38:1 Be friends with the physician since you have need of him, For God has ordained him also.
38:2 It is from God that the physician becomes wise, And from the king he receives gifts.
38:3 The skill of the physician lifts up his head, So that he stands in the presence of princes.
38:4 God has created medicines out of the earth, And do not let a man of discernment despise them.
38:5 Was not water made sweet by the wood In order to make known his power to all men?
38:6 And he gave to men discernment, To glory in his mighty works;
38:7 By them the physician relieves pain,
38:8 Thus also the compounder make his compound, That his work does not cease, Nor health from the sons of men.
38:9 My son, in sickness do not be negligent; Pray to God, for he can heal.
38:10 Turn from iniquity, and purify your hands; And from all transgressions cleanse your heart.
38:11 Give a meal-offering, and also a memorial, And offer a fat sacrifice to the utmost of your means.
38:12 And also give a place to the physician; And do not let [him] be far from you, for there is indeed need of him.
38:13 For there is a time when success is in his power;
38:14 For he also makes supplication to God To make his diagnosis successful, And the healing that it may give life.
38:15 He who sins against his Maker Behaves proudly towards the physician.
38:16 My son, let tears fall for the dead; Show yourself sorrowful, and mourn with a lamentation. Bury his body according to his due, And do not hide yourself when he has become a corpse.
38:17 Make bitter your weeping and passionate your wailing, And make mourning such as befits him, For a day or two to avoid scandal, And be comforted for your sorrow.
38:18 For out of sorrow comes forth harm, So sadness of heart brings down strength.
38:20 Then let your heart be no more occupied with him, Dismiss the remembrance of him, [yet] remember [your] end.
38:21 Remember him not, for he has no hope; You cannot profit him, while you harm yourself.
38:22 Remember his doom, for it is your doom [too]; His yesterday, and yours today.
38:23 When the dead is at rest, let his memory rest; And be consoled when his soul departs.
38:24 The wisdom of the scribe increases wisdom, And he who has little business can become wise.
38:25 How can he who holds the plow become wise, Who glories in brandishing the ox-goad? Who leads cattle, and turns about oxen, And whose discourse is with bullocks?
38:26 He sets his heart on turning his furrows And his anxiety is to have sufficient fodder.
38:27 Likewise the engraver and craftsman, Who passes his time by night as by day; They cut gravings of signets, And his diligence is to make variety, He sets his heart to make his likeness true, And his anxiety is to finish his work.
38:28 So the blacksmith sitting by the anvil, And considering the unwrought iron; The vapor of the fire cracks his flesh, And in the heat of the furnace he glows; The sound of the hammer is continually in his ear, And his eyes are upon the pattern of the vessel; He sets his heart upon finishing his works, And his diligence is to adorn [them] perfectly,
38:29 So the potter sitting at his work, And turning about the wheel with his feet, Who is ever anxiously set at his work, And all his handiwork is by number;
38:30 With his arm he fashions the clay, And he bends its strength before his feet; He applies his heart to finish the glazing, And his diligence is to clean the furnace.
38:31 All these rely upon their hands, And each is wise in his handiwork.
38:32 Without them a city cannot be inhabited, And they do not sojourn, neither do they walk up and down.
38:33 But in the council of the people they are not sought for, And in the assembly they will not be exalted; They will not sit on the seat of the judge, And they will not [be able to] understand the covenant of judgement; Neither will they expound righteousness and judgement, And among rulers they will not be found.
38:34 But the fabric of the world, they will maintain, And their thoughts are on the handiwork of [their] craft.