Wisdom of Solomon 13:9-11

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

⁹ for if they had the power to know so much
that they could investigate the world,
how did they not more quickly find the Lord of these things?

¹⁰ But miserable, with their hopes set on dead things, are those
who give the name “gods” to the works of human hands,
gold and silver fashioned with skill
and likenesses of animals
or a useless stone, the work of an ancient hand.^(A)
11 A skilled woodcutter may saw down a tree easy to handle
and skillfully strip off all its bark
and then with pleasing workmanship
make a useful vessel that serves life’s needs^(B)