| New King James Version | New Living Translation |
| 1“Surely there is a mine for silver, And a place where gold is refined. | 1“People know where to mine silver and how to refine gold. |
| 2Iron is taken from the earth, And copper is smelted from ore. | 2They know where to dig iron from the earth and how to smelt copper from rock. |
| 3Man puts an end to darkness, And searches every recess For ore in the darkness and the shadow of death. | 3They know how to shine light in the darkness and explore the farthest regions of the earth as they search in the dark for ore. |
| 4He breaks open a shaft away from people; In places forgotten by feet They hang far away from men; They swing to and fro. | 4They sink a mine shaft into the earth far from where anyone lives. They descend on ropes, swinging back and forth. |
| 5As for the earth, from it comes bread, But underneath it is turned up as by fire; | 5Food is grown on the earth above, but down below, the earth is melted as by fire. |
| 6Its stones are the source of sapphires, And it contains gold dust. | 6Here the rocks contain precious lapis lazuli, and the dust contains gold. |
| 7That path no bird knows, Nor has the falcon’s eye seen it. | 7These are treasures no bird of prey can see, no falcon’s eye observe. |
| 8The proud lions have not trodden it, Nor has the fierce lion passed over it. | 8No wild animal has walked upon these treasures; no lion has ever set his paw there. |
| 9He puts his hand on the flint; He overturns the mountains at the roots. | 9People know how to tear apart flinty rocks and overturn the roots of mountains. |
| 10He cuts out channels in the rocks, And his eye sees every precious thing. | 10They cut tunnels in the rocks and uncover precious stones. |
| 11He dams up the streams from trickling; What is hidden he brings forth to light. | 11They dam up the trickling streams and bring to light the hidden treasures. |
| 12“But where can wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? | 12“But do people know where to find wisdom? Where can they find understanding? |
| 13Man does not know its value, Nor is it found in the land of the living. | 13No one knows where to find it, for it is not found among the living. |
| 14The deep says, ‘It is not in me’; And the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’ | 14‘It is not here,’ says the ocean. ‘Nor is it here,’ says the sea. |
| 15It cannot be purchased for gold, Nor can silver be weighed for its price. | 15It cannot be bought with gold. It cannot be purchased with silver. |
| 16It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, In precious onyx or sapphire. | 16It’s worth more than all the gold of Ophir, greater than precious onyx or lapis lazuli. |
| 17Neither gold nor crystal can equal it, Nor can it be exchanged for jewelry of fine gold. | 17Wisdom is more valuable than gold and crystal. It cannot be purchased with jewels mounted in fine gold. |
| 18No mention shall be made of coral or quartz, For the price of wisdom is above rubies. | 18Coral and jasper are worthless in trying to get it. The price of wisdom is far above rubies. |
| 19The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it, Nor can it be valued in pure gold. | 19Precious peridot from Ethiopia cannot be exchanged for it. It’s worth more than the purest gold. |
| 20“From where then does wisdom come? And where is the place of understanding? | 20“But do people know where to find wisdom? Where can they find understanding? |
| 21It is hidden from the eyes of all living, And concealed from the birds of the air. | 21It is hidden from the eyes of all humanity. Even the sharp-eyed birds in the sky cannot discover it. |
| 22Destruction and Death say, ‘We have heard a report about it with our ears.’ | 22Destruction and Death say, ‘We’ve heard only rumors of where wisdom can be found.’ |
| 23God understands its way, And He knows its place. | 23“God alone understands the way to wisdom; he knows where it can be found, |
| 24For He looks to the ends of the earth, And sees under the whole heavens, | 24for he looks throughout the whole earth and sees everything under the heavens. |
| 25To establish a weight for the wind, And apportion the waters by measure. | 25He decided how hard the winds should blow and how much rain should fall. |
| 26When He made a law for the rain, And a path for the thunderbolt, | 26He made the laws for the rain and laid out a path for the lightning. |
| 27Then He saw wisdom and declared it; He prepared it, indeed, He searched it out. | 27Then he saw wisdom and evaluated it. He set it in place and examined it thoroughly. |
| 28And to man He said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, And to depart from evil is understanding.’ ” | 28And this is what he says to all humanity: ‘The fear of the Lord is true wisdom; to forsake evil is real understanding.’” |
| The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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