¹ Surely there is a vein for the silver,
And a place for gold where they fine it.
² Iron is taken out of the earth,
And brass is molten out of the stone.
³ He setteth an end to darkness,
And searcheth out all perfection:
The stones of darkness, and the shadow of death.
⁴ The flood breaketh out from the inhabitant;
Even the waters forgotten of the foot:
They are dried up, they are gone away from men.
⁵  As for the earth, out of it cometh bread:
And under it is turned up as it were fire.
⁶ The stones of it are the place of sapphires:
And it hath dust of gold.

⁷ There is a path which no fowl knoweth,
And which the vulture’s eye hath not seen:
⁸ The lion’s whelps have not trodden it,
Nor the fierce lion passed by it.
⁹ He putteth forth his hand upon the rock;
He overturneth the mountains by the roots.
¹⁰ He cutteth out rivers among the rocks;
And his eye seeth every precious thing.
¹¹ He bindeth the floods from overflowing;
And the thing that is hid bringeth he forth to light.

¹² But where shall wisdom be found?
And where is the place of understanding?
¹³ Man knoweth not the price thereof;
Neither is it found in the land of the living.
¹⁴ The depth saith, It is not in me:
And the sea saith, It is not with me.
¹⁵ It cannot be gotten for gold,
Neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof.
¹⁶ It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir,
With the precious onyx, or the sapphire.
¹⁷ The gold and the crystal cannot equal it:
And the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine gold.
¹⁸ No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls:
For the price of wisdom is above rubies.
¹⁹ The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it,
Neither shall it be valued with pure gold.

²⁰ Whence then cometh wisdom?
And where is the place of understanding?
²¹ Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living,
And kept close from the fowls of the air.
²² Destruction and death say,
We have heard the fame thereof with our ears.

²³ God understandeth the way thereof,
And he knoweth the place thereof.
²⁴ For he looketh to the ends of the earth,
And seeth under the whole heaven;
²⁵ To make the weight for the winds;
And he weigheth the waters by measure.
²⁶ When he made a decree for the rain,
And a way for the lightning of the thunder:
²⁷ Then did he see it, and declare it;
He prepared it, yea, and searched it out.
²⁸ And unto man he said,
Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom;
And to depart from evil is understanding.