friends—Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar—arrive and wisely sit with him in silence for seven days, mourning Job’s losses. The friends start off so well: Immediately they hear of Job’s distress; they travel great distances to be with him; and when they see him and can hardly recognize him, they discern the extent of his sufferings (2:11–13). In chapter 3 Job plunges into despair, cursing the day of his birth and wishing he could undo the very fiber of creation. In his first speech, Job curses the day of