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Satan Strikes Job’s Flesh

(A)Again it was the day that the sons of God came to stand before Yahweh, and Satan also came among them to stand himself before Yahweh. And Yahweh said to Satan, “Where do you come from?” Then Satan answered Yahweh and said, “From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.” And Yahweh said to Satan, “Have you set your heart upon My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, [a]fearing God and turning away from evil. And he still (B)holds fast his integrity. So you incited Me against him to swallow him up in vain.” Satan answered Yahweh and said, “Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life. (C)However, send forth Your hand now, and (D)touch his bone and his flesh; he will curse You in Your face.” So Yahweh said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand, only spare his life.”

Then Satan went out from the presence of Yahweh and struck Job with (E)terrible boils from the sole of his foot to the top of his head. And he took a potsherd to scrape himself while (F)he was sitting among the ashes.

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

Job’s Three Friends

11 Then Job’s three friends heard of all this calamity that had come upon him. So 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)console him and comfort him. 12 Then they lifted up their eyes at a distance and did not recognize him, and they lifted up 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.

Footnotes

  1. Job 2:3 Or revering

The Adversary’s Attack on Job’s Person

And then[a] one day the sons of God[b] came to present themselves before Yahweh, and Satan[c] also came into their midst to present himself before Yahweh. So[d] Yahweh asked[e] Satan,[f] “From where have you come?”

And Satan[g] answered Yahweh and said, “From roaming on the earth and from walking about in it.”

So[h] Yahweh asked[i] Satan,[j] “Have you considered[k] my servant Job? Indeed,[l] there is no one like him on the earth—a blameless man and upright and God-fearing and turning away from evil. And still he persists in his blamelessness even though[m] you incited me against him to destroy him for nothing.”

Then[n] Satan[o] answered him and said, “Skin for skin! All that that[p] man has he will give for his life. But stretch out[q] your hand and touch his bones and his flesh, and see whether[r] he will curse[s] you to your face.”[t]

So[u] Yahweh said to Satan,[v]All right,[w] he is in your power.[x] Only spare his life.”

Job’s Blameless Behavior

So[y] Satan[z] went out from Yahweh’s presence,[aa] and he inflicted Job with loathsome skin sores from the sole of his foot up to the crown of his head. So[ab] he took for himself a potsherd with which to scrape himself, and he sat in the midst of the ashes.

Then[ac] his wife said to him, “Are you still persisting in your blamelessness? Curse[ad] God and die.”

10 So[ae] he said to her, “You speak like one of the foolish women speaks. Indeed, should we receive the good from God, but[af] not receive the evil?” In all this, Job did not sin with his lips.

11 Thus[ag] Job’s three friends heard of this calamity that had come upon him. So[ah] each set out from his own place: Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite. And they met[ai] together to come to console him and to comfort him.

12 Thus[aj] they lifted up their eyes[ak] from afar, but[al] they did not recognize him, so[am] they raised their voice, and they wept, and each man tore his outer garment[an] and threw dust on their heads toward the sky.[ao] 13 Then[ap] they sat with him on the ground for seven days and seven nights, but[aq] no one spoke[ar] a word to him because they saw that his[as] suffering was very great.

Footnotes

  1. Job 2:1 Literally “And it came to be,” or “and it happened”
  2. Job 2:1 Or “the heavenly beings,” or “the angels”
  3. Job 2:1 Hebrew “the accuser,” or “the adversary”
  4. Job 2:2 Hebrew “And”
  5. Job 2:2 Literally “said to”
  6. Job 2:2 Hebrew “the accuser,” or “the adversary”
  7. Job 2:2 Hebrew “the accuser,” or “the adversary”
  8. Job 2:3 Hebrew “And”
  9. Job 2:3 Literally “said to”
  10. Job 2:3 Hebrew “the accuser,” or “the adversary”
  11. Job 2:3 Literally “set your heart”
  12. Job 2:3 Or “For” or “Because”
  13. Job 2:3 Hebrew “and”
  14. Job 2:4 Hebrew “And”
  15. Job 2:4 Hebrew “the accuser,” or “the adversary”
  16. Job 2:4 Literally “the”
  17. Job 2:5 Or “please”
  18. Job 2:5 Literally “if not”
  19. Job 2:5 Literally “bless”—negative meaning by context
  20. Job 2:5 Hebrew “your faces”
  21. Job 2:6 Literally “And it happened the/one day”
  22. Job 2:6 Hebrew “the accuser,” or “the adversary”
  23. Job 2:6 Literally “Look”
  24. Job 2:6 Literally “hand”
  25. Job 2:7 Hebrew “And”
  26. Job 2:7 Hebrew “the accuser,” or “the adversary”
  27. Job 2:7 Literally “the faces of Yahweh”
  28. Job 2:8 Hebrew “And”
  29. Job 2:9 Hebrew “And”
  30. Job 2:9 Literally “Bless”—negative meaning by context
  31. Job 2:10 Hebrew “And”
  32. Job 2:10 Or “and”
  33. Job 2:11 Hebrew “And”
  34. Job 2:11 Hebrew “And”
  35. Job 2:11 Or “they agreed”
  36. Job 2:12 Hebrew “And”
  37. Job 2:12 Or “they gazed”
  38. Job 2:12 Hebrew “and”
  39. Job 2:12 Hebrew “and”
  40. Job 2:12 Or “robe”
  41. Job 2:12 Or “in the air”; literally “to the heavens”
  42. Job 2:13 Hebrew “And”
  43. Job 2:13 Hebrew “and”
  44. Job 2:13 Or “there was no speaking”
  45. Job 2:13 Literally “the”