Job 1:6–22

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