2 For the desire for acquisition hath devised it, and the worker has skilfully arranged,

3 but thy providence, O Father, steerth the ship, for thou hast given both a way out to sea, and a safe path in the waves,

4 showing that Thou canst save from all things, even if he goes to sea without skill.

5 Thou wilt that the works of thy wisdom should not be in vain; Therefore, people entrust their lives to the smallest tree and are saved by passing on the waves in a boat.

6 For even in the beginning, when the proud giants were destroyed, the hope of the world, guided by thy hand, took refuge in the ship, and left the seed of the generation to the world.

7 Blessed is the tree through which righteousness comes!

8 But this man-made thing is cursed both by itself, and by him that made it, because he hath done; And this perishable is called God.

9 For both the wicked and his wickedness are equally hateful to God;

10 And that which is done with him that doeth shall be punished.

11 Wherefore also the idols of the heathen shall be judged, for they have become an abomination in the midst of God's creation, a stumbling block to the souls of men, and a snare to the feet of the foolish.

12 For the invention of idols is the beginning of fornication, and the invention thereof is the corruption of life.

13 They were not in the beginning, and they will never be.

14 They entered the world through human vanity, and therefore the end is destined for them to be near.

15 The father, tormented by bitter grief for his son who died early, made an image of him as already a dead man, then began to worship him as a god, and handed over to those subject the mysteries and sacrifices.