His sons used to take turns having banquets at their homes. They would send an invitation to their three sisters to eat and drink with them.

The Lord asked Satan, “Where have you come from?”

“From roaming through the earth,” Satan answered Him, “and walking around on it.”

Haven’t You placed a hedge around him, his household, and everything he owns? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.

But stretch out Your hand and strike everything he owns, and he will surely curse You to Your face.”

“Very well,” the Lord told Satan, “everything he owns is in your power. However, you must not lay a hand on Job himself.” So Satan left the Lord’s presence.

He was still speaking when another messenger came and reported: “A lightning storm struck from heaven. It burned up the sheep and the servants and devoured them, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”

That messenger was still speaking when yet another came and reported: “The Chaldeans formed three bands, made a raid on the camels, and took them away. They struck down the servants with the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”

Suddenly a powerful wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on the young people so that they died, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”

The Lord asked Satan, “Where have you come from?”

“From roaming through the earth,” Satan answered Him, “and walking around on it.”

But stretch out Your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse You to Your face.”

“You speak as a foolish woman speaks,” he told her. “Should we accept only good from God and not adversity?” Throughout all this Job did not sin in what he said.

If only that day had turned to darkness!
May God above not care about it,
or light shine on it.

May darkness and gloom reclaim it,
and a cloud settle over it.
May an eclipse of the sun terrify it.

If only darkness had taken that night away!
May it not appear among the days of the year
or be listed in the calendar.

Yes, may that night be barren;
may no joyful shout be heard in it.

Let those who curse certain days
cast a spell on it,
those who are skilled in rousing Leviathan.

May its morning stars grow dark.
May it wait for daylight but have none;
may it not see the breaking of dawn.

Now I would certainly be lying down in peace;
I would be asleep.
Then I would be at rest

The captives are completely at ease;
they do not hear the voice of their oppressor.

who wait for death, but it does not come,
and search for it more than for hidden treasure,

I sigh when food is put before me,
and my groans pour out like water.

For the thing I feared has overtaken me,
and what I dreaded has happened to me.

Should anyone try to speak with you
when you are exhausted?
Yet who can keep from speaking?

But now that this has happened to you,
you have become exhausted.
It strikes you, and you are dismayed.

They perish at a single blast from God
and come to an end by the breath of His nostrils.

The strong lion dies if it catches no prey,
and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.

A word was brought to me in secret;
my ears caught a whisper of it.

Call out if you please. Will anyone answer you?
Which of the holy ones will you turn to?

His children are far from safety.
They are crushed at the city gate,
with no one to rescue them.

The hungry consume his harvest,
even taking it out of the thorns.
The thirsty pant for his children’s wealth.

For distress does not grow out of the soil,
and trouble does not sprout from the ground.

They encounter darkness by day,
and they grope at noon
as if it were night.

You will be safe from slander
and not fear destruction when it comes.

You will laugh at destruction and hunger
and not fear the animals of the earth.

For you will have a covenant with the stones of the field,
and the wild animals will be at peace with you.

We have investigated this, and it is true!
Hear it and understand it for yourself.

If only my grief could be weighed
and my devastation placed with it in the scales.

For then it would outweigh the sand of the seas!
That is why my words are rash.

Is bland food eaten without salt?
Is there flavor in an egg white?

If only my request would be granted
and God would provide what I hope for:

It would still bring me comfort,
and I would leap for joy in unrelenting pain
that I have not denied the words of the Holy One.

What strength do I have that I should continue to hope?
What is my future, that I should be patient?

My brothers are as treacherous as a wadi,
as seasonal streams that overflow

So this is what you have now become to me.
When you see something dreadful, you are afraid.

Teach me, and I will be silent.
Help me understand what I did wrong.

How painful honest words can be!
But what does your rebuke prove?

But now, please look at me;
would I lie to your face?

What is man, that You think so highly of him
and pay so much attention to him?

If I have sinned, what have I done to You,
Watcher of mankind?
Why have You made me Your target,
so that I have become a burden to You?

Does God pervert justice?
Does the Almighty pervert what is right?

For ask the previous generation,
and pay attention to what their fathers discovered,

His source of confidence is fragile;
what he trusts in is a spider’s web.

He leans on his web, but it doesn’t stand firm.
He grabs it, but it does not hold up.

He is a well-watered plant in the sunshine;
his shoots spread out over his garden.

If he is uprooted from his place,
it will deny knowing him, saying, “I never saw you.”

Surely this is the joy of his way of life;
yet others will sprout from the dust.

He will yet fill your mouth with laughter
and your lips with a shout of joy.

Yes, I know what you’ve said is true,
but how can a person be justified before God?

God is wise and all-powerful.
Who has opposed Him and come out unharmed?

He alone stretches out the heavens
and treads on the waves of the sea.

If He snatches something, who can stop Him?
Who can ask Him, “What are You doing?”

If I summoned Him and He answered me,
I do not believe He would pay attention to what I said.

If it is a matter of strength, look, He is the Mighty One!
If it is a matter of justice, who can summon Him?

It is all the same. Therefore I say,
“He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.”

The earth is handed over to the wicked;
He blindfolds its judges.
If it isn’t He, then who is it?

Is it good for You to oppress,
to reject the work of Your hands,
and favor the plans of the wicked?

Did You not pour me out like milk
and curdle me like cheese?

“Yet You concealed these thoughts in Your heart;
I know that this was Your hidden plan:

“Why did You bring me out of the womb?
I should have died and never been seen.

Are my days not few? Stop it!
Leave me alone, so that I can smile a little

It is a land of blackness like the deepest darkness,
gloomy and chaotic,
where even the light is like the darkness.”

They are higher than the heavens—what can you do?
They are deeper than Sheol—what can you know?

Surely He knows which people are worthless.
If He sees iniquity, will He not take note of it?

if there is iniquity in your hand, remove it,
and don’t allow injustice to dwell in your tents—

For you will forget your suffering,
recalling it only as waters that have flowed by.

The one who is at ease holds calamity in contempt
and thinks it is prepared for those whose feet are slipping.

Or speak to the earth, and it will instruct you;
let the fish of the sea inform you.

He pours out contempt on nobles
and disarms the strong.

Look, my eyes have seen all this;
my ears have heard and understood it.

Yet I prefer to speak to the Almighty
and argue my case before God.

Would it go well if He examined you?
Could you deceive Him as you would deceive a man?

Why do I put myself at risk
and take my life in my own hands?

Man wears out like something rotten,
like a moth-eaten garment.

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Who can produce something pure from what is impure?
No one!

There is hope for a tree:
If it is cut down, it will sprout again,
and its shoots will not die.

the smell of water makes it thrive
and produce twigs like a sapling.

As water disappears from the sea
and a river becomes parched and dry,

When a man dies, will he come back to life?
If so, I would wait all the days of my struggle
until my relief comes.

If his sons receive honor, he does not know it;
if they become insignificant, he is unaware of it.

Your iniquity teaches you what to say,
and you choose the language of the crafty.

What do you know that we don’t?
What do you understand that is not clear to us?

What is man, that he should be pure,
or one born of woman, that he should be righteous?

Listen to me and I will inform you.
I will describe what I have seen,

what was declared by wise men
and was not suppressed by their ancestors,

Dreadful sounds fill his ears;
when he is at peace, a robber attacks him.

He wanders about for food, saying, “Where is it?”
He knows the day of darkness is at hand.

For he has stretched out his hand against God
and has arrogantly opposed the Almighty.

He rushes headlong at Him
with his thick, studded shields.

Though his face is covered with fat
and his waistline bulges with it,

Let him not put trust in worthless things, being led astray,
for what he gets in exchange will prove worthless.