⁷ “That path no bird of prey knows,
    and the falcon's eye has not seen it.
⁸ The proud beasts have not trodden it;
    the lion has not passed over it.

⁹ “Man puts his hand to the flinty rock
    and overturns mountains by the roots.
¹⁰ He cuts out channels in the rocks,
    and his eye sees every precious thing.
¹¹ He dams up the streams so that they do not trickle,
    and the thing that is hidden he brings out to light.

¹² “But where shall wisdom be found?
    And where is the place of understanding?
¹³ Man does not know its worth,
    and it is not found in the land of the living.
¹⁴ The deep says, ‘It is not in me,’
    and the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’
¹⁵ It cannot be bought for gold,
    and silver cannot be weighed as its price.
¹⁶ It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,
    in precious onyx or sapphire.
¹⁷ Gold and glass cannot equal it,
    nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.
¹⁸ No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal;
    the price of wisdom is above pearls.
¹⁹ The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it,
    nor can it be valued in pure gold.

²⁰ “From where, then, does wisdom come?
    And where is the place of understanding?
²¹ It is hidden from the eyes of all living
    and concealed from the birds of the air.
²² Abaddon and Death say,
    ‘We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.’

²³ “God understands the way to it,
    and he knows its place.
²⁴ For he looks to the ends of the earth
    and sees everything under the heavens.
²⁵ When he gave to the wind its weight
    and apportioned the waters by measure,
²⁶ when he made a decree for the rain
    and a way for the lightning of the thunder,
²⁷ then he saw it and declared it;
    he established it, and searched it out.
²⁸ And he said to man,
‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom,
    and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”

² “Oh, that I were as in the months of old,
    as in the days when God watched over me,
³ when his lamp shone upon my head,
    and by his light I walked through darkness,
⁴ as I was in my prime,^[b]
    when the friendship of God was upon my tent,
⁵ when the Almighty was yet with me,
    when my children were all around me,
⁶ when my steps were washed with butter,
    and the rock poured out for me streams of oil!
⁷ When I went out to the gate of the city,
    when I prepared my seat in the square,
⁸ the young men saw me and withdrew,
    and the aged rose and stood;
⁹ the princes refrained from talking
    and laid their hand on their mouth;
¹⁰ the voice of the nobles was hushed,
    and their tongue stuck to the roof of their mouth.
¹¹ When the ear heard, it called me blessed,
    and when the eye saw, it approved,
¹² because I delivered the poor who cried for help,
    and the fatherless who had none to help him.
¹³ The blessing of him who was about to perish came upon me,
    and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy.
¹⁴ I put on righteousness, and it clothed me;
    my justice was like a robe and a turban.
¹⁵ I was eyes to the blind
    and feet to the lame.
¹⁶ I was a father to the needy,
    and I searched out the cause of him whom I did not know.
¹⁷ I broke the fangs of the unrighteous
    and made him drop his prey from his teeth.
¹⁸ Then I thought, ‘I shall die in my nest,
    and I shall multiply my days as the sand,
¹⁹ my roots spread out to the waters,
    with the dew all night on my branches,
²⁰ my glory fresh with me,
    and my bow ever new in my hand.’

²¹ “Men listened to me and waited
    and kept silence for my counsel.
²² After I spoke they did not speak again,
    and my word dropped upon them.
²³ They waited for me as for the rain,
    and they opened their mouths as for the spring rain.
²⁴ I smiled on them when they had no confidence,
    and the light of my face they did not cast down.
²⁵ I chose their way and sat as chief,
    and I lived like a king among his troops,
    like one who comforts mourners.