Sirach 38 - UPDV Updated Bible Version

1 Be friends with the physician since you have need of him, For God has ordained him also.

2 It is from God that the physician becomes wise, And from the king he receives gifts.

3 The skill of the physician lifts up his head, So that he stands in the presence of princes.

4 God has created medicines out of the earth, And do not let a man of discernment despise them.

5 Was not water made sweet by the wood In order to make known his power to all men?

6 And he gave to men discernment, To glory in his mighty works;

7 By them the physician relieves pain,

8 Thus also the compounder make his compound, That his work does not cease, Nor health from the sons of men.

9 My son, in sickness do not be negligent; Pray to God, for he can heal.

10 Turn from iniquity, and purify your hands; And from all transgressions cleanse your heart.

11 Give a meal-offering, and also a memorial, And offer a fat sacrifice to the utmost of your means.

12 And also give a place to the physician; And do not let [him] be far from you, for there is indeed need of him.

13 For there is a time when success is in his power;

14 For he also makes supplication to God To make his diagnosis successful, And the healing that it may give life.

15 He who sins against his Maker Behaves proudly towards the physician.

16 My son, let tears fall for the dead; Show yourself sorrowful, and mourn with a lamentation. Bury his body according to his due, And do not hide yourself when he has become a corpse.

17 Make bitter your weeping and passionate your wailing, And make mourning such as befits him, For a day or two to avoid scandal, And be comforted for your sorrow.

18 For out of sorrow comes forth harm, So sadness of heart brings down strength.

20 Then let your heart be no more occupied with him, Dismiss the remembrance of him, [yet] remember [your] end.

21 Remember him not, for he has no hope; You cannot profit him, while you harm yourself.

22 Remember his doom, for it is your doom [too]; His yesterday, and yours today.

23 When the dead is at rest, let his memory rest; And be consoled when his soul departs.

24 The wisdom of the scribe increases wisdom, And he who has little business can become wise.

25 How can he who holds the plow become wise, Who glories in brandishing the ox-goad? Who leads cattle, and turns about oxen, And whose discourse is with bullocks?

26 He sets his heart on turning his furrows And his anxiety is to have sufficient fodder.

27 Likewise the engraver and craftsman, Who passes his time by night as by day; They cut gravings of signets, And his diligence is to make variety, He sets his heart to make his likeness true, And his anxiety is to finish his work.

28 So the blacksmith sitting by the anvil, And considering the unwrought iron; The vapor of the fire cracks his flesh, And in the heat of the furnace he glows; The sound of the hammer is continually in his ear, And his eyes are upon the pattern of the vessel; He sets his heart upon finishing his works, And his diligence is to adorn [them] perfectly,

29 So the potter sitting at his work, And turning about the wheel with his feet, Who is ever anxiously set at his work, And all his handiwork is by number;

30 With his arm he fashions the clay, And he bends its strength before his feet; He applies his heart to finish the glazing, And his diligence is to clean the furnace.

31 All these rely upon their hands, And each is wise in his handiwork.

32 Without them a city cannot be inhabited, And they do not sojourn, neither do they walk up and down.

33 But in the council of the people they are not sought for, And in the assembly they will not be exalted; They will not sit on the seat of the judge, And they will not [be able to] understand the covenant of judgement; Neither will they expound righteousness and judgement, And among rulers they will not be found.

34 But the fabric of the world, they will maintain, And their thoughts are on the handiwork of [their] craft.

Sirach, Chapter 38

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