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Trades and Crafts

²⁴ The wisdom of the scribe depends on the opportunity of leisure;
   only the one who has little business can become wise.
²⁵ How can one become wise who handles the plough,
   and who glories in the shaft of a goad,
who drives oxen and is occupied with their work,
   and whose talk is about bulls?
²⁶ He sets his heart on ploughing furrows,
   and he is careful about fodder for the heifers.
²⁷ So it is with every artisan and master artisan
   who labours by night as well as by day;
those who cut the signets of seals,
   each is diligent in making a great variety;
they set their heart on painting a lifelike image,
   and they are careful to finish their work.
²⁸ So it is with the smith, sitting by the anvil,
   intent on his ironwork;
the breath of the fire melts his flesh,
   and he struggles with the heat of the furnace;
the sound of the hammer deafens his ears,^*
   and his eyes are on the pattern of the object.
He sets his heart on finishing his handiwork,
   and he is careful to complete its decoration.
²⁹ So it is with is the potter sitting at his work
   and turning the wheel with his feet;
he is always deeply concerned over his products,
   and he produces them in quantity.
³⁰ He moulds the clay with his arm
   and makes it pliable with his feet;
he sets his heart on finishing the glazing,
   and he takes care in firing^* the kiln.

³¹ All these rely on their hands,
   and all are skilful in their own work.
³² Without them no city can be inhabited,
   and wherever they live, they will not go hungry.^*
Yet they are not sought out for the council of the people,^*
33   nor do they attain eminence in the public assembly.
They do not sit in the judge’s seat,
   nor do they understand the decisions of the courts;
they cannot expound discipline or judgement,
   and they are not found among the rulers.^*
34 But they maintain the fabric of the world,
   and their concern is for^* the exercise of their trade.

The Activity of the Scribe

How different the one who devotes himself
   to the study of the law of the Most High!

39He seeks out the wisdom of all the ancients,
   and is concerned with prophecies;
² he preserves the sayings of the famous
   and penetrates the subtleties of parables;
³ he seeks out the hidden meanings of proverbs
   and is at home with the obscurities of parables.
⁴ He serves among the great
   and appears before rulers;
he travels in foreign lands
   and learns what is good and evil in the human lot.
⁵ He sets his heart on rising early
   to seek the Lord who made him,
   and to petition the Most High;
he opens his mouth in prayer
   and asks pardon for his sins.

⁶ If the great Lord is willing,
   he will be filled with the spirit of understanding;
he will pour forth words of wisdom of his own
   and give thanks to the Lord in prayer.
⁷ The Lord^* will direct his counsel and knowledge,
   as he meditates on his mysteries.
⁸ He will show the wisdom of what he has learned,
   and will glory in the law of the Lord’s covenant.
⁹ Many will praise his understanding;
   it will never be blotted out.
His memory will not disappear,
   and his name will live through all generations.
¹⁰ Nations will speak of his wisdom,
   and the congregation will proclaim his praise.
¹¹ If he lives long, he will leave a name greater than a thousand,
   and if he goes to rest, it is enough^* for him.