Wisdom 13:1-9

Common English Bible

13 All humans who don’t know God are empty-headed by nature. In spite of the good things that can be seen, they were somehow unable to know the one who truly is. Though they were fascinated by what he had made, they were unable to recognize the maker of everything. ² Instead, they thought that all these things—fire or wind or quickly moving air or a constellation of stars or rippling water or the sky’s bright lights that govern the world—were all gods.

³ They should have known that all these things—which they took to be gods and delighted in—were much less beautiful than the one who rules them all. The creator of beauty itself created them. ⁴ Those who fear the power and might of created things should know how much more powerful than these things is the one who fashioned them. ⁵ These people could have perceived something of the one who created all things as they thought about the power and beauty of the things that were created. ⁶ It is for this reason that they’re not without guilt.

Yet perhaps we shouldn’t blame them too much. They may have gone astray while they were looking for God, wanting to find him. ⁷ They spend a lot of time exploring his works. Something about their appearance leads them to wonder, for the things that they see are indeed wonderful. ⁸ Even so, these persons aren’t excused. ⁹ After all, if they were indeed able to know so much that they could speculate about space and time, how is it that they weren’t able to discover the ruler of space and time more quickly?