Job 38
1 Then Yahweh spoke to Job from inside a great windstorm. He said to him,
Yavé respondió a Job desde un remolino de viento:
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 el que oscurece el consejo con palabras sin entendimiento?
3 I want to ask you [some] questions, so, just like men prepare themselves for a difficult task [MET], prepare to answer my questions.
Ciñe ahora tu cintura como varón. Yo te preguntaré, y tú me responderás:
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 fundaba la tierra? Dí, si tienes entendimiento.
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 determinó sus medidas? Con seguridad lo sabes. ¿Quién extendió cordel sobre ella?
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?]
¿Sobre qué están fundados sus cimientos? ¿Quién colocó su piedra angular,
cuando las estrellas del alba alababan juntas, y todos los hijos de ʼElohim gritaban de júbilo?
8 “When the seas poured forth from inside the earth, who prevented the water from flooding over the land?
¿Quién encerró al mar con compuertas cuando se salía de su 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].
Cuando le coloqué nubes como ropa, y densa oscuridad como envoltura,
10 I set limits for the seas, and I put barriers [so that the water would not come over the land].
cuando establecí sobre él mi límite, coloqué barra en sus 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!’
y le dije: Hasta aquí llegarás y no pasarás. Aquí se detendrá 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?
¿Alguna vez en tu vida diste orden a la mañana? ¿Mostraste a la aurora su lugar?
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?
A fin de que tome los confines de la tierra y sacuda de ella a los perversos,
14 When it becomes light after the dawn, the hills and the valleys become clear like the folds in a cloth.
sea cambiada como arcilla modelada por el sello, y adelgazada hasta ser como una ropa multicolor,
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.
para que se retenga la luz de los perversos y sea quebrado el brazo enaltecido.
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 o caminaste en las profundidades 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?
¿Te fueron reveladas las puertas de la muerte? ¿Viste las puertas de la profunda oscuridad?
18 Do you know how big the earth is? Tell me, if you know all these things!
¿Consideraste tú la anchura de la tierra? Declara si sabes todo esto.
19 “Where is the road to the place where light comes from? And [can you tell me] where darkness lives?
¿Dónde está el camino hacia la morada de la luz? ¿Dónde vive la oscuridad,
20 Can take me to its home? Do you know where the road is that goes there?
para que las conduzcas a su territorio y les muestres las sendas a su vivienda?
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 lo sabes, porque entonces ya habías nacido y el número de tus días es grande.
22 “Have you entered the place where I store the snow and the place where I keep the hail?
¿Estuviste en los tesoros de la nieve o viste los tesoros 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 tengo reservados para el tiempo de angustia, para el día de la guerra y de la batalla?
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 cuál camino se reparte la luz y se esparce el viento del este 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 le abrió cauce al aluvión y camino a los relámpagos y truenos,
26 Who causes rain to fall in the desert, in places where no one lives?
para saciar la tierra deshabitada y desolada, para que brote la hierba,
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 saciar las tierras desoladas, y hacer que broten las semillas de la hierba?
28 Does the rain have a father? Does the dew [also] have a father?
¿La lluvia tiene padre? ¿Quién engendró las gotas de 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?
¿De cuál vientre salió el hielo? ¿Quién engendró la escarcha del cielo
30 [In the winter, ] the water [freezes and] becomes hard, like a rock, and the surface of lakes becomes frozen.
para que las aguas se cubran con una losa, que aprisiona la superficie del abismo?
31 “[Job], can you fasten the chains that hold the stars together in clusters/groups in the sky?
¿Podrás anudar las cadenas de las Pléyades o desatar las ligaduras de 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?
¿Sacarás las constelaciones del cielo a su tiempo o guiarás la Osa Mayor con sus hijos?
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 los Estatutos del cielo? ¿Puedes establecer su dominio en la tierra?
34 “Can you shout to the clouds and cause rain to pour down on you?
¿Alzarás tu voz hacia las nubes para que te cubra el chaparrón?
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?’
¿Enviarás tú los relámpagos para que vengan y te digan: Aquí estamos?
36 Who enables the clouds to know when they should cause rain to fall?
¿Quién colocó entendimiento en el ser íntimo? ¿Quién dio entendimiento a la mente?
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],
¿Quién cuenta las nubes con sabiduría y voltea los cántaros del cielo,
38 with the result that the dry ground becomes hard as the dry (clods/lumps of soil) [become wet and] stick together?
cuando el polvo se convierte en una masa y los terrones se pegan entre sí?
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?
¿Cazarás tú presa para la leona? ¿Saciarás el hambre de sus leoncillos
cuando están echados en sus cuevas o se agazapan en sus guaridas para acechar?
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 provee al cuervo su comida, cuando sus pichones claman a ʼElohim mientras vagan sin alimento?
