Wisdom 2

NEW JERUSALEM	Biblia Sagrada
1 And this is the false argument they use, 'Our life is short and dreary, there is no remedy when our endcomes, no one is known to have come back from Hades.	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.
2 We came into being by chance and afterwards shal be as though we had never been. The breath in ournostrils is a puff of smoke, reason a spark from the beating of our hearts;	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.
3 extinguish this and the body turns to ashes, and the spirit melts away like the yielding air.	3 Cuando esta se apague, el cuerpo se volverá ceniza | y el espíritu se desvanecerá como aire tenue.
4 In time, our name wil be forgotten, nobody wil remember what we have done; our life will pass awaylike wisps of cloud, dissolving like the mist that the sun's rays drive away and that its heat dispels.	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.
5 For our days are the passing of a shadow, our end is without return, the seal is affixed and nobodycomes back.	5 Nuestra vida, una sombra que pasa, | nuestro fin, irreversible: | puesto el sello, nadie retorna.
6 'Come then, let us enjoy the good things of today, let us use created things with the zest of youth:	6 ¡Venid! Disfrutemos de los bienes presentes | y gocemos de lo creado con ardor juvenil.
7 take our fil of the dearest wines and perfumes, on no account forgo the flowers of spring	7 Embriaguémonos de vinos exquisitos y de perfumes, | que no se nos escape ni una flor primaveral.
8 but crown ourselves with rosebuds before they wither,	8 Coronémonos con capullos de rosas antes que se marchiten;
9 no meadow excluded from our orgy; let us leave the signs of our revelry everywhere, since this is ourportion, this our lot!	9 que ningún prado escape a nuestras orgías, | dejemos por doquier señales de nuestro gozo, | porque esta es nuestra suerte y nuestra herencia».
10 'As for the upright man who is poor, let us oppress him; let us not spare the widow, nor respect oldage, white-haired with many years.	10 «Oprimamos al pobre inocente, | no tengamos compasión de la viuda, | ni respetemos las canas venerables del anciano.
11 Let our might be the yardstick of right, since weakness argues its own futility.	11 Sea nuestra fuerza la norma de la justicia, | pues lo débil es evidente que de nada sirve.
12 Let us lay traps for the upright man, since he annoys us and opposes our way of life, reproaches us forour sins against the Law, and accuses us of sins against our upbringing.	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;
13 He claims to have knowledge of God, and calls himself a child of the Lord.	13 presume de conocer a Dios | y se llama a sí mismo hijo de Dios.
14 We see him as a reproof to our way of thinking, the very sight of him weighs our spirits down;	14 Es un reproche contra nuestros criterios, | su sola presencia nos resulta insoportable.
15 for his kind of life is not like other people's, and his ways are quite different.	15 Lleva una vida distinta de todos los demás | y va por caminos diferentes.
16 In his opinion we are counterfeit; he avoids our ways as he would filth; he proclaims the final end of theupright as blessed and boasts of having God for his father.	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.
17 Let us see if what he says is true, and test him to see what sort of end he wil have.	17 Veamos si es verdad lo que dice, | comprobando cómo es su muerte.
18 For if the upright man is God's son, God wil help him and rescue him from the clutches of hisenemies.	18 Si el justo es hijo de Dios, él lo auxiliará | y lo librará de las manos de sus enemigos.
19 Let us test him with cruelty and with torture, and thus explore this gentleness of his and put hispatience to the test.	19 Lo someteremos a ultrajes y torturas, | para conocer su temple y comprobar su resistencia.
20 Let us condemn him to a shameful death since God wil rescue him -- or so he claims.'	20 Lo condenaremos a muerte ignominiosa, | pues, según dice, Dios lo salvará».
21 This is the way they reason, but they are misled, since their malice makes them blind.	21 Así discurren, pero se equivocan, | pues los ciega su maldad.
22 They do not know the hidden things of God, they do not hope for the reward of holiness, they do notbelieve in a reward for blameless souls.	22 Desconocen los misterios de Dios, | no esperan el premio de la santidad, | ni creen en la recompensa de una vida intachable.
23 For God created human beings to be immortal, he made them as an image of his own nature;	23 Dios creó al hombre incorruptible | y lo hizo a imagen de su propio ser;
24 Death came into the world only through the Devil's envy, as those who belong to him find to their cost.	24 mas por envidia del diablo entró la muerte en el mundo, | y la experimentan los de su bando.