Jueces 14
1 Un día Sansón fue a Timná, donde le llamó la atención una joven filistea.
One day when Samson was in Timnah [town], he saw a young Philistine woman there.
2 Volvió a su casa y les dijo a su padre y a su madre: “Una mujer filistea en Timná me ha llamado la atención. Tráiganmela porque quiero casarme con ella”.
When he returned home, he told his mother and father, “I saw a young Philistine woman in Timnah, and I want you to get her for me so I can marry her.”
3 Pero su padre y su madre le respondieron: “¿No puedes encontrar una joven de nuestra tribu o de nuestro propio pueblo? ¿Tienes que ir donde los filisteos paganos para conseguir una esposa?” Pero Sansón le dijo a su padre: “Sólo búscamela, ella es la que me gusta”.
His mother and father objected very strongly. They said, “Is there no woman from our tribe, or from the other Israeli tribes, that you could marry? Why must you go to the heathen Philistines to get a wife?” But Samson told his father, “Get her for me! She is the one I want!”
4 (Su padre y su madre no se daban cuenta de que esto estaba en los planes del Señor, que buscaba una oportunidad para enfrentarse a los filisteos, porque en ese momento los filisteos gobernaban sobre Israel).
His mother and father did not realize that Yahweh was arranging this. He was preparing a way for [Samson to defeat] the Philistines, who were ruling over Israel at that time.
5 Sansón fue a Timná con su padre y su madre. Cuando pasaron por los viñedos de Timna, de repente salió un león joven rugiendo para atacarlo.
So, as Samson was going down to Timnah, followed by his mother and father, a young lion attacked Samson near the vineyards close to Timnah.
6 El Espíritu del Señor se apoderó de él y desgarró al león con sus propias manos, con la misma facilidad con que se desgarra un cabrito. Pero no le dijo a su padre ni a su madre lo que había hecho. Luego siguió su camino.
Then Yahweh’s Spirit came upon Samson powerfully, with the result that he tore the lion apart with his hands. He did it [as easily] as if it were a young goat. But he did not tell his mother and father about it.
7 Cuando Sansón habló con la mujer, decidió que ella era la indicada para él.
When they arrived in Timnah, Samson talked with the young woman, and he liked her very much. [And his father made arrangements for the wedding].
8 Más tarde, cuando Sansón volvió para casarse con ella, se apartó del camino para buscar el cadáver del león. Dentro del cuerpo había un enjambre de abejas y su miel.
Later, when Samson returned to Timnah for the wedding, he turned off the path to see the carcass of the lion. He discovered that [after other creatures had eaten all the flesh], a swarm of bees [had made a hive in the skeleton and] had made some honey.
9 Raspó un poco de miel en sus manos y la comió mientras caminaba. Cuando volvió con su padre y su madre, les dio un poco y se la comieron. Pero no les dijo que había tomado la miel del cadáver de un león.
So he scooped some of the honey into his hands and ate some of it as he was walking along. He also gave some of it to his mother and father, but he did not tell them that he had taken the honey from the skeleton of the lion, [because anyone dedicated to God was not to touch any corpse].
10 Mientras su padre iba a visitar a la mujer, Sansón organizó una fiesta para beber, porque esa era la costumbre entre los jóvenes de clase alta.
As his father was making the final arrangements for the marriage, Samson gave a party [for the young men in that area]. That was the custom for men to do when they were about to be married.
11 Cuando el pueblo filisteo lo vio, dispuso que treinta hombres lo acompañaran.
Thirty young man were invited to the party.
12 “Dejen que les diga un acertijo”, les dijo Sansón. “Si pueden encontrar su significado y explicármelo durante los siete días de la fiesta, yo les daré treinta mantos de lino y treinta mudas de ropa.
Samson said to them, “Allow me to tell you a riddle. If you tel me the meaning of my riddle during these seven days of the celebration, I will give each of you a linen robe and an extra set of clothes.
13 Pero si no pueden explicármelo, ustedes me darána mi treinta mantos de lino y treinta mudas de ropa”. “De acuerdo”, respondieron. “¡Queremos oír tu acertijo!”
But if you cannot tell me the meaning, you must each give me a linen robe and an extra set of clothes.” They replied, “All right. Tell us your riddle.”
14 “La comida salió del que come, y la dulzura salió del fuerte”, dijo. Tres días después todavía no lo habían resuelto.
So he said, “From the thing that eats came something to eat; out of something strong came something sweet.” But for three days they could not tell him the meaning of the riddle.
15 Al cuarto díase acercaron a la mujer de Sansón y le dijeron: “Utiliza tus encantos para que tu marido te explique el acertijo y luego nos lo cuentes, o te quemaremos a ti y a toda tu familia hasta la muerte. ¿Nos has traído aquí sólo para robarnos?”
On the fourth day, they said to Samson’s bride, “Ask your husband to tell you the meaning of the riddle. If you do not do that, we will burn down your father’s house, with you inside it! Did you invite us here only to make us poor [by forcing us to buy a lot of clothes for your husband]?”
16 Entonces la mujer de Sansón fue llorando hacia él, diciendo: “¡Realmente me odias, no es así! ¡No me amas en absoluto! Has planteado un enigma a mi pueblo, pero ni siquiera me lo has explicado”. “¿Y qué?”, respondió él. “¡Ni siquiera se lo he explicado a mi padre o a mi madre! ¿Por qué debería explicártelo a ti?”.
So Samson’s wife came to him, crying, and said to him, “You do not really love me. You hate me! You have told a riddle to my friends, but you have not told me the meaning of the riddle!” He replied, “I have not told the meaning of the riddle even to my mother and father, so why should I tell it to you?”
17 Ella lloró delante de él durante todo el tiempo que duró la fiesta, y al final, al séptimo día, se lo explicó porque ella lo regañaba mucho. Entonces les explicó el significado del acertijo a los jóvenes filisteos.
She continued to cry every time she was with him, all during the rest of the celebration. Finally, on the seventh day, because she continued to nag him, he told her the meaning of the riddle. Then she told it to the young men.
18 Antes de que se pusiera el sol del séptimo día, los hombres de la ciudad se acercaron a Sansón y le dijeron: “¿Qué es más dulce que la miel? ¿Qué es más fuerte que un león?” “Si no hubieran usado mi vaca para arar, no habrían descubierto el significado de mi acertijo”, respondió Sansón.
So, before sunset on the seventh day, the young men came to Samson and said to him, “What/Nothing is sweeter than honey [RHQ]. What/Nothing is stronger than a lion [RHQ]!” Samson replied, “[You should not force a heifer to] plow a field [MET]. Similarly, if you had not forced my bride to ask me about the riddle [MET], you would not have known the answer to my riddle!”
19 El Espíritu del Señor se apoderó de él y se dirigió a Ascalón, mató a treinta de sus hombres, tomó sus ropas y se las dio a los que habían explicado el enigma. Furioso, Sansón devolvió a la casa de su padre.
Then Yahweh’s Spirit powerfully took control of Samson. He went down to [the coast at] Ashkelon [town], and killed 30 men. He took their clothes [and went back to Timnah] and gave them to the men who had told him the meaning of the riddle. But he was very angry about what had happened, so he went back home to live with his mother and father.
20 La mujer de Sansón fue entregada a su padrino, que lo había acompañado en su boda.
So (Samson’s wife was given/the bride’s father gave Samson’s wife) to the man who who had been Samson’s best man at the wedding, [but Samson did not know that].
