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Nehemiah 9

Amplified Bible, 2015 (AMP)

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¹ "He breaks open (mine) shafts far away from where people live, [In places] forgotten by the [human] foot; They dangle [in the mines] and hang away from men.

² "[As for] the earth, out of it comes food, But underneath [its surface, down deep] it is turned over as fire.

³ "Its stones are the bed of sapphires; It holds dust of gold.

⁴ "The path [deep within] no bird of prey knows, And the falcon's eye has not caught sight of it.

⁵ "The proud beasts [and their young] have not walked on it, Nor has the fierce lion passed over it.

⁶ "Man puts his hand on [and tears apart] the flinty rock; He overturns the mountains at the base [looking for treasure].

⁷ "He cuts out channels and passages among the rocks; And his eye sees every precious thing.

⁸ "Man dams up the streams from flowing [so that they do not trickle into the mine], And what is hidden he brings out to the light.

⁹ "But where can wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding?

¹⁰ "Man does not know the value of it; Nor is it found in the land of the living.

¹¹ "The deep says, 'It is not in me'; And the sea says, 'It is not with me.'

¹² "It cannot be obtained for pure gold, Nor can silver be weighed as its price.

¹³ "It cannot be valued in [terms of] the gold of Ophir, In the precious onyx or beryl, or the sapphire.

¹⁴ "Gold and glass cannot equal wisdom, Nor can it be exchanged for articles of fine gold.

¹⁵ "No mention of coral and crystal can be made; For the possession of wisdom is even above [that of] rubies or pearls.

¹⁶ "The topaz of Ethiopia cannot compare with it, Nor can it be valued in pure gold.

¹⁷ "From where then does wisdom come? And where is the place of understanding?

¹⁸ "It is hidden from the eyes of all the living And concealed from the birds of the heavens.

¹⁹ "Abaddon (the place of destruction) and Death say, 'We have [only] heard a report of it with our ears.'

²⁰ "God understands the way [to wisdom] And He knows its place [for wisdom is with God alone].

²¹ "For He looks to the ends of the earth And sees everything under the heavens.

²² "When He gave weight and pressure to the wind And allotted the waters by measure,

²³ When He made a limit for the rain And a way for the thunderbolt,

²⁴ Then He saw wisdom and declared it; He established it and searched it out.

²⁵ "But to man He said, 'Behold, the reverential and worshipful fear of the Lord—that is wisdom; And to depart from evil is understanding.'"

²⁶ And Job again took up his discussion and said,

²⁷ "Oh, that I were as in the months of old, As in the days when God watched over me,

²⁸ When His lamp shone upon my head And by His light I walked through darkness;

²⁹ As I was in the prime of my days, When the friendship and counsel of God were over my tent,

³⁰ When[1] the Almighty was still with me And my boys were around me,

³¹ When my steps [through rich pastures] were washed with butter and cream [from my livestock], And the rock poured out for me streams of oil [from my olive groves].

³² "When I went out to the gate of the city, When I took my seat [as a city father] in the square,

³³ The young men saw me and hid themselves, The aged arose and stood [respectfully];

³⁴ The princes stopped talking And put their hands on their mouths;

³⁵ The voices of the nobles were hushed, And their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.

³⁶ "For when an ear heard [my name mentioned], it called me happy and fortunate; And when an eye saw [me], it testified for me [approvingly],

³⁷ Because I rescued the poor who cried for help, And the orphan who had no helper.

³⁸ "The blessing of him who was about to perish came upon me, And I made the widow's heart sing for joy.

#	AMP
1	"He breaks open (mine) shafts far away from where people live, [In places] forgotten by the [human] foot; They dangle [in the mines] and hang away from men.
2	"[As for] the earth, out of it comes food, But underneath [its surface, down deep] it is turned over as fire.
3	"Its stones are the bed of sapphires; It holds dust of gold.
4	"The path [deep within] no bird of prey knows, And the falcon's eye has not caught sight of it.
5	"The proud beasts [and their young] have not walked on it, Nor has the fierce lion passed over it.
6	"Man puts his hand on [and tears apart] the flinty rock; He overturns the mountains at the base [looking for treasure].
7	"He cuts out channels and passages among the rocks; And his eye sees every precious thing.
8	"Man dams up the streams from flowing [so that they do not trickle into the mine], And what is hidden he brings out to the light.
9	"But where can wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding?
10	"Man does not know the value of it; Nor is it found in the land of the living.
11	"The deep says, 'It is not in me'; And the sea says, 'It is not with me.'
12	"It cannot be obtained for pure gold, Nor can silver be weighed as its price.
13	"It cannot be valued in [terms of] the gold of Ophir, In the precious onyx or beryl, or the sapphire.
14	"Gold and glass cannot equal wisdom, Nor can it be exchanged for articles of fine gold.
15	"No mention of coral and crystal can be made; For the possession of wisdom is even above [that of] rubies or pearls.
16	"The topaz of Ethiopia cannot compare with it, Nor can it be valued in pure gold.
17	"From where then does wisdom come? And where is the place of understanding?
18	"It is hidden from the eyes of all the living And concealed from the birds of the heavens.
19	"Abaddon (the place of destruction) and Death say, 'We have [only] heard a report of it with our ears.'
20	"God understands the way [to wisdom] And He knows its place [for wisdom is with God alone].
21	"For He looks to the ends of the earth And sees everything under the heavens.
22	"When He gave weight and pressure to the wind And allotted the waters by measure,
23	When He made a limit for the rain And a way for the thunderbolt,
24	Then He saw wisdom and declared it; He established it and searched it out.
25	"But to man He said, 'Behold, the reverential and worshipful fear of the Lord—that is wisdom; And to depart from evil is understanding.'"
26	And Job again took up his discussion and said,
27	"Oh, that I were as in the months of old, As in the days when God watched over me,
28	When His lamp shone upon my head And by His light I walked through darkness;
29	As I was in the prime of my days, When the friendship and counsel of God were over my tent,
30	When[1] the Almighty was still with me And my boys were around me,
31	When my steps [through rich pastures] were washed with butter and cream [from my livestock], And the rock poured out for me streams of oil [from my olive groves].
32	"When I went out to the gate of the city, When I took my seat [as a city father] in the square,
33	The young men saw me and hid themselves, The aged arose and stood [respectfully];
34	The princes stopped talking And put their hands on their mouths;
35	The voices of the nobles were hushed, And their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.
36	"For when an ear heard [my name mentioned], it called me happy and fortunate; And when an eye saw [me], it testified for me [approvingly],
37	Because I rescued the poor who cried for help, And the orphan who had no helper.
38	"The blessing of him who was about to perish came upon me, And I made the widow's heart sing for joy.

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Nehemiah 9

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