Chronological
1 There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who [reverently] feared God and abstained from and shunned evil [because it was wrong].
2 And there were born to him seven sons and three daughters.
3 He possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and a very great body of servants, so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the East.
4 His sons used to go and feast in the house of each on his day (birthday) in turn, and they invited their three sisters to eat and drink with them.(A)
5 And when the days of their feasting were over, Job sent for them to purify and hallow them, and rose up early in the morning and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed or disowned God in their hearts. Thus did Job at all [such] times.
6 Now there was a day when the sons (the angels) of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan (the adversary and accuser) also came among them.(B)
7 And the Lord said to Satan, From where did you come? Then Satan answered the Lord, From going to and fro on the earth and from walking up and down on it.
8 And the Lord said to Satan, Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who [reverently] fears God and abstains from and shuns evil [because it is wrong]?
9 Then Satan answered the Lord, Does Job [reverently] fear God for nothing?
10 Have You not put a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have conferred prosperity and happiness upon him in the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.
11 But put forth Your hand now and touch all that he has, and he will curse You to Your face.
12 And the Lord said to Satan (the adversary and the accuser), Behold, all that he has is in your power, only upon the man himself put not forth your hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord.
13 And there was a day when [Job’s] sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house [on his birthday],
14 And there came a messenger to Job and said, The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them,
15 And the Sabeans swooped down upon them and took away [the animals]. Indeed, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.
16 While he was yet speaking, there came also another and said, The fire of God (lightning) has fallen from the heavens and has 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 also another and said, The Chaldeans divided into three bands and made a raid upon the camels and have taken them away, yes, and have slain the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.
18 While he was yet speaking, there came also another and said, Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house,
19 And behold, there came a great [whirlwind] from the desert, and smote 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 rent his robe and shaved his head and fell down upon the ground and worshiped
21 And said, Naked (without possessions) came I [into this world] from my mother’s womb, and naked (without possessions) shall I depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed (praised and magnified in worship) be the name of the Lord!
22 In all this Job sinned not nor charged God foolishly.
2 Again there was a day when the sons of God [the angels] came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan (the adversary and the accuser) came also among them to present himself before the Lord.
2 And the Lord said to Satan, From where do you come? And Satan (the adversary and the accuser) answered the Lord, From going to and fro on the earth and from walking up and down on it.
3 And the Lord said to Satan, Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who [reverently] fears God and abstains from and shuns all evil [because it is wrong]? And still he holds fast his integrity, although you moved Me against him to destroy him without cause.
4 Then Satan answered the Lord, Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has will he give for his life.
5 But put forth Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse and renounce You to Your face.
6 And the Lord said to Satan, Behold, he is in your hand; only spare his life.
7 So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord and smote Job with loathsome and painful sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.
8 And he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself, and he sat [down] among the ashes.
9 Then his wife said to him, Do you still hold fast your blameless uprightness? Renounce God and die!
10 But he said to her, You speak as one of the impious and foolish women would speak. What? Shall we accept [only] good at the hand of God and shall we not accept [also] misfortune and what is of a bad nature? In [spite of] all this, Job did not sin with his lips.
11 Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came each one from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, for they had made an appointment together to come to condole with him and to comfort him.
12 And when they looked from afar off and saw him [disfigured] beyond recognition, they lifted up their voices and wept; and each one tore his robe, and they cast dust over their heads toward the heavens.
13 So they sat down with [Job] on the ground for seven days and seven nights, and none spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief and pain were very great.
3 After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed his day (birthday).
2 And Job said,
3 Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night which announced, There is a man-child conceived.
4 Let that day be darkness! May not God above regard it, nor light shine upon it.
5 Let gloom and deep darkness claim it for their own; let a cloud dwell upon it; let all that blackens the day terrify it (the day that I was born).
6 As for that night, let thick darkness seize it; let it not rejoice among the days of the year; let it not come into the number of the months.
7 Yes, let that night be solitary and barren; let no joyful voice come into it.
8 Let those curse it who curse the day, who are skilled in rousing up Leviathan.
9 Let the stars of the early dawn of that day be dark; let [the morning] look in vain for the light, nor let it behold the day’s dawning,
10 Because it shut not the doors of my mother’s womb nor hid sorrow and trouble from my eyes.
11 Why was I not stillborn? Why did I not give up the ghost when my mother bore me?
12 Why did the knees receive me? Or why the breasts, that I should suck?
13 For then would I have lain down and been quiet; I would have slept; then would I have been at rest [in death]
14 With kings and counselors of the earth, who built up [now] desolate ruins for themselves,
15 Or with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver.
16 Or [why] was I not a miscarriage, hidden and put away, as infants who never saw light?
17 There [in death] the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest.
18 There the [captive] prisoners rest together; they hear not the taskmaster’s voice.
19 The small and the great are there, and the servant is free from his master.(C)
20 Why is light [of life] given to him who is in misery, and life to the bitter in soul,
21 Who long and wait for death, but it comes not, and dig for it more than for hidden treasures,
22 Who rejoice exceedingly and are elated when they find the grave?
23 [Why is the light of day given] to a man whose way is hidden, and whom God has hedged in?
24 For my sighing comes before my food, and my groanings are poured out like water.
25 For the thing which I greatly fear comes upon me, and that of which I am afraid befalls me.
26 I was not or am not at ease, nor had I or have I rest, nor was I or am I quiet, yet trouble came and still comes [upon me].
4 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,
2 If we venture to converse with you, will you be offended? Yet who can restrain himself from speaking?
3 Behold, you have instructed many, and you have strengthened the weak hands.
4 Your words have held firm him who was falling, and you have strengthened the feeble knees.
5 But now it is come upon you, and you faint and are grieved; it touches you, and you are troubled and dismayed.
6 Is not your [reverent] fear of God your confidence and the integrity and uprightness of your ways your hope?
7 Think [earnestly], I beg of you: who, being innocent, ever perished? Or where were those upright and in right standing with God cut off?
8 As I myself have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble and mischief reap the same.
9 By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of His anger they are consumed.
10 The roaring of the lion and the voice of the fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions are broken.
11 The old and strong lion perishes for lack of prey, and the whelps of the lioness are scattered abroad.
12 Now a thing was secretly brought to me, and my ear received a whisper of it.
13 In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on men,
14 Fear came upon me and trembling, which made all my bones shake.
15 Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up!
16 [The spirit] stood still, but I could not discern the appearance of it. A form was before my eyes; there was silence, and then I heard a voice, saying,
17 Can mortal man be just before God, or be more right than He is? Can a man be pure before his Maker, or be more cleansed than He is?(D)
18 Even in His [heavenly] servants He puts no trust or confidence, and His angels He charges with folly and error—
19 How much more those who dwell in houses (bodies) of clay, whose foundations are in the dust, who are crushed like the moth.
20 Between morning and evening they are destroyed; without anyone noticing it they perish forever.
21 Is not their tent cord plucked up within them [so that the tent falls]? Do they not die, and that without [acquiring] wisdom?
5 Call now—is there any who will answer you? And to which of the holy [angels] will you turn?
2 For [a]vexation and rage kill the foolish man; jealousy and indignation slay the simple.
3 I have seen the foolish taking root [and outwardly prospering], but suddenly I saw that his dwelling was cursed [for his doom was certain].
4 His children are far from safety; [involved in their father’s ruin] they are crushed in the [court of justice in the city’s] gate, and there is no one to deliver them.
5 His harvest the hungry eat and take it even [when it grows] among the thorns; the snare opens for [his] wealth.
6 For affliction comes not forth from the dust, neither does trouble spring forth out of the ground.
7 But man is born to trouble as the sparks and the flames fly upward.
8 As for me, I would seek God and inquire of and require Him, and to God would I commit my cause—
9 Who does great things and unsearchable, marvelous things without number,
10 Who gives rain upon the earth and sends waters upon the fields,
11 So that He sets on high those who are lowly, and those who mourn He lifts to safety.
12 He frustrates the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise or anything of [lasting] worth.
13 He catches the [so-called] wise in their own trickiness, and the counsel of the schemers is brought to a quick end.(E)
14 In the daytime they meet in darkness, and at noon they grope as in the night.
15 But [God] saves [the fatherless] from the sword of their mouth, and the needy from the hand of the mighty.
16 So the poor have hope, and iniquity shuts her mouth.
17 Happy and fortunate is the man whom God reproves; so do not despise or reject the correction of the Almighty [subjecting you to trial and suffering].
18 For He wounds, but He binds up; He smites, but His hands heal.
19 He will rescue you in six troubles; in seven nothing that is evil [for you] will touch you.
20 In famine He will redeem you from death, and in war from the power of the sword.
21 You shall be hidden from the scourge of the tongue, neither shall you be afraid of destruction when it comes.
22 At destruction and famine you shall laugh, neither shall you be afraid of the living creatures of the earth.
23 For you shall be in league with the stones of the field, and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you.
24 And you shall know that your tent shall be in peace, and you shall visit your fold and your dwelling and miss nothing [from them].
25 You shall know also that your children shall be many, and your offspring as the grass of the earth.
26 You shall come to your grave in ripe old age, and as a shock of grain goes up [to the threshing floor] in its season.
27 This is what we have searched out; it is true. Hear and heed it and know for yourself [for your good].
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation