Chapter 2

Job Loses His Health

1 aAgain there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the Lord.

2 The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.”

3 The Lord said to Satan, “Have you 1considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man 2fearing God and turning away from evil. And he still aholds fast his integrity, although you incited Me against him to 3ruin him without cause.”

4 Satan answered the Lord and said, “Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life.

5 “aHowever, put forth Your hand now, and btouch his bone and his flesh; he will curse You to Your face.”

6 So the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your 1power, only spare his life.”

7 Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and smote Job with asore boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.

8 And he took a potsherd to scrape himself while ahe was sitting among the ashes.

9 Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!”

10 But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. aShall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?” bIn all this Job did not sin with his lips.

11 Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this adversity that had come upon him, they came each one from his own place, Eliphaz the aTemanite, Bildad the bShuhite and Zophar the Naamathite; and they made an appointment together to come to csympathize with him and comfort him.

12 When they lifted up their eyes at a distance and did not recognize him, they raised their voices and wept. And each of them atore his robe and they bthrew dust over their heads toward the sky.

13 aThen they sat down on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights with no one speaking a word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great.

Chapter 22

Eliphaz Accuses and Exhorts Job

1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite 1responded,

2 “Can a vigorous aman be of use to God,

Or a wise man be useful to himself?

3 “Is there any pleasure to 1the Almighty if you are righteous,

Or profit if you make your ways perfect?

4 “Is it because of your 1reverence that He reproves you,

That He aenters into judgment against you?

5 “Is not ayour wickedness great,

And your iniquities without end?

6 “For you have ataken pledges of your brothers without cause,

And bstripped 1men naked.

7 “To the weary you have agiven no water to drink,

And from the hungry you have bwithheld bread.

8 “But the earth abelongs to the bmighty man,

And cthe honorable man dwells in it.

9 “You have sent awidows away empty,

And the 1strength of the borphans has been crushed.

10 “Therefore asnares surround you,

And sudden bdread terrifies you,

11 Or adarkness, so that you cannot see,

And an babundance of water covers you.

12 “Is not God ain the height of heaven?

Look also at the 1distant stars, how high they are!

13 “You say, ‘aWhat does God know?

Can He judge through the thick darkness?

14 ‘aClouds are a hiding place for Him, so that He cannot see;

And He walks on the 1vault of heaven.’

15 “Will you keep to the ancient path

Which awicked men have trod,

16 Who were snatched away abefore their time,

Whose bfoundations were 1washed away by a river?

17 “They asaid to God, ‘Depart from us!’

And ‘What can 1the Almighty do to them?’

18 “Yet He afilled their houses with good things;

But bthe counsel of the wicked is far from me.

19 “The arighteous see and are glad,

And the innocent mock them,

20 Saying, ‘Truly our adversaries are cut off,

And their 1abundance athe fire has consumed.’

21 “1aYield now and be at peace with Him;

Thereby good will come to you.

22 “Please receive 1ainstruction from His mouth

And establish His words in your heart.

23 “If you areturn to 1the Almighty, you will be 2restored;

If you bremove unrighteousness far from your tent,

24 And aplace your 1gold in the dust,

And the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks,

25 Then 1the Almighty will be your 2gold

And choice silver to you.

26 “For then you will adelight in 1the Almighty

And lift up your face to God.

27 “You will apray to Him, and bHe will hear you;

And you will pay your vows.

28 “You will also decree a thing, and it will be established for you;

And alight will shine on your ways.

29 “When 1you are cast down, you will speak with 2confidence,

And the 3ahumble person He will save.

30 “He will deliver one who is not innocent,

And he will be adelivered through the cleanness of your hands.”

Chapter 23

Job Says He Longs for God

1 Then Job 1replied,

2 “Even today my acomplaint is rebellion;

1His hand is bheavy despite my groaning.

3 “Oh that I knew where I might find Him,

That I might come to His seat!

4 “I would apresent my case before Him

And fill my mouth with arguments.

5 “I would learn the words which He would 1answer,

And perceive what He would say to me.

6 “Would He contend with me by athe greatness of His power?

No, surely He would pay attention to me.

7 “There the upright would areason with Him;

And I 1would be bdelivered forever from my Judge.

8 “Behold, I go forward but He is not there,

And backward, but I acannot perceive Him;

9 When He acts on the left, I cannot behold Him;

He turns on the right, I cannot see Him.

10 “But He knows the 1way I take;

When He has atried me, I shall come forth as gold.

11 “My foot has aheld fast to His path;

I have kept His way and not turned aside.

12 “I have not departed from the command of His lips;

I have treasured the awords of His mouth 1more than my 2necessary food.

13 “But He is unique and who can turn Him?

And what His soul desires, that He does.

14 “For He performs what is appointed for me,

And many such decrees are with Him.

15 “Therefore, I would be dismayed at His presence;

When I consider, I am terrified of Him.

16 “It is God who has made my aheart faint,

And the Almighty who has dismayed me,

17 But I aam not silenced by the darkness,

Nor bdeep gloom which covers me.

Chapter 24

Job Says God Seems to Ignore Wrongs

1 “aWhy are 1times not stored up by the Almighty,

And why do those who know Him not see bHis days?

2 “1Some aremove the landmarks;

They seize and 2devour flocks.

3 “They drive away the donkeys of the aorphans;

They take the bwidow’s ox for a pledge.

4 “They push athe needy aside from the road;

The bpoor of the land are made to hide themselves altogether.

5 “Behold, as awild donkeys in the wilderness

They bgo forth seeking food in their activity,

As 1bread for their children in the desert.

6 “They harvest their fodder in the field

And glean the vineyard of the wicked.

7 “aThey spend the night naked, without clothing,

And have no covering against the cold.

8 “They are wet with the mountain rains

And hug the rock for want of a shelter.

9 “1Others snatch the aorphan from the breast,

And against the poor they take a pledge.

10 “They cause the poor to go about naked without clothing,

And they take away the sheaves from the hungry.

11 “…