Job 2:1–42:16

And it came to pass, when on a certain day the sons of God came, and stood before the Lord, and Satan came amongst them, and stood in his sight,

2 That the Lord said to Satan: Whence comest thou? And he answered, and said: I have gone round about the earth, and walked through it.

3 And the Lord said to Satan: Hast thou considered my servant, Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a man simple and upright, and fearing God, and avoiding evil, and still keeping his innocence? But thou hast moved me against him, that I should afflict him without cause.

4 And Satan answered, and said: Skin for skin; and all that a man hath, he will give for his life:

5 But put forth thy hand, and touch his bone and his flesh, and then thou shalt see that he will bless thee to thy face.

6 And the Lord said to Satan: Behold, he is in thy hand, but yet save his life.

7 So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord, and struck Job with a very grievous ulcer, from the sole of the foot even to the top of his head:

8 And he took a potsherd and scraped the corrupt matter, sitting on a dunghill.

9 And his wife said to him: Dost thou still continue in thy simplicity? bless God and die.

10 And he said to her: Thou hast spoken like one of the foolish women: If we have received good things at the hand of God, why should we not receive evil? In all these things Job did not sin with his lips.

11 Now when Job’s three friends heard all the evil that had befallen him, they came every one from his own place, Eliphaz, the Themanite, and Baldad, the Suhite, and Sophar, the Naamathite. For they had made an appointment to come together and visit him, and comfort him.

12 And when they had lifted up their eyes afar off, they knew him not, and crying out, they wept, and rending their garments, they sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven.

13 And they sat with him on the ground seven day and seven nights and no man spoke to him a word: for they saw that his grief was very great.

Chapter 3

After this, Job opened his mouth, and cursed his day,

2 And he said:

3 Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said: A man child is conceived.

4 Let that day be turned into darkness, let not God regard it from above, and let not the light shine upon it.

5 Let darkness, and the shadow of death, cover it, let a mist overspread it, and let it be wrapped up in bitterness.

6 Let a darksome whirlwind seize upon that night, let it not be counted in the days of the year, nor numbered in the months.

7 Let that night be solitary, and not worthy of praise.

8 Let them curse it who curse the day, who are ready to raise up a leviathan:

9 Let the stars be darkened with the mist thereof: let it expect light, and not see it, nor the rising of the dawning of the day:

10 Because it shut not up the doors of the womb that bore me, nor took away evils from my eyes.

11 Why did I not die in the womb? why did I not perish when I came out of the belly?

12 Why received upon the knees? why suckled at the breasts?

13 For now I should have been asleep and still, and should have rest in my sleep:

14 With kings and consuls of the earth, who build themselves solitudes:

15 Or with princes, that possess gold, and fill their houses with silver:

16 Or as a hidden untimely birth, I should not be; or as they that, being conceived, have not seen the light.

17 There the wicked cease from tumult, and there the wearied in strength are at rest.

18 And they sometime bound together without disquiet, have not heard the voice of the oppressor.

19 The small and great are there, and the servant is free from his master.

20 Why is light given to him that is in misery, and life to them that are in bitterness of soul?

21 That look for death, and it cometh not, as they that dig for a treasure:

22 And they rejoice exceedingly when they have found the grave?

23 To a man whose way is hidden, and God hath surrounded him with darkness?

24 Before I eat I sigh: and as overflowing waters, so is my roaring:

25 For the fear which I feared, hath come upon me: and that which I was afraid of, hath befallen me.

26 Have I not dissembled? have I not kept silence? have I not been quiet? and indignation is come upon me.

Chapter 4

Then Eliphaz, the Themanite, answered, and said:

2 If we begin to speak to thee, perhaps thou wilt take it ill; but who can withhold the words he hath conceived?

3 Behold thou hast taught many, and thou hast strengthened the weary hands:

4 Thy words have confirmed them that were staggering, and thou hast strengthened the trembling knees:

5 But now the scourge is come upon thee, and thou faintest: It hath touched thee, and thou art troubled.

6 Where is thy fear, thy fortitude, thy patience, and the perfection of thy ways?

7 Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished being innocent? or when were the just destroyed?

8 On the contrary, I have seen those who work iniquity, and sow sorrows, and reap them,

9 Perishing by the blast of God, and consumed by the spirit of his wrath.

10 The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the lioness, and the teeth of the whelps of lions, are broken:

11 The tiger hath perished for want of prey, and the young lions are scattered abroad.

12 Now there was a word spoken to me in private, and my ears by stealth, as it were, received the veins of its whisper.

13 In the horror of a vision by night, when deep sleep is wont to hold men,

14 Fear seized upon me, and trembling, and all my bones were affrighted:

15 And when a spirit passed before me, the hair of my flesh stood up.

16 There stood one whose countenance I knew not, an image before my eyes, and I heard the voice, as it were, of a gentle wind.

17 Shall man be justified in comparison of God, or shall a man be more pure than his maker?

18 Behold, they that serve him are not steadfast, and in his angels he found wickedness:

19 How much more shall they that dwell in houses of clay, who have an earthly foundation, be consumed as with the moth?

20 From morning till evening they shall be cut down: and because no one understandeth, they shall perish for ever.

21 And they that shall be left, shall be taken away from them: they shall die, and not in wisdom.

Chapter 5

Call now, if there be any that will answer thee, and turn to some of the saints.

2 Anger indeed killeth the foolish, and envy slayeth the little one.

3 I have seen a fool with a strong root, and I cursed his beauty immediately.

4 His children shall be far from safety, and shall be destroyed in the gate, and there shall be none to deliver them.

5 Whose harvest the hungry shall eat, and the armed man shall take him by violence, and the thirsty shall drink up his riches.

6 Nothing upon earth is done without a cause, and sorrow doth not spring out of the ground.

7 Man is born to labour, and the bird to fly.

8 Wherefore I will pray to the Lord, and address my speech to God:

9 Who doth great things, and unsearchable and wonderful things without number:

10 Who giveth rain upon the face of the earth, and watereth all things with waters:

11 Who setteth up the humble on high, and comforteth with health those that mourn.

12 Who bringeth to nought the designs of the malignant, so that their hands cannot accomplish what they had begun:

13 Who catcheth the wise in their craftiness, and disappointeth the counsel of the wicked:

14 They shall meet with darkness in the day, and grope at noonday as in the night.

15 But he shall save the needy from the sword of their mouth, and the poor from the hand of the violent.

16 And to the needy there shall be hope, but iniquity shall draw in her mouth.

17 Blessed is the man whom God correcteth: refuse not, therefore, the chastising of the Lord.

18 For he woundeth, and cureth: he striketh, and his hands shall heal.

19 In six troubles he shall deliver thee, and in the seventh, evil shall not touch thee.

20 In famine he shall deliver thee from death; and in battle, from the hand of the sword.

21 Thou shalt be hidden from the scourge of the tongue: and thou shalt not fear calamity when it cometh.

22 In destruction and famine thou shalt laugh: and thou shalt not be afraid of the beasts of the earth.

23 But thou shalt have a covenant with the stones of the lands, and the beasts of the earth shall be at peace with thee.

24 And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle is in peace, and visiting thy beauty, thou shalt not sin.

25 Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be multiplied, and thy offspring like the grass of the earth.

26 Thou shalt enter into the grave in abundance, as a heap of wheat is brought in in its season.

27 Behold, this is even so, as we have searched out: which thou having heard, consider it thoroughly in thy mind.

Chapter 6

But Job answered, and said:

2 O that my sins, whereby I have deserved wrath, and the calamity that I suffer, were weighed in a balance.

3 As the sand of the sea, this would appear heavier: therefore, my words are full of sorrow:

4 For the arrows of the Lord are in me, the rage whereof drinketh up my spirit, and the terrors of the Lord war against me.

5 Will the wild ass bray when he hath grass? or will the ox low when he standeth before a full manger?

6 Or can an unsavoury thing be eaten, that is not seasoned with salt? or can a man taste that which, when tasted, bringeth death?

7 The things which before my soul would not touch, now, through anguish, are my meats.

8 Who will grant that my request may come: and that God may give me what I look for?

9 And that he that hath begun may destroy me, that he may let loose his hand, and cut me off?

10 And that this may be my comfort, that afflicting me with sorrow, he spare not, nor I contradict the words of the Holy one.

11 For what is my strength, that I can hold out? or what is my end, that I should keep patience?

12 My strength is not the strength of stones, nor is my flesh of brass.

13 Behold there is no help for me in myself, and my familiar friends also are departed from me.

14 He that taketh away mercy from his friend, forsaketh the fear of the Lord.…