| 1 Respondió Job: | 1 Then Job answered and said: |
| 2 «Sé muy bien que es así: | que el mortal no es justo ante Dios. | 2 I know well that it is so; but how can a man be justified before God? |
| 3 Si quiere pleitear con él, | de mil razones no le rebatirá ni una. | 3 Should one wish to contend with him, he could not answer him once in a thousand times. |
| 4 Él es sabio y poderoso, | ¿quién le resiste y queda ileso? | 4 God is wise in heart and mighty in strength; who has withstood him and remained unscathed? |
| 5 Desplaza montañas sin que se note, | cuando las vuelca con su cólera. | 5 He removes the mountains before they know it; he overturns them in his anger. |
| 6 Estremece la tierra en sus cimientos, | hace retemblar sus pilares; | 6 He shakes the earth out of its place, and the pillars beneath it tremble. |
| 7 manda al sol que no brille | y guarda bajo sello las estrellas. | 7 He commands the sun, and it rises not; he seals up the stars. |
| 8 Él solo despliega los cielos | y camina sobre el dorso del Mar. | 8 He alone stretches out the heavens and treads upon the crests of the sea. |
| 9 Creó la Osa y Orión, | las Pléyades y las Cámaras del Sur. | 9 He made the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the south; |
| 10 Hace prodigios insondables, | maravillas innumerables. | 10 He does great things past finding out, marvelous things beyond reckoning. |
| 11 Si cruza junto a mí, no lo veo; | me roza, al pasar, y no lo siento; | 11 Should he come near me, I see him not; should he pass by, I am not aware of him; |
| 12 si en algo hace presa, ¿quién se lo impedirá?, | ¿quién le reclamará: “Qué estás haciendo”? | 12 Should he seize me forcibly, who can say him nay? Who can say to him, "What are you doing?" |
| 13 Dios no renuncia a su cólera, | a ella se someten los aliados de Rahab. | 13 He is God and he does not relent; the helpers of Rahab bow beneath him. |
| 14 Cuánto menos podré yo replicarle | o escoger argumentos contra él. | 14 How much less shall I give him any answer, or choose out arguments against him! |
| 15 Aunque tuviera yo razón, no respondería, | tendría que suplicar a mi adversario; | 15 Even though I were right, I could not answer him, but should rather beg for what was due me. |
| 16 aunque lo citara y me respondiera, | no creo que me hiciera caso. | 16 If I appealed to him and he answered my call, I could not believe that he would hearken to my words; |
| 17 Capaz de aplastarme por una bagatela, | multiplica sin motivo mis heridas, | 17 With a tempest he might overwhelm me, and multiply my wounds without cause; |
| 18 no me deja ni tomar resuello, | me tiene saciado de amargura. | 18 He need not suffer me to draw breath, but might fill me with bitter griefs. |
| 19 Si se trata de fuerza, ahí está su poder; | si es cuestión de justicia, ¿quién lo emplazará? | 19 If it be a question of strength, he is mighty; and if of judgment, who will call him to account? |
| 20 Aun teniendo razón, mi boca me condenaría; | aun siendo inocente, demostraría mi culpa. | 20 Though I were right, my own mouth might condemn me; were I innocent, he might put me in the wrong. |
| 21 ¿Soy inocente? Ni lo sé. | Desprecio mi existencia. | 21 Though I am innocent, I myself cannot know it; I despise my life. |
| 22 Pero es lo mismo. Solo digo una cosa: | él destruye igual al inocente que al culpable. | 22 It is all one! therefore I say: Both the innocent and the wicked he destroys. |
| 23 Si irrumpiera una peste mortífera, | se burlaría del dolor del inocente. | 23 When the scourge slays suddenly, he laughs at the despair of the innocent. |
| 24 Si un tirano se apodera de un país, | él tapa los ojos de los magistrados. | ¿Quién lo hace sino él? | 24 The earth is given into the hands of the wicked; he covers the faces of its judges. If it is not he, who then is it? |
| 25 Mis días son más raudos que un correo, | escapan sin que pueda ver la dicha; | 25 My days are swifter than a runner, they flee away; they see no happiness; |
| 26 se deslizan como balsas de junco, | como el águila al caer sobre la presa. | 26 They shoot by like skiffs of reed, like an eagle swooping upon its prey. |
| 27 Si me digo: “Olvidaré la tristeza, | que la alegría mude mi semblante”, | 27 If I say: I will forget my complaining, I will lay aside my sadness and be of good cheer, |
| 28 tengo miedo de lo que voy a sufrir, | pues sé que no me crees inocente. | 28 Then I am in dread of all my pains; I know that you will not hold me innocent. |
| 29 Y si resulta que soy culpable, | ¿para qué luchar en vano? | 29 If I must be accounted guilty, why then should I strive in vain? |
| 30 Aunque me lavase con jabón | y frotara mis manos con lejía, | 30 If I should wash myself with snow and cleanse my hands with lye, |
| 31 tú me hundirías en el lodo | hasta que mi ropa me asqueara. | 31 Yet you would plunge me in the ditch, so that my garments would abhor me. |
| 32 No es un hombre como yo para decirle: | “Vayamos juntos a juicio”. | 32 For he is not a man like myself, that I should answer him, that we should come together in judgment. |
| 33 Si al menos hubiera un mediador, | que pusiera su mano entre los dos, | 33 Would that there were an arbiter between us, who could lay his hand upon us both |
| 34 que retirara su vara de mi espalda | para librarme del terror que me atenaza, | 34 and withdraw his rod from me. Would that his terrors did not frighten me; |
| 35 entonces hablaría sin temerle, | pues creo que no soy culpable. | 35 that I might speak without being afraid of him. Since this is not the case with me, |
