Seven sons and three daughters were born to him.

His sons used to go [in turn] and feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send word and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them.

When the days of their feasting were over, Job would send [for them] and consecrate them, rising early in the morning and offering burnt offerings according to the number of them all; for Job said, “It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” Job did this at all [such] times.

Now there was a day when the sons of God (angels) came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan (adversary, accuser) also came among them.

The Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Then Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming around on the earth and from walking around on it.”

The Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered and reflected on My servant Job? For there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God [with reverence] and abstains from and turns away from evil [because he honors God].”

But put forth Your hand now and touch (destroy) all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face.”

Then the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that Job has is in your power, only do not put your hand on the man himself.” So Satan departed from the presence of the Lord.

Now there was a day when Job’s sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house,

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

and the Sabeans attacked and swooped down on them and took away the animals. They also killed the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”

While he was still speaking, another [messenger] also came and said, “The fire of God (lightning) has fallen from the heavens and has burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”

While he was still speaking, another [messenger] also came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three bands and made a raid on the camels and have taken them away and have killed the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”

and suddenly, a great wind came from across the desert, and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people and they died, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”

Again there was a day when the sons of God (angels) came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan (adversary, accuser) also came among them to present himself before the Lord.

The Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Then Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming around on the earth and from walking around on it.”

The Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered and reflected on My servant Job? For there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God [with reverence] and abstains from and turns away from evil [because he honors God]. And still he maintains and holds tightly to his integrity, although you incited Me against him to destroy him without cause.”

But put forth Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh [and severely afflict him]; and he will curse You to Your face.”

So the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand, only spare his life.”

So Satan departed from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with loathsome boils and agonizingly painful sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.

And Job took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself, and he sat [down] among the ashes (rubbish heaps).

Then his wife said to him, “Do you still cling to your integrity [and your faith and trust in God, without blaming Him]? Curse God and die!”

But he said to her, “You speak as one of the [spiritually] foolish women speaks [ignorant and oblivious to God’s will]. Shall we indeed accept [only] good from God and not [also] accept adversity and disaster?” In [spite of] all this Job did not sin with [words from] his lips.

Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this adversity that had come upon him, each one came from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite; for they had made an appointment together to come to sympathize with him and to comfort him.

So they sat down on the ground with Job for seven days and seven nights and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great.

After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.

“Let the day on which I was born perish,
And the night which announced: ‘There is a man-child conceived.’

“May that day be darkness;
Let God above not care about it,
Nor light shine on it.

“Let darkness and gloom claim it for their own;
Let a cloud settle upon it;
Let all that blackens the day terrify it (the day that I was born).

“Let those curse it who curse the day,
Who are skilled in rousing up Leviathan.

“Let the stars of its early dawn be dark;
Let the morning wait in vain for the light,
Let it not see the eyelids of morning (the day’s dawning),

“Why is the light given to him who is in misery,
And life to the bitter in soul,

“Why is the light of day given to a man whose way is hidden,
And whom God has hedged in?

“If we dare to converse with you, will you be impatient [or offended]?
But who can restrain himself from speaking?

“Now a word was secretly brought to me,
And my ear received a whisper of it.

‘Is not their tent-cord drawn up within them [so that the tent collapses]?
Do they not die, and yet without [acquiring] wisdom?’

“Call now —is there anyone who will answer you?
And to which of the holy ones (angels) will you turn?

“His children are far from safety [and included in their father’s ruin],
They are oppressed and crushed in the [court of justice in the city’s] gate,
And there is no one to rescue them.

“For man is born for trouble,
[As naturally] as sparks fly upward.

“As for me, I would seek God and inquire of Him,
And I would commit my cause to God;

So that He sets on high those who are lowly,
And He lifts to safety those who mourn.

“He catches the [so-called] wise in their own shrewdness,
And the advice of the devious is quickly thwarted.

“Behold, how happy and fortunate is the man whom God reproves,
So do not despise or reject the discipline of the Almighty [subjecting you to trial and suffering].

“You will come to your grave in old age,
Like the stacking of grain [on the threshing floor] in its season.

“Oh, that my grief could actually be weighed
And placed in the balances together with my tragedy [to see if my grief is the grief of a coward]!

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

“My soul refuses to touch them;
Such things are like loathsome food to me [sickening and repugnant].

“I wish that it would please God to crush me,
That He would let loose His hand and cut me off.

“For the despairing man there should be kindness from his friend;
So that he does not abandon (turn away from) the fear of the Almighty.

“They were put to shame and disappointed because they had trusted [that they would find water];
They came there and were ashamed.

“Indeed, you have now become like a dried-up stream,
You see a terror [believing me to be a victim of the wrath of God] and are afraid [to be compassionate].

Or, ‘Rescue me from the adversary’s hand,’
Or, ‘Redeem me from the hand of the tyrants’?

“Teach me, and I will be silent;
And show me how I have erred.

“Do you intend to reprove my words [with a convincing argument],
When the words of one in despair belong to the wind [and go ignored]?

“Now please look at me,
And see if I lie to your face [for you know that I would not].

“Turn away [from your suspicion], let there be no injustice;
Turn away, my righteousness and vindication is still in it.

“Is not man forced to labor on earth?
And are not his days like the days of a hired man?

So am I allotted months of futility and suffering,
And [long] nights of trouble and misery are appointed to me.

“When I lie down I say,
‘When shall I arise [and the night be gone]?’
But the night continues,
And I am continually tossing until the dawning of day.

“As a cloud vanishes and is gone,
So he who goes down to Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead) does not come up.

“He will not return again to his house,
Nor will his place know about him anymore.

“If I have sinned, what [harm] have I done to You,
O Watcher of mankind?
Why have You set me as a target for You,
So that I am a burden to myself?

“Why then do You not pardon my transgression
And take away my sin and guilt?
For now I will lie down in the dust;
And You will seek me [diligently], but I will not be.”

“If you would [diligently] seek God
And implore the compassion and favor of the Almighty,

“Inquire, please, of past generations,
And consider and apply yourself to the things searched out by their fathers.

“He trusts in his house, but it does not stand;
He holds tightly to it, but it does not endure.

“Behold, this is the joy of His way;
And from out of the dust others will spring up and grow [to take his place].

“If one should want to contend or dispute with Him,
He could not answer Him once in a thousand times.

“Behold, He snatches away; who can restrain or turn Him back?
Who will say to Him, ‘What are You doing?’

“How can I answer Him [and plead my case],
Choosing my words [to reason] with Him?

For though I were righteous, I could not answer.
I must appeal for mercy to my Opponent and Judge.

“If I called and He answered me,
I could not believe that He was listening to my voice.

“He will not allow me to catch my breath,
But fills and saturates me with bitterness.

“The earth is given into the hands of the wicked;
He covers the faces of its judges [so that they are blind to justice].
If it is not He, then who is it [that is responsible for all this injustice]?

I am afraid of all my pains and worries [yet to come];
I know that You will not acquit me and leave me unpunished.

“I am accounted wicked and held guilty;
Why then should I labor in vain [to appear innocent]?

You would still plunge me into the pit,
And my own clothes would hate me [and refuse to cover my foul body].

“Then I would speak [my defense] and not fear Him;
But I am not like that in myself.

“I am disgusted with my life and loathe it!
I will give free expression to my complaint;
I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.

“I will say to God, ‘Do not condemn me [and declare me guilty]!
Show me why You contend and argue and struggle with me.

‘Does it indeed seem right to You to oppress,
To despise and reject the work of Your hands,
And to look with favor on the schemes of the wicked?

‘Do You have eyes of flesh?
Do You see as a man sees?

‘I should have been as though I had not existed;
[I should have been] carried from the womb to the grave.’

Before I go—and I shall not return—
To the land of darkness and the deep shadow [of death],

“Can you discover the depths of God?
Can you [by searching] discover the limits of the Almighty [ascend to His heights, extend to His widths, and comprehend His infinite perfection]?

“His wisdom is as high as the heights of heaven. What can you do?
It is deeper than Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead). What can you know?

“If God passes by or arrests,
Or calls an assembly [of judgment], who can restrain Him?
[If He is against a man, who can call Him to account for it?]

“If you direct your heart [on the right path]
And stretch out your hands to Him,

Then, indeed, you could lift up your face [to Him] without moral defect,
And you would be firmly established and secure and not fear.

“But the eyes of the wicked will fail,
And they will not escape [the justice of God];
And their hope is to breathe their last [and die].”

“No doubt you are the [only wise] people [in the world],
And wisdom will die with you!

“But I have intelligence and understanding as well as you;
I am not inferior to you.
Who does not know such things as these [of God’s wisdom and might]?

“I am a joke to my friends;
I, one whom God answered when he called upon Him—
A just and blameless man is a joke [and laughed to scorn].

“Now ask the animals, and let them teach you [that God does not deal with His creatures according to their character];
And ask the birds of the air, and let them tell you;

Or speak to the earth [with its many forms of life], and it will teach you;
And let the fish of the sea declare [this truth] to you.

“Who among all these does not recognize [in all these things that good and evil are randomly scattered throughout nature and human life]
That the hand of the Lord has done this,

“Does the ear not put words to the test,
Just as the palate tastes its food [distinguishing between the desirable and the undesirable]?

“He removes intelligence and understanding from the leaders of the people of the earth
And makes them wander and move blindly in a pathless waste.

“They grope in darkness without light,
And He makes them stagger like a drunken man.”

“What you know I also know;
I am not inferior to you.