Job 28

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¹“People know where to mine silver and how to refine gold. ✦ ²They know where to dig iron from the earth and how to smelt copper from rock. ✦ 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. ✦ ⁴They sink a mine shaft into the earth far from where anyone lives. They descend on ropes, swinging back and forth. ⁵Food is grown on the earth above, but down below, the earth is melted as by fire. ✦ ⁶Here the rocks contain precious lapis lazuli, and the dust contains gold. ✦ ⁷These are treasures no bird of prey can see, no falcon’s eye observe. ✦ ⁸No wild animal has walked upon these treasures; no lion has ever set his paw there. ⁹People know how to tear apart flinty rocks and overturn the roots of mountains. ✦ ¹⁰They cut tunnels in the rocks and uncover precious stones. ✦ ¹¹They dam up the trickling streams and bring to light the hidden treasures. ✦ ¹²“But do people know where to find wisdom? Where can they find understanding? ✦ ¹³No one knows where to find it, for it is not found among the living. ✦ ¹⁴‘It is not here,’ says the ocean. ‘Nor is it here,’ says the sea. ✦ ¹⁵It cannot be bought with gold. It cannot be purchased with silver. ✦ ¹⁶It’s worth more than all the gold of Ophir, greater than precious onyx or lapis lazuli. ✦ ¹⁷Wisdom is more valuable than gold and crystal. It cannot be purchased with jewels mounted in fine gold. ✦ ¹⁸Coral and jasper are worthless in trying to get it. The price of wisdom is far above rubies. ✦ ¹⁹Precious peridot from Ethiopia cannot be exchanged for it. It’s worth more than the purest gold. ✦ ²⁰“But do people know where to find wisdom? Where can they find understanding? ✦ 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’ve heard only rumors of where wisdom can be found.’ ✦ ²³“God alone understands the way to wisdom; he knows where it can be found, ✦ ²⁴for he looks throughout the whole earth and sees everything under the heavens. ✦ ²⁵He decided how hard the winds should blow and how much rain should fall. ✦ ²⁶He made the laws for the rain and laid out a path for the lightning. ✦ ²⁷Then he saw wisdom and evaluated it. He set it in place and examined it thoroughly. ✦ ²⁸And this is what he says to all humanity: ‘The fear of the Lord is true wisdom; to forsake evil is real understanding.’” ✦

Tap any verse for its study page. Underlined terms mark a concept, person, or place; ✦ marks verses with cross-references.

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Where this chapter connects

Prov 8 ·12 Job 28 ·11 Prov 3 ·5 Job 38 ·5 Prov 2 ·4 Rev 21 ·4 Prov 16 ·4 Jas 1 ·4

Christ at the center

Job's cry for a mediator who can lay his hand on both God and man, and his confidence that 'my Redeemer lives' and will stand on the earth, reaches forward to Jesus the living Redeemer.

How Job 28 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Resources, by level

Lay

★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical
A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.

Pastoral

SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical
Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.

Commentaries & study tools

VideoBibleProject — Job videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
VideoWatch teaching on Job 28YouTube · Lay · Free
Sermons and chapter teaching from across YouTube.
CommentaryEnduring Word — Job 28David Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical
Readable, verse-by-verse exposition of the whole chapter.
CommentaryMatthew Henry on JobMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
ReferenceBlue Letter Bible — Job 28Blue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free
Interlinear, lexicon, and study tools across the chapter.

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