Wisdom 13:9-11
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
9 For if they so far succeeded in knowledge
that they could speculate about the world,
how did they not more quickly find its Lord?
B. Idolatry[a]
10 But wretched are they, and in dead things are their hopes,
who termed gods things made by human hands:
Gold and silver, the product of art, and images of beasts,
or useless stone, the work of an ancient hand.(A)
The Carpenter and Wooden Idols
11 A carpenter may cut down a suitable tree(B)
and skillfully scrape off all its bark,
And deftly plying his art
produce something fit for daily use,(C)
Footnotes
- 13:10–19 The second digression is an example of the polemic against idolatry (cf. Is 44:9–20; Jer 10:3–9; Ps 135:15–18). Whether the idols be of wood or clay, they were made by human beings and have become the source of evil.
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