Job 28

Berean Standard Bible

Chapter summary

Job 28 begins by detailing human ingenuity in mining precious metals and minerals from the earth, reaching places untouched by birds or beasts. Workers cut shafts through rock, overturn mountains, carve channels, and dam streams to bring hidden treasures to light. The text then questions the origin of wisdom and understanding, noting that they cannot be found in the land of the living, the ocean depths, or acquired with gold, silver, onyx, sapphire, or other precious stones. While Abaddon and Death have only heard a rumor of wisdom, God alone knows its place because He observes the entire earth and established the laws for the wind, waters, rain, and thunderbolts. Finally, God declares to humanity that the fear of the Lord is wisdom, and turning away from evil is understanding.

Summary automatically generated from the Bible text.

Words of Jesus in red

¹“Surely there is a mine for silver and a place where gold is refined. ²Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore. ³Man puts an end to the darkness; he probes the farthest recesses for ore in deepest darkness. ⁴Far from human habitation he cuts a shaft in places forgotten by the foot of man. Far from men he dangles and sways. ⁵Food may come from the earth, but from below it is transformed as by fire. ⁶Its rocks are the source of sapphires, containing flecks of gold. ⁷No bird of prey knows that path; no falcon’s eye has seen it. ⁸Proud beasts have never trodden it; no lion has ever prowled over it. ⁹The miner strikes the flint; he overturns mountains at their base. ¹⁰He hews out channels in the rocks, and his eyes spot every treasure. ¹¹He stops up the sources of the streams to bring what is hidden to light. ¹²But where can wisdom be found, and where does understanding dwell? ¹³No man can know its value, nor is it found in the land of the living. ¹⁴The ocean depths say, ‘It is not in me,’ while the sea declares, ‘It is not with me.’ ¹⁵It cannot be bought with gold, nor can its price be weighed out in silver. ¹⁶It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, in precious onyx or sapphire. ¹⁷Neither gold nor crystal can compare to it, nor jewels of fine gold be exchanged for it. ¹⁸Coral and quartz are unworthy of mention; the price of wisdom is beyond rubies. ¹⁹Topaz from Cush cannot compare to it, nor can it be valued in pure gold. ²⁰From where, then, does wisdom come, and where does understanding dwell? ²¹It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing and concealed from the birds of the air. ²²Abaddon and Death say, ‘We have heard a rumor about it.’ ²³But God understands its way, and He knows its place. ²⁴For He looks to the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens. ²⁵When God fixed the weight of the wind and measured out the waters, ²⁶when He set a limit for the rain and a path for the thunderbolt, ²⁷then He looked at wisdom and appraised it; He established it and searched it out. ²⁸And He said to man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”

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Louis Segond 1910 and Berean Standard Bible: public domain. Cross references: open-cross-ref, Creative Commons BY 4.0.