“Surely there is a mine for silver,
        and a place for gold that they refine.
    Iron is taken out of the earth,
        and copper is smelted from the ore.
    Man puts an end to darkness
        and searches out to the farthest limit
        the ore in gloom and deep darkness.
    He opens shafts in a valley away from where anyone lives;
        they are forgotten by travelers;
        they hang in the air, far away from mankind; they swing to and fro.
    As for the earth, out of it comes bread,
        but underneath it is turned up as by fire.
    Its stones are the place of sapphires,
        and it has dust of gold.
    
    
    “That path no bird of prey knows,
        and the falcon’s eye has not seen it.
    The proud beasts have not trodden it;
        the lion has not passed over it.
    
    
    “Man puts his hand to the flinty rock
        and overturns mountains by the roots.
    He cuts out channels in the rocks,
        and his eye sees every precious thing.
    He dams up the streams so that they do not trickle,
        and the thing that is hidden he brings out to light.
    
    
    “But where shall wisdom be found?
        And where is the place of understanding?
    Man does not know its worth,
        and it is not found in the land of the living.
    The deep says, ‘It is not in me,’
        and the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’
    It cannot be bought for gold,
        and silver cannot be weighed as its price.
    It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,
        in precious onyx or sapphire.
    Gold and glass cannot equal it,
        nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.
    No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal;
        the price of wisdom is above pearls.
    The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it,
        nor can it be valued in pure gold.
    
    
    “From where, then, does wisdom come?
        And where is the place of understanding?
    It is hidden from the eyes of all living
        and concealed from the birds of the air.
    Abaddon and Death say,
        ‘We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.’
    
    
    “God understands the way to it,
        and he knows its place.
    For he looks to the ends of the earth
        and sees everything under the heavens.
    When he gave to the wind its weight
        and apportioned the waters by measure,
    when he made a decree for the rain
        and a way for the lightning of the thunder,
    then he saw it and declared it;
        he established it, and searched it out.
    And he said to man,
    ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom,
        and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”
    
    
      And Job again took up his discourse, and said:

    “Oh, that I were as in the months of old,
        as in the days when God watched over me,
    when his lamp shone upon my head,
        and by his light I walked through darkness,
    as I was in my prime,
        when the friendship of God was upon my tent,
    when the Almighty was yet with me,
        when my children were all around me,
    when my steps were washed with butter,
        and the rock poured out for me streams of oil!
    When I went out to the gate of the city,
        when I prepared my seat in the square,
    the young men saw me and withdrew,
        and the aged rose and stood;
    the princes refrained from talking
        and laid their hand on their mouth;
    the voice of the nobles was hushed,
        and their tongue stuck to the roof of their mouth.
    When the ear heard, it called me blessed,
        and when the eye saw, it approved,
    because I delivered the poor who cried for help,
        and the fatherless who had none to help him.
    The blessing of him who was about to perish came upon me,
        and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.
    I put on righteousness, and it clothed me;
        my justice was like a robe and a turban.
    I was eyes to the blind
        and feet to the lame.
    I was a father to the needy,
        and I searched out the cause of him whom I did not know.
    I broke the fangs of the unrighteous
        and made him drop his prey from his teeth.
    Then I thought, ‘I shall die in my nest,
        and I shall multiply my days as the sand,
    my roots spread out to the waters,
        with the dew all night on my branches,
    my glory fresh with me,
        and my bow ever new in my hand.’
    
    
    “Men listened to me and waited
        and kept silence for my counsel.
    After I spoke they did not speak again,
        and my word dropped upon them.
    They waited for me as for the rain,
        and they opened their mouths as for the spring rain.
    I smiled on them when they had no confidence,
        and the light of my face they did not cast down.
    I chose their way and sat as chief,
        and I lived like a king among his troops,
        like one who comforts mourners. (ESV)

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

  Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.

  You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion is not from him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view, and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is. But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed. I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!

  For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.

  But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

  If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. (ESV)