Job 4
1 Entonces intervino Elifaz temanita:
Then Eliphaz, from Teman, replied to Job. He said,
2 Si intentamos razonar contigo te será molesto. Pero, ¿quién puede refrenarse de hablar?
“Will you please let me say something to you? I am not [RHQ] able to remain silent [any longer].
3 Ciertamente tú enseñabas a muchos y fortalecías las manos débiles.
In the past, you have instructed/taught many people, and you have encouraged those who were weak.
4 Tus palabras levantaban al que tropezaba y afirmabas las rodillas decaídas.
By what you said, you have helped those who (needed spiritual help/almost quit trusting in God) [MET], and you have enabled them to become spiritually strong again [MET].
5 Pero ahora te sucede a ti. Te desalientas, te tocó a ti y te turbas.
But now, when you experience disasters, you become discouraged. The disasters hit you, and you are stunned.
6 ¿No es tu temor a ʼElohim tu confianza, y la integridad de tus procedimientos tu esperanza?
You revere God; (does that not cause you to trust [in him]?/that should cause you to trust [in him].) [RHQ] If you were guiltless, you would [RHQ] be confident that [God] would not [have allowed] these disasters [to] happen to you!
7 Te ruego que recuerdes: ¿Quién pereció jamás por ser inocente? ¿Dónde fueron destruidos los rectos?
Think about this: Do innocent people die [while they are still young] [RHQ]? Does God get rid of godly people [RHQ]? [No!]
8 Según veo, los que aran iniquidad y siembran aflicción, las cosechan.
What I have experienced is this: [Just as] [MET] farmers who plant bad [seeds] do not harvest good [crops], [just as those who start] trouble for others, later bring trouble on themselves.
9 Por el aliento de ʼElohim perecen, y por el soplo de su ira son consumidos.
They die when God angrily blows his breath on them, when he is very angry with them.
10 El rugido del león, la voz fiera de la leona y los dientes de sus cachorros son quebrados.
[Even though wicked people may be very powerful like] young lions, [God] will get rid of them [MET].
11 El león viejo perece por falta de presa, y los cachorros de la leona se dispersan.
[They will die like] fierce lions [that] starve to death when there are no animals that they can kill and eat, and [their children will be separated from each other like] young lions separate from each other [to find food].”
12 Entonces un mensaje me llegó a hurtadillas, y mi oído percibió un susurro de él
“I heard a message that someone came and whispered to me.
13 en inquietantes visiones nocturnas, cuando el sueño profundo cae sobre los hombres.
He spoke to me at night when I was having a bad dream that disturbed/frightened me while I was fast asleep.
14 Un terror se apoderó de mí, y todos mis huesos se estremecieron.
It caused me to be afraid and tremble; it caused all my bones to shake.
15 Al pasar un espíritu frente a mí se eriza el pelo de mi cuerpo.
A ghost glided past my face and caused the hair on [on the back of] my neck to stand straight up.
16 Se detiene, pero no distingo su semblante. Una apariencia está delante de mis ojos, hay silencio… y oigo una voz reposada:
It stopped, but I could not see what form it had. But [I could sense that] there was some being in front of me, and it said in a quiet voice,
17 ¿Será el hombre más justo que ʼElohim? ¿El hombre, más puro que su Hacedor?
‘(Does God consider anyone to be righteous?/No human beings can be righteous in God’s sight!) [RHQ] (Their creator cannot consider them to be pure./Can their creator consider them to be pure?) [RHQ]
18 Ciertamente en sus esclavos no confía, y a sus ángeles atribuye insensatez.
God cannot be sure that his own angels [will always do what is right]; he declares that some of them have done what is wrong.
19 ¡Cuánto más los que viven en casas de barro cimentadas en el polvo serán desmenuzados por la polilla!
So he certainly cannot trust human beings who were made from dust and clay, who are crushed as easily as moths are crushed!
20 Entre la mañana y la tarde son destruidos, y sin que alguno se dé cuenta, perecen para siempre.
People are sometimes well in the morning, but in the evening they are dead. They are gone forever and do not even know it (OR, and no one pays any attention to it).
21 ¿No les son arrancadas las cuerdas de sus tiendas? En ellas mueren, pero no adquirieron sabiduría.
They are like [MET] tents that collapse [suddenly]: They die [suddenly] before they become wise.’”
