Job the Good Man

1 There was a man named Job that lived in the country of Uz. Job was a good and faithful man. Job worshiped God and refused to do evil things. ²Job had seven sons and three daughters. ³Job owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 1,000 bulls, and 500 female donkeys. He had many servants. Job was the richest man in the east. ⁴Job’s sons took turns having parties in their homes, and they invited their sisters. ⁵Job got up early in the morning after his children had a party. He offered a burnt offering for each of his children. He thought, “Maybe my children were careless and sinned against God at their party.” Job always did this so his children would be forgiven of their sins. ⁶Then the day came for the angels* to meet with the Lord. Even Satan was there with those angels. ⁷The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you been?” Satan answered the Lord, “I have been wandering around on the earth.” ⁸Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you seen my servant Job? There is no person on earth like Job. Job is a good and faithful man. He worships God and refuses to do evil things.” ⁹Satan answered, “Sure! But Job has a good reason for worshiping God! ¹⁰You always protect him, his family, and everything he has. You have made him successful in everything he does. Yes, you have blessed him. He is so wealthy that his herds and flocks are all over the country. ¹¹But if you destroy everything he has, I promise you that he will curse* you to your face.” ¹²The Lord said to Satan, “All right. Do anything you want to the things Job has. But don’t hurt his body.” Then Satan went away from the Lord.

Job Loses Everything

¹³One day, Job’s sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house. ¹⁴Then a messenger came to Job and said, “The bulls were plowing and the donkeys were eating grass near by. ¹⁵The Sabean people* attacked us and took your animals! Those people killed the other servants. I am the only person that escaped. So I came to tell you the news!” ¹⁶While that messenger was still speaking, another messenger came to Job. The second messenger said, “Lightning struck from the sky and burned up your sheep and servants. I am the only person that escaped. So I came to tell you the news!” ¹⁷While that messenger was still speaking, another messenger came. This third messenger said, “The Chaldeans sent three groups of soldiers. They attacked us and took the camels! They killed the servants. I am the only person that escaped. So I came to tell you the news!” ¹⁸While the third messenger was still speaking, another messenger came. The fourth messenger said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house. ¹⁹Then a strong wind suddenly blew in from the desert and blew the house down. The house fell on your sons and daughters, and they are dead. I am the only person that escaped. So I came to tell you the news!” ²⁰When Job heard this, he tore his clothes and shaved his head {to show he was sad and upset}. Then Job fell on the ground and worshiped God. ²¹He said: “When I was born into this world, I was naked, and I had nothing. When I die and leave this world, I’ll be naked, and I’ll have nothing. The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. Praise the name of the Lord!” ²²All of those things happened, but Job didn’t sin. Job didn’t say that God did anything wrong.

angels Literally, “sons of God.” curse(d) To ask for bad things to happen to someone. Sabean people A group of people from the desert area. They attacked people and took their things.

Satan Bothers Job Again

2 On another day, the angels* came to meet with the Lord. Even Satan came to meet with the Lord. ²The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you been?” Satan answered the Lord, “I have been wandering around on the earth.” ³Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you seen my servant Job? There is no person on earth like Job. Job is a good and faithful man. He worships God and refuses to do evil things. He still is faithful, even though you asked me to let you destroy everything he has for no reason.” ⁴Satan answered, “Skin for skin!* A person will give everything he has to save his life. ⁵If you use your power to hurt his body, then he will curse* you to your face!” ⁶So the Lord said to Satan, “All right, Job is in your power. But you are not allowed to kill him.” ⁷Then Satan went away from the Lord. Satan gave Job painful sores. The painful sores were all over Job’s body from the bottom of his feet to the top of his head. ⁸So Job sat near the garbage piles. He used a piece of broken pottery to scrape his sores. ⁹Job’s wife said to him, “Are you still faithful to God? Why don’t you curse* God and die!” ¹⁰Job answered his wife, “You talk like a foolish woman! God gives us good things, and we accept them. So we should also accept trouble {and not complain}.” All these things happened. But Job did not sin. He did not speak against God.

Job’s Three Friends Come to See Him

¹¹Three of Job’s friends were Eliphaz from Teman, Bildad from Shuah, and Zophar from Naamah. These three friends heard about all the bad things that happened to Job. These three friends left their homes and met together. They agreed to go and show sympathy to Job and to comfort him. ¹²But when the three friends saw Job from far away, they were not sure it was Job—he looked so different! They began to cry loudly. They tore their clothes and threw dirt in the air and on their heads {to show they were sad and upset}. ¹³Then the three friends sat on the ground with Job for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to Job, because they saw Job was suffering so much.

angels Literally, “sons of God.” Skin for skin This means that a person will do anything he can do to avoid pain. curse(d) To ask for bad things to happen to someone.

Job Curses the Day He Was Born

3 Then Job opened his mouth and cursed* the day he was born. ^2–3He said: “I wish the day I was born would be lost forever. I wish that night they said, ‘It’s a boy!’ had never happened. ⁴I wish that day had stayed dark. I wish God would forget that day. I wish light had not shined on that day. ⁵I wish that day had stayed dark—as dark as death. I wish clouds would hide that day. I wish black clouds could scare away the light from the day I was born. ⁶Let the darkness keep that night. Leave that night off the calendar. Don’t put that night in any of the months. ⁷Don’t let that night produce anything. Let no happy shout be heard on that night. ⁸Some magicians are always wanting to wake Leviathan.* So let them say their curses, and curse the day I was born. ⁹Let that day’s morning star be dark. Let that night wait for the morning, but may that light never come. Don’t let it see the first rays of sunlight. ¹⁰Why? Because that night didn’t stop me from being born. That night didn’t stop me from seeing these troubles. ¹¹Why didn’t I die when I was born? Why didn’t I die at birth? ¹²Why did my mother hold me on her knees? Why did my mother’s breasts feed me? ¹³If I had died when I was born, I would be at peace now. I wish I were asleep and at rest ¹⁴with the kings and wise men who lived on earth in the past. Those men built places for themselves that are now destroyed and gone. ¹⁵I wish I were buried with those rulers that filled their graves* with gold and silver! ¹⁶Why wasn’t I a child who died at birth and was buried in the ground? I wish I were like a baby that never saw the light of day. ¹⁷Bad people stop making trouble when they are in the grave. And people who are tired find rest in the grave. ¹⁸Even prisoners find relief in the grave; they don’t hear their guards yelling at them. ¹⁹All kinds of people are in the grave—important people and people who are not so important. Even the slave is freed from his master. ²⁰“Why must a suffering person continue to live? Why give life to a person whose soul is bitter? ²¹That person wants to die, but death does not come. That sad person searches for death more than for hidden treasure. ²²Those people would be happy to find their grave. They would rejoice to find their tomb. ²³But God keeps their future a secret, and builds a wall around them to protect them. ²⁴When it is time to eat, I only sigh with sadness not with joy. My complaints pour out like water. ²⁵I was afraid that something terrible might happen to me. And that is what happened! The things I feared most happened to me. ²⁶I can’t calm down. I can’t relax. I can’t rest. I’m too upset!”

curse(d) To ask for bad things to happen to someone. Leviathan Here this is probably a giant sea monster. Some people thought magicians were able to make it ‘swallow the sun’, that is, cause an eclipse of the sun. graves Or, “houses.”