Job 28 Versified
Surely there are silver mines,
A place where man his gold refines;
Iron is passed through cavern doors,
Copper is smelted from its ores.
Man away the darkness sends;
For ore he searches to earth’s ends.
No home is near their valley’s pit,
And travelers have forgotten it!
By ropes suspended miners swing
Far from man’s establishing.
From the earth our bread is grown,
Beneath it fire turns up stone.
By rock sapphires are encased,
There where dust of gold is placed.
Their path is lost to birds of prey;
No falcon’s eye has seen their way.
There no lion ever put
(Nor proud beasts) a passing foot.
Flinty stones men take in hand
To crush of mountains level land.
Through the rock their channels lie;
No precious thing escapes their eye.
Damming that streams may not run,
They show things lost unto the sun.
But where shall one his wisdom find?
Where hides the understanding mind?
Man has not heard of its worth,
Nor is it found in those on earth.
The deep roars, “It is not with me!”
“Nor is it mine,” echoes the sea.
Wisdom has no price in gold;
For silver it cannot be sold.
Ophir’s gold cannot compare,
Nor sapphire and onyx rare.
From gold and glass it is estranged;
For it gold jewels are not exchanged.
Do not speak of coral or crystals;
Wisdom’s price is beyond pearls.
Topaz of Cush ranks distantly;
Unequal is gold in purity.
From where then does this wisdom come?
And where is understanding from?
From those with life and breath it hides,
And from him who on wind rides.
Death and Destruction whisper thus,
“A rumor of it is known to us.”
Wisdom’s path God understands;
God knows just where wisdom stands.
For ends of earth are in his gaze,
And all beneath the solar rays.
When he gave weight to wind and breeze,
Divided water between seas,
When for the rain his law he penned,
And plotted lightning he would send,
This God saw which he proclaimed,
Which he searched and built and framed.
This he said to fallen men:
A place where man his gold refines;
Iron is passed through cavern doors,
Copper is smelted from its ores.
Man away the darkness sends;
For ore he searches to earth’s ends.
No home is near their valley’s pit,
And travelers have forgotten it!
By ropes suspended miners swing
Far from man’s establishing.
From the earth our bread is grown,
Beneath it fire turns up stone.
By rock sapphires are encased,
There where dust of gold is placed.
Their path is lost to birds of prey;
No falcon’s eye has seen their way.
There no lion ever put
(Nor proud beasts) a passing foot.
Flinty stones men take in hand
To crush of mountains level land.
Through the rock their channels lie;
No precious thing escapes their eye.
Damming that streams may not run,
They show things lost unto the sun.
But where shall one his wisdom find?
Where hides the understanding mind?
Man has not heard of its worth,
Nor is it found in those on earth.
The deep roars, “It is not with me!”
“Nor is it mine,” echoes the sea.
Wisdom has no price in gold;
For silver it cannot be sold.
Ophir’s gold cannot compare,
Nor sapphire and onyx rare.
From gold and glass it is estranged;
For it gold jewels are not exchanged.
Do not speak of coral or crystals;
Wisdom’s price is beyond pearls.
Topaz of Cush ranks distantly;
Unequal is gold in purity.
From where then does this wisdom come?
And where is understanding from?
From those with life and breath it hides,
And from him who on wind rides.
Death and Destruction whisper thus,
“A rumor of it is known to us.”
Wisdom’s path God understands;
God knows just where wisdom stands.
For ends of earth are in his gaze,
And all beneath the solar rays.
When he gave weight to wind and breeze,
Divided water between seas,
When for the rain his law he penned,
And plotted lightning he would send,
This God saw which he proclaimed,
Which he searched and built and framed.
This he said to fallen men:
“Behold, the fear of the Lᴏʀᴅ, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.”
Job 28 Versified; Copyright © 2013 by Caleb
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