Chapter 38

The Lord created medicines from the earth, and the sensible man will not despise them. Over the dead shed tears, but do not surrender your heart to endless grief. While occupied with daily work and crafts, it is difficult to attain book learning and to earn esteem from the citizens.

Sirach 38:1. Honor the physician according to your need of him, for the Lord created him. 2. and from the Most High comes healing, and he receives a gift from the king. 3. The skill of the physician will lift up his head, and he will be held in honor among the great. 4. The Lord created medicines from the earth, and the sensible man will not despise them. 5. Did not water make the wood sweet, so that His power might be known? 5. See Exod 15:23-26.

Sirach 38:6. For this reason He gave men knowledge, that they might praise Him in His wondrous works. 7. By these he heals a man and removes his disease. 7. That is, by medicines. Cf. verse 4.

Sirach 38:8. The one who prepares medicines makes a mixture from them, and his labors do not cease, and through him comes good upon the earth. 8. And his labors do not cease with the mixture, that is, with purely scientific-theoretical experiments, but also have a beneficial practical significance, for through him, the physician, comes the good of healing human diseases upon the earth. Cf. verse 7.

Sirach 38:9. My son, in your illness do not be neglectful, but pray to the Lord, and He will heal you. 10. Abandon your sinful life and set your hands right, and from every sin cleanse your heart. 11. Bring a sweet savor and a memorial offering of fine flour, and make an offering as though you were about to die. 12. and give place to the physician, for the Lord created him, and do not let him leave you, for you have need of him. 13. At times their hands bring about success. 14. for they too pray to the Lord, that He would grant them success in diagnosing and in healing to extend the patient’s life. 15. But whoever sins against his Maker, let him fall into the physician’s hands! 9–15. In case of illness, turn to God the Lord with prayer for mercy, present the sacrifices required by law, but at the same time give place to the physician, for the Lord created him for His glory and for the benefit of suffering humanity. A physician who is knowledgeable and God-fearing can serve the sick as one of the instruments of divine mercy toward him. Only the stubborn and wicked have no right to hope in the healing power of God-created medicines.

Sirach 38:16. My son, shed tears over the dead and, like one who has suffered terrible misfortune, begin mourning; clothe his body properly and do not neglect his burial. 17. Let the mourning be bitter and the sobs warm, and continue your lamentation for him as is proper, a day or two, to avoid condemnation, and then console yourself in your sorrow. 18. for from sorrow comes death, and sorrow of heart saps the strength. 19. With misfortune comes sorrow, and the life of the poor is grievous to the heart. 20. Do not surrender your heart to sorrow; drive it from yourself by remembering the end. 20. Explained by verses 21–22. Remember the end, that is, the brevity of your life, do not waste your strength in excessive lamentation that is useless both for you and for others. The law of death embraces all living things on earth, and its action cannot be arrested by human grief. Excessive lamentation can only harm a person, hastening in his case the action of that terrible law (cf. verse 18).

Sirach 38:21. Do not forget this, for there is no return; and you will bring him no benefit, but will harm yourself. 22. “Remember the judgment against me, for it also is against you: for me yesterday, but for you today.” 23. With the rest of the dead let rest also the memory of him, and console yourself for him once his soul has departed. 24. Book-learning is acquired at a time of leisure, and he who has little of his own work can acquire wisdom. 25. How can one become wise who handles the plow and boasts in the goad, who drives oxen and is occupied with their work, and whose talk is only of young cattle? 26. His heart is bent on furrows, and his concern is on fodder for the heifers. 27. So too every carpenter and master builder who works the night like day: those who engrave, their diligence is to vary the forms. 27. Works night like day in thinking on how to vary the forms of his buildings.

Sirach 38:28. his heart is set on completing a good likeness, and his care is to finish his work perfectly. 29. So too the smith, who sits at the anvil and reflects on his iron work: the smoke of the fire withers his flesh, and he struggles with the heat of the furnace. 30. the sound of the hammer deafens his ear, and his eyes are fixed on the model of the vessel. 31. his heart is set on completing his work, and his care is to finish it with precision. 32. So too the potter, who sits over his work and turns the wheel with his feet. 33. he is always concerned about his work, and his output is reckoned by number. 34. he shapes the clay with his hand and makes it conform to his wishes with his feet. 35. his heart is set on finishing the vessel well, and his care is to cleanse the kiln. 36. All of them rely on their hands, and each is skilled in his own work. 37. without them a city would not be built, nor would it be inhabited or had inhabitants. 38. and yet they are not invited to the council, do not sit on the judge’s bench and do not deliberate about judicial ordinances, do not pronounce acquittal and condemnation, and do not occupy themselves with proverbs. 39. but they sustain the fabric of the world, and their prayer is for the success of their craft.