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.
2 For it was desire for gain that planned that vessel, and wisdom was the craftsman who built it;
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,
4 showing that thou canst save from every danger, so that even if a man lacks skill, he may put to sea.
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.
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.
7 For blessed is the wood by which righteousness comes.
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.
9 For equally hateful to God are the ungodly man and his ungodliness,
10 for what was done will be punished together with him who did it.
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.
12 For the idea of making idols was the beginning of fornication, and the invention of them was the corruption of life,
13 for neither have they existed from the beginning nor will they exist for ever.
14 For through the vanity of men they entered the world, and therefore their speedy end has been planned.
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.
16 Then the ungodly custom, grown strong with time, was kept as a law, and at the command of monarchs graven images were worshiped.
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.
18 Then the ambition of the craftsman impelled even those who did not know the king to intensify their worship.
19 For he, perhaps wishing to please his ruler, skilfully forced the likeness to take more beautiful form,
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.
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.
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.
23 For whether they kill children in their initiations, or celebrate secret mysteries, or hold frenzied revels with strange customs,
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,
25 and all is a raging riot of blood and murder, theft and deceit, corruption, faithlessness, tumult, perjury,
26 confusion over what is good, forgetfulness of favors, pollution of souls, sex perversion, disorder in marriage, adultery, and debauchery.
27 For the worship of idols not to be named is the beginning and cause and end of every evil.
28 For their worshipers either rave in exultation, or prophesy lies, or live unrighteously, or readily commit perjury;
29 for because they trust in lifeless idols they swear wicked oaths and expect to suffer no harm.
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.
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.
Versículos relacionados com Wisdom of Solomon, 14:
Wisdom 14 deals with the madness of the peoples who worship idols and the evils it causes, while extolling wisdom in God. Here are five verses related to the themes of the chapter:
Isaiah 44:20: "He feeds on ashes, the misleading heart deviates him; he cannot save himself or say, 'Is it not a lie in my hands?'" This verse describes the futility of idol worship and how how This leads to deception and lack of salvation.
Psalm 96:5: "All the gods of the peoples are idols, but the Lord has made the heavens." This verse highlights God's superiority over idols and points to the true worship of Him.
Isaiah 2:18: "And all idols shall disappear completely." Here the prophet Isaiah speaks of the end of idols and how they will be left behind when the true worship of God is established.
Acts 17:29: "If God's offspring, we must not think that divinity is similar to gold, silver, or stone, carved by man's art and imagination." The apostle Paul speaks to the Greeks in Athens about the true nature of God and how he cannot be represented by idols made by human hands.
1 Corinthians 10:19-20: "Is that me to say that the sacrifice offered to idols is something? Not to God. And I don't want you to have communion with the demons. " The apostle Paul warns Christians in Corinth over the dangerous worship of idols and how it can lead to communion with demons instead of God.
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