Prologue

1 In the land of Uz^(A) there lived a man whose name was Job.^(B) This man was blameless^(C) and upright;^(D) he feared God^(E) and shunned evil.^{(F) 2} He had seven sons^(G) and three daughters,^{(H) 3} and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys,^(I) and had a large number of servants.^(J) He was the greatest man^(K) among all the people of the East.^(L)

⁶ The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, he is in your hands;^(A) but you must spare his life.”^(B)

⁷ So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head.^{(C) 8} Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes.^(D)

⁹ His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity?^(E) Curse God and die!”^(F)

¹⁰ He replied, “You are talking like a foolish^[a] woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”^(G)

In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.^(H)

¹⁰ After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes^(A) and gave him twice as much as he had before.^{(B) 11} All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before^(C) came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the Lord had brought on him,^(D) and each one gave him a piece of silver^[a] and a gold ring.

¹² The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. ¹³ And he also had seven sons and three daughters. ¹⁴ The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch. ¹⁵ Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers.

¹⁶ After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. ¹⁷ And so Job died, an old man and full of years.^(E)