But thou, our God, art gracious and true,

2 For even if we sin, we are thine, knowing thy dominion;

3 For to be acquainted with thee is perfect righteousness,

4 For neither were we led astray by any evil device of men’s art,

5 The sight whereof leadeth fools into lust:

6 Lovers of evil things, and worthy of such hopes as these,

7 For a potter, kneading soft earth,

8 And also, laboring to an evil end, he moldeth a vain god out of the same clay,

9 Howbeit he hath anxious care,

10 His heart is ashes,

11 Because he was ignorant of him that molded him,

12 But he accounted our very life to be a plaything,

13 For this man beyond all others knoweth that he sinneth,

14 But most foolish were they all, and of feebler soul than a babe,

15 Because they even accounted all the idols of the nations to be gods;

16 For a man made them,

17 But, being mortal, he maketh a dead thing by the work of lawless hands;

18 Yea, and the creatures that are most hateful do they worship,

19 Neither, as seen beside other creatures, are they beautiful, so that one should desire them,