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I. The Prologue (1:1-2:13)
Job’s Good Life
There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. And that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.
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When the days of their feasting were finished, Job would send for them and sanctify them; he would get up early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job thought, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s customary practice.
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Satan’s Accusation of Job
Now the day came when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord—and Satan also arrived among them.
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So the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and turns away from evil.”
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Then Satan answered the Lord, “Is it for nothing that Job fears God?
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Job’s Integrity in Adversity
Now the day came when Job’s sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house,
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and a messenger came to Job, saying, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing beside them,
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Then Job got up and tore his robe. He shaved his head, and then he threw himself down with his face to the ground.
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In all this Job did not sin, nor did he charge God with moral impropriety.
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Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a pure and upright man, one who fears God and turns away from evil. And he still holds firmly to his integrity, so that you stirred me up to destroy him without reason.”
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Job’s Integrity in Suffering
So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord, and he afflicted Job with a malignant ulcer from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.
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Job took a shard of broken pottery to scrape himself with while he was sitting among the ashes.
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But he replied, “You’re talking like one of the godless women would do! Should we receive what is good from God, and not also receive what is evil?” In all this Job did not sin by what he said.
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The Visit of Job’s Friends
When Job’s three friends heard about all this calamity that had happened to him, each of them came from his own country—Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They met together to come to show sympathy for him and to console him.
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II. Job’s Dialogue With His Friends (3:1-27:23)
Job Regrets His Birth
After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day he was born.
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Job spoke up and said:
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Job Wishes He Had Died at Birth
“Why did I not die at birth, and why did I not expire as I came out of the womb?
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Job Replies to Eliphaz
Then Job responded:
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Job Remonstrates with God
“Therefore, I will not refrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
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Bildad’s First Speech to Job
Then Bildad the Shuhite spoke up and said:
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Job’s Reply to Bildad
Then Job answered:
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Zophar’s First Speech to Job
Then Zophar the Naamathite spoke up and said:
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Job’s Reply to Zophar
Then Job answered:
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Job Pleads His Cause to God
“Indeed, my eyes have seen all this, my ears have heard and understood it.
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Job’s Reply to Eliphaz
Then Job replied: