Proverbs 16:16

¹⁰Receive my instruction rather than silver, knowledge rather than choice gold. ¹¹For wisdom is better than rubies. All the things that may be desired can’t be compared to it.

²⁶For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what will a man give in exchange for his life?

¹⁹My fruit is better than gold, yes, than fine gold, my yield than choice silver.

⁷Wisdom is supreme. Get wisdom. Yes, though it costs all your possessions, get understanding.

¹²For wisdom is a defense, even as money is a defense; but the excellency of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it.

²¹So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

¹⁵She is more precious than rubies. None of the things you can desire are to be compared to her. ¹⁶Length of days is in her right hand. In her left hand are riches and honor. ¹⁷Her ways are ways of pleasantness. All her paths are peace. ¹⁸She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her. Happy is everyone who retains her.

¹²⁷Therefore I love your commandments more than gold, yes, more than pure gold.

¹³Man doesn’t know its price, and it isn’t found in the land of the living. ¹⁴The deep says, ‘It isn’t in me.’ The sea says, ‘It isn’t with me.’ ¹⁵It can’t be gotten for gold, neither will silver be weighed for its price. ¹⁶It can’t be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire.^17[+] Gold and glass can’t equal it, neither will it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold. ¹⁸No mention will be made of coral or of crystal. Yes, the price of wisdom is above rubies. ¹⁹The topaz of Ethiopia will not equal it. It won’t be valued with pure gold. ²⁰Where then does wisdom come from? Where is the place of understanding? ²¹Seeing it is hidden from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the birds of the sky. ²²Destruction and Death say, ‘We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.’ ²³“God understands its way, and he knows its place. ²⁴For he looks to the ends of the earth, and sees under the whole sky. ²⁵He establishes the force of the wind. Yes, he measures out the waters by measure. ²⁶When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder, ²⁷then he saw it, and declared it. He established it, yes, and searched it out. ²⁸To man he said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord,^[+] that is wisdom. To depart from evil is understanding.’”