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.”

“Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land.

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.

a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby,

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!”

While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three raiding parties and swept down on your camels and made off with them. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”

While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and said, “Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house,

On another day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them to present himself before him.

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.”

Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes.

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

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.

When they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him; they began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads.

Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was.

for it did not shut the doors of the womb on me to hide trouble from my eyes.

Why were there knees to receive me and breasts that I might be nursed?

What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me.

“A word was secretly brought to me, my ears caught a whisper of it.

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

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

Resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple.

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

The arrows of the Almighty are in me, my spirit drinks in their poison; God’s terrors are marshaled against me.

I refuse to touch it; such food makes me ill.

that God would be willing to crush me, to let loose his hand and cut off my life!