1Now the day came when the sons of God came to present themselves before Yahweh, and the Accuser also came among them to present himself before Yahweh.
2And Yahweh said to the Accuser, “From where do you come?” And the Accuser answered Yahweh and said, “From roaming about on the earth and from walking back and forth in it.”
3And Yahweh said to the Accuser, “Have you set your heart on my servant Job? For there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and turns away from evil. And he still holds fast to his integrity, though you incited me against him to swallow him up without cause.”
4And the Accuser answered Yahweh and said, “Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life.
5But stretch out your hand now and touch his bone and his flesh, and see if he will not curse you to your face.”
6And Yahweh said to the Accuser, “Behold, he is in your hand; only preserve his life.”
7So the Accuser went out from the presence of Yahweh and struck Job with a grievous sore, from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.
8And he took for himself a potsherd to scrape himself with it, while he sat in the midst of the ashes.
9Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!”
10But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we indeed accept the good from God and not accept the evil?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.
11Now the three friends of Job heard of all this evil that had come upon him, and each came from his own place: Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. And they agreed together to come to condole with him and to comfort him.
12And they lifted up their eyes from a distance and did not recognize him, and they lifted up their voice and wept. Each tore his robe, and they threw dust upon their heads toward heaven.
13And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great.
Open in the interactive reader →