Job 1

JOB AND HIS FAMILY

1There was a man in the country of Uz^a named Job.^b He was a man of complete integrity,^c who feared God and turned away from evil.^{d 2}He had seven sons and three daughters.^{e 3}His estate included seven thousand sheep and goats, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys,^f and a very large number of servants. Job was the greatest man among all the people of the east.^g

⁴His sons used to take turns having banquets at their homes. They would send an invitation to their three sisters to eat and drink with them. ⁵Whenever 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^A all of them. For Job thought, “Perhaps my children have sinned, having cursed God in their hearts.”^h This was Job’s regular practice.

SATAN’S FIRST TEST OF JOB

⁶One day the sons of Godⁱ came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan^B also came with them. ⁷The Lord asked Satan, “Where have you come from?”

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

⁸Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? No one else on earth is like him, a man of perfect integrity,^k who fears God and turns away from evil.”^l

⁹Satan answered the Lord, “Does Job fear God for nothing? ¹⁰Haven’t you placed a hedge around^m him, his household, and everything he owns? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. ¹¹But stretch out your hand and strikeⁿ everything he owns, and he will surely curse you to your face.”

¹²“Very well,” the Lord told Satan, “everything he owns is in your power. However, do not lay a hand on Job himself.” So Satan left the Lord’s presence.

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