Sirach · Catholic Public Domain Version
Sirach 38 Catholic Public Domain Version
Notes on this text (3)
- Esther and Daniel are the Vulgate books (Esther 1–16 with the Greek additions as chapters 10:4–16; Daniel 1–14 with the Song of the Three, Susanna and Bel). Baruch 6 is the Letter of Jeremiah.
- The translator's footnotes, cross-references, chapter summaries and book introductions in the CrossWire module are not shown.
- No imprimatur; single translator.
1 Honor the physician because of necessity, and because the Most High created him.
1 Honor a physician according to your need with the honors due to him, for truly the Lord has created him.
2 For all healing is from God, and so he will receive gifts from the King.
2 For healing comes from the Most High, and he shall receive a gift from the king.
3 The expertise of the physician will lift up his head, and in the sight of great men, he will be praised.
3 The skill of the physician will lift up his head. He will be admired in the sight of great men.
4 The Most High has created medicines from the earth, and a prudent man will not abhor them.
4 The Lord created medicines out of the earth. A prudent man will not despise them.
5 Was not bitter water made sweet with wood?
5 Wasn’t water made sweet with wood, that its power might be known?
6 The benefits of these things is recognized by men, and the Most High has given this knowledge to men, so that he may be honored in his wonders.
6 He gave men skill that he might be glorified in his marvelous works.
7 By these things, he will cure or mitigate their suffering, and the pharmacist will make soothing ointments, and he will form healing medicines, and there will be no end to his works.
7 With them he heals and takes away pain.
8 For the peace of God is upon the surface of the earth.
8 With these, the pharmacist makes a mixture. God’s works won’t be brought to an end. From him, peace is upon the face of the earth.
9 Son, in your infirmity, you should not neglect yourself, but pray to the Lord, and he will cure you.
9 My son, in your sickness don’t be negligent, but pray to the Lord, and he will heal you.
10 Turn away from sin, and direct your hands, and cleanse your heart from every offense.
10 Put away wrong doing, and direct your hands in righteousness. Cleanse your heart from all sin.
11 Give a sweet offering, and a memorial of fine flour, and fatten your oblation, but also give a place to the physician.
11 Give a sweet savor and a memorial of fine flour, and pour oil on your offering, according to your means.
12 For the Lord created him. And so, do not let him depart from you, for his works are necessary.
12 Then give place to the physician, for truly the Lord has created him. Don’t let him leave you, for you need him.
13 For there is a time when you may fall into their hands.
13 There is a time when recovery is in their hands.
14 Truly, they will beseech the Lord, so that he may direct their treatments and cures, for the sake of their way of life.
14 For they also shall ask the Lord to prosper them in diagnosis and in healing for the maintenance of life.
15 He who sins in the sight of the One who made him will fall into the hands of the physician.
15 He who sins before his Maker, let him fall into the hands of the physician.
16 Son, shed tears over the dead, and begin to weep, as if you had suffered dreadfully. And according to judgment, cover his body, and you should not neglect his burial.
16 My son, let your tears fall over the dead, and as one who suffers grievously, begin lamentation. Wind up his body with due honor. Don’t neglect his burial.
17 And though you will sink down into bitterness, bear his mourning for one day, and then be consoled in your sadness.
17 Make bitter weeping and make passionate wailing. Let your mourning be according to his merit, for one day or two, lest you be spoken evil of; and so be comforted for your sorrow.
18 And carry out his mourning, according to his merit, for one or two days because of this loss.
18 For from sorrow comes death. Sorrow of heart saps one’s strength.
19 Yet sadness hastens death and overwhelms strength, and the sorrow of the heart bows down the neck.
19 In calamity, sorrow also remains. A poor man’s life is grievous to the heart.
20 When one is taken away, sorrow remains. But the resources of a destitute man is found in his heart.
20 Don’t give your heart to sorrow. Put it away, remembering the end.
21 You should not give your heart over to sadness, but push it away from you. And remember the very end.
21 Don’t forget it, for there is no returning again. You do him no good, and you would harm yourself.
22 Do not be willing to forget this; for there is no turning back. Otherwise, it will not benefit you, and you will cause great harm to yourself.
22 Remember his end, for so also will yours be: yesterday for him, and today for you.
23 Call to mind my judgment. For so shall it be for you also. Yesterday is mine, and today is yours.
23 When the dead is at rest, let his remembrance rest. Be comforted for him when his spirit departs from him.
24 When the deceased is at rest, let his memory rest also. And console him at the departure of his spirit.
24 The wisdom of the scribe comes by the opportunity of leisure. He who has little business can become wise.
25 The wisdom of a scribe is found in his time of leisure. So whoever has less to do will gain wisdom.
25 How could he become wise who holds the plow, who glories in the shaft of the goad, who drives oxen and is occupied in their labors, and who mostly talks about bulls?
26 With what wisdom will someone be filled who holds the plow, and who boasts of the cattle prod that drives the oxen forward, and who is occupied in these labors, and whose only conversation is about the offspring of bulls?
26 He will set his heart upon turning his furrows. His lack of sleep is to give his heifers their fodder.
27 He will give his mind over to the plowing of furrows, and his vigilance to the fattening of the cows.
27 So is every craftsman and master artisan who passes his time by night as by day, those who cut engravings of signets. His diligence is to make great variety. He sets his heart to preserve likeness in his portraiture, and is careful to finish his work.
28 Similarly, every craftsman and artisan, who crafts in the night as well as in the day, who sculpts graven seals, and who, by his diligence, varies the image, will give his mind over to the likeness of the image. And he will complete the work by his vigilance.
28 So too is the smith sitting by the anvil and considering the unwrought iron. The smoke of the fire will waste his flesh. He toils in the heat of the furnace. The noise of the hammer deafens his ear. His eyes are upon the pattern of the object. He will set his heart upon perfecting his works. He will be careful to adorn them perfectly.
29 The blacksmith, sitting by his anvil and considering a work of iron, is similar. The steam from the fire singes his flesh, and he struggles against the heat of the furnace.
29 So is the potter sitting at his work and turning the wheel around with his feet, who is always anxiously set at his work. He produces his handiwork in quantity.
30 The voice of the hammer is ever in his ears, and his eye is upon the pattern of the ironwork.
30 He will fashion the clay with his arm and will bend its strength in front of his feet. He will apply his heart to finish the glazing. He will be careful to clean the kiln.
31 He gives his heart to the completion of his work, and his vigilance adorns it to perfection.
31 All these put their trust in their hands. Each becomes skillful in his own work.
32 The potter, sitting at his work and turning the wheel with his feet, is similar. He has settled into a continual concern for his work, and there is a rhythm in all that he does.
32 Without these no city would be inhabited. Men wouldn’t reside as foreigners or walk up and down there.
33 He forms the clay with his arm, and he bends his strength over his feet.
33 They won’t be sought for in the council of the people. They won’t mount on high in the assembly. They won’t sit on the seat of the judge. They won’t understand the covenant of judgment. Neither will they declare instruction and judgment. They won’t be found where parables are.
34 He will give his heart over to the completion of the glazing, and his vigilance to the cleansing of the furnace.
34 But they will maintain the fabric of the age. Their prayer is in the handiwork of their craft.
35 All these persons trust in their own hands, and each one is wise in his own art.
35 Not in this translation
36 Without these persons, a city is not built.
36 Not in this translation
37 But they will neither inhabit nor walk around in the city. And they will not go across to the church.
37 Not in this translation
38 They will not sit upon the seats of judges, and they will not understand a decree of judgment. And they will not make clear discipline and judgment, and they will not be found to understand parables.
38 Not in this translation
39 But they will strengthen the state of the world, and their prayer will be in their artistic works, applying their soul, and searching the law of the Most High.
39 Not in this translation
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
"I sleep, and my heart waketh." I am still, and see that Thou art the Lord: for "the wisdom of the scribe cometh by opportunity of leisure; and he that hath little business shall become wise." "I sleep, and my heart waketh:" I rest from troublesome business, and my mind turns its attention to divine concerns (or communications).
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 7 (1888)