28 

Where is wisdom to be ey found?

And knowledge, where does it abound?

For silver there are mines,

and places for refining gold;

2 

iron from the earth is taken,

copper smelted out of stones.

3 

Men searched the darkness to its depth,

and in the pitchy gloom for stones they grope;

4 

they run a shaft down, far from daylight,

they hang below, swinging upon a rope.

5 

A harvest comes out of the earth below,

when the miner blasts it underground;

6 

sapphires lie among its stones,

and he picks up lumps of gold;

9 

he falls to work upon the flinty rocks,

he turns hills up by the roots;

10 

he drills a channel in the cliff,

11 

to draw the water off;

10 

he delves for what is rare,

11 

and hidden gems he will unbare.

12 

But where is wisdom to be found?

And knowledge, where does it abound?

7 

No vulture knows the path to it,

no hawk’s eye ever spies it,

8 

no proud beast ever paces it,

no lion moves along it;

13 

not a man knows that path,

in the land of the living none finds it.

18 

The deep says, ‘Not in me!’

The sea says, ‘Not in me!’

15 

No solid gold can purchase wisdom,

no silver can be paid for her;

16 

there is no price for her in gold of Ophir,

in precious beryls or in sapphires;

17 

gold and glass are no match for her,

jewels of gold are no exchange for her;

18 

coral and crystal are not to be mentioned;

wisdom is more precious even than rubies;

19 

the Ethiopian chrysolite is not equal to her,

no weight of gold can be paid down for her.

20 

Where is wisdom to be found?

And knowledge, where does it abound?

21 

For she is hid from every living creature,

even from the eyes of a wild bird.

22 

Death and the underworld declare,

‘We have only heard of her.’

23 

God knows where she is,

God only is aware of her abode;

24 

for he saw to the very ends of earth,

he scanned the whole world under heaven,

25 

when he fixed the forces of the wind,

and measured out the waters,

26 

when he made rules for the rain,

and paths for the lightning flash;

27 

he saw wisdom then, and studied her,

worked with her and proved her.

28 

And he declares to man, ‘For you

to revere me is your wisdom,

to shun evil--that is knowledge!” ’