Job 2-3
New American Standard Bible
Job Loses His Health
2 (A)Again, there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and [a]Satan also came among them to present himself before the Lord. 2 The 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.” 3 The Lord said to Satan, “Have you [b]considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man [c]fearing God and turning away from evil. And he still (B)holds firm to his integrity, although you incited Me against him to [d]ruin him without cause.” 4 Satan answered the Lord and said, “Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has, he will give for his life. 5 (C)However, reach out with Your hand now, and (D)touch his bone and his flesh; he will curse You to Your face!” 6 So the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your [e]power, only spare his life.”
7 Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with (E)severe boils from the sole of his foot to the top of his head. 8 And Job took a piece of pottery to scrape himself while (F)he was sitting in the ashes.
9 Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold firm your integrity? Curse God and die!” 10 But he said to her, “You are speaking as one of the foolish women speaks. (G)Shall we actually accept good from God but not accept adversity?” (H)Despite all this, Job did not sin with his lips.
11 Now when Job’s three friends heard about all this adversity that had come upon him, they came, each one from his own place—Eliphaz the (I)Temanite, Bildad the (J)Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite; and they made an appointment together to come to (K)sympathize with him and comfort him. 12 When they [f]looked from a distance and did not recognize him, they raised their voices and wept. And each of them (L)tore his robe, and they (M)threw dust over their heads toward the sky. 13 (N)Then 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
3 Afterward Job opened his mouth and cursed [g]the day of his birth. 2 And Job [h]said,
3 “(O)May the day on which I was to be born perish,
As well as the night which said, ‘A [i]boy is conceived.’
4 May that day be darkness;
May God above not care for it,
Nor light shine on it.
5 May (P)darkness and black gloom claim it;
May a cloud settle on it;
May the blackness of the day terrify it.
6 As for that night, may darkness seize it;
May it not rejoice among the days of the year;
May it not come into the number of the months.
7 Behold, may that night be barren;
May no joyful shout enter it.
8 May those curse it who curse the day,
Who are [j]prepared to (Q)disturb Leviathan.
9 May the stars of its twilight be darkened;
May it wait for light but have none,
And may it not see the [k]breaking dawn;
10 Because it did not shut the opening of my mother’s womb,
Or hide trouble from my eyes.
11 “(R)Why did I not die [l]at birth,
Come out of the womb and pass away?
12 Why were the knees there in front of me,
And why the breasts, that I would nurse?
13 For now I (S)would have lain down and been quiet;
I would have slept then, I would have been at rest,
14 With (T)kings and (U)counselors of the earth,
Who rebuilt (V)ruins for themselves;
15 Or with (W)rulers (X)who had gold,
Who were filling their houses with silver.
16 Or like a miscarriage which is [m]hidden, I would not exist,
As infants that never saw light.
17 There the wicked cease from raging,
And there the [n]weary are at (Y)rest.
18 The prisoners are at ease together;
They do not hear the voice of the taskmaster.
19 The small and the great are there,
And the slave is free from his master.
20 “Why is (Z)light given to one burdened with grief,
And life to the bitter of soul,
21 Who [o](AA)long for death, but there is none,
And dig for it more than for (AB)hidden treasures;
22 Who are filled with jubilation,
And rejoice when they find the grave?
23 Why is light given to a man (AC)whose way is hidden,
And whom (AD)God has shut off?
24 For (AE)my groaning comes at the sight of my food,
And (AF)my cries pour out like water.
25 For [p](AG)what I fear comes upon me,
And what I dread [q]encounters me.
26 I (AH)am not at ease, nor am I quiet,
And I am not at rest, but turmoil comes.”
Footnotes
- Job 2:1 Heb ha-satan; i.e., the adversary, and so throughout the ch
- Job 2:3 Lit set your heart to
- Job 2:3 Or revering
- Job 2:3 Lit swallow him up
- Job 2:6 Lit hand
- Job 2:12 Lit raised their eyes
- Job 3:1 Lit his day
- Job 3:2 Lit answered and said
- Job 3:3 Lit man-child
- Job 3:8 Or skillful
- Job 3:9 Lit eyelids of dawn
- Job 3:11 Lit from the womb
- Job 3:16 I.e., buried
- Job 3:17 Lit weary of strength
- Job 3:21 Lit wait
- Job 3:25 Lit I fear a fear, and it comes
- Job 3:25 Lit comes to me
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
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