There were born to him seven sons and three daughters.

His possessions also were seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the children of the east.

The LORD said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, "From going back and forth in the earth, and from walking up and down in it."

But put forth your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will renounce you to your face."

The LORD said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your power. Only on himself do not put forth your hand." So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.

It fell on a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house,

that there came a messenger to Job, and said, "The oxen were plowing, and the donkeys feeding beside them,

While he was still speaking, there came also another, and said, "Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house,

and behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young men, and they are dead. I alone have escaped to tell you."

The LORD said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Satan answered the LORD, and said, "From going back and forth in the earth, and from walking up and down in it."

But put forth your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will renounce you to your face."

The LORD said to Satan, "Behold, he is in your hand. Only spare his life."

Then his wife said to him, "Do you still maintain your integrity? Renounce God, and die."

As for that night, let thick darkness seize on it. Let it not rejoice among the days of the year. Let it not come into the number of the months.

Let them curse it who curse the day, who are ready to rouse up leviathan.

Why did the knees receive me? Or why the breast, that I should suck?

or with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver:

or as a hidden untimely birth I had not been, as infants who never saw light.

There the wicked cease from troubling. There the weary are at rest.

There the prisoners are at ease together. They do not hear the voice of the taskmaster.

The small and the great are there. The servant is free from his master.

who rejoice exceedingly, and are glad, when they can find the grave?

For my sighing comes before I eat. My groanings are poured out like water.

Your words have supported him who was falling, You have made firm the feeble knees.

But now it is come to you, and you faint. It touches you, and you are troubled.

Isn't your piety your confidence? Isn't the integrity of your ways your hope?

"Remember, now, whoever perished, being innocent? Or where were the upright cut off?

By the breath of God they perish. By the blast of his anger are they consumed.

The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, the teeth of the young lions, are broken.

The old lion perishes for lack of prey. The cubs of the lioness are scattered abroad.

"Now a thing was secretly brought to me. My ear received a whisper of it.

How much more, those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed before the moth.

Between morning and evening they are destroyed. They perish forever without any regarding it.

His children are far from safety. They are crushed in the gate. Neither is there any to deliver them,

so that he sets up on high those who are low, those who mourn are exalted to safety.

In famine he will redeem you from death; in war, from the power of the sword.

You shall know that your tent is in peace. You shall visit your fold, and shall miss nothing.

You shall know also that your seed shall be great, Your offspring as the grass of the earth.

You shall come to your grave in a full age, like a shock of grain comes in its season.

Look this, we have searched it, so it is. Hear it, and know it for your good."

"Oh that my anguish were weighed, and all my calamity laid in the balances.

For the arrows of Shaddai are within me. My spirit drinks up their poison. The terrors of God set themselves in array against me.

Does the wild donkey bray when he has grass? Or does the ox low over his fodder?

Can that which has no flavor be eaten without salt? Or is there any taste in the white of an egg?

My soul refuses to touch them. They are as loathsome food to me.

Is my strength the strength of stones? Or is my flesh of brass?

Which are black by reason of the ice, in which the snow hides itself.

In the dry season, they vanish. When it is hot, they are consumed out of their place.

They were distressed because they were confident. They came there, and were confounded.

For now you are nothing. You see a terror, and are afraid.

Did I say, 'Give to me?' or, 'Offer a present for me from your substance?'

or, 'Deliver me from the adversary's hand?' or, 'Redeem me from the hand of the oppressors?'

How forcible are words of uprightness. But your reproof, what does it reprove?

Do you intend to reprove words, seeing that the speeches of one who is desperate are as wind?

Yes, you would even cast lots for the fatherless, and make merchandise of your friend.

Now therefore be pleased to look at me, for surely I shall not lie to your face.

so am I made to possess months of misery, wearisome nights are appointed to me.

My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and are spent without hope.

The eye of him who sees me shall see me no more. Your eyes shall be on me, but I shall not be.

Am I a sea, or a sea monster, that you put a guard over me?

I loathe my life. I do not want to live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath.

What is man, that you should magnify him, that you should set your mind on him,

"How long will you speak these things? Shall the words of your mouth be a mighty wind?

Does God pervert justice? Or does Shaddai pervert righteousness?

If your children have sinned against him, He has delivered them into the hand of their disobedience.

If you want to seek God diligently, make your supplication to Shaddai.

If you were pure and upright, surely now he would awaken for you, and make the habitation of your righteousness prosperous.

Though your beginning was small, yet your latter end would greatly increase.

(For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days on earth are a shadow.)

So are the paths of all who forget God. The hope of the godless man shall perish,

His roots are wrapped around the rock pile. He sees the place of stones.

He will still fill your mouth with laughter, your lips with shouting.

Behold, he snatches away. Who can hinder him? Who will ask him, 'What are you doing?'

Though I were righteous, yet I wouldn't answer him. I would make supplication to my judge.

"Now my days are swifter than a runner. They flee away, they see no good,

Is it good to you that you should oppress, that you should despise the work of your hands, and smile on the counsel of the wicked?

Do you have eyes of flesh? Or do you see as man sees?

Are your days as the days of mortals, or your years as man's years,

Although you know that I am not wicked, there is no one who can deliver out of your hand.

"'Your hands have framed me and fashioned me altogether, yet you destroy me.

You have granted me life and loving kindness. Your visitation has preserved my spirit.

Yet you hid these things in your heart. I know that this is with you:

You renew your witnesses against me, and increase your indignation on me. Changes and warfare are with me.

before I go where I shall not return from, to the land of darkness and of the shadow of death;

the land dark as midnight, of the shadow of death, without any order, where the light is as midnight.'"

Should your boastings make men hold their peace? When you mock, shall no man make you ashamed?

For you say, 'My doctrine is pure. I am clean in your eyes.'

that he would show you the secrets of wisdom. For true wisdom has two sides. Know therefore that God exacts of you less than your iniquity deserves.

"Can you fathom the mystery of God? Or can you probe the limits of Shaddai?

They are high as heaven. What can you do? They are deeper than Sheol. What can you know?

If he passes by, or confines, or convenes a court, then who can oppose him?

"If you set your heart aright, stretch out your hands toward him.

If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away. Do not let unrighteousness dwell in your tents.

Surely then you shall lift up your face without spot; Yes, you shall be steadfast, and shall not fear:

for you shall forget your misery. You shall remember it as waters that are passed away.

You shall be secure, because there is hope. Yes, you shall search, and shall take your rest in safety.

Also you shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid. Yes, many shall court your favor.

"No doubt, but you are the people, and wisdom shall die with you.

The tents of robbers prosper. Those who provoke God are secure, who carry their god in their hands.

Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach you. The fish of the sea shall declare to you.