Sirach 38–39

Concerning Physicians and Health

³⁸Honor physicians for their services,

for the Lord created them,^*

²for their gift of healing comes from the Most High,

and they are rewarded by the king.

³The skill of physicians makes them distinguished,

and in the presence of the great they are admired.

⁴The Lord created medicines out of the earth,

and the sensible will not despise them.^*

⁵Was not water made sweet with a tree

in order that its^s power might be known?^*

⁶And he gave skill to human beings

that he^t might be glorified in his marvelous works.

⁷By them the physician^u heals and takes away pain;^*

⁸the pharmacist makes a mixture from them.

God’s^v works will never be finished,

and from him health spreads over all the earth.

⁹My child, when you are ill, do not delay,

but pray to the Lord, and he will heal you.^*

¹⁰Give up your faults and direct your hands rightly,

and cleanse your heart from all sin.^*

¹¹Offer a sweet-smelling sacrifice and a memorial portion of choice flour,

and pour oil on your offering, as much as you can afford.^w*

¹²Then give physicians their place, for the Lord created them;

do not let them leave you, for you need them.^*

¹³There may come a time when recovery lies in the hands of physicians,^x

¹⁴for they, too, pray to the Lord

that he grant them success in diagnosis^y

and in healing, for the sake of preserving life.

¹⁵Those who sin against their Maker

will be defiant toward the physician.^z*

On Mourning for the Dead

¹⁶My child, let your tears fall for the dead,

and as one in great pain begin the lament.

Lay out the body according to custom,

and do not neglect the burial.^*

¹⁷Let your weeping be bitter and your wailing fervent;

make your mourning worthy of the departed,

for one day or two, to avoid criticism;

then be comforted for your grief.^*

¹⁸For grief may result in death,

and a sorrowful heart saps one’s strength.^*

¹⁹In calamity, grief continues,

but the life of the poor is a curse to the heart.

²⁰Do not give your heart to grief;

drive it away and remember your own end.^*

²¹Do not forget, there is no coming back;

you do the dead^a no good, and you injure yourself.^*

²²Remember his^b fate, for yours is like it;

yesterday it was his,^c and today it is yours.^*

²³When the dead are at rest, let their remembrance rest, too,

and be comforted for them when their spirits have departed.^*

Trades and Crafts

²⁴The wisdom of the scribe depends on the opportunity of leisure;

only the one who has little business can become wise.^*

²⁵How can one become wise who handles the plow

and who glories in the shaft of a goad,

who drives oxen and is occupied with their work,

and whose talk is about the offspring of bulls?

²⁶He sets his heart on plowing furrows,

and he loses sleep over fodder for the heifers.

²⁷So it is with every artisan and master artisan

who labors by night as well as by day;

those who carve the signets of seals—

each is diligent in making a great variety;

they set their heart on painting a lifelike image,

and they lose sleep in order to finish their work.^*

²⁸So it is with the smith sitting by the anvil,

intent on his ironwork;

the breath of the fire melts his flesh,

and he struggles with the heat of the furnace;

the sound of the hammer deafens his ears,^d

and his eyes are on the pattern of the object.

He sets his heart on finishing his handiwork,

and he loses sleep to complete its decoration.^*

²⁹So it is with the potter sitting at his work

and turning the wheel with his feet;

he always lies down anxious about his work,

and his every work is taken into account.^*

³⁰He molds the clay with his arm

and makes it pliable with his feet;

he sets his heart to finish the glazing,

and he takes care in firing^e the kiln.

³¹All these rely on their hands,

and all are skillful in their own work.

³²Without them no city can be inhabited,

and wherever they live they will not go hungry.^f

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

³³nor 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.^h

³⁴But they maintain the fabric of the world,

and their concern is forⁱ 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!

³⁹They seek out the wisdom of all the ancients

and are concerned with prophecies;^*

²they preserve the sayings of the famous

and penetrate the subtleties of parables;

³they seek out the hidden meanings of proverbs

and are at home with the obscurities of parables.^*

⁴They serve among the great

and appear before rulers;

they travel in foreign nations

and learn what is good and evil in the human lot.^*

⁵They set their hearts to rise early

to seek the Lord who made them

and to petition the Most High;

they open their mouths in prayer

and ask pardon for their sins.^*

⁶If the great Lord is willing,

they will be filled with the spirit of understanding;

they will pour forth words of wisdom of their own

and give thanks to the Lord in prayer.^*

⁷The Lord^j will direct their counsel and knowledge

as they meditate on his mysteries.^*

⁸They will show the discipline of their training

and will glory in the law of the Lord’s covenant.

⁹Many will praise their understanding;

it will never be blotted out.

Their memory will not disappear,

and their names will live through all generations.^*

¹⁰Nations will speak of their wisdom,

and the congregation will proclaim their praise.^*

¹¹If they live long, they will leave a name greater than a thousand,

and if they go to rest, it is enough for them.

A Hymn of Praise to God

¹²I have more on my mind to express;

I am full like the full moon.

¹³Listen to me, my faithful children, and blossom

like a rose growing by a stream of water.^*

¹⁴Send out fragrance like incense

and put forth blossoms like a lily.

Raise your voice^k and sing a hymn of praise;

bless the Lord for all his works.^*

¹⁵Ascribe majesty to his name

and give thanks to him with praise,

with songs on your lips and with harps;

this is what you shall say in thanksgiving:^*

¹⁶“All the works of the Lord are very good,

and whatever he commands will be done at the appointed time.^*

¹⁷No one can say, ‘What is this?’ or ‘Why is that?’—

for at the appointed time everything will be made known.

At his word the waters stood in a heap

and the reservoirs of water at the word of his mouth.^*

¹⁸At his command, his purpose is fulfilled,

and none can limit his saving power.^*

¹⁹The works of all are before him,

and nothing can be hidden from his eyes.^*

²⁰From age to age he observes all,

and nothing is too marvelous for him.

²¹No one can say, ‘What is this?’ or ‘Why is that?’—

for everything has been created for its own purpose.^*

²²“His blessing covers the dry land like a river

and drenches it like a flood.

²³The nations will inherit his wrath,

as when he turned a watered land into salt.

²⁴To the faithful his ways are straight

but full of pitfalls for the lawless.^*

²⁵From the beginning good things were created for the good

but for sinners good things and bad.^l*

²⁶The basic necessities of human life

are water and fire and iron and salt

and wheat flour and milk and honey,

the blood of the grape and oil and clothing.^*

²⁷All these are good for the godly,

but for sinners they turn into evils.^*

²⁸“There are winds created for vengeance,

and in their anger they can dislodge mountains;^m

on the day of reckoning they will pour out their strength

and calm the anger of their Maker.^*

²⁹Fire and hail and famine and pestilence—

all these have been created for vengeance;^*

³⁰the fangs of wild animals and scorpions and vipers

and the sword that punishes the ungodly with destruction.^*

³¹They take delight in doing his bidding,

always ready for his service on earth,

and when their time comes they never disobey his command.”^*

³²So from the beginning I have been steadfast

and have thought it out and left it in writing:

³³All the works of the Lord are good,

and he will supply every need in its time.^*

³⁴No one can say, “This is not as good as that,”

for everything proves good in its appointed time.^*

³⁵So now sing praise with all your heart and voice,

and bless the name of the Lord.