Job 28:12-19

New Catholic Bible

¹² But where can wisdom be found?
    And where is the place of understanding?

¹³ “No one knows the way to it,
    nor is it to be found in the land of the living.
¹⁴ The abyss declares, ‘It is not in me.’
    The sea says, ‘I do not have it.’
¹⁵ It cannot be purchased with gold,
    nor can its price be weighed out in silver.
¹⁶ “It cannot be acquired with the gold of Ophir,
    nor with precious onyx or sapphire.
¹⁷ Gold or crystal^[b] cannot be compared to it,
    nor can it be exchanged for vessels of gold.
¹⁸ Neither coral nor alabaster deserve to be mentioned;
    the price of wisdom is beyond pearls.
¹⁹ Topaz from Ethiopia is worthless in comparison to it,
    nor can it be valued in terms of pure gold.