23. Call to mind my judgment. For so shall it be for you also. Yesterday is mine, and today is yours.
24. When the deceased is at rest, let his memory rest also. And console him at the departure of his spirit.
25. The wisdom of a scribe is found in his time of leisure. So whoever has less to do will gain wisdom.
26. With what wisdom will someone be filled who holds the plow, and who boasts of the cattle prod that drives the oxen forward, and who is occupied in these labors, and whose only conversation is about the offspring of bulls?
27. He will give his mind over to the plowing of furrows, and his vigilance to the fattening of the cows.
28. Similarly, every craftsman and artisan, who crafts in the night as well as in the day, who sculpts graven seals, and who, by his diligence, varies the image, will give his mind over to the likeness of the image. And he will complete the work by his vigilance.
29. The blacksmith, sitting by his anvil and considering a work of iron, is similar. The steam from the fire singes his flesh, and he struggles against the heat of the furnace.
30. The voice of the hammer is ever in his ears, and his eye is upon the pattern of the ironwork.
31. He gives his heart to the completion of his work, and his vigilance adorns it to perfection.
32. The potter, sitting at his work and turning the wheel with his feet, is similar. He has settled into a continual concern for his work, and there is a rhythm in all that he does.
33. He forms the clay with his arm, and he bends his strength over his feet.
34. He will give his heart over to the completion of the glazing, and his vigilance to the cleansing of the furnace.
35. All these persons trust in their own hands, and each one is wise in his own art.
36. Without these persons, a city is not built.
37. But they will neither inhabit nor walk around in the city. And they will not go across to the church.
38. They will not sit upon the seats of judges, and they will not understand a decree of judgment. And they will not make clear discipline and judgment, and they will not be found to understand parables.
39. But they will strengthen the state of the world, and their prayer will be in their artistic works, applying their soul, and searching the law of the Most High.