Common English Bible CEB
New King James Version NKJV
1 There is a sure source of silver, a place where gold is refined.
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"Surely there is a mine for silver, And a place where gold is refined.
2 Iron is taken from the earth; rock is smelted into copper.
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Iron is taken from the earth, And copper is smelted from ore.
3 Humans put an end to darkness, dig for ore to the farthest depths, into stone in utter darkness,
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Man puts an end to darkness, And searches every recess For ore in the darkness and the shadow of death.
4 open a shaft away from any inhabitant, places forgotten by those on foot, apart from any human they hang and sway.
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He breaks open a shaft away from people; In places forgotten by feet They hang far away from men; They swing to and fro.
5 Earth—from it comes food— is turned over below ground as by fire.
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As for the earth, from it comes bread, But underneath it is turned up as by fire;
6 Its rocks are the source for lapis lazuli; there is gold dust in it.
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Its stones are the source of sapphires, And it contains gold dust.
7 A path— no bird of prey knows it; a hawk's eye hasn't seen it;
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That path no bird knows, Nor has the falcon's eye seen it.
8 proud beasts haven't trodden on it; a lion hasn't crossed over it.
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The proud lions have not trodden it, Nor has the fierce lion passed over it.
9 Humans thrust their hands into flint, pull up mountains from their roots,
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He puts his hand on the flint; He overturns the mountains at the roots.
10 cut channels into rocks; their eyes see everything precious.
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He cuts out channels in the rocks, And his eye sees every precious thing.
11 They dam up the sources of rivers; hidden things come to light.
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He dams up the streams from trickling; What is hidden he brings forth to light.
12 But wisdom, where can it be found; where is the place of understanding?
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"But where can wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding?
13 Humankind doesn't know its value; it isn't found in the land of the living.
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Man does not know its value, Nor is it found in the land of the living.
14 The Deep says, "It's not with me"; the Sea says, "Not alongside me!"
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The deep says, 'It is not in me'; And the sea says, 'It is not with me.'
15 It can't be bought with gold; its price can't be measured in silver,
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It cannot be purchased for gold, Nor can silver be weighed for its price.
16 can't be weighed against gold from Ophir, with precious onyx or lapis lazuli.
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It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, In precious onyx or sapphire.
17 Neither gold nor glass can compare with it; she can't be acquired with gold jewelry.
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Neither gold nor crystal can equal it, Nor can it be exchanged for jewelry of fine gold.
18 Coral and jasper shouldn't be mentioned; the price of wisdom is more than rubies.
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No mention shall be made of coral or quartz, For the price of wisdom is above rubies.
19 Cushite topaz won't compare with her; she can't be set alongside pure gold.
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The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it, Nor can it be valued in pure gold.
20 But wisdom, where does she come from? Where is the place of understanding?
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"From where then does wisdom come? And where is the place of understanding?
21 She's hidden from the eyes of all the living, concealed from birds of the sky.
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It is hidden from the eyes of all living, And concealed from the birds of the air.
22 Destruction and Death have said, "We've heard a report of her."
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Destruction and Death say, 'We have heard a report about it with our ears.'
23 God understands her way; he knows her place;
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God understands its way, And He knows its place.
24 for he looks to the ends of the earth and surveys everything beneath the heavens.
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For He looks to the ends of the earth, And sees under the whole heavens,
25 In order to weigh the wind, to prepare a measure for waters,
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To establish a weight for the wind, And apportion the waters by measure.
26 when he made a decree for the rain, a path for thunderbolts,
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When He made a law for the rain, And a path for the thunderbolt,
27 then he observed it, spoke of it, established it, searched it out,
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Then He saw wisdom and declared it; He prepared it, indeed, He searched it out.
28 and said to humankind: "Look, the fear of the LORD is wisdom; turning from evil is understanding."
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And to man He said, 'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, And to depart from evil is understanding.' "
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.