16. Wisdom cannot be bought with fine goldor with valuable onyx or sapphire gems.
17. Gold and crystal are not as valuable as wisdom,and you cannot buy it with jewels of gold.
18. Coral and jasper are not worth talking about,and the price of wisdom is much greater than rubies.
19. The topaz from Cush cannot compare to wisdom;it cannot be bought with the purest gold.
20. “So where does wisdom come from,and where does understanding live?
21. It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing,even from the birds of the air.
22. The places of destruction and death say,‘We have heard reports about it.’
23. Only God understands the way to wisdom,and he alone knows where it lives,
24. because he looks to the farthest parts of the earthand sees everything under the sky.
25. When God gave power to the windand measured the water,
26. when he made rules for the rainand set a path for a thunderstorm to follow,
27. then he looked at wisdom and decided its worth;he set wisdom up and tested it.
28. Then he said to humans,‘The fear of the Lord is wisdom;to stay away from evil is understanding.’ ”