Chronological
The Prologue
1 There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. That man was blameless and upright, fearing God and avoiding evil. 2 Seven sons and three daughters were born to him. 3 His possessions were seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and very many servants. This man was the greatest of all the people of the East.
4 His sons used to go and make a feast in the house of each on his day, and they would send and call for their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 Now when the days of feasting had run their course, Job sent and sanctified them. He would rise up early in the morning, and he would offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all, because Job said: “It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts.” Thus Job would do always.
6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and the Adversary also came among them. 7 And the Lord said to the Adversary, “From where have you come?”
Then the Adversary answered the Lord, saying, “From roaming on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.”
8 And the Lord said to the Adversary, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and an upright man, who fears God, and avoids evil?”
9 Then the Adversary answered the Lord, saying, “Has Job feared God for nothing? 10 Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But stretch out Your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse You to Your face.”
12 The Lord said to the Adversary, “Look, all that he has is in your power; only do not stretch out your hand against his person.”
So the Adversary departed from the presence of the Lord.
13 So a day came when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house, 14 and a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing, and the donkeys were feeding beside them, 15 and the Sabeans attacked them, and took them away, and they killed the servants with the edge of the sword, and only I alone have escaped to tell you.”
16 While he was still speaking, another came and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”
17 While he was still speaking, another came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three companies and made a raid on the camels and have taken them away. They killed the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”
18 While he was still speaking, another came and said, “Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house, 19 and suddenly a great wind came from the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people, and they are dead; and I alone have escaped to tell you.”
20 Then Job stood up, tore his robe, and shaved his head. He fell to the ground and worshipped. 21 He said,
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
and naked will I return there.
The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away;
blessed be the name of the Lord.”
22 In all this Job did not sin, and he did not accuse God of wrongdoing.
2 Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and the Adversary came also among them to present himself before the Lord. 2 The Lord said to the Adversary, “From where do you come?”
And the Adversary answered the Lord, saying, “From roaming on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.”
3 The Lord said to the Adversary, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and an upright man, who fears God and avoids evil? He still holds fast his integrity, although you moved Me against him, to destroy him without cause.”
4 The Adversary answered the Lord, saying, “Skin for skin; yes, all that a man has he will give for his life. 5 Put forth Your hand now and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse You to Your face.”
6 The Lord said to the Adversary, “Very well, he is in your hand, but spare his life.”
7 Therefore, the Adversary went out from the presence of the Lord, and he afflicted Job with severe sores from the sole of his foot to the top of his head. 8 So he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he was sitting among the ashes.
9 His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die.”
10 He said to her, “You talk like one of the foolish women talks. Will we indeed accept the good from God but not accept the adversity?”
In all this Job did not sin with his lips.
11 Three friends of Job heard about all this evil that had come upon him, and each one came from his own place: Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They had agreed together to come to mourn with him and to comfort him. 12 They saw him from a distance and did not recognize him, so they wept aloud. Each one tore his robe, and they tossed dust into the air above their heads. 13 Then they sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven nights. Meanwhile, no one was speaking to him at all because they saw that his pain was severe.
Job Laments His Birth
3 After this Job opened his mouth, and cursed the day of his birth. 2 Job said:
3 “Let the day perish in which I was born
and the night in which it was said, ‘A male child is conceived.’
4 As for that day, let it be darkness;
let God above not regard it;
and let not light shine upon it.
5 Let darkness and the shadow of death claim it;
let a cloud settle on it;
let the blackness of the day terrify it.
6 As for that night, let darkness capture it;
let it not rejoice among the days of the year;
let it not come into the number of the months.
7 Yes, as for that night, let it be barren!
Let no joyful cry come into it!
8 Let them curse it who curse any day,
those who are prepared to rouse Leviathan.
9 Let its morning stars be dark;
let it look for light, but have none;
let it not see the rays of dawn,
10 because it did not shut the doors of my mother’s womb,
nor hide trouble from my eyes.
11 “Why did I not die at birth?
Why did I not expire when I came out of the womb?
12 Why did her knees receive me?
And why her breasts that I should nurse?
13 For now I would be lying down and would be at peace;
I would have slept; then there would be rest for me,
14 with kings and counselors of the earth,
who built ruins for themselves,
15 or with princes who had gold,
who filled their houses with silver.
16 Or why was I not hidden like a stillborn child,
like infants who never saw light?
17 There the wicked will have stopped causing trouble,
and there the exhausted will rest.
18 Captives will relax together;
they do not hear the voice of the oppressor.
19 The small and great, they are there,
and the servant is free from his master.
20 “Why is light given to the miserable,
and life unto the bitter in soul,
21 who look for death, but it is not there;
and they search for it more than for hidden treasures;
22 who rejoice exceedingly,
and they are glad when they find the grave?
23 And why is light given to a man
whose way is hidden,
whom God has hedged in?
24 For my sighing comes before I eat,
and my groaning pours forth like the waters.
25 For the thing which I greatly feared has happened to me,
and that which I dreaded has come to me.
26 I am not at peace; I have no quiet,
I cannot rest, and turmoil has come.”
Eliphaz Speaks: Job Has Sinned
4 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:
2 “If one attempts a word with you, will you be impatient?
But who can keep from speaking?
3 Surely you have instructed many,
and you have strengthened the weak hands.
4 Your words have raised up him who was falling,
and you have fortified the feeble knees.
5 But now it comes upon you, and you are weary;
it reaches even you, and you are terrified.
6 Is not your reverence your confidence?
And the integrity of your ways your hope?
7 “Remember now, who being innocent ever perished?
Or where were the upright ever wiped out?
8 Just like I have seen, those who plow iniquity
and sow trouble, reap the same.
9 By the breath of God they perish,
and by the blast of His anger they are destroyed.
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 lion perishes for lack of prey,
and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.
12 “Now a word was brought to me secretly,
and my ear received a whisper of it.
13 Amid disquieting thoughts from night visions,
when deep sleep falls on mortals,
14 terror and trembling came to me,
which made all my bones shake.
15 A breath of wind was passing before my face,
and the hair on my body was standing up.
16 It stood still,
but I could not recognize its appearance;
a form was in front of my eyes,
there was stillness, then I heard a voice saying:
17 ‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God?
Can a man be more pure than his Maker?
18 He does not trust in His servants,
and He charges His angels with error;
19 Even more, those who dwell in houses of clay,
whose foundation is in the dust,
who are crushed before the moth.
20 They are broken in pieces from morning to evening;
they perish forever without anyone regarding it.
21 Are not their tent ropes plucked up,
so they die, even without wisdom?’
Eliphaz: Job Is Chastised by God
5 “Call out now; is anyone answering you?
And to whom among the holy ones will you turn?
2 For anger slays the foolish man,
and jealousy kills the gullible.
3 Yes, I saw the foolish taking root,
and quickly I cursed his dwelling.
4 May his children be far from safety,
and may they be crushed in the gate without a deliverer;
5 whose harvest the hungry eats up,
and takes it even out of the thorns,
and the thirsty captures his wealth.
6 For affliction does not come out of the dust,
nor does trouble sprout up out of the ground;
7 but man is born to trouble,
as the sparks fly upward.
8 “Indeed, I would appeal to God,
and before God I would set forth my case,
9 who does the great and the inscrutable,
wonders without number.
10 He gives rain on the surface of the earth
and sends water on the outdoor places.
11 He sets on high those who are lowly,
and those who mourn are lifted to safety.
12 He frustrates the schemes of the crafty,
so that their hands cannot perform their plans.
13 He catches the wise in their own craftiness,
and the scheme of the shrewd is swiftly stopped.
14 In the daytime they encounter darkness,
and at noontime they grope as in the night.
15 But the needy He saves from the sword,
from their mouth, and from the hand of the mighty.
16 So the helpless has hope,
and injustice shuts her mouth.
17 “How happy is the man whom God corrects!
Therefore do not despise the discipline of the Almighty,
18 for He wounds, but He applies the bandage;
He injures, but His hands also heal.
19 In six crises He will deliver you;
even in seven, disaster will not touch you.
20 In famine He will redeem you from death,
and in war from the power of the sword.
21 You will be hidden from the lash of the tongue,
and you will not fear violence when it comes.
22 You will laugh at devastation and famine,
and you will not fear wild animals.
23 For you will have a covenant with the stones of the field,
and the wild animals will be at peace with you.
24 You will know that your tent is peaceful,
and you will inspect your property and find nothing missing.
25 You will know that your offspring will be many
and your descendants as the grass of the earth.
26 You go to the grave in a full age,
as stalks of grain are gathered up in season.
27 “Look! We have investigated all this, and it is so;
hear it, and know for yourself.”
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.