Sickness and Medicine
1 Give doctors the honor they deserve, for the Lord gave them their work to do. 2 Their skill came from the Most High, and kings reward them for it. 3 Their knowledge gives them a position of importance, and powerful people hold them in high regard.
4 The Lord created medicines from the earth, and a sensible person will not hesitate to use them. 5 Didn't a tree once make bitter water fit to drink, so that the Lord's power might be known? 6 He gave medical knowledge to human beings, so that we would praise him for the miracles he performs. 7-8 The druggist mixes these medicines, and the doctor will use them to cure diseases and ease pain. There is no end to the activities of the Lord, who gives health to the people of the world.
9 My child, when you get sick, don't ignore it. Pray to the Lord, and he will make you well. 10 Confess all your sins and determine that in the future you will live a righteous life. 11 Offer incense and a grain offering, as fine as you can afford. 12 Then call the doctor—for the Lord created him—and keep him at your side; you need him. 13 There are times when you have to depend on his skill. 14 The doctor's prayer is that the Lord will make him able to ease his patients' pain and make them well again. 15 As for the person who sins against his Creator, he deserves to be sick.
Mourning for the Dead
16 My child, when someone dies, you should mourn. Weep and wail to show how deeply you feel the loss. Prepare the body in the proper way, and be present at the burial. 17 Weep bitterly and passionately; observe the proper period of mourning for the person. Mourn for a whole day or maybe two, to keep people from talking, but then pull yourself together and reconcile yourself to the loss. 18 Grief can undermine your health and even lead to your own death. 19 Grief lingers on after the death of a loved one, but it is not wise to let it lead you into poverty.
20 Don't lose yourself in sorrow; drive it away. Remember that we must all die sometime. 21 There is no way to bring the dead person back. All your sorrow does him no good, and it hurts you. Don't forget that. 22 You will die, just as he did. Today it was his turn; tomorrow it will be yours. 23 When the dead have been laid to rest, let the memory of them fade. Once they are gone, take courage.
Scholarship and Other Occupations
24 Scholars must have time to study if they are going to be wise; they must be relieved of other responsibilities. 25 How can a farm hand gain knowledge, when his only ambition is to drive the oxen and make them work, when all he knows to talk about is livestock? 26 He takes great pains to plow a straight furrow and will work far into the night to feed the animals.
27 It is the same with the artist and the craftsman, who work night and day engraving precious stones, carefully working out new designs. They take great pains to produce a lifelike image, and will work far into the night to finish the work.
28 It is the same with the blacksmith at his anvil, planning what he will make from a piece of iron. The heat from the fire sears his skin as he sweats away at the forge. The clanging of the hammer deafens him as he carefully watches the object he is working take shape. He takes great pains to complete his task, and will work far into the night to bring it to perfection.
29 It is the same with the potter, sitting at his wheel and turning it with his feet, always concentrating on his work, concerned with how many objects he can produce. 30 He works the clay with his feet until he can shape it with his hands; then he takes great pains to glaze it properly, and will work far into the night to clean out the kiln.
31 All of these people are skilled with their hands, each of them an expert at his own craft. 32 Without such people there could be no cities; no one would live or visit where these services were not available. 33 These people are not sought out to serve on the public councils, and they never attain positions of great importance. They do not serve as judges, and they do not understand legal matters. They have no education and are not known for their wisdom. You never hear them quoting proverbs. 34 But the work they do holds this world together. When they do their work, it is the same as offering prayer.
1 Honour a physician with the honour due unto him for the uses which ye may have of him: for the Lord hath created him.
2 For of the most High cometh healing, and he shall receive honour of the king.
3 The skill of the physician shall lift up his head: and in the sight of great men he shall be in admiration.
4 The Lord hath created medicines out of the earth; and he that is wise will not abhor them.
5 Was not the water made sweet with wood, that the virtue thereof might be known?
6 And he hath given men skill, that he might be honoured in his marvellous works.
7 With such doth he heal men , and taketh away their pains.
8 Of such doth the apothecary make a confection; and of his works there is no end; and from him is peace over all the earth,
9 My son, in thy sickness be not negligent: but pray unto the Lord, and he will make thee whole.
10 Leave off from sin, and order thine hands aright, and cleanse thy heart from all wickedness.
11 Give a sweet savour, and a memorial of fine flour; and make a fat offering, as not being.
12 Then give place to the physician, for the Lord hath created him: let him not go from thee, for thou hast need of him.
13 There is a time when in their hands there is good success.
14 For they shall also pray unto the Lord, that he would prosper that, which they give for ease and remedy to prolong life.
15 He that sinneth before his Maker, let him fall into the hand of the physician.
16 My son, let 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.
17 Weep 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.
18 For of heaviness cometh death, and the heaviness of the heart breaketh strength.
19 In affliction also sorrow remaineth: and the life of the poor is the curse of the heart.
20 Take no heaviness to heart: drive it away, and remember the last end.
21 Forget it not, for there is no turning again: thou shalt not do him good, but hurt thyself.
22 Remember my judgment: for thine also shall be so; yesterday for me, and to day for thee.
23 When the dead is at rest, let his remembrance rest; and be comforted for him, when his Spirit is departed from him.
24 The wisdom of a learned man cometh by opportunity of leisure: and he that hath little business shall become wise.
25 How 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 talk is of bullocks?
26 He giveth his mind to make furrows; and is diligent to give the kine fodder.
27 So every carpenter and workmaster, that laboureth night and day: and they that cut and grave seals, and are diligent to make great variety, and give themselves to counterfeit imagery, and watch to finish a work:
28 The 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; he setteth his mind to finish his work, and watcheth to polish it perfectly:
29 So doth the potter sitting at his work, and turning the wheel about with his feet, who is alway carefully set at his work, and maketh all his work by number;
30 He fashioneth the clay with his arm, and boweth down his strength before his feet; he applieth himself to lead it over; and he is diligent to make clean the furnace:
31 All these trust to their hands: and every one is wise in his work.
32 Without these cannot a city be inhabited: and they shall not dwell where they will, nor go up and down:
33 They 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 they shall not be found where parables are spoken.
34 But they will maintain the state of the world, and all their desire is in the work of their craft.