The XXVIII. Chapter.
[ A] THere are places where syluer is mol∣tē,* 1.1 & where golde is tryed: where yron is dygged out of the grounde, & sto∣nes resolued to metall. The darcknes shal on¦ce come to an ende, he can seke out the groun¦de of all thinges: the stones, the darcke, & the horrible shadowe. wt the ryuer of water par¦teth he a sunder the straunge people, yt kno∣weth no good neghbourheade: soch as are rude, vnmanerly & boysteous. He bryngeth foode out of the earth, & yt which is vnder, consumeth he with fyre. There is founde a place, whose stones are clene Saphirs, and where ye clottes of the earth are golde. The∣re is a waye also that the byrdes knowe not, that no vulturs eye hath sene: wherin ye prou¦de & hye mynded walke not, & where no lyon commeth. There putteth he his honde vpon the stony rockes, & ouerthroweth the moun∣taynes. Ryuers flowe out of the rockes, & lo¦ke what is pleasaunt, his eye seyth it. Out of droppes bryngeth he greate floudes toge¦ther, & the thinge that is hyd bryngeth he ••o light. How commeth a man then by wyszdo¦me? [ B] * 1.2 Where is the place that men fynde vn∣derstondinge? Verely no man can tell how worthy a thinge she is, nether is she foūde in the lōde of the lyuynge. The depe sayeth: she is not in me. The see sayeth: she is not with me. She can not be gotten for the most fy∣ne golde, nether maye the pryce of her be bought with eny moneye. No wedges of golde of Ophir, no precious Onix stones, no Saphirs maye be compared vnto her. No, nether golde ner Christall, nether swete o∣dours ner golden plate. There is nothinge so worthy, or so excellēt, as once to be named vn¦to her: for parfecte wyszdome goeth farre be¦yonde thē all. The Topas that cōmeth out of Inde, maye in no wyse be lickened vnto her: yee no maner of apparell how pleasaunt and fayre so euer it be.
From whēce then commeth wyszdome? & [ C] where is the place of vnderstondinge? She is hyd from the eyes of all men, yee & frō the foules of the ayre. Destruccion & death saie: we haue herde tell of her wt oure eares. But God seyth hir waie, & knoweth hir place. For he beholdeth the endes of the worlde, and lo¦keth vpon all that is vnder the heauē. When he weyed the wyndes, & measured ye waters: when he set the rayne in ordre, and gaue the mightie floudes a lawe: Then dyd he se her, thē declared he her, prepared her and knewe her. And vnto man he sayde: Beholde,* 1.3 to fea¦re the LORDE, is wyszdome: & to forsake euell, is vnderstondinge.