Seven sons and three daughters were born to him.

Now his sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one in turn, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and to drink with them.

When the days of their feasting were finished, Job would send for them and sanctify them; he would get up early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job thought, "Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts." This was Job's customary practice.

Now the day came when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord -- and Satan also arrived among them.

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."

But extend your hand and strike everything he has, and he will no doubt curse you to your face!"

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.

Now the day came when Job's sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house,

and a messenger came to Job, saying, "The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing beside them,

and the Sabeans swooped down and carried them all away, and they killed the servants with the sword! And I -- only I alone -- escaped to tell you!"

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!"

While this one was still speaking another messenger arrived and said, "The Chaldeans formed three bands and made a raid on the camels and carried them all away, and they killed the servants with the sword! And I -- only I alone -- escaped to tell you!"

and suddenly a great wind swept across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people, and they died! And I -- only I alone -- escaped to tell you!"

Then Job got up and tore his robe. He shaved his head, and then he threw himself down with his face to the ground.

Again the day came when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also arrived among them to present himself before the Lord.

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."

But Satan answered the Lord, "Skin for skin! Indeed, a man will give up all that he has to save his life!

But extend your hand and strike his bone and his flesh, and he will no doubt curse you to your face!"

So the Lord said to Satan, "All right, he is in your power; only preserve his life."

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.

Job took a shard of broken pottery to scrape himself with while he was sitting among the ashes.

Then his wife said to him, "Are you still holding firmly to your integrity? Curse God, and die!"

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.

Then they sat down with him on the ground for seven days and seven nights, yet 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 he was born.

"Let the day on which I was born perish, and the night that said, 'A man has been conceived!'

That day -- let it be darkness; let not God on high regard it, nor let light shine on it!

Let darkness and the deepest shadow claim it; let a cloud settle on it; let whatever blackens the day terrify it!

Let those who curse the day curse it -- those who are prepared to rouse Leviathan.

"Why did I not die at birth, and why did I not expire as I came out of the womb?

Why did the knees welcome me, and why were there two breasts that I might nurse at them?

There the prisoners relax together; they do not hear the voice of the oppressor.

"Why does God give light to one who is in misery, and life to those whose soul is bitter,

to those who wait for death that does not come, and search for it more than for hidden treasures,

who rejoice even to jubilation, and are exultant when they find the grave?

Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden, and whom God has hedged in?

For the very thing I dreaded has happened to me, and what I feared has come upon me.

But now the same thing comes to you, and you are discouraged; it strikes you, and you are terrified.

Call to mind now: Who, being innocent, ever perished? And where were upright people ever destroyed?

"Now a word was secretly brought to me, and my ear caught a whisper of it.

If God puts no trust in his servants and attributes folly to his angels,

how much more to those who live in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed like a moth?

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

"Call now! Is there anyone who will answer you? To which of the holy ones will you turn?

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

but people are born to trouble, as surely as the sparks fly upward.

"But as for me, I would seek God, and to God I would set forth my case.

he sets the lowly on high, that those who mourn are raised to safety.

He catches the wise in their own craftiness, and the counsel of the cunning is brought to a quick end.

"Therefore, blessed is the man whom God corrects, so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.

You will come to your grave in a full age, As stacks of grain are harvested in their season.

"Oh, if only my grief could be weighed, and my misfortune laid on the scales too!

I have refused to touch such things; they are like loathsome food to me.

And that God would be willing to crush me, that he would let loose his hand and kill me.

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.

"Teach me and I, for my part, will be silent; explain to me how I have been mistaken.

Do you intend to criticize mere words, and treat the words of a despairing man as wind?

"Now then, be good enough to look at me; and I will not lie to your face!

thus I have been made to inherit months of futility, and nights of sorrow have been appointed to me.

If I lie down, I say, 'When will I arise?', and the night stretches on and I toss and turn restlessly until the day dawns.

My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle and they come to an end without hope.

As a cloud is dispersed and then disappears, so the one who goes down to the grave does not come up again.

He returns no more to his house, nor does his place of residence know him any more.

I loathe it; I do not want to live forever; leave me alone, for my days are a vapor!

"What is mankind that you make so much of them, and that you pay attention to them?

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

If I have sinned -- what have I done to you, O watcher of men? Why have you set me as your target? Have I become a burden to you?

And why do you not pardon my transgression, and take away my iniquity? For now I will lie down in the dust, and you will seek me diligently, but I will be gone."

If your children sinned against him, he gave them over to the penalty of their sin.

But if you will look to God, and make your supplication to the Almighty,

"For inquire now of the former generation, and pay attention to the findings of their ancestors;

For we were born yesterday and do not have knowledge, since our days on earth are but a shadow.

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

While they are still beginning to flower and not ripe for cutting, they can wither away faster than any grass!

If someone wishes to contend with him, he cannot answer him one time in a thousand.

If he snatches away, who can turn him back? Who dares to say to him, 'What are you doing?'

"How much less, then, can I answer him and choose my words to argue with him!

If I summoned him, and he answered me, I would not believe that he would be listening to my voice --

He does not allow me to recover my breath, for he fills me with bitterness.

I am blameless. I do not know myself. I despise my life.

I dread all my sufferings, for I know that you do not hold me blameless.

I will say to God, 'Do not condemn me; tell me why you are contending with me.'

Is it good for you to oppress, to despise the work of your hands, while you smile on the schemes of the wicked?

"Do you have eyes of flesh, or do you see as a human being sees?

Remember that you have made me as with the clay; will you return me to dust?

If I am guilty, woe to me, and if I am innocent, I cannot lift my head; I am full of shame, and satiated with my affliction.

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

before I depart, never to return, to the land of darkness and the deepest shadow,

to the land of utter darkness, like the deepest darkness, and the deepest shadow and disorder, where even the light is like darkness."

Will your idle talk reduce people to silence, and will no one rebuke you when you mock?

and reveal to you the secrets of wisdom -- for true wisdom has two sides -- so that you would know that God has forgiven some of your sins.

It is higher than the heavens -- what can you do? It is deeper than Sheol -- what can you know?

if iniquity is in your hand -- put it far away, and do not let evil reside in your tents.

You will lie down with no one to make you afraid, and many will seek your favor.

But the eyes of the wicked fail, and escape eludes them; their one hope is to breathe their last."