Job's Character and Wealth

1 There was a man in the land of ^(A)Uz whose name was ^(B)Job, and that man was ^(C)blameless and upright, one who ^(D)feared God and ^(E)turned away from evil. ² There were born to him ^(F)seven sons and three daughters. ³ He possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 female donkeys, and very many servants, so that this man was the greatest of all ^(G)the people of the east. ⁴ His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. ⁵ And when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and ^(H)consecrate them, and he would rise early in the morning and ^(I)offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, “It may be that my children have sinned, and ^(J)cursed^[a] God in their hearts.” Thus Job did continually.

Satan Allowed to Test Job

⁶ Now there was a day when ^(K)the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and ^(L)Satan^[b] also came among them. ⁷ The Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From ^(M)going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” ⁸ And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you ^(N)considered my ^(O)servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, ^(P)a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?” ⁹ Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason? ¹⁰ Have you not put ^(Q)a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have ^(R)blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. ¹¹ But ^(S)stretch out your hand and ^(T)touch all that he has, and he will ^(U)curse you ^(V)to your face.” ¹² And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.

Satan Takes Job's Property and Children

¹³ Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, ¹⁴ and there came a messenger to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, ¹⁵ and ^(W)the Sabeans fell upon them and took them and struck down the servants^[c] with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” ¹⁶ While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, ^(X)“The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” ¹⁷ While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, ^(Y)“The Chaldeans formed ^(Z)three groups and made a raid on the camels and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” ¹⁸ While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, ^(AA)“Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, ¹⁹ and behold, a great wind came across ^(AB)the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”

²⁰ Then Job arose and ^(AC)tore his ^(AD)robe and ^(AE)shaved his head ^(AF)and fell on the ground and worshiped. ²¹ And he said, ^(AG)“Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I ^(AH)return. The Lord ^(AI)gave, and the Lord has taken away; ^(AJ)blessed be the name of the Lord.”

^22 (AK)In all this Job did not sin or charge God with ^(AL)wrong.

¹⁰ When God saw what they did, ^(A)how they turned from their evil way, ^(B)God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.

Jonah's Anger and the Lord's Compassion

4 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly,^[a] and ^(C)he was angry. ² And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? ^(D)That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a ^(E)gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and ^(F)relenting from disaster. ^3 (G)Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, ^(H)for it is better for me to die than to live.” ⁴ And the Lord said, ^(I)“Do you do well to be angry?”

⁵ Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and ^(J)made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city. ⁶ Now the Lord God appointed a plant^[b] and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort.^[c] So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant. ⁷ But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered. ⁸ When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching ^(K)east wind, ^(L)and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he ^(M)was faint. And he asked that he might die and said, ^(N)“It is better for me to die than to live.” ⁹ But God said to Jonah, ^(O)“Do you do well to be angry for the plant?” And he said, “Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.” ¹⁰ And the Lord said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. ¹¹ And should not I pity ^(P)Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much ^(Q)cattle?”