14
For through the vanity of men they entered the world, and therefore their speedy end has been planned.
15
For a father, consumed with grief at an untimely bereavement, made an image of his child, who had been suddenly taken from him; and he now honored as a god what was once a dead human being, and handed on to his dependents secret rites and initiations.
16
Then the ungodly custom, grown strong with time, was kept as a law, and at the command of monarchs graven images were worshiped.
17
When men could not honor monarchs in their presence, since they lived at a distance, they imagined their appearance far away, and made a visible image of the king whom they honored, so that by their zeal they might flatter the absent one as though present.
18
Then the ambition of the craftsman impelled even those who did not know the king to intensify their worship.
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.