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.”

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.”

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.”

“Is not your fear of God your confidence,
And [is not] the integrity and uprightness of your ways your hope?

“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.

“Let Him take His rod away from me,
And let not the dread and fear of Him terrify me.

“Is it because of your fear of Him that He corrects you,
That He enters into judgment against you?

“They said to God, ‘Depart from us!
What can the Almighty do for us or to us?’

“But to man He said, ‘Behold, the reverential and worshipful fear of the Lord—that is wisdom;
And to depart from evil is understanding.’”

“Can you bind the wild ox with a harness [to the plow] in the furrow?
Or will he plow the valleys for you?

“Out of his nostrils smoke goes forth
As from a boiling pot and [as from] burning rushes.