The Book of Job
Chapter 28
1 – Silver hath beginnings of its veins, and gold hath a place wherein it is melted.
2 – Iron is taken out of the earth, and stone melted with heat is turned into brass.
3 – He hath set a time for darkness, and the end of all things he considereth, the stone also that is in the dark and the shadow of death.
4 – The flood divideth from the people that are on their journey, those whom the food of the needy man hath forgotten, and who cannot be come at.
5 – The land, out of which bread grew in its place, hath been overturned with fire.
6 – The stones of it are the place of sapphires, and the clods of it are gold.
7 – The bird hath not known the path, neither hath the eye of the vulture beheld it.
8 – The children of the merchants have not trodden it, neither hath the lioness passed by it.
9 – He hath stretched forth his hand to the flint, he hath overturned mountains from the roots.
10 – In the rocks he hath cut out rivers, and his eye hath seen every precious thing.
11 – The depths also of rivers he hath searched, and hidden things he hath brought forth to light.
12 – But where is wisdom to be found, and where is the place of understanding?
13 – Man knoweth not the price thereof, neither is it found in the land of them that live in delights.
14 – The depth saith: It is not in me: and the sea saith: It is not with me.
15 – The finest gold shall not purchase it, neither shall silver be weighed in exchange for it
16 – It shall not be compared with the dyed colours of India, or with the most precious stone sardonyx, or the sapphire.
17 – Gold or crystal cannot equal it, neither shall any vessels of gold be changed for it.
18 – High and eminent things shall not be mentioned in comparison of it: but wisdom is drawn out of secret places.
19 – The topaz of Ethiopia shall not be equal to it, neither shall it be compared to the cleanest dyeing.
20 – Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding?
21 – It is hid from the eyes of all living. and the fowls of the air know it not.
22 – Destruction and death have said: With our ears we have heard the fame thereof.
23 – God understandeth the way of it, and he knoweth the place thereof.
24 – For he beholdeth the ends of the world: and looketh on all things that are under heaven.
25 – Who made a weight for the winds and weighed the waters by measure.
26 – When he gave a law for the rain, and a way for the sounding storms.
27 – Then he saw it, and declared, and prepared, and searched it.
28 – And he said to man: Behold the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom: and to depart from evil, is understanding.
The Catholic Bible Online. Scriptures are from The Douay Rheims Catholic Bible 1582-1610 a.d. Version In the Public Domain. The Douay Rheims Bible is a translation of the Bible from the Latin Vulgate into English undertaken by members of the English College, Douai in the service of the Catholic Church.