Old/New Testament

I. Prologue

Chapter 1

Job’s Piety. ¹ In the land of Uz^[a] there was a blameless and upright man named Job,^(A) who feared God and avoided evil. ² Seven sons and three daughters were born to him; ³ and he had seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred she-donkeys, and a very large household, so that he was greater than anyone in the East.^{[b] 4} His sons used to take turns giving feasts, sending invitations to their three sisters to eat and drink with them. ⁵ And when each feast had run its course, Job would send for them and sanctify them, rising early and offering sacrifices for every one of them. For Job said, “It may be that my children have sinned and cursed^[c] God in their hearts.” Job did this habitually.

The Interview Between the Lord and the Satan. ^6 (B)One day, when the sons of God^[d] came to present themselves before the Lord, the satan also came among them.^{(C) 7} The Lord said to the satan, “Where have you been?” Then the satan answered the Lord and said,^(D) “Roaming the earth and patrolling it.” ⁸ The Lord said to the satan, “Have you noticed my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him, blameless and upright, fearing God and avoiding evil.” ⁹ The satan answered the Lord and said, “Is it for nothing that Job is God-fearing? ¹⁰ Have you not surrounded him and his family and all that he has with your protection? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his livestock are spread over the land. ^11 (E)But now put forth your hand and touch all that he has, and surely he will curse you to your face.” ¹² The Lord said to the satan, “Very well, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on him.” So the satan went forth from the presence of the Lord.

The First Trial. ¹³ One day, while his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their eldest brother, ¹⁴ a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys grazing beside them, ¹⁵ and the Sabeans^[e] carried them off in a raid. They put the servants to the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” ¹⁶ He was still speaking when another came and said, “God’s fire has fallen from heaven and struck the sheep and the servants and consumed them; I alone have escaped to tell you.” ¹⁷ He was still speaking when another came and said, “The Chaldeans^[f] formed three columns, seized the camels, carried them off, and put the servants to the sword; I alone have escaped to tell you.” ¹⁸ He was still speaking when another came and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their eldest brother, ¹⁹ and suddenly a great wind came from across the desert and smashed the four corners of the house. It fell upon the young people and they are dead; I alone have escaped to tell you.”

Job’s Reaction. ²⁰ Then Job arose and tore his cloak and cut off his hair. He fell to the ground and worshiped. ²¹ He said,

²² In all this Job did not sin,^(G) nor did he charge God with wrong.

Chapter 2

The Second Interview. ¹ One day, when the sons of God^(H) came to present themselves before the Lord, the satan also came with them. ² The Lord said to the satan, “Where have you been?” Then the satan answered the Lord and said, “Roaming the earth and patrolling it.” ³ The Lord said to the satan, “Have you noticed my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him, blameless and upright, fearing God and avoiding evil.^(I) He still holds fast to his innocence although you incited me against him to ruin him for nothing.” ⁴ The satan answered the Lord and said, “Skin for skin!^[h] All that a man has he will give for his life. ^5 (J)But put forth your hand and touch his bone and his flesh. Then surely he will curse you to your face.” ⁶ And the Lord said to the satan, “He is in your power; only spare his life.”

The Second Trial. ⁷ So the satan went forth from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with severe boils from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head.

Job’s Reaction. ⁸ He took a potsherd to scrape himself, as he sat among the ashes. ⁹ Then his wife said to him,^(K) “Are you still holding to your innocence? Curse God and die!”^{[i] 10} But he said to her, “You speak as foolish women do. We accept good things from God; should we not accept evil?” Through all this, Job did not sin in what he said.^(L)

Job’s Three Friends. ¹¹ Now when three of Job’s friends heard of all the misfortune that had come upon him, they set out each one from his own place: Eliphaz from Teman,^[j] Bildad from Shuh, and Zophar from Naamath. They met and journeyed together to give him sympathy and comfort. ¹² But when, at a distance, they lifted up their eyes and did not recognize him, they began to weep aloud; they tore their cloaks and threw dust into the air over their heads. ¹³ Then they sat down upon the ground with him seven days and seven nights, but none of them spoke a word to him; for they saw how great was his suffering.

²² Moses was educated [in] all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in his words and deeds.

^23 (A)“When he was forty years old, he decided to visit his kinsfolk, the Israelites. ²⁴ When he saw one of them treated unjustly, he defended and avenged the oppressed man by striking down the Egyptian. ²⁵ He assumed [his] kinsfolk would understand that God was offering them deliverance through him, but they did not understand. ^26 (B)The next day he appeared to them as they were fighting and tried to reconcile them peacefully, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why are you harming one another?’ ²⁷ Then the one who was harming his neighbor pushed him aside, saying, ‘Who appointed you ruler and judge over us? ²⁸ Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ ²⁹ Moses fled when he heard this and settled as an alien in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons.^(C)

^30 (D)“Forty years later, an angel appeared to him in the desert near Mount Sinai in the flame of a burning bush. ³¹ When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight, and as he drew near to look at it, the voice of the Lord came, ³² ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob.’ Then Moses, trembling, did not dare to look at it. ³³ But the Lord said to him, ‘Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. ³⁴ I have witnessed the affliction of my people in Egypt and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to rescue them. Come now, I will send you to Egypt.’ ³⁵ This Moses, whom they had rejected with the words, ‘Who appointed you ruler and judge?’ God sent as [both] ruler and deliverer, through the angel who appeared to him in the bush.^{(E) 36} This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the desert for forty years.^{(F) 37} It was this Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you, from among your own kinsfolk, a prophet like me.’^{(G) 38} It was he who, in the assembly in the desert, was with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai and with our ancestors, and he received living utterances to hand on to us.^(H)

³⁹ “Our ancestors were unwilling to obey him; instead, they pushed him aside and in their hearts turned back to Egypt,^{(I) 40} saying to Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will be our leaders. As for that Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.’^{(J) 41 (K)}So they made a calf in those days, offered sacrifice to the idol, and reveled in the works of their hands. ⁴² Then God turned and handed them over to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets:^(L)