| 1 Razonando equivocadamente se decían: | «Corta y triste es nuestra vida | y el trance final del hombre es irremediable; | no consta de nadie que haya regresado del abismo. | 1 For they have said, reasoning with themselves incorrectly: “Our lifetime is brief and tedious, and there is no relief within the limits of man, and no one is acknowledged to have returned from the dead. |
| 2 Nacimos casualmente | y después seremos como si nunca hubiésemos existido. | Humo es el aliento que respiramos | y el pensamiento, una chispa del corazón que late. | 2 For we are born from nothing, and after this we will be as if we had not been, because the breath in our nostrils is like smoke, and conversation sends out sparks from the stirring of our heart; |
| 3 Cuando esta se apague, el cuerpo se volverá ceniza | y el espíritu se desvanecerá como aire tenue. | 3 therefore, when it is extinguished, our body will be ashes, and our spirit will be diffused like a soft breeze, and our life will pass away like the wisp of a cloud, just as a mist is dissolved when it is driven away by the rays of the sun and overpowered by its heat. |
| 4 Con el tiempo nuestro nombre caerá en el olvido | y nadie se acordará de nuestras obras. | Pasará nuestra vida como rastro de nubes | y como neblina se disipará, | acosada por los rayos del sol | y abatida por su calor. | 4 And in time our name will surrender to oblivion, and no one will have remembrance of our works. |
| 5 Nuestra vida, una sombra que pasa, | nuestro fin, irreversible: | puesto el sello, nadie retorna. | 5 For our time is like the passing of a shadow, and nothing can reverse our end, for it is signed and sealed, and cannot be returned. |
| 6 ¡Venid! Disfrutemos de los bienes presentes | y gocemos de lo creado con ardor juvenil. | 6 Therefore, hurry, let us enjoy the good things of the present time, and let us quickly use up passing things, just as in youth. |
| 7 Embriaguémonos de vinos exquisitos y de perfumes, | que no se nos escape ni una flor primaveral. | 7 Let us indulge ourselves with costly wine and ointments, and let no flower of youth pass us by. |
| 8 Coronémonos con capullos de rosas antes que se marchiten; | 8 Let us surround ourselves with rosebuds before they wither; let no meadow be left untouched by our indulgence. |
| 9 que ningún prado escape a nuestras orgías, | dejemos por doquier señales de nuestro gozo, | porque esta es nuestra suerte y nuestra herencia». | 9 Let no one among us be exempt from our indulgence. Let us leave behind tokens of enjoyment everywhere, for this is our portion, and this is fate. |
| 10 «Oprimamos al pobre inocente, | no tengamos compasión de la viuda, | ni respetemos las canas venerables del anciano. | 10 Let us oppress the poor just man, and not spare the widow, nor respect the aged grey hairs of elders. |
| 11 Sea nuestra fuerza la norma de la justicia, | pues lo débil es evidente que de nada sirve. | 11 But let our strength be the law of justice, for what is weak is found to be useless. |
| 12 Acechemos al justo, que nos resulta fastidioso: | se opone a nuestro modo de actuar, | nos reprocha las faltas contra la ley | y nos reprende contra la educación recibida; | 12 Therefore, let us encircle the just, because he is useless to us, and he is against our works, and he reproaches us with our legal offenses, and makes known to us the sins of our way of life. |
| 13 presume de conocer a Dios | y se llama a sí mismo hijo de Dios. | 13 He promises that he has the knowledge of God and he calls himself the son of God. |
| 14 Es un reproche contra nuestros criterios, | su sola presencia nos resulta insoportable. | 14 He was made among us to expose our very thoughts. |
| 15 Lleva una vida distinta de todos los demás | y va por caminos diferentes. | 15 He is grievous for us even to behold, for his life is unlike other men’s lives, and immutable are his ways. |
| 16 Nos considera moneda falsa | y nos esquiva como a impuros. | Proclama dichoso el destino de los justos, | y presume de tener por padre a Dios. | 16 It is as if we are considered by him to be insignificant, and he abstains from our ways as from filth; he prefers the newly justified, and he glories that he has God for his father. |
| 17 Veamos si es verdad lo que dice, | comprobando cómo es su muerte. | 17 Let us see, then, if his words are true, and let us test what will happen to him, and then we will know what his end will be. |
| 18 Si el justo es hijo de Dios, él lo auxiliará | y lo librará de las manos de sus enemigos. | 18 For if he is the true son of God, he will receive him and deliver him from the hands of his adversaries. |
| 19 Lo someteremos a ultrajes y torturas, | para conocer su temple y comprobar su resistencia. | 19 Let us examine him with insult and torture, that we may know his reverence and try his patience. |
| 20 Lo condenaremos a muerte ignominiosa, | pues, según dice, Dios lo salvará». | 20 Let us condemn him to a most shameful death, for, according to his own words, God will care for him.” |
| 21 Así discurren, pero se equivocan, | pues los ciega su maldad. | 21 These things they thought, and they were mistaken, for their own malice blinded them. |
| 22 Desconocen los misterios de Dios, | no esperan el premio de la santidad, | ni creen en la recompensa de una vida intachable. | 22 And they were ignorant of the mysteries of God; they neither hoped for the reward of justice, nor judged the value of holy souls. |
| 23 Dios creó al hombre incorruptible | y lo hizo a imagen de su propio ser; | 23 For God created man to be immortal, and he made him in the image of his own likeness. |
| 24 mas por envidia del diablo entró la muerte en el mundo, | y la experimentan los de su bando. | 24 But by the envy of the devil, death entered the world, |
| 25 yet they imitate him, who are from his side. |
