Job 1:13–2:10

¹³One day when Job’s sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, ¹⁴a messenger came to Job and reported, “While the oxen were plowing and the donkeys grazing nearby, ¹⁵the Sabeans^o swooped down and took them away. They struck down the servants with the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”

¹⁶He was still speaking when another messenger came and reported, “God’s fire fell from heaven.^p It burned the sheep and the servants and devoured them, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”

¹⁷That 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!”

¹⁸He was still speaking when another messenger came and reported, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house. ¹⁹Suddenly 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!”

²⁰Then Job stood up, tore^q his robe, and shaved^r his head. He fell to the ground and worshiped, ²¹saying:

Naked I came from my mother’s womb,^s

and naked I will leave this life.^t

The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away.

Blessed be the name of the Lord.^u

²²Throughout all this Job did not sin or blame God for anything.^Bv

SATAN’S SECOND TEST OF JOB

2One day the sons of God^w came again to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them to present himself before the Lord. ²The Lord asked Satan, “Where have you come from?”

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

³Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? No one else on earth is like him, a man of perfect integrity,^a who fears God and turns away from evil.^b He still retains his integrity, even though you incited me against him, to destroy him for no good reason.”

⁴“Skin for skin!” Satan answered the Lord. “A man will give up everything he owns in exchange for his life. ⁵But stretch out your hand and strike^c his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.”

⁶“Very well,” the Lord told Satan, “he is in your power; only spare his life.” ⁷So Satan left the Lord’s presence and infected Job with terrible boils from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.^{d 8}Then Job took a piece of broken pottery to scrape himself while he sat among the ashes.^e

⁹His wife said to him, “Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!”

¹⁰“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.^C