प्रज्ञा ग्रन्थ 15

1But thou, our God, art gracious and true, patient, and ordering all things in mercy.

2For if we sin, we are thine, knowing thy greatness: and if we sin not, we know that we are counted with thee.

3For to know thee is perfect justice: and to know thy justice, and thy power, is the root of immortality.

4For the invention of mischievous men hath not deceived us, nor the shadow of a picture, a fruitless labour, a graven figure with divers colours,

5The sight whereof enticeth the fool to lust after it, and he loveth the lifeless figure of a dead image.

6The lovers of evil things deserve to have no better things to trust in, both they that make them, and they that love them, and they that worship them.

7The potter also tempering soft earth, with labour fashioneth every vessel for our service, and of the same clay he maketh both vessels that are for clean uses, and likewise such as serve to the contrary: but what is the use of these vessels, the potter is the judge.

8And of the same clay by a vain labour he maketh a god: he who a little before was made of earth himself, and a little after returneth to the same out of which he was taken, when his life which was lent him shall be called for again.

9But his care is, not that he shall labour, nor that his life is short, but he striveth with the goldsmiths and silversmiths: and he endeavoureth to do like the workers in brass, and counteth it a glory to make vain things.

10For his heart is ashes, and his hope vain earth, and his life more base than clay:

11Forasmuch as he knew not his maker and him that inspired into him the soul that worketh, and that breathed into him a living spirit.

12Yea and they have counted our life a pastime, and the business of life to be gain, and that we must be getting every way, even out of evil.

13For that man knoweth that he offendeth above all others, who of earthly matter maketh brittle vessels, and graven gods.

14But all the enemies of thy people that hold them in subjection, are foolish, and unhappy, and proud beyond measure:

15For they have esteemed all the idols of the heathens for gods, which neither have the use of eyes to see, nor noses to draw breath, nor ears to hear, nor fingers of hands to handle, and as for their feet, they are slow to walk.

16For man made them: and he that borroweth his own breath, fashioned them. For no man can make a god like to himself.

17For being mortal himself, he formeth a dead thing with his wicked hands. For he is better than they whom he worshippeth, because he indeed hath lived, though he were mortal, but they never.

18Moreover they worship also the vilest creatures: but things without sense compared to these, are worse than they.

19Yea, neither by sight can any man see good of these beasts. But they have fled from the praise of God, and from his blessing.

1[Tu autem, Deus noster, suavis et verus es, patiens, et in misericordia disponens omnia.

2Etenim si peccaverimus, tui sumus, scientes magnitudinem tuam; et si non peccaverimus, scimus quoniam apud te sumus computati.

3Nosse enim te, consummata justitia est; et scire justitiam et virtutem tuam, radix est immortalitatis.

4Non enim in errorem induxit nos hominum malæ artis excogitatio, nec umbra picturæ labor sine fructu, effigies sculpta per varios colores:

5cujus aspectus insensato dat concupiscentiam, et diligit mortuæ imaginis effigiem sine anima.

6Malorum amatores digni sunt qui spem habeant in talibus, et qui faciunt illos, et qui diligunt, et qui colunt.]

7[Sed et figulus mollem terram premens, laboriose fingit ad usus nostros unumquodque vas; et de eodem luto fingit quæ munda sunt in usum vasa, et similiter quæ his sunt contraria: horum autem vasorum quis sit usus, judex est figulus.

8Et cum labore vano deum fingit de eodem luto ille qui paulo ante de terra factus fuerat, et post pusillum reducit se unde acceptus est, repetitus animæ debitum quam habebat.

9Sed cura est illi non quia laboraturus est, nec quoniam brevis illi vita est: sed concertatur aurificibus et argentariis; sed et ærarios imitatur, et gloriam præfert, quoniam res supervacuas fingit.

10Cinis est enim cor ejus, et terra supervacua spes illius, et luto vilior vita ejus:

11quoniam ignoravit qui se finxit, et qui inspiravit illi animam quæ operatur, et qui insufflavit ei spiritum vitalem.

12Sed et æstimaverunt ludum esse vitam nostram, et conversationem vitæ compositam ad lucrum, et oportere undecumque etiam ex malo acquirere.

13Hic enim scit se super omnes delinquere, qui ex terræ materia fragilia vasa et sculptilia fingit.

14Omnes enim insipientes, et infelices supra modum animæ superbi, sunt inimici populi tui, et imperantes illi:

15quoniam omnia idola nationum deos æstimaverunt, quibus neque oculorum usus est ad videndum, neque nares ad percipiendum spiritum, neque aures ad audiendum, neque digiti manuum ad tractandum, sed et pedes eorum pigri ad ambulandum.

16Homo enim fecit illos; et qui spiritum mutuatus est, is finxit illos. Nemo enim sibi similem homo poterit deum fingere.

17Cum enim sit mortalis, mortuum fingit manibus iniquis. Melior enim est ipse his quos colit, quia ipse quidem vixit, cum esset mortalis, illi autem numquam.]

18[Sed et animalia miserrima colunt; insensata enim comparata his, illis sunt deteriora.

19Sed nec aspectu aliquis ex his animalibus bona potest conspicere: effugerunt autem Dei laudem et benedictionem ejus.]

1But you, our God, are gracious and true, patient, and in mercy ordering all things.

2And, indeed, if we sin, we are yours, knowing your greatness; and, if we do not sin, we know that we are counted with you.

3For to have known you is perfect justice, and to know justice and your virtue is the root of immortality.

4For the skillful planning of evil men has not led us into error, nor the shadow of a picture, a fruitless labor, an image having been sculpted through the use of diverse colors,

5the sight of which gives desire to the foolish, and he loves the likeness of a lifeless image without a soul.

6Deserving are the lovers of evil, those who hope in such things, and those who make them, and those who love them, and those who promote them.

7But even the potter, pressing laboriously, molds the soft earth into vessels, each one for our use. And from the same clay he molds vessels, those which are for clean use, and similarly, those which are for the opposite. But, as to what is the use of a vessel, the potter is the judge.

8And with effort he molds an empty god of the same clay, he who a little before had been made from the earth, and, after brief time, he himself returns from whence he came, to be claimed by he who holds the debt of his soul.

9Yet his concern is, not what his work will be, nor that his life is short, but that he is being contested by those who work with gold and silver, yet he also does the same to those who work with copper, and he glories that he makes worthless things.

10For his heart is ashes, and his hope is worthless dirt, and his life is more common than clay,

11because he ignores the One who molded him, and who instilled in him a working soul, and who breathed into him a living spirit.

12Yet they even considered our life to be a plaything, and the usefulness of life to be the accumulation of wealth, and that we must be acquiring things in every possible way, even from evil.

13For, above all else, he knows himself to be lacking, who, from fragile material of the earth forms vessels and graven images.

14For all the foolish and unhappy, in charge of the way of the arrogant soul, are enemies of your people and rule over them,

15because they have esteemed all the idols of the nations as gods, which neither have the use of eyes to see, nor noses to draw breath, nor ears to hear, nor the fingers of hands to grasp, and even their feet are slow to walk.

16For man made them, and he who borrowed his own breath, formed them. For no man will be able to form God in the likeness of himself.

17For, being mortal, he forms a dead thing with his unjust hands. Yet, he is better than those things that he worships, because he indeed has lived, though he is mortal, but they never have.

18Moreover, they worship the most miserable animals, for, to make a foolish comparison, these others are worse.

19But not even from their appearance can anyone discern anything good in these animals. Yet they have fled from the praise of God, and from his blessing.