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.

His estate included 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and a very large number of servants. Job was the greatest man among all the people of the east.

Whenever a round of banqueting was over, Job would send for his children and purify them, rising early in the morning to offer burnt offerings for all of them. For Job thought: Perhaps my children have sinned, having cursed God in their hearts. This was Job’s regular practice.

The Lord asked Satan, “Where have you come from?”

“From roaming through the earth,” Satan answered Him, “and walking around on it.”

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.”

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.

a messenger came to Job and reported: “While the oxen were plowing and the donkeys grazing nearby,

the Sabeans swooped down and took them away. They struck down the servants with the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”

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!”

That messenger was still speaking when yet another came and reported: “The Chaldeans formed three bands, made a raid on the camels, and took them away. They struck down the servants with the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”

Suddenly a powerful wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on the young people so that they died, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”

saying:

Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
and naked I will leave this life.
The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away.
Praise the name of Yahweh.

The Lord asked Satan, “Where have you come from?”

“From roaming through the earth,” Satan answered Him, “and walking around on it.”

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.”

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

His wife said to him, “Do you still retain your integrity? Curse God and die!”

“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.

When they looked from a distance, they could barely recognize him. They wept aloud, and each man tore his robe and threw dust into the air and on his head.

Then they sat on the ground with him seven days and nights, but no one spoke a word to him because they saw that his suffering was very intense.

May the day I was born perish,
and the night when they said,
“A boy is conceived.”

May darkness and gloom reclaim it,
and a cloud settle over it.
May an eclipse of the sun terrify it.

If only darkness had taken that night away!
May it not appear among the days of the year
or be listed in the calendar.

Let those who curse certain days
cast a spell on it,
those who are skilled in rousing Leviathan.

Why was I not stillborn;
why didn’t I die as I came from the womb?

Now I would certainly be lying down in peace;
I would be asleep.
Then I would be at rest

with the kings and counselors of the earth,
who rebuilt ruined cities for themselves,

or with princes who had gold,
who filled their houses with silver.

Or why was I not hidden like a miscarried child,
like infants who never see daylight?

who wait for death, but it does not come,
and search for it more than for hidden treasure,

who are filled with much joy
and are glad when they reach the grave?

Why is life given to a man whose path is hidden,
whom God has hedged in?

I sigh when food is put before me,
and my groans pour out like water.

For the thing I feared has overtaken me,
and what I dreaded has happened to me.

I cannot relax or be still;
I have no rest, for trouble comes.

Should anyone try to speak with you
when you are exhausted?
Yet who can keep from speaking?

Indeed, you have instructed many
and have strengthened weak hands.

Your words have steadied the one who was stumbling
and braced the knees that were buckling.

But now that this has happened to you,
you have become exhausted.
It strikes you, and you are dismayed.

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

In my experience, those who plow injustice
and those who sow trouble reap the same.

They perish at a single blast from God
and come to an end by the breath of His nostrils.

A word was brought to me in secret;
my ears caught a whisper of it.

A wind passed by me,
and I shuddered with fear.

A figure stood there,
but I could not recognize its appearance;
a form loomed before my eyes.
I heard a quiet voice:

“Can a person be more righteous than God,
or a man more pure than his Maker?”

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

Call out if you please. Will anyone answer you?
Which of the holy ones will you turn to?

For anger kills a fool,
and jealousy slays the gullible.

I have seen a fool taking root,
but I immediately pronounced a curse on his home.

However, if I were you, I would appeal to God
and would present my case to Him.

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.

You will be safe from slander
and not fear destruction when it comes.

You will laugh at destruction and hunger
and not fear the animals of the earth.

For you will have a covenant with the stones of the field,
and the wild animals will be at peace with you.

You will know that your tent is secure,
and nothing will be missing when you inspect your home.

You will also know that your offspring will be many
and your descendants like the grass of the earth.

You will approach the grave in full vigor,
as a stack of sheaves is gathered in its season.

We have investigated this, and it is true!
Hear it and understand it for yourself.

If only my grief could be weighed
and my devastation placed with it in the scales.

Does a wild donkey bray over fresh grass
or an ox low over its fodder?

I refuse to touch them;
they are like contaminated food.

If only my request would be granted
and God would provide what I hope for:

It would still bring me comfort,
and I would leap for joy in unrelenting pain
that I have not denied the words of the Holy One.

What strength do I have that I should continue to hope?
What is my future, that I should be patient?

Since I cannot help myself,
the hope for success has been banished from me.

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

My brothers are as treacherous as a wadi,
as seasonal streams that overflow

Caravans turn away from their routes,
go up into the desert, and perish.

So this is what you have now become to me.
When you see something dreadful, you are afraid.

Have I ever said: “Give me something”
or “Pay a bribe for me from your wealth”

Teach me, and I will be silent.
Help me understand what I did wrong.

Do you think that you can disprove my words
or that a despairing man’s words are mere wind?

No doubt you would cast lots for a fatherless child
and negotiate a price to sell your friend.

But now, please look at me;
would I lie to your face?

Is there injustice on my tongue
or can my palate not taste disaster?

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Isn’t mankind consigned to forced labor on earth?
Are not his days like those of a hired hand?

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

So I have been made to inherit months of futility,
and troubled nights have been assigned to me.

When I lie down I think:
When will I get up?
But the evening drags on endlessly,
and I toss and turn until dawn.

My days pass more swiftly than a weaver’s shuttle;
they come to an end without hope.

Remember that my life is but a breath.
My eye will never again see anything good.

The eye of anyone who looks on me
will no longer see me.
Your eyes will look for me, but I will be gone.

As a cloud fades away and vanishes,
so the one who goes down to Sheol will never rise again.

Therefore I will not restrain my mouth.
I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;
I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.

Am I the sea or a sea monster,
that You keep me under guard?

When I say: My bed will comfort me,
and my couch will ease my complaint,

then You frighten me with dreams,
and terrify me with visions,

so that I prefer strangling—
death rather than life in this body.

I give up! I will not live forever.
Leave me alone, for my days are a breath.

What is man, that You think so highly of him
and pay so much attention to him?

You inspect him every morning,
and put him to the test every moment.

Will You ever look away from me,
or leave me alone long enough to swallow?

If I have sinned, what have I done to You,
Watcher of mankind?
Why have You made me Your target,
so that I have become a burden to You?

Why not forgive my sin
and pardon my transgression?
For soon I will lie down in the grave.
You will eagerly seek me, but I will be gone.

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