31 All these rely on their hands,

and all are skillful in their own work.

32 Without them no city can be inhabited,

and wherever they live, they will not go hungry.o

Yet they are not sought out for the council of the people,p

33 nor do they attain eminence in the public assembly.

They do not sit in the judge’s seat,

nor do they understand the decisions of the courts;

they cannot expound discipline or judgment,

and they are not found among the rulers.q

34 But they maintain the fabric of the world,

and their concern is forr the exercise of their trade.

The Activity of the Scribe

How different the one who devotes himself

to the study of the law of the Most High!