- 1Surely there is a vein for the silver, and a place for gold where they fine it.
- 2Iron is taken out of the earth, and brass is molten out of the stone.
- 3He setteth an end to darkness, and searcheth out all perfection: the stones of darkness, and the shadow of death.
- 4The flood breaketh out from the inhabitant; even the waters forgotten of the foot: they are dried up, they are gone away from men.
- 5As for the earth, out of it cometh bread: and under it is turned up as it were fire.
- 6The stones of it are the place of sapphires: and it hath dust of gold.
- 7There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture’s eye hath not seen:
- 8The lion’s whelps have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion passed by it.
- 9He putteth forth his hand upon the rock; he overturneth the mountains by the roots.
- 10He cutteth out rivers among the rocks; and his eye seeth every precious thing.
- 11He bindeth the floods from overflowing; and the thing that is hid bringeth he forth to light.
- 12But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding?
- 13Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither is it found in the land of the living.
- 14The depth saith, It is not in me: and the sea saith, It is not with me.
- 15It cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof.
- 16It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire.
- 17The gold and the crystal cannot equal it: and the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine gold.
- 18No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls: for the price of wisdom is above rubies.
- 19The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, neither shall it be valued with pure gold.
- 20Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding?
- 21Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of the air.
- 22Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame thereof with our ears.
- 23God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof.
- 24For he looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heaven;
- 25To make the weight for the winds; and he weigheth the waters by measure.
- 26When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder:
- 27Then did he see it, and declare it; he prepared it, yea, and searched it out.
- 28And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.
KING JAMES VERSION
JOB 28
Read the chapter, follow a linked verse, and continue into related Watchman 33 teaching.
CHAPTER VISUAL
Job 28 — Human skill searches earth’s deepest places for treasure, but wisdom belongs to God and is found in fearing Him and departing from evil.
About this illustration
Ancient mining and unreachable light distinguish technical discovery from divine wisdom. The path of wisdom remains symbolic, God is not embodied, and no modern machinery appears.
Scripture basis: Job 28:1–28King James Version · Standardized 1769 text with Strong’s numbering · Public domain outside the United Kingdom
EXPLORE THE MESSAGE
Related Watchman 33 Resources
Archaeological Evidence
ARCHAEOLOGY EVIDENCEManuscript
5th century BC; copied after an account dated about 475 BC
The Aramaic Words of Ahiqar from Elephantine
A fifth-century BC Aramaic papyrus from Elephantine preserves part of the story and sayings of the wise courtier Ahiqar. The manuscript documents wisdom literature in the same Persian-period world as biblical Proverbs and Job while remaining a distinct, non-Yahwistic composition.
Proverbs 10:19 · Proverbs 15:1–4 · Proverbs 26:27
ARCHAEOLOGY EVIDENCECult & worship
13th to mid-12th century BC
The Hathor and Desert Shrine at Timna
A Late Bronze Age shrine beside the Timna copper mines began as an Egyptian sanctuary of Hathor and was later transformed with local desert cult objects. It illuminates mobile sacred architecture and Egyptian activity near the Arabah without identifying the biblical tabernacle or its builders.
Exodus 25:1–9 · Exodus 26:1–37 · Exodus 3:1–6