Job Loses His Health

1Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the Lord. 2The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.” 3The Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man fearing God and turning away from evil. And he still holds fast his integrity, although you incited Me against him to ruin him without cause.” 4Satan answered the Lord and said, “Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life. 5However, put forth Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh; he will curse You to Your face.” 6So the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your power, only spare his life.”

7Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. 8And he took a potsherd to scrape himself while he was sitting among the ashes.

9Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!” 10But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

11Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this adversity that had come upon him, they came each one from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite; and they made an appointment together to come to sympathize with him and comfort him. 12When they lifted up their eyes at a distance and did not recognize him, they raised their voices and wept. And each of them tore his robe and they threw dust over their heads toward the sky. 13Then they sat down on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights with no one speaking a word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great.

Job’s Lament

1Afterward Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. 2And Job said,

3“Let the day perish on which I was to be born,

And the night which said, ‘A boy is conceived.’

4May that day be darkness;

Let not God above care for it,

Nor light shine on it.

5Let darkness and black gloom claim it;

Let a cloud settle on it;

Let the blackness of the day terrify it.

6As for that night, let darkness seize it;

Let it not rejoice among the days of the year;

Let it not come into the number of the months.

7Behold, let that night be barren;

Let no joyful shout enter it.

8Let those curse it who curse the day,

Who are prepared to rouse Leviathan.

9Let the stars of its twilight be darkened;

Let it wait for light but have none,

And let it not see the breaking dawn;

10Because it did not shut the opening of my mother’s womb,

Or hide trouble from my eyes.

11“Why did I not die at birth,

Come forth from the womb and expire?

12Why did the knees receive me,

And why the breasts, that I should suck?

13For now I would have lain down and been quiet;

I would have slept then, I would have been at rest,

14With kings and with counselors of the earth,

Who rebuilt ruins for themselves;

15Or with princes who had gold,

Who were filling their houses with silver.

16Or like a miscarriage which is discarded, I would not be,

As infants that never saw light.

17There the wicked cease from raging,

And there the weary are at rest.

18The prisoners are at ease together;

They do not hear the voice of the taskmaster.

19The small and the great are there,

And the slave is free from his master.

20“Why is light given to him who suffers,

And life to the bitter of soul,

21Who long for death, but there is none,

And dig for it more than for hidden treasures,

22Who rejoice greatly,

And exult when they find the grave?

23Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden,

And whom God has hedged in?

24For my groaning comes at the sight of my food,

And my cries pour out like water.

25For what I fear comes upon me,

And what I dread befalls me.

26I am not at ease, nor am I quiet,

And I am not at rest, but turmoil comes.”

Eliphaz: Innocent Do Not Suffer

1Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered,

2“If one ventures a word with you, will you become impatient?

But who can refrain from speaking?

3Behold you have admonished many,

And you have strengthened weak hands.

4Your words have helped the tottering to stand,

And you have strengthened feeble knees.

5But now it has come to you, and you are impatient;

It touches you, and you are dismayed.

6Is not your fear of God your confidence,

And the integrity of your ways your hope?

7“Remember now, who ever perished being innocent?

Or where were the upright destroyed?

8According to what I have seen, those who plow iniquity

And those who sow trouble harvest it.

9By the breath of God they perish,

And by the blast of His anger they come to an end.

10The roaring of the lion and the voice of the fierce lion,

And the teeth of the young lions are broken.

11The lion perishes for lack of prey,

And the whelps of the lioness are scattered.

12“Now a word was brought to me stealthily,

And my ear received a whisper of it.

13Amid disquieting thoughts from the visions of the night,

When deep sleep falls on men,

14Dread came upon me, and trembling,

And made all my bones shake.

15Then a spirit passed by my face;

The hair of my flesh bristled up.

16It stood still, but I could not discern its appearance;

A form was before my eyes;

There was silence, then I heard a voice:

17‘Can mankind be just before God?

Can a man be pure before his Maker?

18He puts no trust even in His servants;

And against His angels He charges error.

19How much more those who dwell in houses of clay,

Whose foundation is in the dust,

Who are crushed before the moth!

20Between morning and evening they are broken in pieces;

Unobserved, they perish forever.

21Is not their tent-cord plucked up within them?

They die, yet without wisdom.’

God Is Just

1“Call now, is there anyone who will answer you?

And to which of the holy ones will you turn?

2For anger slays the foolish man,

And jealousy kills the simple.

3I have seen the foolish taking root,

And I cursed his abode immediately.

4His sons are far from safety,

They are even oppressed in the gate,

And there is no deliverer.

5His harvest the hungry devour

And take it to a place of thorns,

And the schemer is eager for their wealth.

6For affliction does not come from the dust,

Nor does trouble sprout from the ground,

7For man is born for trouble,

As sparks fly upward.

8“But as for me, I would seek God,

And I would place my cause before God;

9Who does great and unsearchable things,

Wonders without number.

10He gives rain on the earth

And sends water on the fields,

11So that He sets on high those who are lowly,

And those who mourn are lifted to safety.

12He frustrates the plotting of the shrewd,

So that their hands cannot attain success.

13He captures the wise by their own shrewdness,

And the advice of the cunning is quickly thwarted.

14By day they meet with darkness,

And grope at noon as in the night.

15But He saves from the sword of their mouth,

And the poor from the hand of the mighty.

16So the helpless has hope,

And unrighteousness must shut its mouth.

17“Behold, how happy is the man whom God reproves,

So do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.

18For He inflicts pain, and gives relief;

He wounds, and His hands also heal.

19From six troubles He will deliver you,

Even in seven evil will not touch you.

20In famine He will redeem you from death,

And in war from the power of the sword.

21You will be hidden from the scourge of the tongue,

And you will not be afraid of violence when it comes.

22You will laugh at violence and famine,

And you will not be afraid of wild beasts.

23For you will be in league with the stones of the field,

And the beasts of the field will be at peace with you.

24You will know that your tent is secure,

For you will visit your abode and fear no loss.

25You will know also that your descendants will be many,

And your offspring as the grass of the earth.

26You will come to the grave in full vigor,

Like the stacking of grain in its season.

27Behold this; we have investigated it, and so it is.

Hear it, and know for yourself.”