Sirach 38 - Contemporary English Version Interconfessional Edition

Medicine

¹ The Lord chose some people to be doctors, so honor them for helping others get well.

² God Most High gave them the ability to heal, and they are rewarded by the king.

³ Their skills make them important, and they are admired by powerful people.

⁴ Medicines are part of the Lord's creation, and if you are sensible, you will use them.

⁵ One time even a piece of wood made water fit to drink, and this showed God's power.

⁶ He gives knowledge to humans so that we will praise him for his amazing creations. *

⁷ Doctors relieve pain and bring healing by mixing medicines from things that God created.

⁸ God will always be at work bringing health to everyone on earth.

⁹ Students, if you get sick, quickly pray to the Lord, and you will be healed.

¹⁰ Give up all your sins and decide to do right.

¹¹ Offer a sacrifice of fine flour and as much olive oil as you can afford, and the smell of the smoke will be pleasing to God.

¹² But God also created doctors, and you need their help, so don't reject them.

¹³ Someday your life will be in their hands,

¹⁴ and they will ask the Lord how to make you well and relieve your pain.

¹⁵ Those who sin against God, their Creator, will also reject doctors.

Mourning

¹⁶ When someone dies, you should mourn and weep as though you were in pain. Prepare the body to be buried, and attend the funeral.

¹⁷ Weep bitterly to show respect for the dead. If you don't grieve at all, you will be criticized, but don't mourn for longer than a day or two.

¹⁸ If you don't stop grieving, you will grow weak and die.

¹⁹ After a funeral, sorrow remains, but don't let it drag you down into poverty.

²⁰ Put away your grief and enjoy what is left of your own life.

²¹ You cannot bring back those who have died. Grieving won't help them, and it can harm you.

²² Just remember that in the past, death caught up with them, and in the future, it will catch up with you.

²³ The dead are at rest, so be strong and stop thinking about them all the time.

Teachers of Wisdom

²⁴ If teachers are to become wise, they need lots of time to study and freedom from other work. *

²⁵ Who has time to study wisdom? Not farmers! All day long they guide oxen to plow

²⁶ in straight lines. Then they work at night feeding their livestock. Farmers talk about cattle, not wisdom.

²⁷ Who has time to study wisdom? Not artists who carve designs on rings and other jewelry. These artists work with care night and day, making sure each design is different and leaves a perfect pattern when pressed in soft wax.

²⁸ Who has time to study wisdom? Not the blacksmith, soaked in sweat from the heat of the furnace, going deaf from the noise as he hammers the red-hot iron, shaping it on his anvil. He wants to finish this piece, and will work late to see all its decorations completed.

²⁹ Who has time to study wisdom? A potter doesn't. His feet must always move to spin the pottery wheel. He keeps his mind on his work— so many pieces to make,

³⁰ and so much to do. He works the clay with his feet to make it soft, then shapes it with his hands before baking it. And then at night, he cleans out the furnace.

³¹ All these are skilled people who work with their hands.

³² Without them in a town, no one would live there or even visit. But they are not asked to serve on public committees,

³³ and they don't become leaders in the town council. They are not judges and cannot explain the decisions of the court. They cannot even tell stories that teach lessons.

³⁴ But they do pray about their work, and they keep life going for everyone else. Teachers who study the Law of God Most High are different.