Prologue

In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.

and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East.

When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would make arrangements for them to be purified. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular custom.

Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”

“Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied.

The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.” Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.

While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The fire of God fell from the heavens and burned up the sheep and the servants, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”

In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.

Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.”

“Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give all he has for his own life.

The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.”

His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!”

He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.

When Job’s three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him.

“May the day of my birth perish, and the night that said, ‘A boy is conceived!’

That day—may it turn to darkness; may God above not care about it; may no light shine on it.

“Why is light given to those in misery, and life to the bitter of soul,

Why is life given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in?

At the breath of God they perish; at the blast of his anger they are no more.

fear and trembling seized me and made all my bones shake.

‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God? Can even a strong man be more pure than his Maker?

If God places no trust in his servants, if he charges his angels with error,

Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward.

“But if I were you, I would appeal to God; I would lay my cause before him.

“Blessed is the one whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.