Wisdom 14

CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN	EL LIBRO DEL PUEBLO DE DIOS
1 Again, another, thinking to sail, and beginning to make his voyage through the raging waves, calls upon a piece of wood more fragile than the wood that carries him.	1 Otro se embarca dispuesto a surcar las olas bravías e invoca a una madera más carcomida que la nave que lo lleva.
2 For this is what desire has contrived to be acquired, and the craftsman has formed its understanding.	2 Porque esa nave fue concebida por el afán de lucro y construida por la sabiduría artesanal,
3 But your providence, O Father, governs, because you have provided for both a way in the sea and a very reliable path among the waves,	3 pero es tu Providencia, Padre, la que dirige el timón. Sí, tú has abierto un camino en el mar y un sendero seguro entre las olas,
4 revealing that you are able to save out of all things, even if someone were to go to sea without skill.	4 mostrando así que puedes salvar de todo peligro, incluso si uno se embarca sin ninguna experiencia.
5 But, so that the works of your wisdom might not be empty, therefore, men trust their souls even to a little piece of wood, and, crossing over the sea by raft, they are set free.	5 Tú no quieres que las obras de tu Sabiduría sean estériles: por eso los hombres confían su vida a una simple madera, y atraviesan a salvo las olas sobre una frágil embarcación.
6 But, from the beginning, when the proud giants were perishing, the hope of the world, fleeing by boat, gave back to future ages a seed of birth, which was governed by your hand.	6 Así, en el principio, mientras perecían los gigantes orgullosos, la esperanza del mundo se refugió en una débil embarcación, que, dirigida por tu mano, dejó al futuro el germen de nuevas generaciones.
7 For blessed is the wood through which justice is made.	7 Bendita la madera convertida en instrumento de justicia,
8 But, through the hand that makes the idol, both it, and he who made it, is accursed: he, indeed, because it has been served by him, and it, because, though it is fragile, it is called ‘god.’	8 pero maldito el ídolo hecho por manos humanas, tanto él como su autor: este por haberlo fabricado y aquel porque, siendo corruptible, fue llamado dios.
9 But the impious and his impiety are similarly offensive to God.	9 Porque Dios detesta igualmente al impío y su impiedad,
10 For that which is made, together with him who made it, will suffer torments.	10 y el objeto fabricado será castigado junto con su autor.
11 Because of this, and according to the idolatries of the nations, there will be no refuge, for the things created by God have been made into hatred, and into a temptation to the souls of men, and into a snare for the feet of the foolish.	11 Por eso también serán juzgados los ídolos de las naciones, ya que, entre las criaturas de Dios, se convirtieron en una abominación, en motivo de escándalo para las almas de los hombres y en una trampa para los pies de los insensatos.
12 For the beginning of fornication is the search for idols, and from their invention comes corruption of life.	12 La invención de los ídolos es el origen de la fornicación, y su descubrimiento, la corrupción de la vida.
13 For they neither existed from the beginning, nor will they exist forever.	13 Ellos no existían al principio ni existirán para siempre,
14 For by the great emptiness of men they came into the world, and therefore their end is soon discovered.	14 sino que entraron en el mundo por la superstición humana: por eso les está reservado un rápido fin.
15 For a father, embittered with the suffering of grief, made an image of his son, who had been suddenly taken away from him, and then, he who had died as a man, now begins to be worshiped as if a god, and so rites and sacrifices are established among his servants.	15 Un padre, afligido por un duelo prematuro, encarga una imagen de su hijo tan pronto arrebatado, y al que antes no era más que un cadáver, ahora lo honra como a un dios y transmite a los suyos misterios y ritos,
16 Then, in the course of time, iniquity gains strength within this erroneous custom, so that this error has been observed as if it were a law, and this figment has been worshiped at the command of tyrants.	16 Luego, con el tiempo, esta impía costumbre es observada como ley.
17 And those, whom men could not openly honor because they were far off, a likeness of them was carried from far off, and from it they made a similar image of the king that they wanted to honor, so that, by their solicitude, they might worship he who was absent, just as if he were present.	17 Asimismo, por orden de los soberanos, se rendía culto a las estatuas: como no se los podía honrar en persona, a causa de la distancia, reprodujeron esa figura lejana, fabricando una imagen visible del rey que veneraban; así se adulaba con fervor al ausente como si estuviera presente.
18 Yet, it passes into their care, and those whom they did not know, they love because of the excellence of the artist.	18 La ambición del artista contribuyó a extender este culto, atrayendo incluso a los que ni siquiera conocían al rey,
19 For he, wishing to please the one who hired him, embellished his art, so as to fashion a better likeness.	19 porque aquel, deseoso sin duda de complacer al soberano, empleó todo su arte para hacerlo más hermoso de lo que era;
20 But the multitude of men, brought together by the beauty of the work, now considered him to be a god, whom they had formerly honored as a man.	20 y la gente, seducida por el encanto de la obra, convirtió en objeto de adoración al que poco antes honraba como a un hombre.
21 And this was the deception of human life: that men, serving either their own inclination or their kings, assigned the unutterable name to stones and wood.	21 Y esto resultó una acechanza para los vivientes, ya que los hombres, víctimas del infortunio o de la tiranía, atribuyeron a piedras y maderas el Nombre incomunicable.
22 And it was not enough for them to go astray concerning the knowledge of God, but also, while living in a great war of ignorance, they call so many and such great evils ‘peace.’	22 Pero no les bastó equivocarse en el conocimiento de Dios, sino que, debatiéndose en la tremenda lucha provocada por la ignorancia, ellos dan a tantos males el nombre de paz.
23 For either they sacrifice their own sons, or they make dark sacrifices, or they hold vigils full of madness,	23 Con sus ritos infanticidas, sus misterios ocultos y sus frenéticas orgías de costumbres extravagantes,
24 so that now they neither protect life, nor preserve a clean marriage, but one kills another through envy, or grieves him by adultery.	24 ya no conservan puros, ni la vida ni el matrimonio; uno elimina al otro a traición o lo aflige por el adulterio.
25 And all things are mixed together: blood, murder, theft and fraud, corruption and infidelity, disturbances and perjury, disorder within good things,	25 En todas partes reina el caos: sangre y muerte, robo y fraude, corrupción, deslealtad, agitación, perjurio,
26 forgetfulness of God, pollution of souls, alteration of procreation, inconstancy of marriage, unnatural adultery and homosexuality.	26 vejación de los buenos, olvido de los beneficios, contaminación de las almas, perversión sexual, desorden en el matrimonio, adulterio y libertinaje.
27 For the worship of unspeakable idols is the cause, and the beginning and the end, of all evil.	27 Porque el culto de los ídolos sin nombre es principio, causa y fin de todo mal,
28 For they either act with madness while happy, or they insistently speak wild lies, or they live unjustly, or they are quick to commit perjury.	28 sea que se diviertan hasta el delirio o pronuncien falsos vaticinios, sea que vivan en la injusticia o perjuren con toda tranquilidad;
29 For, while they trust in idols, which are without a soul, vowing evil, they hope not to be harmed themselves.	29 y como ellos ponen su confianza en ídolos sin vida, no esperan ningún daño de sus falsos juramentos.
30 Therefore, from both sides it will fittingly happen, because they have thought evil of God, paying attention to idols, and because they have sworn unjustly, in guile despising justice.	30 Pero recibirán su merecido por un doble motivo: porque, al entregarse a los ídolos, se han hecho una falsa idea de Dios, y porque han jurado injusta y falsamente, menospreciando la santidad.
31 For swearing is not virtue, but sinning always comes around to a punishment according to the transgression of the unjust.	31 Porque no es el poder de aquellos por quienes se jura, sino el justo castigo reservado a los pecadores, lo que recae siempre sobre la transgresión de los injustos.