---
title: "Wisdom 13 – Catholic Bible (CPDV) & Latin Vulgate · Bless"
url: https://blessbible.app/bible/wisdom/13/
description: "Idolaters are inexcusable: and those most of all that worship for gods the works… Wisdom 13 in the Catholic Public Domain Version, with the Latin Vulgate."
---

# Wisdom 13

Wisdom 13 is chapter 13 of 19 in the Book of Wisdom. Here are all 19 verses in the Catholic Public Domain Version, with the Latin of the Clementine Vulgate beside them.

> Idolaters are inexcusable: and those most of all that worship for gods the works of the hands of men.
>
> — Bp. Richard Challoner, chapter summary

## Wisdom 13 (Catholic Public Domain Version)

1. But all men are vain, who are not under the knowledge of God, and who, from these good things that are seen, were not able to understand he who is, nor, by paying attention to the works, did they acknowledge he who was the artisan.
2. Instead, they had considered either the fire, or the air, or the atmosphere, or the circle of stars, or the great sea, or the sun and moon, to be the gods that rule the world.
3. If they, being delighted by such sights, supposed them to be gods, let them know how great the Lord of them is in splendor. For he who created all things is the author of beauty.
4. Or, if they wondered at their power and their effects, let them understand by these things, that he who created them is mightier than they are.
5. For, by the greatness of the creation and its beauty, the creator of these will be able to be seen discernibly.
6. Yet, up to this point, the complaint about this is lesser. For perhaps they made a mistake in this, while desiring and seeking to find God.
7. And, indeed, having some familiarity with him through his works, they search, and they are persuaded, because the things that they are seeing are good.
8. But, then again, neither can their debt be ignored.
9. For, if they were able to know enough so that they could value the universe, how is it they did not easily discover the Lord of it?
10. Yet they are unhappy, and their hope is among the dead, for they have called ‘gods’ the works of the hands of men, gold and silver, the inventions of skill, and the likeness of animals, or a useless stone, the work of an ancient hand.
11. Or, it is as if a craftsman, a workman of the forest, had cut straight wood, and, with his expertise, shaved off all of its bark, and, with his skill, diligently fashioned a vessel, practical for use in life,
12. and even the remains of his work were exhausted in the preparation of food;
13. and, from the remainder of this, which has become useful for nothing, a curved piece of wood and full of knots, he diligently carves it in his spare time, and, through the knowledge of his art, forms it and makes it in the image of a man,
14. or something comparable to an animal, thoroughly rubbing it with red ochre, to make it red with the color of the pigment, and to cover every imperfection which is in it;
15. and it is as if he made a fitting resting place for it, even setting it in a wall and fastening it with iron,
16. providing for it, lest it should fall, knowing that it is unable to help itself, for it is an image and it is in need of help.
17. And then, making an offering, he inquires about his wealth, and about his sons, and about marriage. And he is not ashamed to talk to that which has no soul.
18. And for health, indeed, something unhealthy is being prayed to, and for life, he petitions what is dead, and for help, he calls upon something helpless,
19. and for a good journey, he entreats that which is unable to walk, and for acquiring, and for working, and for success in all things, he entreats that which is useless in all things.

## Wisdom 13 in Latin (Clementine Vulgate, 1592)

1. Vani autem sunt omnes homines in quibus non subest scientia Dei; et de his quæ videntur bona, non potuerunt intelligere eum qui est, neque operibus attendentes agnoverunt quis esset artifex:
2. sed aut ignem, aut spiritum, aut citatum aërem, aut gyrum stellarum, aut nimiam aquam, aut solem et lunam, rectores orbis terrarum deos putaverunt.
3. Quorum si specie delectati, deos putaverunt, sciant quanto his dominator eorum speciosior est: speciei enim generator hæc omnia constituit.
4. Aut si virtutem et opera eorum mirati sunt, intelligant ab illis quoniam qui hæc fecit fortior est illis:
5. a magnitudine enim speciei et creaturæ cognoscibiliter poterit creator horum videri.
6. Sed tamen adhuc in his minor est querela; et hi enim fortasse errant, Deum quærentes, et volentes invenire.
7. Etenim cum in operibus illius conversentur inquirunt, et persuasum habent quoniam bona sunt quæ videntur.
8. Iterum autem nec his debet ignosci.
9. Si enim tantum potuerunt scire ut possent æstimare sæculum, quomodo hujus Dominum non facilius invenerunt?
10. Infelices autem sunt, et inter mortuos spes illorum est, qui appellaverunt deos opera manuum hominum: aurum et argentum, artis inventionem, et similitudines animalium, aut lapidem inutilem, opus manus antiquæ.
11. Aut si quis artifex faber de silva lignum rectum secuerit, et hujus docte eradat omnem corticem, et arte sua usus diligenter fabricet vas utile in conversationem vitæ;
12. reliquiis autem ejus operis ad præparationem escæ abutatur,
13. et reliquum horum quod ad nullos usus facit, lignum curvum et vorticibus plenum sculpat diligenter per vacuitatem suam, et per scientiam suæ artis figuret illud, et assimilet illud imagini hominis,
14. aut alicui ex animalibus illud comparet: perliniens rubrica, et rubicundum faciens fuco colorem illius, et omnem maculam quæ in illo est perliniens;
15. et faciat ei dignam habitationem, et in pariete ponens illud, et confirmans ferro
16. ne forte cadat, prospiciens illi: sciens quoniam non potest adjuvare se: imago enim est, et opus est illi adjutorium.
17. Et de substantia sua, et de filiis suis, et de nuptiis votum faciens inquirit: non erubescit loqui cum illo qui sine anima est.
18. Et pro sanitate quidem infirmum deprecatur, et pro vita rogat mortuum, et in adjutorium inutilem invocat.
19. Et pro itinere petit ab eo qui ambulare non potest; et de acquirendo, et de operando, et de omnium rerum eventu, petit ab eo qui in omnibus est inutilis.

## Catechism of the Catholic Church

Paragraph numbers and the Catechism's own section headings (never quoted); text at vatican.va.
- CCC ¶ 2112: "You Shall Have No Other Gods Before Me" ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- cf. CCC ¶ 216: I Believe in God ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- cf. CCC ¶ 1147: How is the Liturgy Celebrated? ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 2129: "You Shall Not Make For Yourself a Graven Image . . ." ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 2500: Truth, Beauty, and Sacred Art ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 41: How Can We Speak about God? ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))

## Read at Mass (US)

- Fri, Nov 12, 2027 (computed): St. Josaphat, Bishop and Martyr — First Reading, Wisdom 13:1-9

Dates after May 31, 2027 are computed by Bless from the US Lectionary cycle — confirm with your parish.

Source: Catholic Public Domain Version (Ronald L. Conte Jr., 2009), public domain; Latin: Clementine Vulgate (1592).