Job 38
1 Entonces Yahvé respondió a Job desde el torbellino,
Then Yahweh spoke to Job from inside a great windstorm. He said to him,
2 “¿Quién es el que oscurece el consejo por palabras sin conocimiento?
“(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!
3 Prepárate como un hombre, porque yo te interrogaré y tú me responderás.
I want to ask you [some] questions, so, just like men prepare themselves for a difficult task [MET], prepare to answer my questions.
4 “¿Dónde estabas cuando puse los cimientos de la tierra? Declara, si tienes entendimiento.
(“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].
5 ¿Quién determinó sus medidas, si lo sabe? ¿O quién estiró la línea en él?
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!
6 ¿Sobre qué estaban fijados sus cimientos? O quién puso su piedra angular,
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?]
7 cuando las estrellas de la mañana cantaban juntas, y todos los hijos de Dios gritaron de alegría?
8 “O que cierra el mar con puertas, cuando salió del vientre materno,
“When the seas poured forth from inside the earth, who prevented the water from flooding over the land?
9 cuando hice de las nubes su vestimenta, y lo envolvió en una espesa oscuridad,
It was I, [not you, ] who caused clouds to come over the seas and caused it to become very dark [under those clouds].
10 marcadas para ello mi límite, poner barras y puertas,
I set limits for the seas, and I put barriers [so that the water would not come over the land].
11 y dijo: “Puedes venir aquí, pero no más allá. ¿Tus orgullosas olas serán detenidas aquí?
[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!’
12 “¿Has ordenado la mañana en tus días, y ha hecho que el amanecer conozca su lugar,
“Job, have you [ever] commanded the morning [to begin]? Have you [ever] told the dawn to start a new day?
13 para que se apodere de los confines de la tierra, y sacudir a los malvados fuera de ella?
Have you [ever] told the dawn to spread out over the whole earth, with the result that wicked people run away from the light?
14 Se cambia como la arcilla bajo el sello, y presentado como una prenda de vestir.
When it becomes light after the dawn, the hills and the valleys become clear like the folds in a cloth.
15 A los malvados se les oculta la luz. El brazo alto está roto.
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.
16 “¿Has entrado en los manantiales del mar? ¿O has caminado por los recovecos de las profundidades?
“[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?
17 ¿Se te han revelado las puertas de la muerte? ¿O has visto las puertas de la sombra de la muerte?
Has someone shown you the gates to the place where dead people are, the gates to the place where it is very dark?
18 ¿Has comprendido la tierra en su anchura? Declara, si lo sabes todo.
Do you know how big the earth is? Tell me, if you know all these things!
19 “¿Cuál es el camino hacia la morada de la luz? En cuanto a la oscuridad, cuál es su lugar,
“Where is the road to the place where light comes from? And [can you tell me] where darkness lives?
20 que lo lleves a su límite, para que discierna los caminos de su casa?
Can take me to its home? Do you know where the road is that goes there?
21 Seguramente lo sabes, pues naciste entonces, ¡y el número de sus días es genial!
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!
22 ¿Has entrado en los almacenes de la nieve, o has visto los almacenes del granizo,
“Have you entered the place where I store the snow and the place where I keep the hail?
23 que he reservado para el tiempo de la angustia, contra el día de la batalla y la guerra?
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].
24 De qué manera se distribuye el rayo, o el viento del este disperso en la tierra?
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?
25 Que ha cortado un canal para el agua de la inundación, o la trayectoria de la tormenta,
Who created the channels in which the rain comes down from the sky? Who makes the roads for the thunder/lightning?
26 para hacer llover en una tierra donde no hay hombre, en el desierto, en el que no hay hombre,
Who causes rain to fall in the desert, in places where no one lives?
27 para saciar el terreno baldío y desolado, para hacer crecer la hierba tierna?
Who sends the rain that gives moisture/water to areas where nothing has grown, with the result that grass begins to grow again?
28 ¿La lluvia tiene padre? ¿O quién recoge las gotas de rocío?
Does the rain have a father? Does the dew [also] have a father?
29 ¿De qué vientre salió el hielo? ¿Quién ha dado a luz a la escarcha gris del cielo?
And from whose womb does ice come [in the (winter/cold season)]? Who gives birth to the frost that comes down from the sky?
30 Las aguas se vuelven duras como la piedra, cuando la superficie de las profundidades está congelada.
[In the winter, ] the water [freezes and] becomes hard, like a rock, and the surface of lakes becomes frozen.
31 “¿Puedes atar el cúmulo de las Pléyades, o aflojar las cuerdas de Orión?
“[Job], can you fasten the chains that hold the stars together in clusters/groups in the sky?
32 ¿Puedes guiar a las constelaciones en su estación? ¿O puedes guiar a la Osa con sus cachorros?
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?
33 ¿Conoces las leyes de los cielos? ¿Puede establecer su dominio sobre la tierra?
Do you know the laws that the stars must obey? Can you cause those same laws to rule [everything here] on the earth?
34 “¿Puedes elevar tu voz a las nubes, para que la abundancia de aguas te cubra?
“Can you shout to the clouds and cause rain to pour down on you?
35 ¿Puedes enviar relámpagos para que se vayan? ¿Te informan de que “aquí estamos”?
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?’
36 ¿Quién ha puesto la sabiduría en las partes interiores? ¿O quién ha dado entendimiento a la mente?
Who enables the clouds to know when they should cause rain to fall?
37 ¿Quién puede contar las nubes con sabiduría? O que puede verter los contenedores del cielo,
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],
38 cuando el polvo se convierte en una masa, y los terrones se pegan?
with the result that the dry ground becomes hard as the dry (clods/lumps of soil) [become wet and] stick together?
39 “¿Puedes cazar la presa para la leona, o satisfacer el apetito de los jóvenes leones,
“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?
40 cuando se agazapan en sus guaridas, y acechar en la espesura?
41 Que proporciona al cuervo su presa, cuando sus jóvenes claman a Dios, y vagan por falta de comida?
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]?”
