1 El hombre, nacido de mujer, tiene una vida breve y cargada de tormentos: | 1 Man, born of woman, living for a short time, is filled with many miseries. |
2 como una flor, brota y se marchita; huye sin detenerse, como una sombra. | 2 He comes forth like a flower, and is crushed, and he flees, as if a shadow, and never remains in the same state. |
3 ¡Y sobre alguien así tú abres los ojos, lo enfrentas contigo en un juicio! | 3 And do you consider it fitting to look down with your eyes on someone in this way and to lead him into judgment with you? |
4 Pero ¿quién sacará lo puro de lo impuro? Nadie, ciertamente. | 4 Who can make him clean who is conceived of unclean seed? Are you not the only one who can? |
5 Ya que sus días están determinados y tú conoces el número de sus meses, ya que le has puesto un límite infranqueable, | 5 The days of man are short, and the number of his months is with you; you have determined his limits, which cannot be surpassed. |
6 ¡aparta de él tu mirada y déjalo solo, para que disfrute de su jornada como un asalariado! | 6 Withdraw a little from him, so that he may rest, until his awaited day arrives, like that of the hired hand. |
7 Para el árbol hay una esperanza: si es cortado, aún puede reverdecer y no dejará de tener retoños. | 7 A tree has hope: if it has been cut, it turns green again, and its branches spring forth. |
8 Aunque su raíz haya envejecido en el suelo y su tronco esté muerto en el polvo, | 8 If its roots grow old in the earth, and its trunk passes into dust, |
9 apenas siente el agua, produce nuevos brotes y echa ramas, como una planta joven. | 9 at the scent of water, it will sprout and bring forth leaves, as when it had first been planted. |
10 Pero el hombre, cuando muere, queda inerte; el mortal que expira, ¿dónde está? | 10 Truly, when a man dies, and has been left unprotected, and has decayed, I ask you where is he? |
11 El agua del mar se evapora, un río se agota y se seca: | 11 It is as if the waters had receded from the sea and an emptied river had dried up; |
12 así el hombre se acuesta y no se levanta; desaparecerán los cielos, antes que él se despierte, antes que se alce de su sueño. | 12 just so, when a man is fallen asleep, he will not rise again, until the heavens are worn away; he will not awaken, nor rise from his sleep. |
13 ¡Ah, si tú me ocultaras en el Abismo, si me escondieras hasta que pase tu enojo y me fijaras un plazo para acordarte de mí! | 13 Who will grant this to me, that you will protect me in the underworld, and hide me until your fury passes by, and establish a time for me, in which you will remember me? |
14 –Un hombre, una vez muerto, ¿podrá revivir?–. Entonces yo esperaría, todos los días de mi servicio, hasta que llegue mi relevo: | 14 Do you suppose that a dead man will live again? On each of the days in which I now battle, I wait until my transformation occurs. |
15 tú llamarías, y yo te respondería, ansiarías ver la obra de tus manos. | 15 You will call me and I will answer you; to the work of your hands, you will extend your right hand. |
16 Porque entonces no contarías mis pasos ni observarías mi pecado; | 16 Indeed, you have numbered my steps, but you have been lenient with my sins. |
17 mi delito estaría bajo sello en una bolsa y cubrirías mi culpa con un enduido. | 17 You have sealed up my offenses, as if in a purse, but you have cured my iniquity. |
18 Pero la montaña cae y se desmorona, la roca es removida de su sitio; | 18 A falling mountain flows away, and a stone is transferred from its place. |
19 las aguas desgastan las piedras, al polvo de la tierra se lo lleva el aguacero: ¡así tú destruyes la esperanza del mortal! | 19 Waters wear away stones, and with a flood the land is reduced little by little; and similarly, you will destroy man. |
20 Lo abates para siempre, y él se va, desfiguras su rostro y lo despides. | 20 You have strengthened him for a little while, so that he may cross over into eternity. You will change his face and send him forth. |
21 Se honra a sus hijos, pero él no lo sabe; si son envilecidos, él no se da cuenta. | 21 Whether his sons have been noble or ignoble, he will not understand. |
22 ¡Sólo en carne propia siente el sufrimiento, sólo por sí mismo está de duelo! | 22 And in this way his body, while he yet lives, will have grief, and his soul will mourn over himself. |