There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. And that man was pure and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.

The Lord said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" And Satan answered the Lord, "From roving about on the earth, and from walking back and forth across it."

So the Lord said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a pure and upright man, one who fears God and turns away from evil."

So the Lord said to Satan, "All right then, everything he has is in your power. Only do not extend your hand against the man himself!" So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.

While this one was still speaking, another messenger arrived and said, "The fire of God has fallen from heaven and has burned up the sheep and the servants -- it has consumed them! And I -- only I alone -- escaped to tell you!"

He said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will return there. The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. May the name of the Lord be blessed!"

And the Lord said to Satan, "Where do you come from?" Satan answered the Lord, "From roving about on the earth, and from walking back and forth across it."

Then the Lord said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a pure and upright man, one who fears God and turns away from evil. And he still holds firmly to his integrity, so that you stirred me up to destroy him without reason."

So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord, and he afflicted Job with a malignant ulcer from the sole of his feet to the top of his head.

But he replied, "You're talking like one of the godless women would do! Should we receive what is good from God, and not also receive what is evil?" In all this Job did not sin by what he said.

When Job's three friends heard about all this calamity that had happened to him, each of them came from his own country -- Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They met together to come to show sympathy for him and to console him.

But when they gazed intently from a distance but did not recognize him, they began to weep loudly. Each of them tore his robes, and they threw dust into the air over their heads.

because it did not shut the doors of my mother's womb on me, nor did it hide trouble from my eyes!

There the wicked cease from turmoil, and there the weary are at rest.

Small and great are there, and the slave is free from his master.

"If someone should attempt a word with you, will you be impatient? But who can refrain from speaking?

Is not their excess wealth taken away from them? They die, yet without attaining wisdom.

His children are far from safety, and they are crushed at the place where judgment is rendered, nor is there anyone to deliver them.

The hungry eat up his harvest, and take it even from behind the thorns, and the thirsty swallow up their fortune.

For evil does not come up from the dust, nor does trouble spring up from the ground,

So he saves from the sword that comes from their mouth, even the poor from the hand of the powerful.

He will deliver you from six calamities; yes, in seven no evil will touch you.

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

You will be protected from malicious gossip, and will not be afraid of the destruction when it comes.

Is not my power to help myself nothing, and has not every resource been driven from me?

"To the one in despair, kindness should come from his friend even if he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.

When they are scorched, they dry up, when it is hot, they vanish from their place.

Caravans turn aside from their routes; they go into the wasteland and perish.

"Have I ever said, 'Give me something, and from your fortune make gifts in my favor'?

Or 'Deliver me from the enemy's power, and from the hand of tyrants ransom me'?

Will you never look away from me, will you not let me alone long enough to swallow my spittle?

Will they not instruct you and speak to you, and bring forth words from their understanding?

If he is uprooted from his place, then that place will disown him, saying, 'I have never seen you!'

who would take his rod away from me so that his terror would not make me afraid.

"Why then did you bring me out from the womb? I should have died and no eye would have seen me!

I should have been as though I had never existed; I should have been carried right from the womb to the grave!

"Refrain from talking with me so that I may speak; then let come to me what may.

Only in two things spare me, O God, and then I will not hide from your face:

Remove your hand far from me and stop making me afraid with your terror.

Who can make a clean thing come from an unclean? No one!

Look away from him and let him desist, until he fulfills his time like a hired man.

As water disappears from the sea, or a river drains away and dries up,

so man lies down and does not rise; until the heavens are no more, they will not awake nor arise from their sleep.

But as a mountain falls away and crumbles, and as a rock will be removed from its place,

when you turn your rage against God and allow such words to escape from your mouth?

what wise men declare, hiding nothing, from the tradition of their ancestors,

He does not expect to escape from darkness; he is marked for the sword;

But I would strengthen you with my words; comfort from my lips would bring you relief.

"But if I speak, my pain is not relieved, and if I refrain from speaking -- how much of it goes away?

My eyes have grown dim with grief; my whole frame is but a shadow.

You who tear yourself to pieces in your anger, will the earth be abandoned for your sake? Or will a rock be moved from its place?

He is dragged from the security of his tent, and marched off to the king of terrors.

His memory perishes from the earth, he has no name in the land.

He is driven from light into darkness and is banished from the world.

"He has put my relatives far from me; my acquaintances only turn away from me.

"Surely you know that it has been from old, ever since humankind was placed on the earth,

He gives back the ill-gotten gain without assimilating it; he will not enjoy the wealth from his commerce.

If he flees from an iron weapon, then an arrow from a bronze bow pierces him.

Such is the lot God allots the wicked, and the heritage of his appointment from God."

Their houses are safe and without fear; and no rod of punishment from God is upon them.

So they say to God, 'Turn away from us! We do not want to know your ways.

But their prosperity is not their own doing. The counsel of the wicked is far from me!

that the evil man is spared from the day of his misfortune, that he is delivered from the day of God's wrath?

"For you took pledges from your brothers for no reason, and you stripped the clothing from the naked.

You gave the weary no water to drink and from the hungry you withheld food.

They were saying to God, 'Turn away from us,' and 'What can the Almighty do to us?'

But it was he who filled their houses with good things -- yet the counsel of the wicked was far from me.

Accept instruction from his mouth and store up his words in your heart.

If you return to the Almighty, you will be built up; if you remove wicked behavior far from your tent,

There an upright person could present his case before him, and I would be delivered forever from my judge.

I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my allotted portion.

They turn the needy from the pathway, and the poor of the land hide themselves together.

The fatherless child is snatched from the breast, the infant of the poor is taken as a pledge.

From the city the dying groan, and the wounded cry out for help, but God charges no one with wrongdoing.

To whom did you utter these words? And whose spirit has come forth from your mouth?

for while my spirit is still in me, and the breath from God is in my nostrils,

This is the portion of the wicked man allotted by God, the inheritance that evildoers receive from the Almighty.

It hurls itself against him without pity as he flees headlong from its power.

It claps its hands at him in derision and hisses him away from his place.

Iron is taken from the ground, and rock is poured out as copper.

Far from where people live he sinks a shaft, in places travelers have long forgotten, far from other people he dangles and sways.

The earth, from which food comes, is overturned below as though by fire;

"But wisdom -- where does it come from? Where is the place of understanding?

For it has been hidden from the eyes of every living creature, and from the birds of the sky it has been concealed.

And he said to mankind, 'The fear of the Lord -- that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.'"

the chief men refrained from talking and covered their mouths with their hands;

I broke the fangs of the wicked, and made him drop his prey from his teeth.

By the brush they would gather herbs from the salt marshes, and the root of the broom tree was their food.

They were banished from the community -- people shouted at them like they would shout at thieves --

On my right the young rabble rise up; they drive me from place to place, and build up siege ramps against me.

What then would be one's lot from God above, one's heritage from the Almighty on high?

If my footsteps have strayed from the way, if my heart has gone after my eyes, or if anything has defiled my hands,

Did not the one who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same one form us in the womb?

but from my youth I raised the orphan like a father, and from my mother's womb I guided the widow!

then let my arm fall from the shoulder, let my arm be broken off at the socket.

For the calamity from God was a terror to me, and by reason of his majesty I was powerless.

so that my heart was secretly enticed, and my hand threw them a kiss from my mouth,

if the members of my household have never said, 'If only there were someone who has not been satisfied from Job's meat!' --

My words come from the uprightness of my heart, and my lips will utter knowledge sincerely.

Look, I am just like you in relation to God; I too have been molded from clay.