The Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach, or Ecclesiasticus 38

1Honor a physician according to your need of him with the honors due to him: 2For from the Most High comes healing; 3The skill of the physician shall lift up his head; 4The Lord created medicines out of the earth; 5Was not water made sweet with wood, 6And he gave men skill, they might be glorified in his marvelous works. Or, he 7With them does he heal a man, 8With these will the apothecary make a confection; 9My son, in your sickness be not negligent; 10Put away wrong doing, and order your hands aright, 11Give a sweet savor, and a memorial of fine flour; 12Then give place to the physician, for verily the Lord has created him; 13There is a time when in their very hands is the issue for good. 14For they also shall beseech the Lord, giving relief and in healing for the maintenance of life. 15He that sins before his Maker, 16My son, let your tears fall over the dead, 17Make bitter weeping, and make passionate wailing, 18For of sorrow comes death, 19In calamity sorrow also remains: grievous to the heart. Gr. against the heart. 20Give not your heart to sorrow: 21Forget it not, for there is no returning again: 22Remember the sentence upon him; for so also shall your be; 23When the dead is at rest, let his remembrance rest; 24The wisdom of the scribe comes by opportunity of leisure; he that has little business shall become wise. Gr. he that is lessened in his business. 25How shall he become wise that holds the plow, 26He will set his heart upon turning his furrows; 27So is every craftsman and workmaster, 28So is the smith sitting by the anvil, with his work: be ever in his ear, Gr. renew. 29So is the potter sitting at his work, 30He will fashion the clay with his arm, 31All these put their trust in their hands; 32Without these shall not a city be inhabited, therein. 33They shall not be sought for in the council of the people, This line is absent from the oldest MSS. 34But they will maintain the fabric of the world; Gr. age.