Wisdom 14

NEW JERUSALEM	VULGATA
1 Or someone else, taking ship to cross the wild waves, loudly invokes a piece of wood frailer than thevessel that bears him.	1 Iterum alius navigare cogitans, et per feros fluctus iter facere incipiens, ligno portante se, fragilius lignum invocat.
2 Agreed, the ship is the product of a craving for gain, its building embodies the wisdom of theshipwright;	2 Illud enim cupiditas acquirendi excogitavit, et artifex sapientia fabricavit sua.
3 but your providence, Father, is what steers it, you having opened a pathway even through the sea, anda safe way over the waves,	3 Tua autem, Pater, providentia gubernat : quoniam dedisti et in mari viam, et inter fluctus semitam firmissimam,
4 showing that you can save, whatever happens, so that, even without experience, someone may put tosea.	4 ostendens quoniam potens es ex omnibus salvare, etiam si sine arte aliquis adeat mare.
5 It is not your will that the works of your Wisdom should be sterile, so people entrust their lives to thesmal est piece of wood, cross the waves on a raft, yet are kept safe and sound.	5 Sed ut non essent vacua sapientiæ tuæ opera, propter hoc etiam et exiguo ligno credunt homines animas suas, et transeuntes mare per ratem liberati sunt.
6 Why, in the beginning, when the proud giants were perishing, the hope of the world took refuge on araft and, steered by your hand, preserved the seed of a new generation for the ages to come.	6 Sed et ab initio cum perirent superbi gigantes, spes orbis terrarum ad ratem confugiens, remisit sæculo semen nativitatis quæ manu tua erat gubernata.
7 For blessed is the wood which serves the cause of uprightness	7 Benedictum est enim lignum per quod fit justitia ;
8 but accursed the man-made idol, yes, it and its maker, he for having made it, and it because, though perishable, it has been called god.	8 per manus autem quod fit idolum, maledictum est et ipsum, et qui fecit illud : quia ille quidem operatus est, illud autem cum esset fragile, deus cognominatus est.
9 For God holds the godless and his godlessness in equal hatred;	9 Similiter autem odio sunt Deo impius et impietas ejus ;
10 both work and workman wil alike be punished.	10 etenim quod factum est, cum illo qui fecit tormenta patietur.
11 Hence even the idols of the nations wil have a visitation since, in God's creation, they have becomean abomination, a scandal for human souls, a snare for the feet of the foolish.	11 Propter hoc et in idolis nationum non erit respectus, quoniam creaturæ Dei in odium factæ sunt, et in tentationem animabus hominum, et in muscipulam pedibus insipientium.
12 The idea of making idols was the origin of fornication, their discovery corrupted life.	12 Initium enim fornicationis est exquisitio idolorum, et adinventio illorum corruptio vitæ est :
13 They did not exist at the beginning, they will not exist for ever;	13 neque enim erant ab initio, neque erunt in perpetuum.
14 human vanity brought them into the world, and a quick end is therefore reserved for them.	14 Supervacuitas enim hominum hæc advenit in orbem terrarum, et ideo brevis illorum finis est inventus.
15 A father afflicted by untimely mourning has an image made of his child so soon carried off, and nowpays divine honours to what yesterday was only a corpse, handing on mysteries and ceremonies to his people;	15 Acerbo enim luctu dolens pater, cito sibi rapti filii fecit imaginem ; et illum qui tunc quasi homo mortuus fuerat, nunc tamquam deum colere cœpit, et constituit inter servos suos sacra et sacrificia.
16 time passes, the custom hardens and is observed as law.	16 Deinde interveniente tempore, convalescente iniqua consuetudine, hic error tamquam lex custoditus est, et tyrannorum imperio colebantur figmenta.
17 Rulers were the ones who ordered that statues should be worshipped: people who could not honourthem in person, because they lived too far away, would have a portrait made of their distant countenance, tohave an image that they could see of the king whom they honoured; meaning, by such zeal, to flatter the absentas if he were present.	17 Et hos quos in palam homines honorare non poterant propter hoc quod longe essent, e longinquo figura eorum allata, evidentem imaginem regis quem honorare volebant fecerunt, ut illum qui aberat, tamquam præsentem colerent sua sollicitudine.
18 Even people who did not know him were stimulated into spreading his cult by the artist's enthusiasm;	18 Provexit autem ad horum culturam et hos qui ignorabant artificis eximia diligentia.
19 for the latter, doubtless wishing to please his ruler, exerted all his skill to surpass the reality,	19 Ille enim, volens placere illi qui se assumpsit, elaboravit arte sua ut similitudinem in melius figuraret.
20 and the crowd, attracted by the beauty of the work, mistook for a god someone whom recently theyhad honoured as a man.	20 Multitudo autem hominum, abducta per speciem operis, eum qui ante tempus tamquam homo honoratus fuerat, nunc deum æstimaverunt.
21 And this became a snare for life: that people, whether enslaved by misfortune or by tyranny, shouldhave conferred the ineffable Name on sticks and stones.	21 Et hæc fuit vitæ humanæ deceptio, quoniam aut affectui aut regibus deservientes homines, incommunicabile nomen lapidibus et lignis imposuerunt.
22 It is not enough, however, for them to have such misconceptions about God; for, living in the fiercewarfare of ignorance, they call these terrible evils peace.	22 Et non suffecerat errasse eos circa Dei scientiam, sed et in magno viventes inscientiæ bello, tot et tam magna mala pacem appellant.
23 With their child-murdering rites, their occult mysteries, or their frenzied orgies with outlandishcustoms,	23 Aut enim filios suos sacrificantes, aut obscura sacrificia facientes, aut insaniæ plenas vigilias habentes,
24 they no longer retain any purity in their lives or their marriages, one treacherously murdering anotheror wronging him by adultery.	24 neque vitam, neque nuptias mundas jam custodiunt : sed alius alium per invidiam occidit, aut adulterans contristat,
25 Everywhere a welter of blood and murder, theft and fraud, corruption, treachery, riot, perjury,	25 et omnia commista sunt : sanguis, homicidium, furtum et fictio, corruptio et infidelitas, turbatio et perjurium, tumultus bonorum,
26 disturbance of decent people, forgetfulness of favours, pol ution of souls, sins against nature,disorder in marriage, adultery and debauchery.	26 Dei immemoratio, animarum inquinatio, nativitatis immutatio, nuptiarum inconstantia, inordinatio mœchiæ et impudicitiæ.
27 For the worship of idols with no name is the beginning, cause, and end of every evil.	27 Infandorum enim idolorum cultura omnis mali causa est, et initium et finis.
28 For these people either carry their merrymaking to the point of frenzy, or they prophesy what is nottrue, or they live wicked lives, or they perjure themselves without hesitation;	28 Aut enim dum lætantur insaniunt, aut certe vaticinantur falsa, aut vivunt injuste, aut pejerant cito.
29 since they put their trust in lifeless idols they do not reckon their false oaths can harm them.	29 Dum enim confidunt in idolis quæ sine anima sunt, male jurantes noceri se non sperant.
30 But they wil be justly punished for this double crime: for degrading the concept of God by adhering toidols; and for wickedly perjuring themselves in contempt for what is holy.	30 Utraque ergo illis evenient digne, quoniam male senserunt de Deo, attendentes idolis, et juraverunt injuste, in dolo contemnentes justitiam.
31 For it is not the power of the things by which they swear but the punishment reserved for sinners thatalways fol ows the offences of wicked people.	31 Non enim juratorum virtus, sed peccantium pœna, perambulat semper injustorum prævaricationem.