Satan replied to the Lord, “Skin for skin! A man will give up everything he has to save his life.

“All right, do with him as you please,” the Lord said to Satan. “But spare his life.”

“Oh, why give light to those in misery, and life to those who are bitter?

Why is life given to those with no future, those God has surrounded with difficulties?

Doesn’t your reverence for God give you confidence? Doesn’t your life of integrity give you hope?

“We have studied life and found all this to be true. Listen to my counsel, and apply it to yourself.”

“Is not all human life a struggle? Our lives are like that of a hired hand,

O God, remember that my life is but a breath, and I will never again feel happiness.

I hate my life and don’t want to go on living. Oh, leave me alone for my few remaining days.

That’s the end of its life, and others spring up from the earth to replace it.

“I am innocent, but it makes no difference to me— I despise my life.

“My life passes more swiftly than a runner. It flees away without a glimpse of happiness.

Job Frames His Plea to God

“I am disgusted with my life. Let me complain freely. My bitter soul must complain.

Is your lifetime only as long as ours? Is your life so short

You gave me life and showed me your unfailing love. My life was preserved by your care.

Your life will be brighter than the noonday. Even darkness will be as bright as morning.

For the life of every living thing is in his hand, and the breath of every human being.

Why should I put myself in mortal danger and take my life in my own hands?

“How frail is humanity! How short is life, how full of trouble!

They suffer painfully; their life is full of trouble.”

They will be cut down in the prime of life; their branches will never again be green.

Job Continues to Defend His Innocence

“My spirit is crushed, and my life is nearly snuffed out. The grave is ready to receive me.

Another person dies in bitter poverty, never having tasted the good life.

They were snatched away in the prime of life, the foundations of their lives washed away.

If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored— so clean up your life.

“God, in his power, drags away the rich. They may rise high, but they have no assurance of life.

For what hope do the godless have when God cuts them off and takes away their life?

“I thought, ‘Surely I will die surrounded by my family after a long, good life.

“And now my life seeps away. Depression haunts my days.

No, from childhood I have cared for orphans like a father, and all my life I have cared for widows.

For the Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

he will be gracious and say, ‘Rescue him from the grave, for I have found a ransom for his life.’

God rescued me from the grave, and now my life is filled with light.’

He rescues them from the grave so they may enjoy the light of life.

all life would cease, and humanity would turn again to dust.

For you also ask, ‘What’s in it for me? What’s the use of living a righteous life?’

Be on guard! Turn back from evil, for God sent this suffering to keep you from a life of evil.

Will it agree to work for you, to be your slave for life?

So the Lord blessed Job in the second half of his life even more than in the beginning. For now he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 teams of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys.

Then he died, an old man who had lived a long, full life.