1 "Surely there is a mine for silver,
and a place for gold which they refine.
2 Iron is taken out of the earth,
and copper is smelted out of the ore.
3 Man sets an end to darkness,
and searches out, to the furthest bound,
the stones of obscurity and of thick darkness.
4 He breaks open a shaft away from where people live.
They are forgotten by the foot.
They hang far from men, they swing back and forth.
5 As for the earth, out of it comes bread.
Underneath it is turned up as it were by fire.
6 Sapphires come from its rocks.
It has dust of gold.
7 That path no bird of prey knows,
neither has the falcon’s eye seen it.
8 The proud animals have not trodden it,
nor has the fierce lion passed by there.
9 He puts his hand on the flinty rock,
and he overturns the mountains by the roots.
10 He cuts out channels among the rocks.
His eye sees every precious thing.
11 He binds the streams that they don’t trickle.
The thing that is hidden he brings out to light.
12 "But where will wisdom be found?
Where is the place of understanding?
13 Man doesn’t know its price,
and it isn’t 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 will 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 will it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.
18 No mention will be made of coral or of crystal.
Yes, the price of wisdom is above rubies.
19 The topaz of Ethiopia will not equal it.
It won’t 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.’"
1 "银子有矿， 金子有冶炼的地方。
2 铁从土中取出， 熔化石头而得铜。
3 人探求黑暗的尽头， 查明在阴暗中的石矿， 直到极处。
4 在无人居住之处， 足迹罕至之地开坑探矿， 他们与人远离， 悬在坑中摇来摇去。
5 至于地， 粮食从它而出， 地底下却好像被火翻转过来一样。
6 石中有蓝宝石， 也有金沙。
7 矿坑中的路， 鸷鸟不知道， 连鹰的眼也未曾见过；
8 狂傲的野兽未曾行过， 猛狮也未曾经过。
9 人伸手击凿坚石， 使山脚翻倒过来。
10 在磐石中凿出坑道， 亲眼看见各样宝物。
11 他堵住水源， 不让滴漏， 又使隐藏之物显露在光中。
12 然而， 智慧在何处可寻？聪明之地在哪里呢？
13 智慧的价值人不知道， 在活人之地也寻不到。
14 深渊说： ‘不在我里面’， 沧海说： ‘不在我这里’。
15 智慧不能用纯金购买， 也不能称银子作它的代价。
16 俄斐金， 贵重的玛瑙、蓝宝石， 都不能与它比较。
17 黄金和玻璃不能与它比较， 纯金的器皿不能与它交换。
18 珊瑚和水晶都不值一提， 取得智慧胜过取得红宝石。
19 古实的黄玉不能与它比较， 纯金也不能与它较量。
20 然而， 智慧从哪里来， 聪明之地在哪里呢？
21 众生的眼睛都看不到， 空中的飞鸟也不能发现。
22 灭亡和死亡都说： ‘我们只风闻它的事罢了。’
23 神明白智慧的道路， 也晓得智慧的所在，
24 因为他察看全世界， 遍观全地。
25 他为风定轻重， 又度量众水；
26 为雨露立定律， 为雷电定道路。
27 那时他看见智慧， 描述智慧， 他坚立智慧， 并且查探智慧。
28 他对人说： ‘敬畏主就是智慧， 远离邪恶就是聪明。’"