Wisdom 15

CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN	BIBLIA
1 But you, our God, are gracious and true, patient, and in mercy ordering all things.	1 Mas tú, Dios nuestro, eres bueno y verdadero, paciente y que con misericordia gobiernas el universo.
2 And, indeed, if we sin, we are yours, knowing your greatness; and, if we do not sin, we know that we are counted with you.	2 Aunque pequemos, tuyos somos, porque conocemos tu poder; pero no pecaremos, porque sabemos que somos contados por tuyos.
3 For to have known you is perfect justice, and to know justice and your virtue is the root of immortality.	3 Pues el conocerte a ti es la perfecta justicia y conocer tu poder, la raíz de la inmortalidad.
4 For the skillful planning of evil men has not led us into error, nor the shadow of a picture, a fruitless labor, an image having been sculpted through the use of diverse colors,	4 A nosotros no nos extraviaron las creaciones humanas de un arte perverso, ni el inútil trabajo de los pintores, figuras embadurnadas de colores abigarrados,
5 the sight of which gives desire to the foolish, and he loves the likeness of a lifeless image without a soul.	5 cuya contemplación despierta la pasión en los insensatos que codician la figura sin aliento de una imagen muerta.
6 Deserving are the lovers of evil, those who hope in such things, and those who make them, and those who love them, and those who promote them.	6 Apasionados del mal son y dignos de tales esperanzas los que las crean, los que las codician, los que las adoran.
7 But even the potter, pressing laboriously, molds the soft earth into vessels, each one for our use. And from the same clay he molds vessels, those which are for clean use, and similarly, those which are for the opposite. But, as to what is the use of a vessel, the potter is the judge.	7 Un alfarero trabaja laboriosamente la tierra blanda y modela diversas piezas, todas para nuestro uso; unas van destinadas a usos nobles, otras al contrario, pero todas las modela de igual manera y de la misma arcilla. Sobre el servicio diverso que unas y otras han de prestar, es el alfarero quien decide.
8 And with effort he molds an empty god of the same clay, he who a little before had been made from the earth, and, after brief time, he himself returns from whence he came, to be claimed by he who holds the debt of his soul.	8 Pero luego - ¡mala pena que se toma! - de la misma arcilla modela una vana divinidad. Y la modela él, que poco ha nació de la tierra y que pronto habrá de volver a la tierra de donde fue sacado, cuando le reclamen la devolución de su alma.
9 Yet his concern is, not what his work will be, nor that his life is short, but that he is being contested by those who work with gold and silver, yet he also does the same to those who work with copper, and he glories that he makes worthless things.	9 Pero no se preocupa de que va a morir, de que es efímera su vida; antes rivaliza con orfebres y plateros, imita las obras del broncista y se ufana de modelar falsificaciones.
10 For his heart is ashes, and his hope is worthless dirt, and his life is more common than clay,	10 Escoria es su corazón, más vil que la tierra su esperanza, más abyecta que la arcilla su vida,
11 because he ignores the One who molded him, and who instilled in him a working soul, and who breathed into him a living spirit.	11 porque desconoció al que le modeló a él, al que le inspiró un alma activa y le infundió un espíritu vivificante.
12 Yet they even considered our life to be a plaything, and the usefulness of life to be the accumulation of wealth, and that we must be acquiring things in every possible way, even from evil.	12 Piensa que la existencia es un juego de niños y la vida, un lucrativo mercado: «Es preciso ganar, dice, por todos los medios, aun malos».
13 For, above all else, he knows himself to be lacking, who, from fragile material of the earth forms vessels and graven images.	13 Este hombre más que nadie sabe que peca, como quien de una misma masa de tierra fabrica frágiles piezas y estatuas de ídolos.
14 For all the foolish and unhappy, in charge of the way of the arrogant soul, are enemies of your people and rule over them,	14 Insensatos todos en sumo grado y más infelices que el alma de un niño, los enemigos de tu pueblo que un día le oprimieron;
15 because they have esteemed all the idols of the nations as gods, which neither have the use of eyes to see, nor noses to draw breath, nor ears to hear, nor the fingers of hands to grasp, and even their feet are slow to walk.	15 como que tuvieron por dioses a todos los ídolos de los gentiles, que no pueden valerse de los ojos para ver, ni de la nariz para respirar, ni de los oídos para oír, ni de los dedos de las manos para tocar, y sus pies son torpes para andar.
16 For man made them, and he who borrowed his own breath, formed them. For no man will be able to form God in the likeness of himself.	16 Al fin, un hombre los hizo, uno que recibió en préstamo el espíritu los modeló; y no hay hombre que modele un dios igual a sí mismo;
17 For, being mortal, he forms a dead thing with his unjust hands. Yet, he is better than those things that he worships, because he indeed has lived, though he is mortal, but they never have.	17 mortal como es, un ser muerto produce con sus manos impías. Vale ciertamente más que las cosas que adora: él, un tiempo al menos, goza de vida, ellos jamás.
18 Moreover, they worship the most miserable animals, for, to make a foolish comparison, these others are worse.	18 Adoran, además, a los bichos más repugnantes que en estupidez superan a todos los demás;
19 But not even from their appearance can anyone discern anything good in these animals. Yet they have fled from the praise of God, and from his blessing.	19 ni siquiera poseen la belleza de los animales que, a su modo, cautiva al contemplarlos; están excluidos de la aprobación de Dios y de su bendición.