Wisdom 13

New American Bible (Revised Edition)

¹ Foolish by nature were all who were in ignorance of God,
    and who from the good things seen did not succeed in knowing the one who is,^[b]
    and from studying the works did not discern the artisan;^(A)
2 Instead either fire, or wind, or the swift air,
    or the circuit of the stars, or the mighty water,
    or the luminaries of heaven, the governors^[c] of the world, they considered gods.^(B)
3 Now if out of joy in their beauty they thought them gods,
    let them know how far more excellent is the Lord than these;
    for the original source of beauty fashioned them.^(C)
4 Or if they were struck by their might and energy,
    let them realize from these things how much more powerful is the one who made them.^(D)
5 For from the greatness and the beauty of created things
    their original author, by analogy, is seen.
⁶ But yet, for these the blame is less;^[d]
For they have gone astray perhaps,
    though they seek God and wish to find him.
⁷ For they search busily among his works,
    but are distracted by what they see, because the things seen are fair.
⁸ But again, not even these are pardonable.
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?

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.^(E)

¹¹ A carpenter may cut down a suitable tree^(F)
    and skillfully scrape off all its bark,
And deftly plying his art
    produce something fit for daily use,^(G)
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.^(H)
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,^(I)
15 He makes a fitting shrine for it
    and puts it on the wall, fastening it with a nail.^(J)
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.^(K)
17 But when he prays about his goods or marriage or children,^(L)
    he is not ashamed to address the thing without a soul.
For vigor he invokes the powerless;
¹⁸     for life he entreats the dead;
For aid he beseeches the wholly incompetent;
    for travel, something that cannot even walk;
¹⁹ For profit in business and success with his hands
    he asks power of a thing with hands utterly powerless.