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1For all people who were ignorant of God were foolish by nature,[#2 Kings 17.15; Sir 38.27; Acts 14.17; Rom 1.25]
and they were unable from the good things that are seen to know the one who exists,
nor did they recognize the artisan while paying heed to his works;
2but they supposed that either fire or wind or swift air[#Deut 4.19; 17.3; Job 31.26–28]
or the circle of the stars or turbulent water
or the luminaries of heaven were the gods that rule the world.
3If through delight in the beauty of these things people assumed them to be gods,[#Wis 12.24]
let them know how much better than these is their Lord,
for the author of beauty created them.
4And if people were amazed at their power and working,[#Rom 1.20; #13.4 Gk they]
let them perceive from them
how much more powerful is the one who formed them.
5For from the greatness and beauty of created things[#Rom 1.20]
comes a corresponding perception of their Creator.
6Yet these people are little to be blamed,[#Acts 17.27]
for perhaps they go astray
while seeking God and desiring to find him.
7For while they live among his works, they keep searching[#Rom 1.21]
and trust in what they see because the things that are seen are beautiful.
8Yet again, not even they are to be excused,[#Rom 1.20]
9for if they had the power to know so much
that they could investigate the world,
how did they not more quickly find the Lord of these things?
10But miserable, with their hopes set on dead things, are those[#Deut 4.16–18; Ps 115.4; Let Jer 3, 49; Acts 17.29]
who give the name “gods” to the works of human hands,
gold and silver fashioned with skill
and likenesses of animals
or a useless stone, the work of an ancient hand.
11A skilled woodcutter may saw down a tree easy to handle[#Isa 40.19, 20; Jer 10.3; Let Jer 58]
and skillfully strip off all its bark
and then with pleasing workmanship
make a useful vessel that serves life’s needs
12and burn the cast-off pieces of his work[#v 13 ; Isa 44.15, 16]
to prepare his food and eat his fill.
13But a cast-off piece from among them, useful for nothing,
a stick crooked and full of knots,
he takes and carves with care in his leisure
and shapes it with skill gained in idleness;
he forms it in the likeness of a human being
14or makes it like some worthless animal,[#Jer 22.14; Ezek 23.14]
giving it a coat of red paint and coloring its surface red
and covering every blemish in it with paint;
15then he makes a suitable niche for it[#Isa 41.7; 46.7; Let Jer 25, 26]
and sets it in the wall and fastens it there with iron.
16He takes thought for it so that it may not fall,[#1 Sam 5.3, 4; Let Jer 26]
because he knows that it cannot help itself,
for it is only an image and has need of help.
17When he prays about possessions and his marriage and children,[#Isa 44.17, 19; Jer 2.27]
he is not ashamed to address a lifeless thing.
For health he appeals to a thing that is weak;
18for life he prays to a thing that is dead;[#v 10 ; Ps 115.7; Jer 10.5; Wis 15.15]
for aid he entreats a thing that is utterly inexperienced;
for a prosperous journey, a thing that cannot take a step;
19for money-making and work and success with his hands,
he asks strength of a thing whose hands have no strength.