Wisdom 13:11-16
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
The Carpenter and Wooden Idols
11 A carpenter may cut down a suitable tree(A)
and skillfully scrape off all its bark,
And deftly plying his art
produce something fit for daily use,(B)
12 And use the scraps from his handiwork
in preparing his food, and have his fill;
13 Then the good-for-nothing refuse from these remnants,
crooked wood grown full of knots,
he takes and carves to occupy his spare time.(C)
This wood he models with mindless skill,
and patterns it on the image of a human being
14 or makes it resemble some worthless beast.
When he has daubed it with red and crimsoned its surface with red stain,
and daubed over every blemish in it,(D)
15 He makes a fitting shrine for it
and puts it on the wall, fastening it with a nail.(E)
16 Thus he provides for it lest it fall down,
knowing that it cannot help itself;
for, truly, it is an image and needs help.(F)
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