Job’s Character and Wealth

1 ^[a]There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God [with reverence] and abstained from and turned away from evil [because he honored God]. ² Seven sons and three daughters were born to him. ³ He also possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke (pairs) of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and a very great number of servants, so that this man was the greatest [and wealthiest and most respected] of all the men of the east (northern Arabia). ⁴ His sons used to go [in turn] and feast in the house of each one on his ^[b]day, and they would send word and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them.^{(A) 5} When the days of their feasting were over, Job would send [for them] and consecrate them, rising early in the morning and offering burnt offerings according to the number of them all; for Job said, “It may be that my sons have sinned and ^[c]cursed God in their hearts.” Job did this at all [such] times.

⁶ Now there was a day when the sons of God (angels) came to present themselves before the ^[d]Lord, and Satan (adversary, accuser) also came among them.^{(B) 7} The Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Then Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming around on the earth and from walking around on it.” ⁸ The Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered and reflected on My servant Job? For there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God [with reverence] and abstains from and turns away from evil [because he honors God].” ⁹ Then Satan answered the Lord, “Does Job fear God for nothing? ¹⁰ Have You not put a hedge [of protection] around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands [and conferred prosperity and happiness upon him], and his possessions have increased in the land. ¹¹ But put forth Your hand now and touch (destroy) all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face.” ¹² Then the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that Job has is in your power, only do not put your hand on the man himself.” So Satan departed from the presence of the Lord.

Satan Allowed to Test Job

¹³ Now there was a day when Job’s sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, ¹⁴ and a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were feeding beside them, ¹⁵ and the ^[e]Sabeans attacked and swooped down on them and took away the animals. They also killed the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” ¹⁶ While he was still speaking, another [messenger] also came and said, “The fire of God (lightning) has fallen from the heavens and has burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” ¹⁷ While he was still speaking, another [messenger] also came and said, “The ^[f]Chaldeans formed three bands and made a raid on the camels and have taken them away and have killed the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” ¹⁸ While he was still speaking, another [messenger] also came and said, “Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, ¹⁹ and suddenly, a great wind came from across the desert, and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people and they died, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”

²⁰ Then Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head [in mourning for the children], and he fell to the ground and worshiped [God]. ²¹ He said,

²² Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God.

Job Loses His Health

2 Again there was a day when the sons of God (angels) came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan (adversary, accuser) also came among them to present himself before the Lord. ² The Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Then Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming around on the earth and from walking around on it.” ³ The Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered and reflected on My servant Job? For there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God [with reverence] and abstains from and turns away from evil [because he honors God]. And still he maintains and holds tightly to his integrity, although you incited Me against him to destroy him without cause.” ⁴ Satan answered the Lord, “^[g]Skin for skin! Yes, a man will give all he has for his life. ⁵ But put forth Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh [and severely afflict him]; and he will curse You to Your face.” ⁶ So the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand, only spare his life.”

⁷ So Satan departed from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with loathsome boils and agonizingly painful sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. ⁸ And Job took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself, and he sat [down] among the ashes (rubbish heaps).

⁹ Then his wife said to him, “Do you still cling to your integrity [and your faith and trust in God, without blaming Him]? Curse God and die!” ¹⁰ But he said to her, “You speak as one of the [spiritually] foolish women speaks [ignorant and oblivious to God’s will]. Shall we indeed accept [only] good from God and not [also] accept adversity and disaster?” In [spite of] all this Job did not sin with [words from] his lips.

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

²² So Moses was educated in all the wisdom and culture of the Egyptians, and he was a man of power in words and deeds. ²³ But when he reached the age of forty, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the sons of Israel. ²⁴ And when he saw one [of them] being treated unfairly, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking and killing the Egyptian. ²⁵ He expected his countrymen to understand that God was granting them freedom through him [assuming that they would accept him], but they did not understand. ²⁶ Then on the next day he suddenly appeared to two of them as they were fighting, and he tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers; why do you wrong one another?’ ²⁷ But the man who was injuring his neighbor pushed Moses away, saying, ‘Who appointed you ruler and judge over us? ²⁸ Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ ²⁹ At this remark Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, where he fathered two sons.^(A)

³⁰ “After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount ^[a]Sinai, in the flame of a burning thorn bush. ³¹ When Moses saw it, he was astonished at the sight; but as he went near to look more closely, the voice of the Lord came [to him, saying]: ³² ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.’ Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look. ³³ Then the Lord said to him, ‘Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground [worthy of reverence and respect]. ³⁴ I have most certainly seen the oppression of My people in Egypt and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to rescue them. Now come, and I will send you to Egypt [as My messenger].’^(B)

³⁵ “This Moses whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ is the very one whom God sent to be both a ruler and a deliverer, with the [protecting and helping] hand of the Angel who appeared to him in the thorn bush.^{(C) 36} This man led them out [of Egypt] after performing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years.^{(D) 37} This is the Moses who said to the children of Israel, ‘God will raise up for you a Prophet ^[b]like me from your countrymen.’^{(E) 38} This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness together with the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and who was with our fathers; and he received living oracles [divine words that still live] to be handed down to you.^{(F) 39} Our fathers were unwilling to be subject to him [and refused to listen to him]. They rejected him, and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.^{(G) 40} They said to Aaron, ‘Make for us gods who will go before us; for this Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.’^{(H) 41} In those days they made a calf and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and rejoiced and celebrated over the works of their hands.^{(I) 42} But God turned away [from them] and handed them over to serve the ^[c]host of heaven. As it is written and forever remains written in the book of the prophets, ‘It was not [really] to Me that you offered victims and sacrifices for forty years in the wilderness, was it, O house of Israel?^{(J) 43} You also took along the tabernacle (portable temple) of Moloch and the star of the god Rompha, the images which you made to worship; and I will remove you beyond Babylon [carrying you away into exile].’^(K)