das densas trevas.
- 4
Ele abre um poço longe de onde as pessoas vivem. Eles são esquecidos pelos pés. Pendurados longe dos homens, eles balançam de um lado para o outro.
- 5
Quanto à terra, dela vem o pão. Mas por baixo ela é revolvida como que por fogo.
- 6
As safiras vêm de suas rochas. Ela tem pó de ouro.
- 7
Essa vereda, nenhuma ave de rapina conhece, nem o olho do falcão a viu.
- 8
Os animais orgulhosos não a pisaram, nem o leão feroz passou por lá.
- 9
Ele põe a sua mão na rocha de sílex, e vira as montanhas pelas raízes.
- 10
Ele corta canais entre as rochas. Seu olho vê toda coisa preciosa.
- 11
Ele represa os rios para que não gotejem. A coisa que está escondida, ele traz à luz.
- 12
“Mas onde se achará a sabedoria? Onde está o lugar do entendimento?
- 13
O homem não conhece o seu valor, e ela não se encontra na terra dos viventes.
- 14
O abismo diz: ‘Não está em mim.’ O mar diz: ‘Não está comigo.’
- 15
Não pode ser comprada com ouro, nem se pesará prata para o seu preço.
- 16
Não pode ser avaliada com o ouro de Ofir, com o precioso ônix, ou com a safira.
- 17
O ouro e o vidro não podem se igualar a ela, nem será trocada por joias de ouro fino.
- 18
Nenhuma menção será feita de coral ou de cristal. Sim, o preço da sabedoria está acima dos rubis.
- 19
O topázio da Etiópia não se igualará a ela. Ela não será avaliada com ouro puro.
- 20
De onde, então, vem a sabedoria? Onde está o lugar do entendimento?
- 21
Visto que está escondida dos olhos de todos os viventes, e oculta das aves do céu.
- 22
A Destruição e a Morte dizem: ‘Ouvimos um rumor dela com nossos ouvidos.’
- 23
“Deus entende o seu caminho, e ele conhece o seu lugar.
- 24
Pois ele olha até os confins da terra, e vê debaixo de todo o céu.
- 25
Ele estabelece a força do vento. Sim, ele mede as águas por medida.
- 26
Quando ele fez um decreto para a chuva, e um caminho para o relâmpago do trovão,
- 27
então ele a viu, e a declarou. Ele a estabeleceu, sim, e a esquadrinhou.
- 28
E disse ao homem: ‘Eis que o temor do Senhor, isso é a sabedoria. Apartar-se do mal é o entendimento.’”
What the miner cannot dig up
The first eleven verses celebrate human ingenuity reaching the unreachable. The refrain question in verses 12 and 20 then exposes the one thing all that skill can't locate: wisdom has no market price, and Destruction and Death have only heard a rumor of it.
Verse 23 resolves it: God alone knows the way to wisdom, having measured the wind and the waters at creation. The closing line redirects the whole search to something a person can actually have — "the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom."
Context layers
Keep these closed by default and open them only when you want more context.
- Exodus 36:1Related through the topic "Wisdom".
- Deuteronomy 4:6Related through the topic "Wisdom".
- Isaiah 29:14Related through the topic "Wisdom".
- Daniel 2:21Related through the topic "Wisdom".
- James 3:13Related through the topic "Wisdom".
- Exodus 28:3Related through the topic "Wisdom".
- Exodus 31:3Related through the topic "Wisdom".
- Exodus 31:6Related through the topic "Wisdom".
Share a small range via:
/en/web/job/28/16-18
Or use the Passage link builder.