Where Can Wisdom Be Found? 1 UDB "It is true that there are places where men dig to find silver, and there are places where people refine gold that they have dug. BSB BSB: “Surely there is a mine for silver and a place where gold is refined.
2 UDB People dig iron ore out of the ground, and they also smelt copper. BSB BSB: Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore.
3 UDB Men use lamps while they work far down under the ground to search for the ore inside the mines where it is very dark. BSB BSB: Man puts an end to the darkness; he probes the farthest recesses for ore in deepest darkness.
4 UDB They dig shafts in places that are far from where people live, where travelers do not go. They work far away from other people, swinging back and forth on ropes as they descend into the mine shafts. BSB BSB: Far from human habitation he cuts a shaft in places forgotten by the foot of man. Far from men he dangles and sways.
5 UDB Food grows on the surface of the ground, but down under the ground, where there is no food, the miners make fires to break apart the rocks. BSB BSB: Food may come from the earth, but from below it is transformed as by fire.
6 UDB The stones that are dug from under the ground contain sapphires, and the dirt contains bits of gold. BSB BSB: Its rocks are the source of sapphires, containing flecks of gold.
7 UDB Some birds have very good eyes, but even hawks do not know where the mines are, and falcons have not seen those places. BSB BSB: No bird of prey knows that path; no falcon’s eye has seen it.
8 UDB Lions or other proud wild animals have never gone to those places. BSB BSB: Proud beasts have never trodden it; no lion has ever prowled over it.
9 UDB Miners dig very hard rock; it is as though they turned the mountains upside down to get the ore. BSB BSB: The miner strikes the flint; he overturns mountains at their base.
10 UDB They cut tunnels through the rocks, and they find precious things. BSB BSB: He hews out channels in the rocks, and his eyes spot every treasure.
11 UDB They dam up small streams to stop the water from flowing, and they bring up into the light things that are hidden in the ground and in the streams. BSB BSB: He stops up the sources of the streams to bring what is hidden to light.
12 UDB But wisdom: Where can people find that? Where can we find out how to truly understand things? BSB BSB: But where can wisdom be found, and where does understanding dwell?
13 UDB Humans do not know what wisdom is truly worth; no one can find it here on this earth where they are living. BSB BSB: No man can know its value, nor is it found in the land of the living.
14 UDB It is as though the water that is under the earth and water that is in the seas said, 'I do not have it!' BSB BSB: The ocean depths say, ‘It is not in me,’ while the sea declares, ‘It is not with me.’
15 UDB People cannot buy wisdom by paying for it with silver or gold. BSB BSB: It cannot be bought with gold, nor can its price be weighed out in silver.
16 UDB Wisdom is worth much more than fine gold from the land of Ophir, much more than very valuable stones. BSB BSB: It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, in precious onyx or sapphire.
17 UDB It is worth much more than gold or beautiful quartz; wisdom is more expensive than the finest jewels, and it is worth more than a vase made with pure gold. BSB BSB: Neither gold nor crystal can compare to it, nor jewels of fine gold be exchanged for it.
18 UDB Wisdom is worth more than coral or crystal quartz; the price of wisdom is higher than the price of rubies. BSB BSB: Coral and quartz are unworthy of mention; the price of wisdom is beyond rubies.
19 UDB The prices of topaz from Ethiopia and of pure gold are lower than the value of wisdom. BSB BSB: Topaz from Cush cannot compare to it, nor can it be valued in pure gold.
20 UDB So from where does wisdom come? Where can we find out how to truly understand things? BSB BSB: From where, then, does wisdom come, and where does understanding dwell?
21 UDB No living humans can see it; and birds cannot see it while they are up in the sky. BSB BSB: It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing and concealed from the birds of the air.
22 UDB It is as though the places where people go after they die said, 'We have only heard rumors about where to find wisdom.' BSB BSB: Abaddon and Death say, ‘We have heard a rumor about it.’
23 UDB God is the only one who knows how to find wisdom; he knows where it is BSB BSB: But God understands its way, and He knows its place.
24 UDB because he can see things even in the most remote places on the earth; he can see everything that is below the sky. BSB BSB: For He looks to the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens.
25 UDB He decided how strongly the winds should blow, and how much rain should be in the clouds. BSB BSB: When God fixed the weight of the wind and measured out the waters,
26 UDB He decided where rain should fall, and what path lightning should take from the clouds down to the ground. BSB BSB: when He set a limit for the rain and a path for the thunderbolt,
27 UDB At that time he saw wisdom and decided that it is very valuable. He examined it and approved it. BSB BSB: then He looked at wisdom and appraised it; He established it and searched it out.
28 UDB And then he said to human beings, 'Listen! If you have much respect for me, you will be able to become wise; to truly understand everything, you must first turn away from doing what is evil.'" BSB BSB: And 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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