1 But you, our God, are gracious and true, patient, and in mercy ordering all things.
2 And, indeed, if we sin, we are yours, knowing your greatness; and, if we do not sin, we know that we are counted with you.
3 For to have known you is perfect justice, and to know justice and your virtue is the root of immortality.
4 For 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,
5 the sight of which gives desire to the foolish, and he loves the likeness of a lifeless image without a soul.