Wisdom 14:19–27
19for he, wishing perhaps to please his ruler, used his art to force the likeness toward a greater beauty.↗
20So the multitude, allured by reason of the grace of his handiwork, now consider an object of devotion him that a little before was honored as a man.↗
21And this became an ambush, because men, in bondage either to calamity or to tyranny, invested stones and stocks with the Name that shouldn’t be shared.↗
22Afterward it was not enough for them to go astray concerning the knowledge of God, but also, while they live in a great war of ignorance, they call a multitude of evils peace.↗
23For either slaughtering children in solemn rites, or celebrating secret mysteries, or holding frenzied revels of strange customs,↗
24no longer do they guard either life or purity of marriage, but one brings upon another either death by treachery, or anguish by adultery.↗
25And all things confusedly are filled with blood and murder, theft and deceit, corruption, faithlessness, tumult, perjury,↗
26confusion about what is good, forgetfulness of favors, ingratitude for benefits, defiling of souls, confusion of sex, disorder in marriage, adultery and wantonness.↗
27For the worship of idols that may not be named is a beginning and cause and end of every evil.↗
Source: World English Bible (Catholic), public domain. Text is taken directly from the source. Headings are editorial, not biblical verses.
Languages: English public-domain source is available throughout all 73 books. Slovenian and German Scripture editions will be published only after their precise source texts are verified; we do not substitute machine-written translations.