Satan Attacks Job’s Health

2 Again mthere 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 And the Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” 3 And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil? He still nholds fast his integrity, although you incited me against him to destroy him owithout reason.” 4 Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life. 5 But pstretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will qcurse you to your face.” 6 And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand; only spare his life.”

7 So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with loathsome rsores from sthe sole of his foot to the crown of his head. 8 And he took ta piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat in uthe ashes.

9 Then his wife said to him, “Do you still vhold fast your integrity? qCurse God and die.” 10 But he said to her, “You speak as one of the wfoolish women would speak. xShall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?”1 yIn all this Job did not zsin with his lips.

Job’s Three Friends

11 Now when Job’s three afriends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place, Eliphaz bthe Temanite, Bildad cthe Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They made an appointment together to come to dshow him sympathy and comfort him. 12 And when they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him. And they raised their voices and wept, and they etore their robes and sprinkled fdust on their heads toward heaven. 13 And they sat with him on the ground gseven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great.

Job Laments His Birth

3 After this Job hopened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. 2 And Job said:

3  i“Let the day perish on which I was born,

and the night that said,

‘A man is conceived.’

4  Let that day be darkness!

May God above not seek it,

nor light shine upon it.

5  Let gloom and jdeep darkness claim it.

Let clouds dwell upon it;

let the blackness of the day terrify it.

6  That night—let thick darkness seize it!

Let it not rejoice among the days of the year;

let it not come into the number of the months.

7  Behold, let that night be barren;

let no joyful cry enter it.

8  Let those curse it who curse the day,

who are ready to rouse up kLeviathan.

9  Let the stars of its dawn be dark;

let it hope for light, but have none,

nor see lthe eyelids of the morning,

10  because it did not shut the doors of my mother’s womb,

nor hide trouble from my eyes.

11  “Why mdid I not die at birth,

come out from the womb and expire?

12  Why did nthe knees receive me?

Or why the breasts, that I should nurse?

13  For then I would have lain down and been quiet;

I would have slept; then I would have been at rest,

14  with kings and counselors of the earth

who orebuilt ruins for themselves,

15  or with princes who had gold,

who filled their houses with silver.

16  Or why was I not as a hidden pstillborn child,

as infants who never see the light?

17  There the wicked cease from troubling,

and there the weary are at qrest.

18  There the prisoners are at ease together;

they hear not the voice of rthe taskmaster.

19  The small and the great are there,

and the slave is free from his master.

20  “Why is light given to him who is in misery,

and life to sthe bitter in soul,

21  who tlong for death, but it comes not,

and dig for it more than for uhidden treasures,

22  who rejoice exceedingly

and are glad when they find the grave?

23  Why is light given to a man whose vway is hidden,

whom God has whedged in?

24  For my sighing comes xinstead of1 my bread,

and my ygroanings are poured out like water.

25  zFor the thing that I fear comes upon me,

and what I dread befalls me.

26  I am not at ease, nor am I quiet;

I have no rest, but trouble comes.”

Eliphaz Speaks: The Innocent Prosper

4 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:

2  “If one ventures a word with you, will you be impatient?

Yet who can keep from speaking?

3  Behold, you have instructed many,

and you have astrengthened the weak hands.

4  Your words have upheld him who was stumbling,

and you have amade firm the feeble knees.

5  But now it has come to you, and you are impatient;

it touches you, and you are dismayed.

6  bIs not your fear of God1 your cconfidence,

and the integrity of your ways your hope?

7  “Remember: dwho that was innocent ever perished?

Or where were the upright cut off?

8  As I have seen, those who eplow iniquity

and sow trouble reap the same.

9  By fthe breath of God they perish,

and by gthe blast of his anger they are consumed.

10  The roar of the lion, the voice of the fierce lion,

hthe teeth of the young lions are broken.

11  The strong lion perishes for lack of prey,

and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.

12  “Now a word was brought to me stealthily;

my ear received ithe whisper of it.

13  Amid jthoughts from kvisions of the night,

when kdeep sleep falls on men,

14  dread came upon me, and trembling,

which made all my bones shake.

15  A spirit glided past my face;

the hair of my flesh stood up.

16  It stood still,

but I could not discern its appearance.

lA form was before my eyes;

there was silence, then I heard ma voice:

17  n‘Can mortal man be in the right before2 God?

Can a man be pure before his Maker?

18  Even in his servants ohe puts no trust,

and his angels he charges with error;

19  how much more those who dwell in houses of pclay,

whose foundation is in qthe dust,

who are crushed like3 rthe moth.

20  Between smorning and evening they are beaten to pieces;

they perish forever twithout anyone regarding it.

21  Is not their tent-cord plucked up within them,

udo they not die, and that without wisdom?’