Ben Sira 38:10-20

10 Confess all your sins and determine that in the future you will live a righteous life.
11 Offer incense and a grain offering, as fine as you can afford.
12 Then call the doctor - for the Lord created him - and keep him at your side; you need him.
13 There are times when you have to depend on his skill.
14 The doctor's prayer is that the Lord will make him able to ease his patients' pain and make them well again.
15 As for the person who sins against his Creator, he deserves to be sick.
16 My child, when someone dies, you should mourn. Weep and wail to show how deeply you feel the loss. Prepare the body in the proper way, and be present at the burial. 1
17 Weep bitterly and passionately; observe the proper period of mourning for the person. Mourn for a whole day or maybe two, to keep people from talking, but then pull yourself together and reconcile yourself to the loss.
18 Grief can undermine your health and even lead to your own death.
19 Grief lingers on after the death of a loved one, but it is not wise to let it lead you into poverty.
20 Don't lose yourself in sorrow; drive it away. Remember that we must all die sometime.

Cross References 1

  • 1. 38.16-23Ben Sira 22.11, 12.

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. [Hebrew] as fine as you can afford; [Greek unclear.]
  • [b]. drive it away; [or] put the memory of the person aside.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.