Sirach 38

Honour a physician with the ^ahonour due unto him for the ^luses which you may have of him:

^bFor the Lord hath created him.

²For of the most High cometh healing,

And he shall receive ^chonour of the king.

³The skill of the physician shall lift up his head:

And in the sight of great men he shall be in admiration.

⁴The Lord hath created medicines out of the earth;

And he that is wise will not abhor them.

^5dWas not the water made sweet with wood,

That the virtue thereof might be known?

⁶And he hath given men skill,

That he might be honoured in his marvellous works.

⁷With such doth he heal men,

And taketh away their pains.

⁸Of such doth the apothecary make a ^econfection;

And of his works there is no end;

And from him is ^fpeace over all the earth.

⁹My son, in thy sickness be not negligent:

But ^gpray unto the Lord, and he will make thee whole.

^10hLeave off from sin, and order thine hands aright,

And ⁱcleanse thy heart from all wickedness.

¹¹Give a ^jsweet savour, and a memorial of ^jfine flour;

And make a fat offering, as not being.

¹²Then ^kgive place to the physician, ^bfor the Lord hath created him:

Let him not go from thee, for thou hast ^lneed of him.

¹³There is a time when in their hands there is ^mgood success.

¹⁴For they shall also pray unto the Lord, that he would prosper

That, which they give for ^fease and remedy to prolong life.

¹⁵ⁿHe that sinneth before his Maker,

Let him fall into the hand of the physician.

¹⁶My son, ^olet tears fall down over the dead,

And begin to lament, as if thou hadst suffered great harm thyself;

And then cover his body according to the custom,

And neglect not his burial.

¹⁷Weep bitterly, and make great moan,

And use lamentation, as he is worthy,

And that a day or two, lest thou be evil spoken of:

And then comfort thyself for thy heaviness.

¹⁸For ^pof heaviness cometh death,

And ^qthe heaviness of the heart breaketh strength.

¹⁹In ^raffliction also sorrow remaineth:

And the life of the poor is the curse of the heart.

²⁰Take no heaviness to heart:

Drive it away, and ^sremember the last end.

²¹Forget it not, for there is no turning again:

Thou shalt not do him good, but hurt thyself.

²²Remember my judgment: for thine also shall be so;

Yesterday for me, and to day for thee.

^23tWhen the dead is at rest, let his remembrance rest;

And be comforted for him, when his spirit is departed from him.

²⁴The wisdom of a ^ulearned man cometh by opportunity of leisure:

And he that hath little business shall become wise.

²⁵How can he get wisdom that holdeth the plough,

And that glorieth in the goad,

That driveth oxen, and is occupied in their labours,

And whose ^vtalk is of bullocks?

²⁶He giveth his mind to make furrows;

And is diligent to give the kine fodder.

²⁷So every carpenter and ^wworkmaster,

That laboureth night and day:

And they that cut and grave seals,

And are diligent to ^xmake great variety,

And ^ygive themselves to counterfeit imagery,

And ^ywatch to finish a work:

^28zThe smith also sitting by the anvil,

And considering the iron work,

The vapour of the fire wasteth his flesh,

And he fighteth with the heat of the furnace:

The noise of the hammer and the anvil is ever in his ears,

And his eyes look still upon the pattern of the thing that he maketh;

^yHe setteth his mind to finish his work,

And ^ywatcheth to polish it ^aperfectly:

²⁹So doth the potter sitting at his work,

And ^bturning the wheel about with his feet,

Who is alway carefully set at his work,

And maketh all his work by number;

³⁰He fashioneth the clay with his arm,

And boweth down his strength before his feet;

^yHe applieth himself to lead it over;

And ^yhe is diligent to make clean the furnace:

³¹All these trust to their hands:

And every one is wise in his work.

³²Without these cannot a city be inhabited:

And they shall not dwell where they will, nor go up and down:

³³They shall not be sought for in publick counsel,

Nor sit high in the congregation:

They shall not sit on the judges’ seat,

Nor understand the sentence of judgment:

They cannot declare justice and judgment;

And ^cthey shall not be found where parables are spoken.

³⁴But they will maintain the state of the world,

And all their desire is in the work of their craft.

XXXIX.