1 R espondió Elifaz, el temanita, y dijo:

Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered,

2 « ¿Responderá el sabio con vana sabiduría y llenará su vientre de viento del este?

Should a wise man utter such windy knowledge and fill himself with the east wind ?

3 ¿ Disputará con palabras inútiles y con razones sin provecho?

Should he reason with unprofitable talk? Or with speeches with which he can do no good?

4 T ú también destruyes el temor a Dios, y menoscabas la oración delante de él.

Indeed, you are doing away with fear, and you are hindering and diminishing meditation and devotion before God.

5 P or cuanto tu boca ha revelado tu iniquidad, habiendo escogido el hablar con astucia,

For your iniquity teaches your mouth, and you choose the tongue of the crafty.

6 t u propia boca te condenará, no yo; y tus labios testificarán contra ti.

Your own mouth condemns you, and not I; yes, your own lips testify against you.

7 » ¿Acaso naciste tú antes que Adán? ¿Fuiste formado antes que los collados?

Are you the first man that was born ? Or were you created before the hills?

8 ¿ Oíste tú acaso el secreto de Dios? ¿Está limitada a ti la sabiduría?

Were you present to hear the secret counsel of God? And do you limit wisdom to yourself?

9 ¿ Qué sabes tú que nosotros no sepamos? ¿Qué entiendes tú que nosotros no entendamos?

What do you know that we know not? What do you understand that is not equally clear to us?

10 C abezas canas hay entre nosotros, y hombres muy ancianos, mucho más avanzados en días que tu padre.

Among us are both the gray-haired and the aged, older than your father by far.

11 ¿ En tan poco tienes el consuelo que viene de Dios y las amables palabras que se te dicen?

Are God’s consolations too trivial for you? Is there any secret thing (any bosom sin) which you have not given up? were we too gentle toward you to be effective?

12 ¿ Por qué tu corazón te arrebata y por qué guiñan tus ojos,

Why does your heart carry you away ? And why do your eyes flash,

13 p ara que contra Dios vuelvas tu espíritu, y lances tales palabras por tu boca?

That you turn your spirit against God and let words go out of your mouth?

14 ¿ Qué cosa es el hombre para que sea puro, para que se justifique el nacido de mujer?

What is man, that he could be pure and clean? And he who is born of a woman, that he could be right and just?

15 D ios en sus santos no confía, y ni aun los cielos son puros delante de sus ojos;

Behold, puts no trust in His holy ones; indeed, the heavens are not clean in His sight—

16 ¿ cuánto menos el hombre, este ser abominable y vil que bebe la iniquidad como agua?

How much less that which is abominable and corrupt, a man who drinks iniquity like water?

17 » Escúchame, pues yo te voy a mostrar y a contar lo que he visto,

I will show you, hear me; and that which I have seen I will relate,

18 l o que los sabios nos contaron de sus padres, y no lo ocultaron:

What wise men have not hid but have freely communicated; it was told to them by their fathers,

19 q ue únicamente a ellos fue dada la tierra, y que ningún extraño pasó por en medio de ellos.

Unto whom alone the land was given, and no stranger intruded or passed among them.

20 T odos sus días, el impío es atormentado de dolor, y el número de sus años le está escondido al violento.

The wicked man suffers with torment all his days, through all the years that are numbered and laid up for him, the oppressor.

21 E struendos espantosos resuenan en sus oídos, y en la prosperidad el asolador vendrá sobre él.

A sound of terrors is in his ears; in prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him.

22 É l no cree que volverá de las tinieblas, y está descubierto frente a la espada.

He believes that he will not return out of darkness, and he is waited for by the sword.

23 V aga errante, tras el pan, diciendo: “¿Dónde está?” Sabe que le está preparado el día de tinieblas.

He wanders abroad for food, saying, Where is it? He knows that the day of darkness and destruction is already close upon him.

24 T ribulación y angustia lo turban, y se lanzan contra él como rey dispuesto para la batalla,

Distress and anguish terrify him; they shall prevail against him, like a king ready for battle.

25 p or cuanto él extendió su mano contra Dios y se portó con soberbia contra el Todopoderoso.

Because he has stretched out his hand against God and bids defiance and behaves himself proudly against the Almighty,

26 C orrió contra él con el cuello erguido, tras la espesa barrera de sus escudos.

Running stubbornly against Him with a thickly ornamented shield;

27 A unque la grasa cubra su rostro y haga pliegues en sus costados,

Because he has covered his face with his fat, adding layers of fat on his loins,

28 h abitará en ciudades asoladas, en casas desiertas y en ruinas.

And has lived in desolate cities and in houses which no man should inhabit, which were destined to become heaps;

29 N o prosperará, ni durarán sus riquezas, ni extenderá sus bienes por la tierra.

He shall not be rich, neither shall his wealth last, neither shall his produce bend to the earth nor his possessions be extended on the earth.

30 N o escapará de las tinieblas, la llama secará sus ramas y perecerá con el aliento de la boca de Dios.

He shall not depart out of darkness shall consume him as flame consumes a dry tree, and by the blast of His mouth he shall be swept away.

31 N o confíe el iluso en la vanidad, porque ella será su recompensa.

Let him not deceive himself and trust in vanity (emptiness, falseness, and futility), for these shall be his recompense.

32 É l será cortado antes de tiempo y sus renuevos no reverdecerán.

It shall be accomplished and paid in full while he still lives, and his branch shall not be green.

33 C omo la vid, perderá sus uvas antes de madurar, y esparcirá su flor como el olivo.

He shall fail to bring his grapes to maturity on the vine and shall cast off blossoms like the olive tree.

34 P orque la reunión de los impíos será asolada y el fuego consumirá la casa del que soborna.

For the company of the godless shall be barren, and fire shall consume the tents of bribery (wrong and injustice).

35 C oncibieron dolor, dieron a luz iniquidad y en sus entrañas traman engaño.»

They conceive mischief and bring forth iniquity, and their inmost soul hatches deceit.