For neither has the evil intent of human art misled us may be rendered “We have not been misled by what evil [or, wicked] artists have made” or “We have never let the things that wicked artists have made mislead us.” Once again the connector For may be omitted.

Nor the fruitless toil of painters, a figure stained with varied colors: These two clauses refer to the same objects, namely idols created by these wicked artists. They may be combined as follows: “by any useless object [or, idol] painted [or, smeared] with all sorts of colors.”

For the whole verse we suggest a slight rearrangement of the material:

• Human beings can use their artistic gifts [or, skill] for evil purposes; they may paint some useless object [or, idol] with all sorts of colors. We have never let such things mislead us.

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Wisdom of Solomon. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2004. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.