| 1 Elifaz de Temán respondió así: | 1 Eliphaz of Teman spoke next. He said: |
| 2 «¿Soportarás que te dirijan la palabra?; | ¿quién podría contener una respuesta? | 2 If we say something to you, wil you bear with us? Who in any case could refrain from speaking now? |
| 3 Tú, que a tantos instruías | y fortalecías los brazos endebles; | 3 You have schooled many others, giving strength to feeble hands; |
| 4 tus palabras animaban al vacilante, | robustecías las rodillas inseguras, | 4 your words supported any who wavered and strengthened every failing knee. |
| 5 ¿y ahora que te toca a ti, flaqueas, | te llega el turno y te espantas? | 5 And now your turn has come, and you lose patience, at the first touch on yourself you are overwhelmed! |
| 6 ¿No confiabas en tu piedad? | ¿No ponías la esperanza en tu honradez? | 6 Does not your piety give you confidence, and your integrity of life give you hope? |
| 7 ¿Recuerdas a un inocente destruido? | ¿Has visto a los justos exterminados? | 7 Can you recal anyone guiltless that perished? Where then have the honest been wiped out? |
| 8 Yo he visto que quienes labran maldad | y siembran desgracia, las cosechan. | 8 I speak from experience: those who plough iniquity and sow disaster, reap just that. |
| 9 Cuando Dios alienta, perecen, | el soplo de su ira los consume. | 9 Under the breath of God, they perish: a blast of his anger, and they are destroyed; |
| 10 Aunque ruja el león y gruña la fiera, | a los cachorros les arrancan los dientes. | 10 the lion's roars, his savage growls, like the fangs of a lion cub, are broken off. |
| 11 Perece el león por falta de presa, | las crías de la leona se dispersan. | 11 The lion dies for lack of prey and the lioness's whelps are dispersed. |
| 12 Me llegó una palabra furtiva, | oí su suave susurro; | 12 I have received a secret revelation, a whisper has come to my ears; |
| 13 entre pesadillas de visiones nocturnas, | cuando el letargo se ceba en los hombres, | 13 by night when dreams confuse the mind and slumber lies heavy on everyone, |
| 14 fui presa de terror y agitación, | se estremecieron todos mis huesos. | 14 a shiver of horror ran through me and fil ed al my bones with fright. |
| 15 Se deslizó un viento por mi cara | que erizó el vello de mi cuerpo. | 15 A breath slid over my face, the hairs of my body bristled. |
| 16 Allí estaba, de pie; | no reconocí su figura, | pero vi su imagen ante mí. | Tras el silencio escuché una voz: | 16 Someone stood there -- I did not know his face, but the form stayed there before my eyes. Silence --then I heard a voice, |
| 17 “¿Puede un mortal ser justo ante Dios?, | ¿o un hombre ser puro ante su Hacedor?”. | 17 'Can a mortal seem upright to God, would anybody seem pure in the presence of his Maker? |
| 18 Si no confía en sus siervos, | si en sus mensajeros percibe defectos, | 18 God cannot rely even on his own servants, even with his angels he finds fault. |
| 19 ¿qué hará con los que habitan entre adobes, | en casas cimentadas sobre barro? | ¡Se los aplasta igual que a la polilla! | 19 What then of those who live in houses of clay, who are founded on dust? |
| 20 De la mañana a la tarde se derrumban, | desaparecen sin que a nadie le importe. | 20 They are crushed as easily as a moth, between morning and evening they are ground to powder. Theyvanish for ever, with no one to bring them back. |
| 21 Les arrancan las clavijas de su tienda | y mueren por falta de sabiduría. | 21 Their tent-peg is snatched from them, and they die devoid of wisdom.' |
