³ and he had seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred she-donkeys, and a very large household, so that he was greater than anyone in the East.^[a]

The First Trial. ¹³ One day, while his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their eldest brother, ¹⁴ a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys grazing beside them, ¹⁵ and the Sabeans^[a] carried them off in a raid. They put the servants to the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” ¹⁶ He was still speaking when another came and said, “God’s fire has fallen from heaven and struck the sheep and the servants and consumed them; I alone have escaped to tell you.” ¹⁷ He was still speaking when another came and said, “The Chaldeans^[b] formed three columns, seized the camels, carried them off, and put the servants to the sword; I alone have escaped to tell you.” ¹⁸ He was still speaking when another came and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their eldest brother, ¹⁹ and suddenly a great wind came from across the desert and smashed the four corners of the house. It fell upon the young people and they are dead; I alone have escaped to tell you.”