Wisdom 14

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 Again, one preparing to sail and about to voyage over raging waves calls upon a piece of wood more fragile than the ship which carries him.	1 Again, another, thinking to sail, and beginning to make his voyage through the raging waves, calls upon a piece of wood more fragile than the wood that carries him.
2 For it was desire for gain that planned that vessel, and wisdom was the craftsman who built it;	2 For this is what desire has contrived to be acquired, and the craftsman has formed its understanding.
3 but it is thy providence, O Father, that steers its course, because thou hast given it a path in the sea, and a safe way through the waves,	3 But your providence, O Father, governs, because you have provided for both a way in the sea and a very reliable path among the waves,
4 showing that thou canst save from every danger, so that even if a man lacks skill, he may put to sea.	4 revealing that you are able to save out of all things, even if someone were to go to sea without skill.
5 It is thy will that works of thy wisdom should not be without effect; therefore men trust their lives even to the smallest piece of wood, and passing through the billows on a raft they come safely to land.	5 But, so that the works of your wisdom might not be empty, therefore, men trust their souls even to a little piece of wood, and, crossing over the sea by raft, they are set free.
6 For even in the beginning, when arrogant giants were perishing, the hope of the world took refuge on a raft, and guided by thy hand left to the world the seed of a new generation.	6 But, from the beginning, when the proud giants were perishing, the hope of the world, fleeing by boat, gave back to future ages a seed of birth, which was governed by your hand.
7 For blessed is the wood by which righteousness comes.	7 For blessed is the wood through which justice is made.
8 But the idol made with hands is accursed, and so is he who made it; because he did the work, and the perishable thing was named a god.	8 But, through the hand that makes the idol, both it, and he who made it, is accursed: he, indeed, because it has been served by him, and it, because, though it is fragile, it is called ‘god.’
9 For equally hateful to God are the ungodly man and his ungodliness,	9 But the impious and his impiety are similarly offensive to God.
10 for what was done will be punished together with him who did it.	10 For that which is made, together with him who made it, will suffer torments.
11 Therefore there will be a visitation also upon the heathen idols, because, though part of what God created, they became an abomination, and became traps for the souls of men and a snare to the feet of the foolish.	11 Because of this, and according to the idolatries of the nations, there will be no refuge, for the things created by God have been made into hatred, and into a temptation to the souls of men, and into a snare for the feet of the foolish.
12 For the idea of making idols was the beginning of fornication, and the invention of them was the corruption of life,	12 For the beginning of fornication is the search for idols, and from their invention comes corruption of life.
13 for neither have they existed from the beginning nor will they exist for ever.	13 For they neither existed from the beginning, nor will they exist forever.
14 For through the vanity of men they entered the world, and therefore their speedy end has been planned.	14 For by the great emptiness of men they came into the world, and therefore their end is soon discovered.
15 For a father, consumed with grief at an untimely bereavement, made an image of his child, who had been suddenly taken from him; and he now honored as a god what was once a dead human being, and handed on to his dependents secret rites and initiations.	15 For a father, embittered with the suffering of grief, made an image of his son, who had been suddenly taken away from him, and then, he who had died as a man, now begins to be worshiped as if a god, and so rites and sacrifices are established among his servants.
16 Then the ungodly custom, grown strong with time, was kept as a law, and at the command of monarchs graven images were worshiped.	16 Then, in the course of time, iniquity gains strength within this erroneous custom, so that this error has been observed as if it were a law, and this figment has been worshiped at the command of tyrants.
17 When men could not honor monarchs in their presence, since they lived at a distance, they imagined their appearance far away, and made a visible image of the king whom they honored, so that by their zeal they might flatter the absent one as though present.	17 And those, whom men could not openly honor because they were far off, a likeness of them was carried from far off, and from it they made a similar image of the king that they wanted to honor, so that, by their solicitude, they might worship he who was absent, just as if he were present.
18 Then the ambition of the craftsman impelled even those who did not know the king to intensify their worship.	18 Yet, it passes into their care, and those whom they did not know, they love because of the excellence of the artist.
19 For he, perhaps wishing to please his ruler, skilfully forced the likeness to take more beautiful form,	19 For he, wishing to please the one who hired him, embellished his art, so as to fashion a better likeness.
20 and the multitude, attracted by the charm of his work, now regarded as an object of worship the one whom shortly before they had honored as a man.	20 But the multitude of men, brought together by the beauty of the work, now considered him to be a god, whom they had formerly honored as a man.
21 And this became a hidden trap for mankind, because men, in bondage to misfortune or to royal authority, bestowed on objects of stone or wood the name that ought not to be shared.	21 And this was the deception of human life: that men, serving either their own inclination or their kings, assigned the unutterable name to stones and wood.
22 Afterward it was not enough for them to err about the knowledge of God, but they live in great strife due to ignorance, and they call such great evils peace.	22 And it was not enough for them to go astray concerning the knowledge of God, but also, while living in a great war of ignorance, they call so many and such great evils ‘peace.’
23 For whether they kill children in their initiations, or celebrate secret mysteries, or hold frenzied revels with strange customs,	23 For either they sacrifice their own sons, or they make dark sacrifices, or they hold vigils full of madness,
24 they no longer keep either their lives or their marriages pure, but they either treacherously kill one another, or grieve one another by adultery,	24 so that now they neither protect life, nor preserve a clean marriage, but one kills another through envy, or grieves him by adultery.
25 and all is a raging riot of blood and murder, theft and deceit, corruption, faithlessness, tumult, perjury,	25 And all things are mixed together: blood, murder, theft and fraud, corruption and infidelity, disturbances and perjury, disorder within good things,
26 confusion over what is good, forgetfulness of favors, pollution of souls, sex perversion, disorder in marriage, adultery, and debauchery.	26 forgetfulness of God, pollution of souls, alteration of procreation, inconstancy of marriage, unnatural adultery and homosexuality.
27 For the worship of idols not to be named is the beginning and cause and end of every evil.	27 For the worship of unspeakable idols is the cause, and the beginning and the end, of all evil.
28 For their worshippers either rave in exultation, or prophesy lies, or live unrighteously, or readily commit perjury;	28 For they either act with madness while happy, or they insistently speak wild lies, or they live unjustly, or they are quick to commit perjury.
29 for because they trust in lifeless idols they swear wicked oaths and expect to suffer no harm.	29 For, while they trust in idols, which are without a soul, vowing evil, they hope not to be harmed themselves.
30 But just penalties will overtake them on two counts: because they thought wickedly of God in devoting themselves to idols, and because in deceit they swore unrighteously through contempt for holiness.	30 Therefore, from both sides it will fittingly happen, because they have thought evil of God, paying attention to idols, and because they have sworn unjustly, in guile despising justice.
31 For it is not the power of the things by which men swear, but the just penalty for those who sin, that always pursues the transgression of the unrighteous.	31 For swearing is not virtue, but sinning always comes around to a punishment according to the transgression of the unjust.