World English Bible

1 Hear therefore, you⌃ kings, and understand;

Learn, you⌃ judges of the ends of the earth:

2 Give ear, you⌃ that have dominion over much people,

And make your boastin multitudes of nations.

3 Because your dominion was given you from the Lord,

And your sovereignty from the Most High;

Who shall search out your works,

And shall make inquisition of your counsels:

4 Because being officers of his kingdom you⌃ did not judge aright,

Neither kept you⌃law, nor walked after the counsel of God.

5 Awfully and swiftly shall he come upon you;

Because a stern judgement befalleth them that be in high place:

6 For the man of low estate may be pardoned in mercy,

But mighty men shall besearched out mightily.

7 For the Sovereign Lord of all will not refrain himself for anyman’sperson,

Neither will he reverence greatness;

Because it is he that madebothsmall and great,

And alike he takes thought for all;

8 Butstrict is the scrutiny that comes upon the powerful.

9 To you therefore, O princes, are my words,

That you⌃ may learn wisdom andfall not from the right way.

10 For they that have kept holily the things that are holy shallthemselvesbehallowed;

And they that have been taught them shall find what to answer;

11 Set your desire therefore on my words;

Long forthem,and you⌃ shall betrained bytheirdiscipline.

12 Wisdom is radiant and fades not away;

And easily is she saw those who love her,

And found of them that seek her.

13 She forestalleth them that desireto know her,making herself first known.

14 He that rises up early toseekher shall have no toil,

For he shall find her sitting at his gates.

15 For to think upon her is perfectness of understanding,

And he that watches for her sake shall quickly be free from care.

16 Because she goes about, herself seeking them that are worthy of her,

And in their paths she appears to them graciously,

And in every purpose she meets them.

17 Forhertrue beginning is desire of discipline;

And the care for discipline is loveof her;

18 And loveof heris observance of her laws;

And to give heed toherlaws confirmeth incorruption;

19 And incorruptionbrings near to God;

20 So then desire of wisdom promoteth to a kingdom.

21 If therefore you⌃ delight in thrones and sceptres, you⌃ princes of peoples,

Honor wisdom, that you⌃ may reign for ever.

22 But what wisdom is, and how she came into being, I will declare,

And I will not hide mysteries from you;

But I will traceheroutfrom the beginning of creation,

And bring the knowledge of her into clear light,

And I will not pass by the truth;

23 Neither indeed will I takepining envy for my companion in the way,

Becauseenvy shall have no fellowship with wisdom.

24 But a multitude of wise men is salvation to the world,

And an understanding king is tranquillity tohispeople.

25 Wherefore be disciplined by my words, andtherebyshall you⌃ profit.

1 I myself also ammortal, like to all,

And am sprung from one born of the earth,the manfirst formed,

2 And in the womb of a mother was I moulded into flesh in the time of ten months,

Being compacted in blood of the seed of man and pleasure that came with sleep.

3 And I also, when I was born, drew in the common air,

And fell upon thekindred earth,

Uttering, like all, for my first voice, the selfsame wail:

4 In swaddling clothes was I nursed, andwithwatchfulcares.

5 For no king had any other first beginning;

6 But all men have one entrance into life, and a like departure.

7 For this cause I prayed, and understanding was given me:

I called uponGod,and there came to me a spirit of wisdom.

8 I preferred her before sceptres and thrones,

And riches I esteemed nothing in comparison of her.

9 Neither did I liken to her any priceless gem,

Because all the goldof the earthin her presence is a little sand,

And silver shall be accounted as clay before her.

10 Above health and comeliness I loved her,

And I chose to have her rather than light,

Because her bright shining is never laid to sleep.

11 But with her there came to me all good things together,

And in her hands innumerable riches:

12 And I rejoiced overthemall because wisdom leads them;

Though I knew not that she was themother of them.

13 As I learned without guile, I impart without grudging;

I do not hide her riches.

14 For she is to men a treasure that fails not,

And they that use itobtain friendship with God,

Commendedto himby the gifts which they through discipline presentto him.

15 But to me may God give to speakwith judgement,

And to conceive thoughts worthy of whathas been givenme;

Because himself is one that guideth even wisdom and that correcteth the wise.

16 For in his hand are both we and our words;

All understanding, andallacquaintance with various crafts.

17 For himself gave me an unerring knowledge of the things that are,

To know the constitution of the world, and the operation of the elements;

18 The beginning and end and middle of times,

The alternations of the solstices and the changes of seasons,

19 The circuits of years and thepositions of stars;

20 The natures of living creatures and the ragings of wild beasts,

The violences ofwinds and the thoughts of men,

The diversities of plants and the virtues of roots:

21 All things that are either secret or manifest I learned,

22 For she that is the artificer of all things taught me,evenwisdom.

For there is in her a spirit quick of understanding, holy,

Alone in kind, manifold,

Subtil, freely moving,

Clear in utterance, unpolluted,

Distinct, unharmed,

Loving what is good, keen, unhindered,

23 Beneficent, loving toward man,

Stedfast, sure, free from care,

All-powerful, all-surveying,

And penetrating through all spirits

That are quick of understanding, pure, most subtil:

24 For wisdom is more mobile than any motion;

Yes, she pervadeth and penetrateth all things by reason of her pureness.

25 For she is abreath of the power of God,

And a clear effluence of the glory of the Almighty;

Therefore can nothing defiled find entrance into her.

26 For she is an effulgence from everlasting light,

And an unspotted mirror of the working of God,

And an image of his goodness.

27 And she, being one, has power to do all things;

And remaining in herself, reneweth all things:

And from generation to generation passing into holy souls

She makesmenfriends of God and prophets.

28 For nothing does God love save him that dwells with wisdom.

29 For she is fairer than the sun,

And aboveall the constellations of the stars:

Being compared with light, she is foundto bebefore it;

30 Forto the lightof daysucceedeth night,

But against wisdom evil does not prevail;

1 But shereaches from one endof the worldto the other with full strength,

And ordereth all thingsgraciously.

2 Her I loved and sought out from my youth,

And I sought to take her for my bride,

And I became enamoured of her beauty.

3 She glorifiethhernoble birth in that it is given her to live with God,

And the Sovereign Lord of all loved her.

4 For she is initiated into the knowledge of God,

And shechooseth outfor himhis works.

5 But if riches are a desired possession in life,

What is richer than wisdom, which works all things?

6 And if understanding works,

Who more thanwisdom is an artificer of the things that are?

7 And if a man loves righteousness,

The fruits of wisdom’s labor are virtues,

For she teaches soberness and understanding, righteousness and courage;

And there is nothing in life for men more profitable than these.

8 And if a man longeth even for much experience,

She knowsthe things of old, anddivineth the things to come:

She understands subtilties of speeches and interpretations of dark sayings:

She foresees signs and wonders, and the issues of seasons and times.

9 I determined therefore to take her to me to live with me,

Knowing that she is one who wouldgive me goodthoughtsfor counsel,

Andencourage me in cares and grief.

10 Because of her I shall have glory among multitudes,

And honor in the sight of elders, though I be young.

11 I shall be found of a quick conceit when I give judgement,

And in the presence ofprinces I shall be admired.

12 When I am silent, they shall wait for me;

And when I open my lips, they shall give heed to me;

And if I continue speaking, they shall lay their hand upon their mouth.

13 Because of her I shall have immortality,

And leave behind an eternal memory to them that come after me.

14 I shall govern peoples,

And nations shall be subjected to me.

15 Dread princes shall fear me when they hearof me:

Amongmypeople I shall show myself a goodruler,and in war courageous.

16 When I am come into my house, I shall find rest with her;

For converse with her has no bitterness,

And to live with her has no pain, but gladness and joy.

17 When I considered these things in myself,

And took thought in my heart how that in kinship to wisdom is immortality,

18 And in her friendship is good delight,

And in the labors of her hands is wealth that fails not,

And inassiduous communing with her is understanding,

And great renown in having fellowship with her words,

I went about seeking how to take her to myself.

19 Now I wasa child of parts, and a good soul fell to my lot;

20 Nay rather, being good, I came into a body undefiled.

21 But perceiving that I could not otherwisepossesswisdomexcept God gaveherme

(Yes and to knowby whom the grace is given, thistoocame of understanding),

I pleaded with the Lord and implored him, and with my whole heart I said,

1 O God of the fathers, andLord who keep your mercy,

Who made all thingsby your word;

2 And by your wisdom you formedst man,

That he should have dominion over the creatures that were made by you,

3 And rule the world in holiness and righteousness,

And execute judgement in uprightness of soul;

4 Give me wisdom, her that sits by you on yourthrone;

And reject me not from among yourservants:

5 Because I am your bondman and the son of your handmaid,

A man weak and short-lived,

And of small power to understand judgement and laws.

6 For even if a man be perfect among the sons of men,

Yetif the wisdom that comes from you be not with him, he shall be held in no account.

7 You did choose me beforemy brethrento be king of your people,

And to do judgement for your sons and daughters.

8 You gave command to build a sanctuary in your holy mountain,

Andan altar in the city of yourhabitation,

A copy of the holy tabernacle which you prepared beforehand from the beginning.

9 And with you is wisdom, which knows your works,

And was present when you were making the world,

And which understands what is pleasing in your eyes,

And what is rightaccording to your commandments.

10 Send her forth out of the holy heavens,

And from the throne of your glory bid her come,

That being present with me she may toilwith me,

AndthatI may learn what is well-pleasing before you.

11 For she knows all things and has understandingthereof,

And in my doings she shall guide me inways ofsoberness,

And she shall guard me in her glory.

12 Andsoshall my works be acceptible,

And I shall judge your people righteously,

And I shall be worthy of my father’sthrone.

13 For what man shall know the counsel of God?

Or who shall conceive what the Lord willeth?

14 For the thoughts of mortals aretimorous,

And our devices are prone to fail.

15 For a corruptible body weighs down the soul,

And the earthy frame lies heavy on a mind thatis full of cares.

16 And hardly do wedivine the things that are on earth,

And the things that are close at hand we find with labor;

But the things that are in the heavens whoever yettraced out?

17 And whoevergained knowledge of your counsel, except yougave wisdom,

And sent your holy spiritfrom on high?

18 And it was thus that the ways of them which are on earth were corrected,

And men were taught the things that are pleasing to you;

And through wisdom were they saved.

1 Wisdom guarded to the end the first formed father of the world, that was created alone,

And delivered him out of his own transgression,

2 And gave him strength to get dominion over all things.

3 But when an unrighteous man fell away from her in his anger,

He perished himself in the rage wherewith he killed his brother.

4 And when for his cause the earth was drowning with a flood,

Wisdom again saved it,

Guiding the righteous man’s course by a poor piece of wood.

5 Moreover, when nations consenting together in wickedness had been confounded,

Wisdom knew the righteous man, and preserved him blameless to God,

And kept him strong when his heart yearned toward his child.

6 While the ungodly were perishing,wisdom delivered a righteous man,

When he fled from the fire that descended out of heaven onPentapolis.

7 To whose wickedness a smoking waste still witnesseth,

And plants bearing fair fruit that comes not to ripeness;

Yes andadisbelieving soul has a memorialthere,a pillar of saltstillstanding.

8 For having passed wisdom by,

Not only were they disabled from recognising the things which are good,

But they also left behind themforhumanlife a monument of their folly;

To the end thatwhere theywent astray they might fail even to be unseen:

9 But wisdom delivered out of troubles those that waited on her.

10 When a righteous man was a fugitive from a brother’s wrath,wisdom guided him in straight paths;

She showed him God’s kingdom, and gave him knowledge of holy things;

She prospered him in his toils, and multiplied the fruits of his labor;

11 When in their covetousnessmendealt hardly with him,

She stood by him and made him rich;

12 She guarded him from enemies,

And from those that lay in wait she kept him safe,

And over his sore conflict she watched as judge,

That he might know that godliness is more powerful thanall.

13 When a righteous man was sold,wisdom forsook him not,

Butfrom sin she delivered him;

She went down with him into a dungeon,

14 And in bonds she left him not,

Till she brought him the sceptre of a kingdom,

And authority over those that dealt tyrannously with him;

She showed them also to be false that had mockingly accused him,

And gave him eternal glory.

15 Wisdom delivered a holy people and a blameless seed from a nation of oppressors.

16 She entered into the soul of a servant of the Lord,

And withstood terrible kings in wonders and signs.

17 She rendered to holy men a reward of their toils;

She guided them along a marvelous way,

And became to them a covering in the day-time,

And a flame of stars through the night.

18 She brought them over the Red sea,

And led them through much water;

19 But their enemies she drowned,

And out of the bottom of the deep she cast them up.

20 Therefore the righteous spoiled the ungodly;

And they sang praise to your holy name, O Lord,

And extolled with one accord your hand that fought for them:

21 Because wisdom opened the mouth of the dumb,

And made the tongues of babes to speak clearly.

1 She prospered their works in the hand of a holy prophet.

2 They journeyed through a desert without inhabitant,

And in trackless regions they pitched their tents.

3 They withstood enemies, andrepelled foes.

4 They thirsted, and they called upon you,

And there was given them water out oftheflinty rock,

And healing of their thirst out of the hard stone.

5 For by what things their foes were punished,

By these they in their need were benefited.

6 Whenthe enemywere troubled with clotted blood instead of a river’s ever-flowing fountain,

7 To rebuke the decree for the slaying of babes,

You gave them abundant water beyond all hope,

8 Having shewnthembythe thirst which they had suffered how you did punish the adversaries.

9 For when they were tried, albeit but in mercy chastened,

They learned how the ungodly were tormented, being judged with wrath:

10 For these, as a father, admonishing them, you did prove;

But those, as a stern king, condemning them, you did search out.

11 Yes and whether they were far offfrom the righteousor nearthem,they were alike distressed;

12 For a double grief took hold on them,

And a groaning at the remembrance of things past.

13 For when they heard that through their own punishments the othershad been benefited,

They feltthe presence ofthe Lord;

14 For him who long before wascast forth and exposed they left off mocking:

In the last issue of what came to passthey marveled,

Having thirsted in another manner than the righteous.

15 But in requital of the senseless imaginings of their unrighteousness,

Wherein they were led astray to worship irrational reptiles and wretched vermin,

You did send upon them a multitude of irrational creatures for vengeance;

16 That they might learn, that by what things a man sins, by these he is punished.

17 For your all-powerful hand,

That created the world out of formless matter,

Lacked not means to send upon them a multitude of bears, or fierce lions,

18 Ornew-created wild beasts, full of rage,ofunknownkind,

Either breathing out a blast of fiery breath,

Or blowing forthfrom their nostrilsnoisome smoke,

Or flashing dreadful sparkles from their eyes;

19 Which had power not only to consume them by theirviolence,

But to destroy them even by the terror of their sight.

20 Yes and without these might they have fallen by a single breath,

Being pursued by Justice, and scattered abroad by the breath of your power.

But by measure and number and weight you did order all things.

21 For to be greatly strong is your at all times;

And the might of your arm who shall withstand?

22 Because the whole world before you is asa grainin a balance,

And as a drop of dew that at morning comes down upon the earth.

23 But you have mercy on all men, because you have power to do all things,

And you overlookest the sins of men to the end they may repent.

24 For you love all things that are,

And abhor none of the things which you did make;

For never would you have formed anything if you did hate it.

25 And how would anything have endured, except you had willed it?

Or that which was not called by you,how wouldit have been preserved?

26 But you spare all things, because they are your,

O Soverign Lord, you lover ofmen’slives;

1 For your incorruptible spirit is in all things.

2 Wherefore you convictest by little and little them thatfall from the right way,

And, putting them in remembrance by theverythings wherein they sin, do you admonish them,

That escaping from their wickedness they may believe on you, O Lord.

3 For verily the old inhabitants of your holy land,

4 Hatingthembecause they practised detestable works of enchantments and unholy rites

5 (Merciless slaughters of children,

And sacrificial banquets of men’s flesh and of blood),

6 Confederates in an impious fellowship,

And murderers of their own helpless babes,

It was your counsel to destroy by the hands of our fathers;

7 That the land which in your sight is most precious of alllands

Might receive a worthy colony of God’sservants.

8 Nevertheless even these you did spare asbeingmen,

And you senthornets as forerunners of your host,

To cause them to perish by little and little;

9 Not that you were unable to subdue the ungodly under the hand of the righteous in battle,

Or by terrible beasts or byonestern word to make away with them at once;

10 But judging them by little and little you gave them a place of repentance,

Not being ignorant that their nature by birth was evil, and their wickedness inborn,

And that their manner of thought would in no wise ever be changed,

11 For they were a seed accursed from the beginning:

Neither was it through fear of any that you did leave themthenunpunished for their sins.

12 For who shall say, What have you done?

Or who shall withstand your judgement?

And who shall accuse you for the perishing of nations which you did make?

Or who shall come and stand before you as an avenger for unrighteous men?

13 For neither is there any God beside you that careth for all,

That you might showto himthat you did not judge unrighteously:

14 Neither shall king or prince be able to look you in the faceto pleadfor those whom you have punished.

15 But being righteous you rule all things righteously,

Deeming it a thing alien from your power

To condemn one that does not himself deserve to be punished.

16 For your strength is the beginning of righteousness,

And your sovereignty over all makes you to forbear all.

17 For when men believe not that you are perfect in power, you show your strength,

Andin dealing with them that knowityou put their boldness to confusion.

18 But you, being sovereign overyourstrength, judge in gentleness,

And with great forbearance do you govern us;

For the power is your whenever you have the will.

19 But you did teach your people by such works as these,

How that the righteous must be a lover of men;

And you did make your sons to be of good hope,

Because you give repentance when men have sinned.

20 For if on them that were enemies of yourservants and due to death

You did take vengeance with so great heedfulness and indulgence,

Giving them times and place whereby they might escape from their wickedness;

21 With how great carefulness did you judge your sons,

To whose fathers you gave oaths and covenants of good promises!

22 While therefore you do chasten us, you scourge our enemies ten thousand times more,

To the intent that we may ponder your goodness when we judge,

And when we are judged may look for mercy.

23 Wherefore also the unrighteous that lived in folly of life

You did torment through their own abominations.

24 For verily they went astray very farin the ways of error,

Taking as gods thoseanimals which even among their enemies were held in dishonor,

Deceived like foolish babes.

25 Therefore, as to unreasoning children, you did send your judgement to mock them.

26 But they that would not be admonishedby a mocking correction as of children

Shall have experience of a judgement worthy of God.

27 For through the sufferings whereat they were indignant,

Being punished in these creatures which they supposed to be gods,

They saw, and recognized as the true God him whom before theyrefused to know:

Wherefore also the last end of condemnation came upon them.

1 For verily all men by naturewere butvain who had no perception of God,

And from the good things that are seen they gained not power to know him that is,

Neither by giving heed to the works did they recognize the artificer;

2 But either fire, or wind, or swift air,

Orcircling stars, or raging water, orluminaries of heaven,

They thought to be gods that rule the world.

3 And if it was through delight in their beauty that they took them to be gods,

Let them know how much better than these is their Sovereign Lord;

For the first author of beauty created them:

4 But if it was through astonishment at their power andinfluence,

Let them understand from them how much more powerful is he that formed them;

5 For from thegreatness of the beautyeven of created things

In like proportiondoes man form the image of their first maker.

6 But yet for thesemen there is but small blame,

For they too perhaps dobutgo astray

While they are seeking God and desiring to find him.

7 Forliving among his works they make diligent search,

And theyyield themselves up to sight, because the things that they look upon are beautiful.

8 But again even they are not to be excused.

9 For if they had power to know so much,

That they should be able to explorethe courseof things,

How is it that they did not sooner find the Sovereign Lord of thesehis works?

10 But miserablewerethey, andin dead thingsweretheir hopes,

Who called them gods which are works of men’s hands,

Gold and silver, wrought with careful are, and likenesses of animals,

Or a useless stone, the work of an ancient hand.

11 Yes and if somewoodcutter, having sawn down atree that is easily moved,

Skilfully strippeth away all its bark,

And fashioning it in comely form makes a vessel useful for the service of life;

12 And burning the refuse of his handywork to dress his food, eats his fill;

13 And taking the very refuse thereof which served to no use,

A crooked piece of wood and full of knots,

Carveth it with the diligence of his idleness,

And shapeth it by the skill of hisindolence;

Thenhe gives it the semblance of the image of a man,

14 Or makes it like some paltry animal,

Smearing it with vermilion, and withpaint colouring it red,

And smearing over every stain that is therein;

15 And having made for it a chamber worthy of it,

He sets it in a wall, making it fast with iron.

16 While then he takes thought for it that it may not fall down,

Knowing that it is unable to help itself;

(For verily it is an image, and has need of help;)

17 When he makes his prayer concerning goods and his marriage and children,

He is not ashamed to speak to that which has no life;

18 Yes for health he calls upon that which is weak,

And for life he implores that which is dead,

And for aid he supplicateth that which has least experience.

And for agoodjourney that which can’t so much as move a step,

19 And for gaining andgetting and good success of his hands

He asks ability of that which with its hands is most unable.

1 Again, one preparing to sail, and about to journey over raging waves,

Calleth upon a piece of wood more rotten than the vessel that carries him;

2 For thatvesselthe hunger for gains devised,

And an artificer,evenwisdom, built it;

3 And your providence, O Father, guideth it along,

Because even in the sea you gave a way,

And in the waves a sure path,

4 Shewing that you can save out of everydanger,

Thatsoeven without are a man may put to sea;

5 And it is your will that the works of your wisdom should be not idle;

Therefore also do men intrust their lives to a little piece of wood,,

And passing through the surgeon a raft are brought safeto land.

6 Forin the old time also, when proud giants were perishing,

The hope of the world, taking refuge on a raft,

Left tothe race of men a seed of generationsto come,

Your hand guiding the helm.

7 For blessedhas been wood through which comes righteousness:

8 But theidolmade with hands is accursed, itself and he that made it;

Because his was the working, and the corruptible thing was named a god:

9 For both the ungodly doer and his ungodliness are alike hateful to God;

10 For verily the deed shall be punished together with him that committed it.

11 Therefore alsoamong the idols of the nations shall there be a visitation,

Because, though formed of things which God created, they were made an abomination,

And stumbling blocks to the souls of men,

And a snare to the feet of the foolish.

12 For the devising of idols was the beginning of fornication,

And the invention of them the corruption of life:

13 For neither were they from the beginning, neither shall they be for ever;

14 For by the vaingloriousness of men they entered into the world,

And therefore was a speedy end devised for them.

15 For a father worn with untimely grief,

Making an image of the child quickly taken away,

Now honored him as a god which was then a dead man,

And delivered to those that were under him mysteries and solemn rites.

16 Afterward the ungodly custom, in process of time grown strong, was kept as a law,

And by the commandments of princes the graven images received worship.

17 And when men could not honor them in presence because they lived far off,

Imagining the likeness from afar,

They made a visible image of the king whom they honored,

That by their zeal they might flatter the absent as if present.

18 But to a yet higher pitch was worship raised even by them that knewhimnot,

Urged forward by the ambition of the artificer:

19 For he, wishing perhaps to please one in authority,

Used his are to force the likeness toward a greater beauty;

20 And the multitude, allured by reason of the grace of his handywork,

Now accounted as an object of devotion him that a little before was honored as a man.

21 And this becamea hidden danger to life,

Because men, in bondage either to calamity or to tyranny,

Invested stones and stocks with the incommunicable Name.

22 Afterward it was not enough for them to go astray as touching the knowledge of God;

But also, while they liveinsore conflict through ignoranceof him.

That multitude of evils they call peace.

23 For either slaughtering children in solemn rites, or celebrating secret mysteries,

Or holding frantic revels of strange ordinances,

24 No longer do theyguard either life or purity of marriage,

But one brings upon another either death by treachery, or anguish by adulterate offspring.

25 And all things confusedly are filled with blood and murder, theft and deceit,

Corruption, faithlessness, tumult, perjury,

26 turmoil,

Ingratitude for benefitsreceived,

Defiling of souls, confusion ofsex,

Disorder in marriage, adultery and wantonness.

27 For the worship ofthosenameless idols

Is a beginning and cause and end of every evil.

28 Fortheir worshipperseither make merry to madness, or prophesy lies,

Or live unrighteously, or lightly forswear themselves.

29 For putting their trust in lifeless idols,

When they have sworn a wicked oath, they expect not to suffer harm.

30 But for bothsinsshall the just doom pursue them,

Because they had evil thoughts of God by giving heed to idols,

And swore unrighteously in deceit through contempt for holiness.

31 For it is not the power of them by whom men swear,

But it isthat Justice which has regard to them that sin,

That visiteth always the transgression of the unrighteous.

1 But you, our God, are gracious and true,

Longsuffering, and in mercy ordering all things.

2 For even if we sin, we are your, knowing your dominion;

But we shall not sin, knowing that we have been accounted your:

3 For to be acquainted with you isperfect righteousness,

And to know your dominion is the root of immortality.

4 For neither were we led astray by any evil device of men’s are,

Nor yet by painters’ fruitless labor,

A form stained with varied colors;

5 The sight whereof leads fools intolust:

Theirdesire is for the breathless form of a dead image.

6 Lovers of evil things, and worthy of such hopesas these,

Are both they that do, and they that desire, and they that worship.

7 For a potter, kneading soft earth,

Laboriously mouldeth each severalvesselfor our service:

Nay, out of the same clay does he fashion

Both the vessels that minister to clean uses, and those of a contrary sort,

All in like manner;

But what shall be the use of eachvesselof either sort,

Thecraftsmanhimselfis the judge.

8 And also, laboring to an evil end, he mouldeth a vain god out of the same clay,

He who, having but a little before been made of earth,

After a short space goes his wayto the earthout of which he was taken,

When he is required to render back thesoul which was lent him.

9 Howbeit he has anxious care,

Not because his powers must fail,

Nor because his span of life is short;

But he matcheth himself against goldsmiths andsilversmiths,

And he imitateth moulders inbrass,

And esteemeth it glory that he mouldeth counterfeits.

10 His heart is ashes,

And his hope of less value than earth,

And his life of less honor than clay:

11 Because he was ignorant of him that moulded him,

And of him that inspired into himan activesoul,

And breathed into him a vital spirit.

12 Buthe accounted ourverylife to be aplaything,

And ourlifetime a gainfulfair;

For, says he, one must get gain whence one can, though it be by evil.

13 For this man beyond all others knows that he sins,

Out of earthy matter making brittle vessels and graven images.

14 But most foolishwerethey all, andof feebler soul than a babe,

The enemies of your people, who oppressed them;

15 Because they even accounted all the idols of the nationsto begods;

Which have neither the use of eyes for seeing,

Nor nostrils for drawing breath,

Nor ears to hear,

Nor fingers for handling,

And their feet are helpless for walking.

16 For a man made them,

And one whose own spirit is borrowed moulded them;

For no one has power,beinga man, to mould a god like to himself,

17 But, being mortal, he makes a dead thing by the work of lawless hands;

For he is better than the objects of his worship,

Forasmuch as he indeed had life, but they never.

18 Yes, and the creatures that are most hateful do they worship,

For, being compared as to lack of sense, these are worse than all others;

19 Neither, as seen besideothercreatures, are they beautiful, so that one should desire them,

But they have escaped both the praise of God and his blessing.