Knjiga Mudrosti 15

Biblija Hrvatski	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 A ti si, Bože naš, blag i istinit, spor na gnjev i svime milostivo upravljaš.	1 But you, our God, are good and true, slow to anger, and governing all with mercy.
2 Ako i sagriješismo, tvoji smo! Priznajemo tvoju vlast i nećemo griješiti kad znamo da smo tvoji.	2 For even if we sin, we are yours, and know your might; but we will not sin, knowing that we belong to you.
3 Jer tebe znati – savršena je pravednost, i poznavati snagu tvoju korijen je besmrtnosti.	3 For to know you well is complete justice, and to know your might is the root of immortality.
4 Nas nije zaveo nikakav izum opaka ljudskog umijeća ni jalovo djelo slikarsko, likovi našarani ličilima	4 For neither did the evil creation of men's fancy deceive us, nor the fruitless labor of painters, A form smeared with varied colors,
5 koji u budalama potiču žudnju te žude za neživim obličjem mrtva lika.	5 the sight of which arouses yearning in the senseless man, till he longs for the inanimate form of a dead image.
6 Ljubitelji su zla i dostojni takvih nada oni koji ih čine ili žele ili štuju.	6 Lovers of evil things, and worthy of such hopes are they who make them and long for them and worship them.
7 Muči se lončar i gnječi zemlju mekanu: pravi posuđe kojim se služimo. Od istoga blata pravi posude koje služe u plemenite svrhe i one koje služe suprotnom: kakva će kojoj namjena biti – određuje lončar.	7 For truly the potter, laboriously working the soft earth, molds for our service each several article: Both the vessels that serve for clean purposes and their opposites, all alike; As to what shall be the use of each vessel of either class the worker in clay is the judge.
8 I možda – o napora na zlo data! – od iste gline pravi ništavnog boga, on koji je nedavno od zemlje sazdan i koji će se ubrzo zemlji vratit’ od koje je uzet, kad se od njega duša zatraži.	8 And with misspent toil he molds a meaningless god from the selfsame clay; though he himself shortly before was made from the earth And after a little, is to go whence he was taken, when the life that was lent him is demanded back.
9 Ne mari on što će brzo umrijeti ni što mu je život kratkovjek, nego se natječe sa zlatarima i srebrnarima i nasljeduje mjedare, ponosan što pravi krivotvorine.	9 But his concern is not that he is to die nor that his span of life is brief; Rather, he vies with goldsmiths and silversmiths and emulates molders of bronze, and takes pride in modeling counterfeits.
10 Srce mu je kao pepeo, i nada mu od zemlje bjednija, i život od gline nevredniji,	10 Ashes his heart is! more worthless than earth is his hope, and more ignoble than clay his life;
11 jer nije poznao Stvoritelja svoga koji mu je udahnuo dušu djelatnu i nadahnuo ga dahom životnim.	11 Because he knew not the one who fashioned him, and breathed into him a quickening soul, and infused a vital spirit.
12 Nego misli da je žiće naše igra i život naš sajam pun probitka. »Treba, veli, izbijati korist iz svega, čak iz zla.«	12 Instead, he esteemed our life a plaything, and our span of life a holiday for gain; "For one must," says he, "make profit every way, be it even out of evil."
13 Jer bolje no itko drugi zna takav da griješi kad od iste tvari zemljane pravi lomne posude i kumire.	13 For this man more than any knows that he is sinning, when out of earthen stuff he creates fragile vessels and idols alike.
14 Ali su od svih najluđi, i jadniji od duše čeda nejakog, oni neprijatelji tvog naroda koji ga nekoć tlačiše.	14 But all quite senseless, and worse than childish in mind, are the enemies of your people who enslaved them.
15 Jer oni obožavahu sve poganske kumire koji ne mogu ni očima gledati, ni nosom disati, ni ušima slušati, ni prstima pipati, ni nogama hoditi.	15 For they esteemed all the idols of the nations gods, which have no use of the eyes for vision, nor nostrils to snuff the air, Nor ears to hear, nor fingers on their hands for feeling; even their feet are useless to walk with.
16 Jer ih čovjek načini, sazda ih onaj komu je dah u zajam dan. Nijedan čovjek ne može načiniti boga sebi slična;	16 For a man made them; one whose spirit has been lent him fashioned them. For no man succeeds in fashioning a god like himself;
17 i jer je smrtan, mrtvo djelo gradi bezbožničkim rukama. On je dragocjeniji od svojih svetinja, jer je živ, a one nisu.	17 being mortal, he makes a dead thing with his lawless hands. For he is better than the things he worships; he at least lives, but never they.
18 A čak štuju i najgadnije životinje, što su, po gluposti svojoj, gore od ostalih.	18 And besides, they worship the most loathsome beasts-- for compared as to folly, these are worse than the rest,
19 Na njima nikakve ljepote da bi privlačile kao druge životinje: umakle su i Božjoj hvali i njegovu blagoslovu.	19 Nor for their looks are they good or desirable beasts, but they have escaped both the approval of God and his blessing.