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I Forge Iron

Blacksmithing gems and pearls


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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

I saw this on the wall of Francis Whittaker's shop in Carbondale, CO.

Joshua ben Sirah

ca. 180 BC

Book of Sirach aka Ecclesiasticus

Cave 2 Qumran Dead Sea Scroll

So to is the smith sitting by the anvil, intent upon his handiwork in ironl the breath of his fire melts his flesh, and he wastes away in the heat of the furnace; he inclines his ear to the sound of the hammer, 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.

So to is the potter sitting at his work and turning the wheel with his feet; he is always deeply concerned over his work, and all his output is by number.

He molds the cay with his arm and makes it piable with his feet; he sets his heart to vinish the glazing, and he is careful to clean the furnace.

All these rely upon their hands, and each is skillful in his own work.

Without them a city cannot be established, and man can neither sojourn nor live there.

Yet they are not sought out for the council of the people, not do they attain eminence in the public assembly.

They do not sit in the judge's seat, nor do they understand the sentence of judgement; they cannot expound discipline or judgement, and they are not found using proverbs.

But they keep stable the fabric of the world, and their prayer is in the practice of their trade.

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  • 3 weeks later...

That's some pretty horrible dog-Latin. Points for proper use of the second person plural imperative and the vocative plural, but both verbs are misspelled, the adverb is completely wrong, and the second clause translates to "the things of the heroes to work".

I'd suggest "Videte cum reverentia, O mortales; heros laboret." Might not be perfect, but it's better.

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