| New King James Version | NET Bible |
| 1“Surely there is a mine for silver, And a place where gold is refined. | 1"Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place where gold is refined. |
| 2Iron is taken from the earth, And copper is smelted from ore. | 2Iron is taken from the ground, and rock is poured out as copper. |
| 3Man puts an end to darkness, And searches every recess For ore in the darkness and the shadow of death. | 3Man puts an end to the darkness; he searches the farthest recesses for the ore in the deepest darkness. |
| 4He breaks open a shaft away from people; In places forgotten by feet They hang far away from men; They swing to and fro. | 4Far from where people live he sinks a shaft, in places travelers have long forgotten, far from other people he dangles and sways. |
| 5As for the earth, from it comes bread, But underneath it is turned up as by fire; | 5The earth, from which food comes, is overturned below as though by fire; |
| 6Its stones are the source of sapphires, And it contains gold dust. | 6a place whose stones are sapphires and which contains dust of gold; |
| 7That path no bird knows, Nor has the falcon’s eye seen it. | 7a hidden path no bird of prey knows--no falcon's eye has spotted it. |
| 8The proud lions have not trodden it, Nor has the fierce lion passed over it. | 8Proud beasts have not set foot on it, and no lion has passed along it. |
| 9He puts his hand on the flint; He overturns the mountains at the roots. | 9On the flinty rock man has set to work with his hand; he has overturned mountains at their bases. |
| 10He cuts out channels in the rocks, And his eye sees every precious thing. | 10He has cut out channels through the rocks; his eyes have spotted every precious thing. |
| 11He dams up the streams from trickling; What is hidden he brings forth to light. | 11He has searched the sources of the rivers and what was hidden he has brought into the light. |
| 12“But where can wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? | 12"But wisdom--where can it be found? Where is the place of understanding? |
| 13Man does not know its value, Nor is it found in the land of the living. | 13Mankind does not know its place; it cannot be found in the land of the living. |
| 14The deep says, ‘It is not in me’; And the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’ | 14The deep says, 'It is not with me.' And the sea says, 'It is not with me.' |
| 15It cannot be purchased for gold, Nor can silver be weighed for its price. | 15Fine gold cannot be given in exchange for it, nor can its price be weighed out in silver. |
| 16It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, In precious onyx or sapphire. | 16It cannot be measured out for purchase with the gold of Ophir, with precious onyx or sapphires. |
| 17Neither gold nor crystal can equal it, Nor can it be exchanged for jewelry of fine gold. | 17Neither gold nor crystal can be compared with it, nor can a vase of gold match its worth. |
| 18No mention shall be made of coral or quartz, For the price of wisdom is above rubies. | 18Of coral and jasper no mention will be made; the price of wisdom is more than pearls. |
| 19The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it, Nor can it be valued in pure gold. | 19The topaz of Cush cannot be compared with it; it cannot be purchased with pure gold. |
| 20“From where then does wisdom come? And where is the place of understanding? | 20"But wisdom--where does it come from? Where is the place of understanding? |
| 21It is hidden from the eyes of all living, And concealed from the birds of the air. | 21For it has been hidden from the eyes of every living creature, and from the birds of the sky it has been concealed. |
| 22Destruction and Death say, ‘We have heard a report about it with our ears.’ | 22Destruction and Death say, 'With our ears we have heard a rumor about where it can be found.' |
| 23God understands its way, And He knows its place. | 23God understands the way to it, and he alone knows its place. |
| 24For He looks to the ends of the earth, And sees under the whole heavens, | 24For he looks to the ends of the earth and observes everything under the heavens. |
| 25To establish a weight for the wind, And apportion the waters by measure. | 25When he made the force of the wind and measured the waters with a gauge. |
| 26When He made a law for the rain, And a path for the thunderbolt, | 26When he imposed a limit for the rain, and a path for the thunderstorm, |
| 27Then He saw wisdom and declared it; He prepared it, indeed, He searched it out. | 27then he looked at wisdom and assessed its value; he established it and examined it closely. |
| 28And to man He said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, And to depart from evil is understanding.’ ” | 28And he said to mankind, 'The fear of the LORD--that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.'" |
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