38 Honor doctors for their services,
    since indeed the Lord created them.
² Healing comes from the Most High,
    and the king will reward them.
³ The skill of doctors will make
them eminent,
    and they will be admired
    in the presence of the great.
⁴ The Lord created medicines
out of the earth,
    and a sensible person
    won’t ignore them.
⁵ Wasn’t water made sweet
by means of wood
    so that the Lord’s strength
    might be known?
⁶ And he endowed human beings
with skill
    so that he would be glorified
    through his marvelous deeds.
⁷ With those medicines,
the doctor cures and takes away pain.
⁸ Those who prepare ointments
will make a compound out of them,
    and their work will never be finished,
    and well-being spreads
    over the whole world from them.

¹⁶ My child, let your tears flow for the dead;
        as one who is suffering terribly,
        give voice to your sorrow.
    Lay out their bodies in accordance
    with their wishes,
        and don’t neglect their burial.
¹⁷ Let your crying be bitter
and express your sorrow fervently,
    and make your mourning
    worthy of them.
    Mourn for one day or two
    so that there can be no criticism,
        and then be comforted from your grief.
¹⁸ Too much grief can lead to death,
    and grief in one’s heart
    will sap one’s strength.
¹⁹ Grief also lingers in misery,
    and the life of the poor
    is a curse upon the heart.
²⁰ Don’t give your heart over to grief;
    stay away from it,
    remembering your own end.
²¹ Don’t forget that there’s no coming back;
    you won’t do them any good,
    and you will hurt yourself.
²² Remember their sentence,
because it’s yours also:
    “Yesterday it was I, and today it’s you!”
²³ When the dead are at rest,
put their memory to rest,
    and be comforted for them
    when their spirit has left.

²⁴ The scribe’s wisdom depends
on the opportunity for leisure,
    and whoever lacks busyness
    will become wise.
²⁵ How will people become wise
when they take hold of a plow
        or pride themselves
        in how well they handle an ox prod,
    when they drive cattle
    and are absorbed with their work,
        and their conversation is about bulls?
²⁶ Their hearts are given over
to plowing furrows,
    and they lose sleep
    because they’re concerned
    about supplying heifers with food.
²⁷ So it is also with every craftsperson
and master artisan
    who carries over the day’s work
    into the night,
        who carves figures on seals
    and works diligently
    to make diverse ornamentations.
They will devote themselves
to producing a lifelike painting,
    and they lose sleep
    in order to finish their work.
²⁸ So it is with smiths who sit near an anvil
        and who closely examine works of iron.
    The blast of the fire
    will melt their flesh,
        and they will struggle
        with the heat of the furnace.
    The sound of the hammer
    will strike their ears again and again,
        and their eyes are focused
        on the pattern of the object.
        They will devote themselves
        to finishing the work,
        and they lose sleep
        in order to complete its decoration.
²⁹ So it is with potters sitting at their work,
        turning the wheel at their feet.
    They lie down always feeling anxiety
    about their work,
        and every product of theirs is valued.
³⁰ They will mold the clay with their hands
        and work the wheel with their feet.
    They will devote themselves
    to finishing the glazing,
    and they lose sleep
    in order to clean the kiln.