VERSE STUDY • KJV

Job 28:12-28

¹² But where shall wisdom be found? and where [is] the place of understanding? ¹³ Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither is it found in the land of the living. ¹⁴ The depth saith, It [is] not in me: and the sea saith, [It is] not with me. ¹⁵ It cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed [for] the price thereof. ¹⁶ It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire. ¹⁷ The gold and the crystal cannot equal it: and the exchange of it [shall not be for] jewels of fine gold. ¹⁸ No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls: for the price of wisdom [is] above rubies. ¹⁹ The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, neither shall it be valued with pure gold. ²⁰ Whence then cometh wisdom? and where [is] the place of understanding? ²¹ Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of the air. ²² Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame thereof with our ears. ²³ God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof. ²⁴ For he looketh to the ends of the earth, [and] seeth under the whole heaven; ²⁵ To make the weight for the winds; and he weigheth the waters by measure. ²⁶ When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder: ²⁷ Then did he see it, and declare it; he prepared it, yea, and searched it out. ²⁸ And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that [is] wisdom; and to depart from evil [is] understanding.

Read it in 5 translations

KJV King James Version

¹² But where shall wisdom be found? and where [is] the place of understanding? ¹³ Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither is it found in the land of the living. ¹⁴ The depth saith, It [is] not in me: and the sea saith, [It is] not with me. ¹⁵ It cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed [for] the price thereof. ¹⁶ It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire. ¹⁷ The gold and the crystal cannot equal it: and the exchange of it [shall not be for] jewels of fine gold. ¹⁸ No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls: for the price of wisdom [is] above rubies. ¹⁹ The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, neither shall it be valued with pure gold. ²⁰ Whence then cometh wisdom? and where [is] the place of understanding? ²¹ Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of the air. ²² Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame thereof with our ears. ²³ God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof. ²⁴ For he looketh to the ends of the earth, [and] seeth under the whole heaven; ²⁵ To make the weight for the winds; and he weigheth the waters by measure. ²⁶ When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder: ²⁷ Then did he see it, and declare it; he prepared it, yea, and searched it out. ²⁸ And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that [is] wisdom; and to depart from evil [is] understanding.

BSB Berean Standard Bible

¹² But where can wisdom be found, and where does understanding dwell? ¹³ No man can know its value, nor is it found in the land of the living. ¹⁴ The ocean depths say, ‘It is not in me,’ while the sea declares, ‘It is not with me.’ ¹⁵ It cannot be bought with gold, nor can its price be weighed out in silver. ¹⁶ It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, in precious onyx or sapphire. ¹⁷ Neither gold nor crystal can compare to it, nor jewels of fine gold be exchanged for it. ¹⁸ Coral and quartz are unworthy of mention; the price of wisdom is beyond rubies. ¹⁹ Topaz from Cush cannot compare to it, nor can it be valued in pure gold. ²⁰ From where, then, does wisdom come, and where does understanding dwell? ²¹ It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing and concealed from the birds of the air. ²² Abaddon and Death say, ‘We have heard a rumor about it.’ ²³ But God understands its way, and He knows its place. ²⁴ For He looks to the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens. ²⁵ When God fixed the weight of the wind and measured out the waters, ²⁶ when He set a limit for the rain and a path for the thunderbolt, ²⁷ then He looked at wisdom and appraised it; He established it and searched it out. ²⁸ And He said to man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”

WEB World English Bible

¹² “But where shall wisdom be found? Where is the place of understanding? ¹³ Man doesn’t know its price; Neither is it found in the land of the living. ¹⁴ The deep says, ‘It isn’t in me.’ The sea says, ‘It isn’t with me.’ ¹⁵ It can’t be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for its price. ¹⁶ It can’t be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire. ¹⁷ Gold and glass can’t equal it, neither shall it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold. ¹⁸ No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal. Yes, the price of wisdom is above rubies. ¹⁹ The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, Neither shall it be valued with pure gold. ²⁰ Where then does wisdom come from? Where is the place of understanding? ²¹ Seeing it is hidden from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the birds of the sky. ²² Destruction and Death say, ‘We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.’ ²³ “God understands its way, and he knows its place. ²⁴ For he looks to the ends of the earth, and sees under the whole sky. ²⁵ He establishes the force of the wind. Yes, he measures out the waters by measure. ²⁶ When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder; ²⁷ then he saw it, and declared it. He established it, yes, and searched it out. ²⁸ To man he said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom. To depart from evil is understanding.’”

ASV American Standard Version

¹² But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? ¹³ Man knoweth not the price thereof; Neither is it found in the land of the living. ¹⁴ The deep saith, It is not in me; And the sea saith, It is not with me. ¹⁵ It cannot be gotten for gold, Neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof. ¹⁶ It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, With the precious onyx, or the sapphire. ¹⁷ Gold and glass cannot equal it, Neither shall it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold. ¹⁸ No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal: Yea, the price of wisdom is above rubies. ¹⁹ The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, Neither shall it be valued with pure gold. ²⁰ Whence then cometh wisdom? And where is the place of understanding? ²¹ Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, And kept close from the birds of the heavens. ²² Destruction and Death say, We have heard a rumor thereof with our ears. ²³ God understandeth the way thereof, And he knoweth the place thereof. ²⁴ For he looketh to the ends of the earth, And seeth under the whole heaven; ²⁵ To make a weight for the wind: Yea, he meteth out the waters by measure. ²⁶ When he made a decree for the rain, And a way for the lightning of the thunder; ²⁷ Then did he see it, and declare it; He established it, yea, and searched it out. ²⁸ And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; And to depart from evil is understanding.

YLT Young’s Literal Translation

¹² And the wisdom—whence is it found? And where is this, the place of understanding? ¹³ Man hath not known its arrangement, Nor is it found in the land of the living. ¹⁴ The deep hath said, ‘It is not in me,’ And the sea hath said, ‘It is not with me.’ ¹⁵ Gold is not given for it, Nor is silver weighed—its price. ¹⁶ It is not valued with pure gold of Ophir, With precious onyx and sapphire, ¹⁷ Not equal it do gold and crystal, Nor is its exchange a vessel of fine gold. ¹⁸ Corals and pearl are not remembered, The acquisition of wisdom is above rubies. ¹⁹ Not equal it doth the topaz of Cush, With pure gold it is not valued. ²⁰ And the wisdom—whence doth it come? And where is this, the place of understanding? ²¹ It hath been hid from the eyes of all living. And from the fowl of the heavens It hath been hidden. ²² Destruction and death have said: ‘With our ears we have heard its fame.’ ²³ God hath understood its way, And He hath known its place. ²⁴ For He to the ends of the earth doth look, Under the whole heavens He doth see, ²⁵ To make for the wind a weight, And the waters He meted out in measure. ²⁶ In His making for the rain a limit, And a way for the brightness of the voices, ²⁷ Then He hath seen and declareth it, He hath prepared it, and also searched it out, ²⁸ And He saith to man:—‘Lo, fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, And to turn from evil is understanding.’

Surrounding context — Job 28

9 He putteth forth his hand upon the rock; he overturneth the mountains by the roots.

10 He cutteth out rivers among the rocks; and his eye seeth every precious thing.

11 He bindeth the floods from overflowing; and [the thing that is] hid bringeth he forth to light.

12 But where shall wisdom be found? and where [is] the place of understanding?

13 Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither is it found in the land of the living.

14 The depth saith, It [is] not in me: and the sea saith, [It is] not with me.

15 It cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed [for] the price thereof.

16 It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire.

17 The gold and the crystal cannot equal it: and the exchange of it [shall not be for] jewels of fine gold.

18 No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls: for the price of wisdom [is] above rubies.

19 The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, neither shall it be valued with pure gold.

20 Whence then cometh wisdom? and where [is] the place of understanding?

21 Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of the air.

22 Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame thereof with our ears.

23 God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof.

24 For he looketh to the ends of the earth, [and] seeth under the whole heaven;

25 To make the weight for the winds; and he weigheth the waters by measure.

26 When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder:

27 Then did he see it, and declare it; he prepared it, yea, and searched it out.

28 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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