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28 Surely there is a vein for the silver, and a place for gold which they refine;

Iron is taken out of the dust, and copper is molten out of the stone.

[Man] putteth an end to the darkness, and exploreth to the utmost limit, the stones of darkness and of the shadow of death.

He openeth a shaft far from the inhabitants [of the earth]: forgotten of the foot, they hang suspended; away below men they hover.

As for the earth, out of it cometh bread, and underneath it is turned up as by fire;

The stones of it are the place of sapphires, and it hath dust of gold.

It is a path no bird of prey knoweth, and the vulture's eye hath not seen it;

The proud beasts have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion passed over it.

[Man] putteth forth his hand upon the flinty rock, he overturneth the mountains by the root.

10 He cutteth out channels in the rocks, and his eye seeth every precious thing.

11 He bindeth the streams that they drip not, and what is hidden he bringeth forth to light.

12 But wisdom, where shall it be found? and where is the place of understanding?

13 Man knoweth not the value thereof; and it is not found in the land of the living.

14 The deep saith, It is not in me; and the sea saith, It is not with me.

15 Choice gold cannot be given for it, nor silver be weighed for its price.

16 It is not set in the balance with gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, and the sapphire.

17 Gold and glass cannot be compared to it, nor vessels of fine gold be its exchange.

18 Corals and crystal are no more remembered; yea, the acquisition of wisdom is above rubies.

19 The topaz of Ethiopia shall not be compared to it, neither shall it be set in the balance with pure gold.

20 Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding?

21 For it is hidden from the eyes of all living, and concealed from the fowl of the heavens.

22 Destruction and death say, We have heard its report with our ears.

23 God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth its place:

24 For he looketh to the ends of the earth, he seeth under the whole heaven.

25 In making a weight for the wind, and meting out the waters by measure,

26 In appointing a statute for the rain, and a way for the thunder's flash:

27 Then did he see it, and declare it; he established it, yea, and searched it out;

28 And unto man he said, Lo, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.

29 And Job continued his parable and said,

Oh that I were as in months past, as in the days when +God preserved me;

When his lamp shone over my head, [and] by his light I walked through darkness;

As I was in the days of my youth, when the secret counsel of +God was over my tent,

When the Almighty was yet with me, my young men round about me;

When my steps were bathed in milk, and the rock poured out beside me rivers of oil! …

When I went out to the gate by the city, when I prepared my seat on the broadway,

The young men saw me, and hid themselves; and the aged arose [and] stood up;

Princes refrained from talking, and laid the hand on their mouth;

10 The voice of the nobles was hushed, and their tongue cleaved to their palate.

11 When the ear heard [me], then it blessed me, and when the eye saw [me], it gave witness to me;

12 For I delivered the afflicted that cried, and the fatherless who had no helper.

13 The blessing of him that was perishing came upon me, and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy.

14 I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my justice was as a mantle and a turban.

15 I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame;

16 I was a father to the needy, and the cause which I knew not I searched out;

17 And I broke the jaws of the unrighteous, and plucked the spoil out of his teeth.

18 And I said, I shall die in my nest, and multiply my days as the sand;

19 My root shall be spread out to the waters, and the dew will lie all night on my branch;

20 My glory shall be fresh in me, and my bow be renewed in my hand.

21 Unto me they listened, and waited, and kept silence for my counsel:

22 After my words they spoke not again, and my speech dropped upon them;

23 And they waited for me as for the rain, and they opened their mouth wide as for the latter rain.

24 [If] I laughed on them, they believed [it] not; and they troubled not the serenity of my countenance.

25 I chose their way, and sat as chief, and dwelt as a king in the army, as one that comforteth mourners.

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