(ECCLESIASTICUS) WISDOM OF SIRACH CHAPTER 28 - 38

SIRACH 28

1 He that takes vengeance will contend
With vengeance from YHWH for his end,
And he will set his sins in stone.
2 Forgive your neighbour and atone
For what he’s done, and then your own
Sins will be pardoned when you pray,
For that’s the only righteous way.

You shall be once forgiven as you do
Forgive your brother is a thing said true
By Jesus the Messiah to his crew.
He quoted Jesus Ben Sirach in that,
But may have got it from his mother’s flat,
Since books were rare and costly in his day.
It is a true thing to know anyway.
I’m glad to know forgiveness does not need
The bloody sacrifice of pagan sieve,
Or humans dying on a cross to breed
A generation of heathen to live.
Beloved, I live to forgive those who rate
The wrong on me, and so rejoice to skate
Upon the slick surface of Your estate.

3 Does a man hold a grudge and then
Seek healing from YHWH for his wen?
4 Does he have no mercy toward
A man like himself for reward,
And yet pray for his own sins’ stored?
5 If he himself, being mere flesh,
Nurses his anger, who’ll be fresh
To expiate his sins in mesh?
6 Keep in mind the end of your life,
And cease from enmity and strife,
Remember destruction and death,
And be true to commandments’ breath.
7 Remember the commandments, and
Do not be angry with your band
Of neighbours, mind the covenant
Of the Most High, and smile at scant
Intelligence. 8 Refrain from strife,
And you will lessen sins for life,
For a man given to wrath will start
A quarrel and fight for his part.
9 And a sinful man will disturb
Friends and cause enmity to curb
Those who are at peace and perturb.

Remember the commandments, so indeed,
Beloved, I find the secret, sacred seed
Of health and wealth and stealth of happiness
And true delight, the secret of success.
Success is not the product of great plan
To conquer challenges the world in span,
And does not take months, years and lives to take:
It is the gain of one moment to make.
When I remember Your law and recite
The silver and the golden words by night
And day, I step into success and bright
Ways that bring peace and calm into the fight.
Let me keep service of remembrance now
And every time I turn and bend my brow.

10 In proportion to the fire’s fuel,
So will the burning be to rule,
And in proportion to the rise
Of stubbornness by strife in guise
Will be the burning of the eyes,
And in proportion to the strength
Of the man will be his wrath’s length,
And in proportion to his wealth
Will he heighten his wrath in stealth.
11 A hasty quarrel kindles fire,
And urgent strife sheds blood in ire.
12 If you blow a spark, it will glow,
If you spit on it, it will slow
And go out, but both things come out
Of your own mouth, there is no doubt.
13 Curse those who whisper and deceive,
For he’s destroyed many to please.
14 Slander has shaken many, and
Scattered them from nation to land,
And destroyed great cities in band,
And cast down houses of great men.
15 Slander has driven out again
Courageous women, and deprived
Them of the fruit of their toil thrived.
16 Whoever pays heed to slander
Will not find rest, nor will incur
A life of peace. 17 Blow of a whip
Raises a welt, but a tongue’s quip
Crushes the bones, even the hip.

When I was young and less than young we said
That sticks and stones were marvellous instead
Of words to break the bone, which in themselves
Could never hurt a child, a flea or elves.
That contradicts the plain message that writes
Jesus Ben Sirach in the Scriptures’ flights.
The word can take the health and wealth and stealth
Out of the righteous and from commonwealth
Of wickedness: all lie exposed to grief
Of tongue and word as well as robber thief.
Beloved, I’ve lived to learn that truth exists
In You alone, a man’s here and subsists
On stop-gap measures in his nourishment,
But has no light of knowledge in his tent.

18 Many have fallen by the edge
Of the sword, but more at the pledge
Of tongue. 19 Happy’s the man who lies
Protected from the tongue in guise,
Who has not been exposed to wrath,
Who has not borne its yoke and path,
And has not been bound with its chains.
20 For its yoke is a yoke of steel,
And its bronze fetters bruise the heel,
21 And its death is an evil death,
And Hades is preferred in breath.
22 It will not master godly men,
And they’ll not be burned in its den.
23 Those who forsake YHWH, they will fall
Into its power to burn in gall
Not to be extinguished at all.
And like a lion it is sent
Against them, like a leopard bent
To mangle them as it was meant.
24 See that you fence in your own plot
With thorns, lock up your silver lot
And gold, 25 make balances and scales
For your words, and make a door’s nails
For your mouth. 26 Beware lest you err
With your tongue, lest you fall before
Him who lies in wait at the door.

The danger, my Beloved, is not so much
In telling lies about the neighbour’s clutch,
But telling what one thinks is truth and then
Later finds was not so by gods and men.
Beloved, guard me from truth, it is too great
For human shoulders to bear such a weight,
But rather let my tongue stay and relate
Your Psalms among the lesser and the great.
Nail down my tongue, Beloved, caught in the door,
And let my wayword words wind on the shore
Among the winds of hell and paradise.
Beloved, keep me from repeating things nice.
The tongue is truly a small thing says one
Who knew that it could tie knots not undone.

SIRACH 29

1 The one who shows mercy will lend
To his neighbour, and he will spend
To strengthen him and so he keeps
The commandments in what he reaps.
2 Lend to your neighbour in the time
Of his need, and in your own climb,
Repay your neighbour without crime
As soon as promised, every dime.
3 Confirm your word and keep your promise,
And every time, no doubting Thomas,
You will obtain all that you need.
4 Many persons think of the seed
Of a loan as an unexpected
Bonus, and so treat the elected
Who help them with trouble indeed.
5 A man will kiss another’s hand
Until he gets the contraband,
And whisper of his neighbour’s funds,
But when repayment time immunds,
He will put it off lightly and
Will ask for more time running sand.
6 If his creditor will insist,
He’ll hardly get back half in fist,
And think he’s lucky with the kissed.
If he does not put pressure on,
The borrower has robbed the pawn,
And needlessly gained him a foe,
Who will repay with curses’ flow
And reproaches, instead of glory
Will repay him dishonour gory.
7 Because of such wickedness many
Refuse to lend a hand or penny,
Fearing needless defrauding at
The hands of borrowers got fat.

When Jesus is so sweet to quote this word,
He does not give so much in comfort stirred,
But leaves the modern reader who has not
Read the Apocrypha in Catholic plot
To wonder if he really must give out
His wealth and savings to each one to shout
And demand borrowing, to every lout.
If Jesus had been careful in his speech,
We would not stand in wonder on the beach.
Beloved, I’ve lent and given too in time,
But only once not got back for my rhyme
What I gave out, and that I let pass by
As charity to help man and small fry.
My wife too lost a smaller sum to crime.

8 Nevertheless, have patient stance
With a man’s humble circumstance,
And do not make him wait for alms.
9 Help a poor man and without qualms
For the commandment’s sake, and for
His need, don’t send to empty store.
10 Lose silver for your brother’s sake
Or for a friend, don’t let the stake
Rust under a stone and be lost.
11 Lay up your treasure by command
Of the Most High, you’ll have in hand
More profit than your gold can stand.
12 Deposit alms in treasury,
And it will rescue you from fee
Of all suffering in poverty,
13 More than a mighty shield and more
Than heavy spear, it will fight score
On your behalf against your foe.
14 A good man will be surety
For his neighbour, but a man free
Who’s lost his shame will miserably
Fail him both here and on the go.

The Proverbs disagree with surety,
And say the wise man will not join the spree
Of lend and borrow, but require the wealth
Of all he needs for management and health.
Jesus Ben Sirach knows the risk to take
When lending to a sinner at the stake,
But still encourages the mate to show
His neighbour mercy and to lend a hoe.
Beloved, I’ve lent in time and also writ
A note to borrow for a brief time’s fit,
But in the main fear debt like plague and make
No gesture to borrow for lending’s sake.
Beloved, lose silver for my sake and I
Will give You thanks beneath the tarnished sky.

15 Do not forget your surety’s
Kindness, for he has given to please
You of his life. 16 A sinner will
Destroy his surety’s good bill
In his prosperity to fill.
17 And one who does not return thanks
Will abandon his helper’s banks.
18 Being surety has in fact
Ruined many men who were not slacked
In their prosperity. It’s shaken
Them like a sea-wave overtaken,
It’s driven strong men to exile,
To wander strange lands mile by mile.
19 The sinner who has fallen in
Suretyship and pursues bin
Of wealth will fall into lawsuits.
20 Assist your neighbour by your boots,
But watch out you don’t fall in soots.
21 Necessities for life are just
Water and bread, not ash and dust,
And clothing and a hut to shelter
One’s nakedness from cold and welter.

The four gates are essential to the soul,
While body has at least eight on the dole:
Sunlight and fresh air as well as the cool
Of water make the first in healthful school.
Rest and motion are added to the bread
To keep the body healthy and well fed.
The shelter of the body, both from shame
Of nakedness and heat and cold have claim.
Add to the seven trust in divine power,
The balance of come and go in the hour,
And all necessities known to man’s use
Are clear and natural without abuse.
I need no movie stars, pop singers’ ways
To show me joyful paths within Your praise.

22 Better is the life of the poor
Under his roof’s shelter in tour
Than dainties of meat in the gate
Of other men come soon or late.
23 Be content with little or much.
24 It is a miserable life to clutch
Going from house to house, and where
You are a stranger you may stare
But not open your mouth, beware,
25 You’ll play the host and provide drink
Without being thanked on the brink,
And besides you’ll hear bitter words:
26 “Come here, stranger, prepare the curds
Upon table, if you’ve got
Anything at hand, give the lot.”
27 “Give place, stranger, to honoured guest,
My brother’s come to stay and rest
With me, I need my house for best.”
28 These things are hard for men to bear
Who have the feeling share and share:
Scolding about lodging a night,
And reproach of lender in sight.

I’ve travelled round the world about but yet
Have not found the settlement where you get
This treatment of the stranger and the guest.
Where I’ve been I’ve received only the best.
It may be that the golden words that flowed
In wisdom in the Middle East have slowed
The power of owner and at last have load
Of good in greeting traveller with the mode
Of hospitality. Besides I’ve seen
Hotels spring up around the soup tureen,
And few now venture out who have not gold
To pay for fancy lodging that is sold.
Still beggars sleep upon the polished stone
Of the mosque steps where You are host alone.

SIRACH 30

1 The one who loves his son will whip
Him often, so in joy may quip
At the way he turns out in slip.
2 He who disciplines his son will
Profit by him, and will boast still
Of him among acquaintances.
3 He who teaches his son his biz
Will make his foes green with envy,
Among his friends reap his glory.

Beloved, strike out these words, I find them rash.
First of all whipping’s not the way to hash
A child today. It does not seem to help,
And social services may steal the whelp.
The second thing is fathers who expect
A profit from their children I reject.
The third thing is that boasting is a habit
Unworthy in both man and beast and rabbit.
The last thing is that friends and foes alike
Are capable of envy at the strike,
And no one gives glory and honour to
Anyone today, but for evil due.
And so I finish my speech at the mike
And return in my silence back to You.

4 The father may die, and yet he
Is not dead, for he’s left in fee
One like himself, 5 while alive he
Saw and rejoiced, and when he died
He was not grieved, 6 he’s left to bide
Avenger against enemies,
And one to repay kindness fees
Of his friends. 7 He who spoils his son
Will bind up his wounds, and when done
His feelings will be troubled soon.
8 A horse that’s untamed like a goon
Turns out to be stubborn, and so
An unrestrained son turns to show
A wilful spirit on the go.
9 Pamper a child, and he will come
To frighten you, play with the bum,
And he will give you grief in sum.
10 Do not laugh with him, lest you get
Sorrow with him, though he’s a pet,
And in the end you’ll gnash your teeth.
11 Give no authority beneath
His youth, and don’t ignore his faults.
12 Bow down his youthful neck to waltz,
And beat him up and down while young,
Lest he become stubborn of tongue,
And disobey you, and you get
Sorrow of soul for what he’s set.
13 Discipline your son and take pains
With him, that you may not in banes
Be offended by shameless stains.

Both Greek and Roman agree on the way
To discipline a child made to obey,
And even Hebrew wisdom in its sway
Would touch the whip to horse and son at last
As long as the stall provides them repast.
While Your commandment tells the child to be
Respectful of his parents faithfully,
And parents not to lay a burden’s care
Upon the child on Sabbath day for share,
There is no word that lets the father pile
A rod upon the son or daughter’s style.
There’s only one practice of cult in view:
Honour your parents above every crew.
If that’s taught, nothing else need fill the due.

14 Better off is a poor man who
Is well and strong in body’s view
Than a rich man who’s in poor health.
15 Health and soundness are better wealth
Than all gold, and a robust body
Than countless riches and unshoddy.
16 There is no wealth better than health
Of body, and there is no gladness
Above joy of heart without sadness.
17 Death is better than painful life,
Eternal rest than chronic strife.
18 Good things poured out upon a mouth
That is closed are like offerings’ south
Placed on a grave in wasted food.
19 Of what use to an idol rude
Is an offering of fruit? For it
Can neither eat nor smell a bit.
So is the one that YHWH has let
Be afflicted, 20 he sees the set
With his eyes and groans, like a cut
Eunuch who hugs a maiden’s butt
And groans for his genitals shut.

Both health and wealth are merely strokes of luck
Or else the unjust and uneven cluck
Of what You have provided for all men.
There’s no use in Ben Sirach’s strolling pen
To praise the one and other once again.
Virtue’s the only wealth a man can gain
By his own striving, yet what there’s in strain
Is little: just the Sabbath rest and still
The honour piled on mom and dad to fill.
Beloved, I thank whatever stars You let
Give me a little of both body’s set
And money to buy food and drink and share
Of clothing and of shelter without care,
But most for knowledge of virtue to bear.

21 Do not give yourself up to grief,
Do not afflict yourself like thief.
22 Gladness of heart’s the life of man,
Rejoicing’s length of days in span.
23 Delight your soul, comfort your heart,
Remove sorrow far from your part,
For sorrow has destroyed the strong,
And there’s no profit in its song.
24 Envy and anger shorten life,
Anxiety brings old age rife.
25 A man of cheerful and good heart
Will take heed of what food’s his part.

The trick’s to find delight while keeping all
The commandments that you have set on ball.
Most joy that’s advertised today requires
Departure from Your law into the mires.
The trick’s to leave the Freudian cast that will
Give over introspection and the bill
Of self-responsibility to take
The joy and not merely lie in the wake
Of sorrow as if nothing could be done
About the fate of every human spun.
Beloved, though I take cheerful heart a while,
I fall into the great ungracious pile
Too easily, when I forget what guile
Lies in seduction underneath the sun.

SIRACH 31

1 Wakefulness over wealth wastes life,
Anxiety removes sleep rife.
2 Wakeful anxiety prevents
Slumber, and illness in the tents
Carries off sleep. 3 The rich man toils
As his wealth grows in greater spoils,
And when he rests he fills himself
With delicate foods from his shelf.
4 The poor man toils and sees his deed
Diminish, and he rests in need.
5 He who loves gold will never be
Justified, and the one who’ll see
After money is led astray.
6 Many have come to ruin’s day
Because of gold, and their destruction
Has met them face to face for fluxion.
7 It is a stumbling block to those
Who are devoted to its rows,
And every fool becomes its slave,
Taken captive by golden knave.

It’s true, Beloved, the rich man needs a pill
To sleep at all. The reason’s fast to bill:
He does not do a day’s work on the hill
To tire his muscles, so the nervous drain
Keeps him awake, even if he’s not sane.
Beyond that is the worry that his gain
Will be robbed by intruder or a friend
In the stock market out to beat his end.
Beloved, I do not envy any man,
Neither the rich nor poor by human plan,
The one’s insane to overfill his plate,
The other worries about hunger’s rate.
I have no gold, and yet until today,
I still eat, though it’s nettles from the way.

8 Blessed is the man rich and blameless,
Who does not seek golden address.
9 Who is he? We will call him blessed,
For he has done things of the best
Among his folk. 10 Who’s met the test
And been found perfect? Let it be
For him reason for boasting’s spree.
Who has had the chance to transgress
And did not transgress, to do wrong
And did not do it for a song?
11 Prosperity is set for him,
And the assembly will show trim
His acts of charity not dim.

I thank You, my Beloved, that there have been
Rich men and blameless, lacking greedy sin.
Though I know only one or two such men,
The world is worth Your stake to live again
Because they live and give in charity
To those who come to find them in the spree
Of handing out banknotes after the prayers
On Friday in the mosque and on its stairs.
Beloved, I follow footsteps and turn eye
Away embarrassed, since I am not sly,
Not wanting to be taken for the crowd
Who come to get their living as allowed.
Bless all such men, Beloved, and give them room
And happiness today and in the doom.

12 Do you sit at a great man’s feast?
Do not be greedy in the least
And do not say, “There’s quite enough.”
13 Remember a greedy eye’s rough.
What in creation has more greed
Than human eye, now what indeed?
That’s why it sheds tears from each face.
14 Don’t reach out your hand in disgrace
For everything you see and wish,
Don’t crowd your neighbour at the dish.
15 Judge other’s feelings by your own,
And always take thought of the bone.
16 Eat like a human being that
Which is set before you on mat,
And do not chew with greed, lest you
Be hated by the host in view.
17 Be the first to stop eating, for
The sake of good manners in score,
And do not be insatiable,
Lest you give offence to the full.
18 If you are seated with a crowd,
Don’t reach out before you’re allowed.
19 A little goes a long way for
A man well-disciplined in store.
He does not snore upon his bed.
20 Healthy sleep comes from being led
To eat no more than need be fed.
One gets up early and feels fit.
Insomnia, in stomach pit
The queasy feeling, all of it
Are with a glutton like a mitt.
21 If you are overstuffed with food,
Rise from the table before brood,
And you’ll have relief from the crude.

When I was young I could eat the rich fare
I rarely tasted, if at all in share,
To any pile, enormously and fine,
But now I’m old, I come to disincline.
Rich food may now be at my beck and stall,
But hunger does not lie in ambush tall
As it did when I was a youth and all.
I can do now without the meat and wine.
Beloved, I taste the sliced grape and I chew
The walnut after breaking the skin’s rue,
And as I crunch the seeds on tongue and teeth,
I mind to whirl about the barren heath.
My hunger is appeased with herbal brew
As I set out in sacrifice to You.

22 Listen to me, my son, and do
Not disregard me, and in due
You will appreciate my word,
When you have been patient and heard.
In all your work be like a crew,
No sickness will overtake you.

Beloved, Your word written so long ago
Provides the key to health and wealth and glow
Of happiness. It is the up and go
To act and do, and get good exercise.
The circulation of blood in that guise
Is better medicine than doctors wise.
Eat right and modestly and take a walk
After the meal, if work is slow in stock.
Beloved, I whirl about the hidden wood,
I trample briar and take the path I should
To find heart racing and the faintness where
I leave my footsteps and take to the air.
Whether in health or ecstasy I climb
The golden stairs of prayer and tinny rhyme.

23 Men will praise the one who is free
With food, and their testimony
To his goodness is trustworthy.
24 The city will complain about
The one who’s stingy with the bout
Of eating, and their witness is
Accurate of his stingy whiz.
25 Don’t aim to be valiant for wine,
Since wine has destroyed many fine.
26 Water and fire prove tempered steel,
So wine shows hearts and will reveal
The strife of the proud with their heel.
27 Grape juice is like life to a man,
If you drink it in moderate plan.
What’s life to a man who’s without
Grape juice to enjoy in a bout?
It’s been created to make glad.
28 Grape juice drunk in season not sad
And temperately’s joy to the heart
And gladness to the soul to start.
29 Wine drunk to excess to the soul
Is bitterness, provokes in toll,
And causes stumbling on the dole.
30 Drunkenness increases the wrath
Of a fool to his hurt in path,
Reducing his strength, adding sores.
31 Do not reprove your neighbour’s scores
At a banquet of wine, and do
Not despise him his merry crew,
Speak no word of reproach to him,
And do not cause him sorrows dim
By making some demands on him.

The Torah provides death for drunkenness,
And I agree that profit nonetheless
Would be to carry out the pale address.
More innocent die from the drunken spoil
Each year than would die in the sharpened toil
Of drunks put down by the electric chair.
But Ben Sirach says not to speak or dare
When others riot in their wine and beer,
Hoping against pope to attain some cheer.
Beloved, I trow that You inspired the word
Of Ben Sirach, hoping that hearts were stirred
To temperance and mercy in their lot.
The hope is not well-founded in the plot,
Since centuries go by and still I trot.

SIRACH 32

1 Should they set you up as the chief
Of the feast, don’t exalt your grief,
Be with them as just one of them,
Take good care of them head to hem,
And then be seated. 2 When you’ve done
Your duties, take your place well won,
And take cheer for their part and get
A wreath for fine work that you set.
3 Speak, you who are older, for it
Is what you should do and it’s fit,
But with knowledge in truthful fee,
Not interrupting minstrelsy.
4 Where there is entertainment, do
Not chatter nor bring into view
Your cleverness in time undue.
5 A ruby seal in a gold ring
Is a melody and singing
At a banquet of wine to fling.
6 An emerald seal in golden clasp
Is music with good wine in hasp.

Ben Sirach does not favour the ascetic
With praise of banquets of wine inhermetic.
He makes the etiquette of sitting round
And drinking wine a form of ethics sound.
I doubt not what he has to say is good:
The older ones should make speeches, not hood
Of youth who has nothing to say except
The funny story of the inadept.
Yet I should not despise the youthful talk
Around the joyful table and the stock
Of jokes that pass the time with laughter there.
I do not hold such humour to be fair
And yet my repertoire of pranks is great,
And I repeat my anecdotes till late.

7 Speak, young man, if there is a need
Of you, but no more than twice deed,
And only in petition’s speed.
8 Speak briefly, say much in few words,
Be as one who knows like the birds
And yet holds his tongue. 9 With the great
Do not act as of equal state,
And when another’s speaking, do
Not babble, even if it’s true.
10 Lightning rushes before the thunder,
Approval is modest man’s wonder.
11 Leave in good time and do not be
The last, but return home quickly.
12 Amuse yourself there, and do what
You have in mind, but not for gut
Sin through proud speech, keep your mouth shut.
13 And for these things bless Him who made
You and satisfies in parade
With His good gifts. 14 He who fears YHWH
Will accept his discipline due,
And those who rise early to seek
Him will find favour for the meek.

The danger of the young is not so much
The glitter of the female form to touch,
But proud words spoken in public to clutch.
The banquet taken in a somber view,
That is, not too much intemperate stew,
Is not the wrong itself, but that it must
Prevent a young man from rising in trust
Early at dawn to seek You and Your face,
And thus come into joy, mercy and grace.
The danger of the celebration’s not
In laughter and in delicacies lot,
But that it might distract the youthful mind
From gratitude to You by being wined.
Beloved, I turn to You from my own kind.

15 He who seeks the law will be filled
With it, but the hypocrite stilled
Will stumble at it. 16 Those who fear
YHWH will form true judgments and dear,
And like a light they’ll kindle good.
17 A sinful man will shun reproof,
And find a decision that would
Go to his liking, though a goof.
18 A man of good judgment will not
Overlook an idea on spot,
An insolent and proud man will
Not cower in fear as in swill.
19 Do nothing without thinking well,
And when you act, regret no spell.
20 Don’t go on a hazardous way,
Don’t stumble on stones where you stray.
21 Do not be overconfident
On a smooth way, 22 and give good vent
To your ways. 23 Guard yourself in all
You do: this is commandments’ stall.
24 He who believes the law gives heed
To the commandments, in his need
He trusts YHWH will not leave unkeyed.

The seeking of the sweet is not a sin,
But failure of commandments and to win
Their approbation in distraction’s din.
The hedonistic job is not as queer
And futile as the one that would appear
To seek Your law, but really wants to find
Excuses in the Scriptures for the blind
Path he would take in disobedience.
Beloved, I guard my ways and keep my tents
Under the vision and the thundered sound
Of Your commandments skipping on the ground.
I leave the Baptist fold and Calvin’s wrong,
The Papist sense and nonsense, for the song
Of Decalogue and find the light is strong.

SIRACH 33

1 No evil will befall the man
Who fears YHWH, but in trial’s span
He will deliver him who can.
2 A wise man will not hate the law,
But hypocrites in mind and claw
Are like a boat out in a storm.
3 A man with understanding warm
Will trust in the law, for the law
To him as trustworthy as draw
Of inquiry by Urim’s braw.
4 Prepare what to say, and so you
Will be heard, bind together due
Instruction, and make answer true.
5 The fool’s heart is like a cart wheel,
And his thoughts turning axle reel.
6 A stallion’s like a mocking friend,
He neighs under each rider’s bend.
7 Why is any day better than
Another, when all the light’s span
In the year is from the sun’s pan?
8 By YHWH’s decision they were met,
And he appointed seasons set
And feasts, 9 some of them he made high
And holy, and some He brought nigh
As ordinary days’ reply.

I see the cart-wheel of philosophy
Turn in the wisdom of human mind’s spree,
And by contrast I see the tables shine
With the sweet words of Decalogue like wine,
And know that men and horses have their show
In all the pleasant, artful ways they go,
But that my trust is in Your law to know
The straighter path, the sharper, certain line.
Beloved, there are some who trust in the death
Of human sacrifice in ragged breath
Upon the crosses of Rome and its hills.
“The spirit wakens, but the letter kills”
They tell me, who hand out death sentence where
The arm of king and priest come to compare.

10 All men are brought forth from the ground,
Adam created of dust’s pound.
11 In the abundance of His knowing
YHWH divided and set their showing,
12 Some of them He blessed and exalted,
And some made holy and unfaulted,
And brought near to Himself, and some
Of them He cursed and brought down dumb,
And turned them from their place to hum.
13 As clay in the hand of the potter,
For all His ways are his will’s daughter,
So men are in the hand of Him
Who made them to be bright or dim.
14 Good is the opposite of bad,
And life opposite of death sad,
And so the sinner is in fact
Opposite of the godly tract.
15 See all the works of the Most High,
They’re in pairs too and they go by
In opposites and not to vie.

Ben Sirach is a Calvinist at best,
Just see how predestined his manners rest.
I look into the street and must admit
That some see to take Your law and well fit
While others ignore life and light and go
Into the quandaries of humming-ho.
Beloved, the light and darkness in the show
Fills all men and their wives, it is just so.
While some seem holy on the outer bench,
In private they are good for wine and wench.
The quietist between the red and black
May or may not fill up a grey hair-sack,
But what I drink in philosophic stack
Is still enough to nourish in my shack.

16 I was the last on watch, and I
Was like one who gleans on the sly
After grape-gatherers, and by
The blessing of YHWH I excelled,
And like a grape-gatherer spelled
Filled my wine press as much as held.
17 Consider that I do not labour
For myself only, but the neighbour
And all who seek instruction jelled.
18 Hear me, you who are great among
The people, and you leaders sung
Of the assembly, hear my speech.
19 To son or wife, to brother’s reach
Or friend, do not give power over
Yourself, as long as you are trover,
And do not give your property
To someone else, lest latterly
You change your mind and then must ask
For it back with another task.
20 While you are still alive and breathe,
Don’t let anyone come to seethe
In your place. 21 For it’s better that
Your children ask from you than that
You depend on your sons for fat.
22 Excel in all you do, bring no
Stain on your honour or your glow.
23 At the time when you end the days
Of your life, in the hour and ways
Of death, deal out your wealth for praise.

The power of attorney is the way
That children rob their parents in a day.
I’ve seen them coming like a buzzard flock
To take away the house and hold and crock
While mother stands by looking like a rock,
In full mind and full powers, or almost such,
But thrown out of her own house by the touch
Of daughters who find that her early share
Of work and duty’s diminished by care.
Do not give others power, the cynic preaches,
But the wise man will listen when he teaches.
Beloved, give me the power to break Your world
And see how quickly all You’ve made is furled
And no ark or escape for all these leeches!

24 Fodder and a stick for an ass
To bear its burdens on the pass,
And bread and discipline and work
For a servant and not to shirk.
25 Set your slave to work, and you’ll find
Rest, leave his hands idle in kind,
And he will seek his liberty.
26 Yoke and thong will bow the neck free,
And for a wicked servant there
Are racks and tortures for his share.
27 Put him to work, so he’ll not shirk,
Idleness teaches a bad quirk.
28 Set him to work, as it is fit,
And if he does not obey it,
Make his fetters heavy a bit.
29 Don’t act intemperately toward
Anyone, use discretion’s sword.
30 If you have a servant, let him
Be as yourself, because with vim
You have bought him. 31 If you have got
A slave, treat him like brother’s lot,
For as your own soul you’ll need him.
If you ill-treat him, and he leave
And run away, will you not grieve?

How does Ben Sirach reconcile the law
Of serving slave by rack and torture’s claw
With treating him like brother or in-law?
This is the rate of Scripture on the dole,
I see it everywhere I turn my soul.
The sacred word is always filled with doubt,
And inconsistencies, and clinging clout.
The Decalogue alone is clear and bright,
All other is a quandary in sight.
Beloved, I take no slave, I take no rack,
I take no whip nor hold it to his back,
But flee to you from civilized contempt
That only keeps the wealthy ones exempt.
Beloved, give me or this world rope in slack.

SIRACH 34

1 One without understanding has
Vain and false hopes and all such jazz,
And dreams give wings to fools whereas.
2 As one who chases shadows and
Pursues the wind, so is the stand
Of those who heed dreams bright and grand.
3 The vision of dreams is this by
That, and the likeness of a wry
Face confronting a face near-by.
4 From an unclean thing what’s made clean?
And from a false thing, is truth seen?
5 The divinations and the cry
Of omens and dreams are fools’ sty,
And like a woman in travail
The mind has fancies that prevail.
6 Unless they are sent from Most High
As visitation, don’t reply
To give your mind to them for grail.

The tardema that once produced the rate
Of male and female in Eden’s estate
Falls on the children and grandchildren for
A lesser blessing with each era’s score.
When Plato saw the dream and when the cave
Revealed the fires and shadows of the slave,
The mind was dark already, although brave.
The brief belief in immortality
Alone suffices to set truth soundly
Awry. Beloved, I single out the cry
Of prophecy and doubt the evil eye.
Along the paving stones with direful tread
I meet the omens of both good and dread
And turn from shadows to my table fed.

7 For dreams have deceived many men,
And those who put their hope again
In them have failed. 8 Without such crude
Deceptions the law is imbued
With its fulfilment, and wisdom
Is made perfect in truthful hum.
9 An educated man knows much,
And one with experience to touch
Will speak with understanding’s crutch.
10 The inexperienced one knows but
A few things, while the one who’s cut
Out any journeys has a glut
Of cleverness. 11 I have seen much
In my travels, and understand
More than I can express in hand.
12 I’ve often been in danger’s way,
But escaped in experience’ sway.

I stop right here to point beyond belief
The pride of Ben Sirach, whose travels brief
Entitle him to wisdom of such stretch
That all the world must wonder at the wretch.
I too have travelled here and yon and still
Find that my wisdom does not fit the bill.
Perhaps I am a dunce beside that great
And thoughtful traveller of former estate.
But after seeing half the world in hand,
I find my vision is a narrow band,
And wisdom has gone knocking at a door
Where others live behind a well-filled store.
I too have been in danger, but my brood
Of wisdom has not grown from being crude.

13 The spirit of those who fear YHWH
Will live, for their hope is in view
Of Him who saves them in their pew.
14 He who fears YHWH will not be faint,
Nor play the coward to the taint
Of his hope. 15 Blessèd is the soul
Of the man who fears YHWH for goal!
To whom does he look? Who helps him?
16 The eyes of YHWH do not grow dim
On those who love Him, a strong shield
And great support, a shelter wheeled
From the hot wind and a shade from
The noonday sun, a guard in sum
Against the stumbling and defence
Against falling. 17 He lifts up vents
Of the soul and gives eyes their light,
He grants life, healing, blessing bright.

Beloved, let me fear You and I shall live
In Your prosperity without a sieve.
The desert does not touch me where I stay
Beneath the Arctic tundra and the sway
Of fir and pine and birch in every way.
The sun is not a problem for its heat,
But still I take Your shield in my retreat.
I can do with the healing and the life
You provide for those who live without strife,
And blessing is not something I reject,
Despite the way I return and reflect.
Beloved, the journey of the soul is tight,
And yet before Your throne all things are right
Despite the coming and the shade of night.

18 If one sacrifice from what’s been
Wrongfully obtained, it is sin,
The gifts of the lawless are not
Acceptable in the Lord’s plot.
19 The Most High is not pleased to see
The offerings of the ungodly,
And He is not propitiated
For sins by crowds of offerings slated.
20 Like one who kills a son before
His father’s eyes is the man’s score
Who offers sacrifices rated
From the property of the poor.

The son that was killed before Father’s eyes
Is claimed to be the blessed Messiah’s prize.
The man was stolen from the upper room,
And from the garden to shut in the tomb,
And so if sacrifice the offering be,
It is not accepted eternally.
The dying and the cross cleanse not from sin,
Despite the crowds who come to take it in.
The gift acceptable to You is just
The heart repentant and bowed to the dust.
The sin is cleansed by no blood shed, but yet
Blotted out by the intercessor’s set
Who raises holy hands before Your throne:
The prayers of Moses, Jesus, such atone.

21 The bread of the needy’s the life
Of the poor, whoever in strife
Deprives them is a man of blood.
22 To take away a neighbour’s food
Is to murder him, to deprive
An employee of his wage drive
Is to shed blood. 23 When one builds and
Another tears down, what’s in hand
But toil? 24 When one prays and one curses,
By whose voice will YHWH grant disburses?
25 If a man washes after touch
Of corpse, and touches it again,
What has he gained by washing much?
26 So if a man fasts in his den
For his sins, and goes out again
And does the same things, who will hear
His prayer? And what will then appear
In gain by humbling in his fear?

The import of Ben Sirach is that when
One touches a corpse ablutions are then
In order. And he goes on for a spell
To say that fasting will atone as well
For sins repented of and put away.
That is too much for sweet Christians today.
They have ablutions once at most in life
When they are baptized, but care not a fife
For touching corpses. Some may pray and fast
In their repentance of their sins at last.
If they do, my Beloved, I lend my prayer
That such find Your forgiveness on the air,
And strength and hope to keep commandments fair
Despite the torment of the sordid past.

SIRACH 35

1 The one who keeps the law will make
Many offerings of that law’s sake,
The one who heeds commandments will
Make peace offering sacrifice still.
2 He who returns a kindness now
Offers fine flour, and he whose brow
Gives alms sacrifices in thanks.
3 To keep from wickedness in ranks
Is pleasing to YHWH, and forsaking
The evil is atonement’s making.

Ben Sirach is a lovely man to tell
The world what offerings are in truth to spell:
They are not flour and wine or ox’s blood,
Nor smoke and fire above the gory flood,
But keeping Your commandments in the way,
And giving alms to the poor every day.
The slaying of a lamb, a bull or man
Is not the sacrifice of divine plan,
But the atonement is awakened when
A man forsakes the evil in his ken.
Beloved, with empty hand I come to You
Relinquishing all else to do the true,
And finding that true sacrifice is best,
The doing of the right before the test.

4 Do not appear before YHWH with
Empty hands, 5 for all things from myth
Must be done by commandment’s call.
6 The offering laid in righteous pall
Anoints the altar, and its scent
Rises to please the Most High bent.
7 The sacrifice of righteous men
Is accepted, its memory then
Is not forgotten as its meant.
8 Glorify YHWH abundantly,
And do not come to be stingy
With the first fruits of your hands’ fee.
9 With every gift show cheerful face,
And bring your tithe with gladness’ trace.
10 Give to the Most High as He’s given,
As generously as your hand’s striven.
11 For YHWH is the one who repays,
Sevenfold He’ll give you in stays.

I fail to count the benefit or loss
Of giving in alms and charity’s cross
That I have got in hand since I was young.
I fail to count in mind, finger or tongue.
And so I merely trust, Beloved, that when
I’ve given out in charities to men
I have received the seven in return
In everything I come to find and earn.
If You, Beloved, repay the sevenfold,
And I should be perfect like You when old,
Then must I also give back with such hand
Of generosity to evil band
In vengeance for their gross iniquity?
I think I’ll leave off counting martyr’s fee.

12 Don’t offer Him a bribe, He’ll not
Accept it, and don’t trust the plot
Of an unrighteous sacrifice,
For YHWH is the judge to surplice,
And He is not partial or nice.
13 He’ll not be partial to the poor,
But He will listen at the door
To hear the prayer of one who’s wronged.
14 Supplication he’ll not ignore,
Not of the fatherless who longed,
Nor of the widow come to pour
Out her tale of oppression’s woe,
And His response will not be slow.

Ben Sirach is so late a scribe that he
Fringes on Jesus in the faithful spree
And minds one of Muhammad for a while
By speaking of the orphan without guile.
The sacrifice that You regard the best
Is the provision brought and to invest
On behalf of the orphan in his pain
And hopelessness before the royal reign.
The one who comes before the orphan now
With empty hands brings no offering somehow
To You, Beloved, the offering of delight
Most often praised before Your throne of right.
And yet, Beloved, You are not partial to
Even the poor impoverished in pew.

15 Do not the tears of widow’s run
Down her cheek as she cries in dun
Against him who has made them fall?
16 He whose service is pleasing call
To YHWH will be accepted, and
His prayer will reach the clouds and stand.
17 The humble prayer pierces the cloud,
And he’ll not have comfort allowed
Until it reaches YHWH, he’ll not
Stop until the Most High is brought
To visit him in justice for
The righteous and judgement in score.
18 And YHWH will not delay, nor will
He be patient with them until
He breaks the haunches of those who
Have no mercy and pay the crew
Of nations with His vengeance due,
Until He takes away the crowd
Of insolence, and breaks the proud
Sceptres that the unrighteous spew,
19 Till He brings recompense upon
The man according to the spawn
Of his deeds, and the works of men
According to inventions’ den,
Till He judge the case of His folk
And make them rejoice at the stroke
Of His mercy. 20 Mercy’s welcome
When he afflicts them as the sum
Of rain clouds in time of drought glum.

It’s hard for men like me now in the wear
And tear of schoolmen to take up the share
Of faith that sacrifice and humble prayer
Can pierce the clouds and relieve man of care.
Temptation’s great to wonder what good will
Rise from the prayer coming above the hill,
For beyond clouds there are just empty space,
And burning suns, and more clouds of the race
Of stars as far as telescope can see.
The universe seems big and harsh to me.
But if the rain is answer from the sky,
A divine word, a silver sort of sigh,
It is enough for doubters on the sea,
It is a ray from stout eternity.

SIRACH 36

1 Have mercy upon us, O Lord,
The Ælohim of all adored,
And look upon us. 2 May Your fear
Fall on all nations far and near.
3 Lift up Your hand against the crew
Of foreign nations, let them view
Your might. 4 As in us You have been
Made holy before them, so in
Them be You magnified to us.
5 And let them know You glorious,
As we have known that there is not
An Ælohim but You in plot.
6 Show signs anew, and wonders more,
Make Your hand and right arm before
More glorious. 7 Pour out Your wrath,
Destroy the adversary’s path
And wipe out the foe from the lath.

The hymn of Jesus ben Sirach is great
And beautiful to praise Your divine state
And show to all the wonders of Your reign
Over the earth, the hills, the floods and plain.
I wonder that destruction’s judgement shows
The man Your holiness in people’s throes,
As he imagines and hopes for his foes.
Today Your holiness is taught to mind
The welfare of the wealthy and the blind.
The populace is like to denigrate
You when an “act of God” comes on them late.
Beloved, make Your hand generous with hate
Or benefits, I see You concentrate
Your Being strange and unestranged at gate.

8 Hasten the day, and mind the time,
And let the people in their rhyme
Recount Your mighty deeds in mime.
9 Let the survivor be consumed
In the fiery wrath where he’s doomed,
And may those who harm Your folk meet
Destruction in their own retreat.
10 Crush the heads of the enemy
Rulers, who say “There’s none to see
But we ourselves.” 11 Gather the tribe
Of Jacob all, and so prescribe
Their heritage as at the start.
12 Have mercy, YHWH, upon the part
Of the folk called by Your name’s art,
On Israel, whom You compare
To a first-born son. 13 Have a share
Of pity on the city where
Your sanctuary lies in care,
Jerusalem, place of Your rest.
14 Fill Zion with the feast and zest
Of Your wonders, Your temple by
The gleams of Your glory to spy.
15 Bear witness to those whom You did
Create in the start of the bid,
And fulfil the prophecies spoken
In Your name. 16 Reward for a token
Those who wait for You, let the call
Of your prophets be truth to all.
17 Hear, YHWH, at last Your servant’s prayer,
According to the blessing’s share
Of Aaron for Your people, and
All who are on the earth in band
Will know that You are YHWH, and You
Are Ælohim of ages’ view.

I’m glad the prophet of old knew to curse
Your enemies as well as bless the nurse
Of Your commandments and the folk who stray
Not in the by-paths of the evil way.
Today the curse is hidden under pile
Of protocol and tendered with a smile.
I much prefer the direct to the guile,
And so praise those who curse me for a while.
Beloved, the human tongue in praise or sin
Is gone upon the winds after the win,
And there remains alone Your blessing due
On those who chant Your law in what they do.
All know You as the one within the breast,
But only the wise seek You out of zest.

18 The stomach will take any food,
Yet one food’s better than the crude.
19 As the tongue tastes the kinds of game,
So a clear mind detects false claim.
20 A perverse mind will just cause grief,
But men of experience’ relief
Will pay him back. 21 A woman’s lief
To accept any man, but one
Daughter is better than the dun.
22 A woman’s beauty gladdens heart
Surpassing every human art.
23 If kindness and humility
Mark her speech, her husband is free,
Not like other men in grief. 24 He
Who acquires a wife gets his best
In possessions, an aid with zest
For him and pillar of support.
25 Where there is no fence to report,
The farm is plundered, where there’s no
Wife a man sighs when on the go.
26 For who will trust a robber who
Is slick to go from shoe to shoe,
And town to town? So who will trust
A man who has no home, but must
Lodge wherever night finds his dust?

The home is where the wife is seems to be
The great invention of Ben Sirach’s spree.
When I think on the proverb with some care
I find that there’s a strain of truth somewhere
Within its folds of wisdom when laid bare.
And yet the man without a wife for good
Is smiled upon as every failure should,
Rather than pitied by the populace
For lack of home, hearth, comfort, fireplace.
The only one who pities such a man
Is the free woman who takes him in span
And hitches him to her and the right plan.
Beloved, amid the sighing I give thanks
To be still among those dry on the planks.

SIRACH 37

1 Every mate will say “I too am
A friend”, but some mates like the ram
Are friends in name only and scam.
2 Is it not a grief to the death
When a mate and friend turns his breath
To enmity? 3 O evil thought,
Why were you formed to cover plot
With such deceit? 4 Some mates rejoice
In a companion’s happy voice,
But when he’s in trouble, their choice
Is against him. 5 Some friends stick by
Because of what their stomachs vie,
But in the face of battle take
The shield against companion’s stake.

Beloved, I thank You as I thank all men
That few have been an enemy again
After the yoking of hearts each to each
In friendship human and within my reach.
The most of friends I’ve had are my friends still
Or else they’ve been estranged by distance’ till
And top of time. But few live to become
Deceitful enemies to pound and hum.
The enemies I have are mostly those
Who hate me without knowing what I chose,
Who never ate beside my table where
I cantillate Your holiness threadbare.
Beloved, I thank You that my low profile
Within Your heart protects me from some guile.

6 Do not forget a friend in heart,
Be not unmindful of his part
In your wealth. 7 Every counsellor
Praises counsel, but some give shore
Of counsel in their own interest.
8 Be wary of a counsellor,
And learn first what is his interest,
For he will take thought of himself,
Lest he come out and play the elf
Against you 9 and say your way’s good,
And then stand far off in the wood
To see what will happen to you.
10 Do not consult the ones who view
You with suspicion, though undue,
Hide your counsel from those who are
Jealous of you, a shining star.

They say advice is free, and so it may
Be somewhere in the house of peace and fray,
But I have lived my youth with hardly word
To tell me where the fortune is interred.
I’ve lived to find its paths in life alone,
With little of advice for heart or stone.
If counsellors, such ones I covet now
That should have aided me more in the trough,
Are really such as Ben Sirach pretends,
Are foes dressed up in light and clothes of friends,
Then I am grateful that I’ve kept the way
Of counsel from Your heart alone to sway,
Even if it is slow to turn the mill,
And leads me not to wealth and fame to till.

11 Don’t consult a woman about
Her rival or with coward shout
About war, or with a merchant
About barter or with a scant
Buyer about selling, or with
A stingy man about the myth
Of gratitude or with a man
Without mercy of kindness’ span,
Or with an idler about work
Or with a man hired not to shirk
For a year about finishing
His job, with a lazy servant
About a big task and not scant,
Pay no attention to these in
Any matter of counsel bin.
12 But stay constantly with a man
Who’s godly whom you know in scan
A keeper of commandments’ plan,
Whose soul’s in accord with your soul,
And who will sorrow if you fail
In caravan or under sail.
13 Establish your heart’s counsel goal,
For none’s more faithful to prevail
For you than it is. 14 A man’s soul
Sometimes keeps him better informed
Than seven watchmen above stormed
Watchtower where they sit in toll.

My soul keeps me better informed, it’s true,
Than the Watchtower society could do,
Not because human heart above all things
Is steeped in deceit of paupers and kings,
But because I turn my heart and anew
Each day and night to contemplate the true,
The ten commandments and Your face with rue.
The seven men who would surround my faith
With passles in the air of arm and wraith
Fail all before Your word on Sinai sung.
My foot is firmly placed upon the rung.
Beloved, watch from the tower of cloud and fire
The swimming of Egyptians in the mire
While I praise You above the heavenly quire.

15 And besides all this come to pray
To the Most High and every day
That He may truly guide your way.
16 Reason is the start of each task,
And planning comes before the bask.
17 As a clue to changes of heart
18 Four turns of fortune have their part:
Good and evil, and life and death,
And it’s the tongue that rules their breath.
19 A man may be shrewd and the teacher
Of many, yet unworthy preacher
To himself. 20 A man skilled in words
May be hated, he’ll have no curds
To eat, 21 for grace was granted not
To him by YHWH, since he’s no lot
Or portion in all wisdom got.

If reason is the start of every track
That leads to light and life after the flack,
Then every man I find behind my back
Has got the course before the heart to crack.
Reason is rather a slave of the one
Who thinks he knows the secrets of the bun
And forces her to testify with gun
That he is right in all things under sun.
Beloved, I turn to reason from the start
And poke my mind to wait there in the mart
Until she tells me where the moat is laid.
I see philosophies all on parade,
And find their reasons grand and always true,
When they but affirm the command from You.

22 A man may be wise to his profit,
And the fruits of his thoughts not scoff at
Trustworthiness on his own lips.
23 A wise man will instruct the ships
Of his own folk, and the fruits of
His understanding from above
Will be trustworthy. 24 A wise man
Will have praise heaped upon his span,
And all who see him call him blessed.
25 The life of a man is confessed
By days, but Israel’s days are blessed
Without number. 26 He who is wise
Among his people will devise
To inherit their confidence,
And his name will live in their tents
For ever. 27 My son, test your soul
While you live, see what’s bad in toll
For it and do not give it that.
28 For not everything that is fat
Is good for every one, and not
Every person enjoys each pot.
29 Do not have a lust for a thing
Of luxury, and do not sing
To give yourself up to eat food,
30 For overeating brings the brood
Of illness, and gluttony leads
To nausea. 31 Many in their feeds
Have died of gluttony, but he
Who is careful to avoid spree
Prolongs his life eternally.

The many lines of thought that curl the breeze
In fetid and fervent philosophies
Across the rise and fall of centuries
Each have their due in human hope and tongue:
They each are tasty to some old and young.
You grant a reason as in fashioned dress
For every personality to bless,
And warn only against glutton’s address.
Beloved, the pot of every nation’s sure
And like to bring a blessing with the cure,
But what is common to all men to stand
Or not, is adherence to Your command.
The recipes are wonderful diverse,
But without common salt are merely curse.

SIRACH 38

1 Honour the physician with what
Honour is due the man and butt,
According to your need of him,
For YHWH also created him,
2 For healing comes from the Most High,
And He will receive a gift by
The hand of king. 3 The skill to try
Of the physician lifts his head,
And in great men’s presence he’s led.
4 The Lord created medicines
From the earth, and a man that wins
Will not despise them in their bins.
5 Was not water made sweet with tree
In order that His power be
Made known? 6 And He gave skill to men
That He be glorified again
In his marvellous works to ken.
7 By them He heals and takes away
Pain, 8 the pharmacist in his way
Makes of them a compound to sway.
His works will never be done here,
And from Him health will then appear
Upon the face of the earth near.

For pain and thinning blood the willow bark,
For tumours burdock root and the root stark
Of turkey rhubarb, for the pains of flu
The boneset, and the camomile for rue,
Valerian to calm to sleep and start,
The hawthorn berry for the pain in heart,
The huckleberry for the stomach’s art,
And black tea for its pains and runs and fart.
Beloved, I take the chickweed on the tongue
And sorrel too for taste as well as sung
Health, and the dandelion and the score
Of fireweed and of nettle on the sore.
The lady’s mantle helps the lady too,
And plantain keeps the cuts from biting crew.

9 My son, when you are sick do not
Be negligent, but pray YHWH’s lot,
And He will heal you on the spot.
10 Give up your faults and so direct
Your hands aright, and cleanse select
Your heart from all sins that affect.
11 Offer sweet-smelling sacrifice,
Memorial portion of fine, nice
Flour, and pour oil on your offering,
As much as you afford to bring.
12 And give the physician his place,
For YHWH created healing race,
And let him not leave you to face
Your need without him and his grace.
13 There is a time when success lies
In the hands of physicians’ guise,
14 For they too will pray to YHWH that
He should grant them success out flat
In diagnosis and in cure,
For sake of preserving life sure.
15 He who sins before his Maker,
May he fall in physician’s care.

My father once when I was just a child
Was diagnosed with MS in the wild
And found it struck him down so that his feet
No longer carried him about his beat.
He laid a sacrifice and prayer to You
As well as going to the doctor’s view,
Until surprise to all around his pew
You healed him and raised him to walk and do.
Beloved, I do believe the Word You sent
Is also medicine when men relent
And come in faith and spirit to repent.
Beloved, I’ve seen some rise to walk again,
And others die in faith as of brave men,
And never understood what You had meant.

16 My son, let your tears for the dead
Flow, and lament with bitter dread.
Lay his body with honour due
And don’t neglect the burial pew.
17 Let your weeping be bitter and
Your wailing fervent, come to stand
In mourning by his merit grand,
One day or two, till none complain,
Then be comforted once again.
18 For sorrow leads to death, and grief
Of heart drains the strength for relief.
19 Catastrophes maintain the way
Of sorrow, and the life of grey
By the poor man weighs down his heart.
20 Do not give your heart to the part
Of sorrow, drive it from the start,
Remembering the end of life.
21 Do not forget, there is no fife
To call back from death to the strife,
You do the dead no good, and you
Injure yourself by grief and rue.
22 “Mind my doom, for yours is the same,
Yesterday it was mine in game,
Today it’s yours as is your due.”

Some hearts believe that sorrow gives more worth
To the life that’s departed from the earth,
And longer the eye weeps, greater the weight
Of honour to both living and the late.
Some hearts believe attachment is the wrong,
And true love is a flight above the song
Of grief and tears that mingle with the throng
Of earthly darks and deeps, weighted and strong.
Beloved, I hide in You both happiness
And sorrow, yet the grief of my address.
I find the searing tear of death pulls down,
And yet I fly above it in the town,
To find the pace of my departure known
In quietness where I seem all alone.

23 When the dead is at rest, let cease
His remembrance, comfort’s release
Fill you for him when his breath goes.
24 The wisdoms of the scribe repose
On leisure changes in their rows,
And he who has but little way
In business may find wisdom’s ray.
25 How can he become wise who takes
The plough and glories for the sakes
Of a rod, who drives oxen down,
Is busy with their toil and brown,
And only talks of bulls in crown?
26 He sets his heart on ploughing rows,
Is careful of fodder he chose
For the heifers of his he knows.
27 So too is every craftsman and
Master workman whose labours stand
By night as well as by day, those
Who cut the signets of seals’ glows,
Each is diligent in the toils
Of all kinds, he sets heart for spoils
On painting a lifelike image,
Careful to finish his work sage.
28 So too is the smith at the weight
Of anvil, intent on his plate
Of iron, the breath of fire may melt
His flesh, and with what he had felt
He wastes away in furnace heat,
He inclines his ear to the beat
Of the hammer, and his eyes are
On the form of the object star.
He sets his heart on getting done
Careful of finishing and spun.
29 So too is the potter who sits
At his work and turning the skits
Of his wheel with his feet, so he
Is always concerned with the free
Speed of his toil, and so he counts
His product in growing amounts.
30 He moulds the clay with his arm and
Makes it soft with his feet to stand,
He sets his heart on finished glaze,
Careful to clean the furnace trays.
31 All these rely upon their hands,
And each is skilful in his bands.
32 Without them a city cannot
Be set, men living with no plot
There nor finding a share in lot.
33 But they are not sought for advice
By the folk, they do not suffice
To gain high standing in the crowd
Of the people gathered allowed.
They do not sit in judge’s seat,
Nor do they understand to mete
Out sentence of judgment, they don’t
Expound discipline and they won’t
Know justice, nor proverbs’ way sweet.
34 But they keep stable the world’s web,
Their prayer’s in their trade’s flow and ebb.

The followers of good Muhammad came
Not realizing to their awkward shame
That prayer is more than bowing at the flame
And standing toward the temple of Your name.
The followers of good Muhammad share
The Jewish and the Christian hope of prayer,
But none of the three know that everywhere
The hand is on the plough, the wheel, the bare
Hoe and the hammer, You are present there.
Beloved, my prayer is the breath that I take
As I return from market to the stake
Of life where hand had once bent down to shake
The earthly toil. Each action in the wake
Of life is prayer, if life at all’s a cake.

AUTHOR: THOMAS G. MCELWAIN

Copyright © 2007 Adams & McElwain Publishers and Thomas McElwain First Published in two volumes, The Beloved and I 2005, and Led of the Beloved, 2006. Second Edition, 2010 Third and revised edition, 2012 All rights reserved. No part of this verse commentary on the sacred Scriptures may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in a retrieval system, in any form or by any means, without permission in writing from publisher.

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