Job 38
1 Then Yahweh spoke to Job from inside a great windstorm. He said to him,
Entonces Yahvé respondió a Job desde el torbellino, y dijo:
2 “(Who are you to question what I plan to do?/You have no right/authority to question what I plan to do.) [RHQ] You are speaking ignorantly!
“¿Quién es este que obscurece mis planes con palabras insensatas?
3 I want to ask you [some] questions, so, just like men prepare themselves for a difficult task [MET], prepare to answer my questions.
Cíñete ahora los lomos, como varón; que Yo te preguntaré, y tú me instruirás.
4 (“Where were you/Were you there with me) [long ago] when I (laid the foundations of/created) the earth? Since you know so much, tell me [where you were at that time].
¿Dónde estabas tú cuando Yo cimentaba la tierra? Dilo, si tienes inteligencia.
5 Do you know how I decided how large the earth would be? Do you know who stretched a measuring tape around the earth? Surely [since you think that you know so much, ] you should know that!
¿Quién le trazó sus dimensiones —tú lo sabes seguro— o quién extendió sobre ella la cuerda?
6 What supports the pillars on which the earth rests? When the stars [that shine early] in the morning sang together, and someone put in place the stone that causes the earth to stay in its place, and all the angels shouted joyfully [when they saw that happening], who laid that cornerstone? [Did you?]
¿En qué se hincan sus bases, o quien asentó su piedra angular,
mientras cantaban en coro las estrellas de la mañana, entre los aplausos de todos los hijos de Dios?
8 “When the seas poured forth from inside the earth, who prevented the water from flooding over the land?
¿Quién cerró con puertas el mar, cuando impetuoso salía del seno?
9 It was I, [not you, ] who caused clouds to come over the seas and caused it to become very dark [under those clouds].
al ponerle Yo las nubes por vestido y las tinieblas por envoltura;
10 I set limits for the seas, and I put barriers [so that the water would not come over the land].
imponiéndole mi ley y poniendo barras y puertas,
11 [I pointed to the shore] and said to the water, ‘I permit you to come up to here, but I do not permit you to come any farther. Your powerful waves must stop there!’
con estas palabras: «Hasta aquí llegarás, y no pasarás más allá; y ahí se quebrantará el orgullo de tus olas.»
12 “Job, have you [ever] commanded the morning [to begin]? Have you [ever] told the dawn to start a new day?
¿Acaso en algún momento de tu vida has dado tú órdenes a la mañana, señalado su lugar a la aurora,
13 Have you [ever] told the dawn to spread out over the whole earth, with the result that wicked people run away from the light?
para que ocupe los cabos de la tierra, y sean expulsados de ellas los malhechores?
14 When it becomes light after the dawn, the hills and the valleys become clear like the folds in a cloth.
Cambia ella su forma como la arcilla del sello, y se presenta como un vestido (nuevo),
15 When it becomes daylight, the wicked do not have the darkness [that they like]; [in the daylight] they no longer are able to raise up their arms, ready to hurt people.
privando de su luz a los malvados, y quebrando el brazo levantado.
16 “[Job, ] have you traveled to the springs [in the bottom of the ocean] from which the water in the seas comes? Have you investigated/explored the very bottom of the oceans?
¿Penetraste tú hasta las fuentes del mar; te paseaste en el fondo del abismo?
17 Has someone shown you the gates to the place where dead people are, the gates to the place where it is very dark?
¿Se te han abierto acaso las puertas de la muerte, y has visto esas puertas tenebrosas?
18 Do you know how big the earth is? Tell me, if you know all these things!
Ya que has investigado la tierra en toda su anchura, habla, si todo lo sabes.
19 “Where is the road to the place where light comes from? And [can you tell me] where darkness lives?
¿Dónde está el camino que conduce a la morada de la luz? y el lugar de las tinieblas, ¿dónde se halla?
20 Can take me to its home? Do you know where the road is that goes there?
ya que tú las conduces a sus dominios, y conoces los senderos que llevan a su morada.
21 I am sure that you know these things, because you [talk as though you] were born before the time when all things were created; you [must] be very old!
Tú debes saberlo, porque habías nacido ya entonces, y el número de tus días es tan grande.
22 “Have you entered the place where I store the snow and the place where I keep the hail?
¿Penetraste tú acaso en los depósitos de la nieve, y viste los almacenes del granizo,
23 I store the snow and the hail [in order that I can use them to help my people] when [they have] troubles, in times when [they are fighting] wars [DOU].
que Yo he guardado para el tiempo de la angustia, para el día de la batalla y del combate?
24 And where is the road to the place from which I cause the lightning to flash? Where is the place from where the east wind begins to blow over all the earth?
¿Por qué camino se difunde la luz, y marcha el solano sobre la tierra?
25 Who created the channels in which the rain comes down from the sky? Who makes the roads for the thunder/lightning?
¿Quién abre regueras al aguacero, y camino a la nube tronadora,
26 Who causes rain to fall in the desert, in places where no one lives?
para hacer llover sobre un país inhabitado, sobre el yermo, donde no vive hombre,
27 Who sends the rain that gives moisture/water to areas where nothing has grown, with the result that grass begins to grow again?
para hartar tierras desiertas y vacías, y hacer brotar un poco de hierba?
28 Does the rain have a father? Does the dew [also] have a father?
¿Tiene padre la lluvia? ¿o quién engendra las gotas del rocío?
29 And from whose womb does ice come [in the (winter/cold season)]? Who gives birth to the frost that comes down from the sky?
¿Del seno de quién sale el hielo? y la escarcha del cielo ¿quién la da a luz,
30 [In the winter, ] the water [freezes and] becomes hard, like a rock, and the surface of lakes becomes frozen.
para que sea como piedra el agua, y se congele la superficie del abismo?
31 “[Job], can you fasten the chains that hold the stars together in clusters/groups in the sky?
¿Atas tú los lazos de las Pléyades, o puedes soltar las ataduras del Orión?
32 Can you tell the stars when they should shine? Can you guide [the stars in the groups in the northern sky whose names are] the Big Bear and the Little Bear?
¿Eres tú quien a su tiempo hace salir los signos del zodíaco, y guía a la Osa con sus cachorros?
33 Do you know the laws that the stars must obey? Can you cause those same laws to rule [everything here] on the earth?
¿Conoces tú las leyes del cielo y fijas su influjo sobre la tierra?
34 “Can you shout to the clouds and cause rain to pour down on you?
¿Alzas tú hasta las nubes tu voz, para que caigan sobre ti las copiosas aguas?
35 Can you cause flashes of lightning to come down and strike where you want it to strike? Do those flashes say to you, ‘Where do you want us to strike next?’
¿Despachas tú los rayos, y se van diciéndote: «Henos aquí»?
36 Who enables the clouds to know when they should cause rain to fall?
¿Quién puso sabiduría en las nubes, e inteligencia en los meteoros?
37 And who is skilled/wise enough to be able to count the clouds? Who can tilt the jugs of water in the sky [to cause the rain to fall],
¿Hay quien con toda su sabiduría puede contar las nubes, y vaciar los odres del cielo,
38 with the result that the dry ground becomes hard as the dry (clods/lumps of soil) [become wet and] stick together?
para que el polvo se transforme en masa sólida, y se peguen unos a otros los terrones?
39 “When a lioness and her cubs crouch in their dens or hide in a thicket, [waiting for some animal to pass by that they can kill, ] can you find animals for a lioness to kill so that [she and] her cubs can [eat the meat and] not be hungry any more?
¿Cazas tú la presa para la leona, y sustentas la vida de los Ieoncillos,
cuando se acurrucan en sus cubiles, y se retiran a la espesura para estar en acecho?
41 Who provides dead animals for crows, when the baby crows are calling out to me [for food], [when they are so weak] because of their lack of food [that] they (stagger around/can hardly stand up) [in their nests]?”
¿Quién prepara al cuervo su alimento, cuando sus pollitos gritan hacia Dios, yendo de un lado a otro por falta de comida?
