For there is a mine for silver, And a place for gold which they refine.
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Iron is taken out of the dust, And brass is molten out of the stone.
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Man setteth an end to darkness, And searcheth out to the furthest bound The stones of thick darkness and of the shadow of death.
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He breaketh open a shaft away from where men sojourn; They are forgotten of the foot that passeth by; They hang afar from men, they swing to and fro.
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As for the earth, out of it cometh bread, And underneath it is turned up as it were by fire.
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The stones thereof are the place of sapphires, And it hath dust of gold.
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That path no bird of prey knoweth, Neither hath the falcon’s eye seen it;
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The proud beasts have not trodden it, Nor hath the lion passed thereby.
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He putteth forth his hand upon the flinty rock; He overturneth the mountains by the roots.
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He cutteth out channels among the rocks; And his eye seeth every precious thing. .
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He bindeth the streams that they trickle not; And the thing that is hid bringeth he forth to light.
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But wisdom, where shall it be found? And where is the place of understanding?
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Man knoweth not the price thereof; Neither is it found in the land of the living.
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The deep saith: ‘It is not in me’; And the sea saith: ‘It is not with me.’
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It cannot be gotten for gold, Neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof.
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It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, With the precious onyx, or the sapphire.
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Gold and glass cannot equal it; Neither shall the exchange thereof be vessels of fine gold.
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No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal; Yea, the price of wisdom is above rubies.
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The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, Neither shall it be valued with pure gold.
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Whence then cometh wisdom? And where is the place of understanding?
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Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, And kept close from the fowls of the air.
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Destruction and Death say: ‘We have heard a rumor thereof with our ears.’
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God understandeth the way thereof, And He knoweth the place thereof.
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For He looketh to the ends of the earth, And seeth under the whole heaven;
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When He maketh a weight for the wind, And meteth out the waters by measure.
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When He made a decree for the rain, And a way for the storm of thunders;
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Then did He see it, and declare it; He established it, yea, and searched it out.
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And unto man He said: ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; And to depart from evil is understanding.’
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