There was a man in the country of Uz named Job. He was a man of perfect integrity, who feared God and turned away from evil.

He had seven sons and three daughters.

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!”

He was still speaking when another messenger came and reported: “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house.

Then Job stood up, tore his robe, and shaved his head. He fell to the ground and worshiped,

Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? No one else on earth is like him, a man of perfect integrity, who fears God and turns away from evil. He still retains his integrity, even though you incited Me against him, to destroy him without just cause.”

“Skin for skin!” Satan answered the Lord. “A man will give up everything he owns in exchange for his life.

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

“Very well,” the Lord told Satan, “he is in your power; only spare his life.”

Then Job took a piece of broken pottery to scrape himself while he sat among the ashes.

“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.

After this, Job began to speak and cursed the day he was born.

He said:

Consider: who has perished when he was innocent?
Where have the honest been destroyed?

If God puts no trust in His servants
and He charges His angels with foolishness,

how much more those who dwell in clay houses,
whose foundation is in the dust,
who are crushed like a moth!

He does great and unsearchable things,
wonders without number.

He gives rain to the earth
and sends water to the fields.

He sets the lowly on high,
and mourners are lifted to safety.

He frustrates the schemes of the crafty
so that they achieve no success.

He traps the wise in their craftiness
so that the plans of the deceptive
are quickly brought to an end.

He saves the needy from their sharp words
and from the clutches of the powerful.

See how happy the man is God corrects;
so do not reject the discipline of the Almighty.

For He crushes but also binds up;
He strikes, but His hands also heal.

He will rescue you from six calamities;
no harm will touch you in seven.

In famine He will redeem you from death,
and in battle, from the power of the sword.

that He would decide to crush me,
to unleash His power and cut me off!

A despairing man should receive loyalty from his friends,
even if he abandons the fear of the Almighty.

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

Like a slave he longs for shade;
like a hired man he waits for his pay.

He will never return to his house;
his hometown will no longer remember him.

How long will you go on saying these things?
Your words are a blast of wind.

Since your children sinned against Him,
He gave them over to their rebellion.

if you are pure and upright,
then He will move even now on your behalf
and restore the home where your righteousness dwells.

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.

His roots are intertwined around a pile of rocks.
He looks for a home among the stones.

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

Look, God does not reject a person of integrity,
and He will not support evildoers.

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?

If one wanted to take Him to court,
he could not answer God once in a thousand times.

He removes mountains without their knowledge,
overturning them in His anger.

He shakes the earth from its place
so that its pillars tremble.

He commands the sun not to shine
and seals off the stars.

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

He makes the stars: the Bear, Orion,
the Pleiades, and the constellations of the southern sky.

He does great and unsearchable things,
wonders without number.

If He passes by me, I wouldn’t see Him;
if He goes right by, I wouldn’t recognize Him.

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

How then can I answer Him
or choose my arguments against Him?

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

He batters me with a whirlwind
and multiplies my wounds without cause.

He doesn’t let me catch my breath
but soaks me with bitter experiences.

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.”

When disaster brings sudden death,
He mocks the despair of the innocent.

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

For He is not a man like me, that I can answer Him,
that we can take each other to court.

He would show you the secrets of wisdom,
for true wisdom has two sides.
Know then that God has chosen to overlook some of your sin.

If He passes by and throws someone in prison
or convenes a court, who can stop Him?

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

then you will hold your head high, free from fault.
You will be firmly established and unafraid.

Whatever He tears down cannot be rebuilt;
whoever He imprisons cannot be released.

When He withholds the waters, everything dries up,
and when He releases them, they destroy the land.

He leads counselors away barefoot
and makes judges go mad.

He releases the bonds put on by kings
and fastens a belt around their waists.

He leads priests away barefoot
and overthrows established leaders.

He deprives trusted advisers of speech
and takes away the elders’ good judgment.

He pours out contempt on nobles
and disarms the strong.

He reveals mysteries from the darkness
and brings the deepest darkness into the light.

He makes nations great, then destroys them;
He enlarges nations, then leads them away.

He deprives the world’s leaders of reason,
and makes them wander in a trackless wasteland.

They grope around in darkness without light;
He makes them stagger like drunken men.

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

Surely He would rebuke you
if you secretly showed partiality.

Even if He kills me, I will hope in Him.
I will still defend my ways before Him.

How many iniquities and sins have I committed?
Reveal to me my transgression and sin.

He blossoms like a flower, then withers;
he flees like a shadow and does not last.

Since man’s days are determined
and the number of his months depends on You,
and since You have set limits he cannot pass,

look away from him and let him rest
so that he can enjoy his day like a hired hand.

But a man dies and fades away;
he breathes his last—where is he?

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.

You completely overpower him, and he passes on;
You change his appearance and send him away.

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

He feels only the pain of his own body
and mourns only for himself.

Should he argue with useless talk
or with words that serve no good purpose?

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

how much less one who is revolting and corrupt,
who drinks injustice like water?

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

He doesn’t believe he will return from darkness;
he is destined for the sword.

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.

he will dwell in ruined cities,
in abandoned houses destined to become piles of rubble.

He will no longer be rich; his wealth will not endure.
His possessions will not increase in the land.