1On another day the angels2:1 Hebrew the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them to present himself before him. 2And the Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”
Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”
3Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.”
4“Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give all he has for his own life. 5But now stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.”
6The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.”
7So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. 8Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes.
9His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!”
10He replied, “You are talking like a foolish2:10 The Hebrew word rendered foolish denotes moral deficiency. woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”
In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.
11When Job’s three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him. 12When they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him; they began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads. 13Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was.
Job sættes på en endnu strengere prøve
1Kort tid efter trådte englene igen frem for Herren, og Satan var iblandt dem.
2„Hvad har du bedrevet, Satan?” spurgte Herren.
„Jeg har gennemtravet jorden på kryds og tværs!” svarede Satan.
3„Lagde du mærke til min tjener Job?” spurgte Herren. „Han er enestående blandt mennesker, en retskaffen og gudfrygtig mand, der gør sit bedste for ikke at begå nogen synd. Han har bevaret sin gudhengivenhed, selvom du udfordrede mig til at lade dig skade ham uden grund.”
4„Han har endnu ikke mærket noget på sin egen krop,”2,4 Ordret: „hud for hud”. Meningen er uklar. svarede Satan. „Mennesker vil gøre alt for at bevare livet. 5Hvis du rammer ham på hans egen krop, skal jeg love dig for, at han vil forbande dig lige op i dit åbne ansigt!”
6„Gør, hvad du vil, Satan,” svarede Herren. „Men du må ikke tage livet af ham.”
7Derpå gik Satan sin vej og sørgede for, at Job blev plaget af ondartede bylder fra top til tå. 8Den stakkels Job satte sig ud på askedyngen og skrabede sine bylder med et potteskår.
9Da sagde hans kone til ham: „Holder du stadig fast ved din gudhengivenhed? Forband dog Gud og dø!”
10Men Job svarede: „Sikke noget snak! Skal vi kun tage imod det behagelige fra Gud, og ikke det ubehagelige?”
På trods af alle sine lidelser anklagede Job ikke Gud med et eneste ord.
Jobs tre venner
11Da Jobs tre venner hørte om de tragedier, der havde ramt ham, aftalte de med hinanden, at de ville tage hen for at trøste og opmuntre ham. De tre venner var Elifaz fra Teman, Bildad fra Shua og Zofar fra Na’amat. 12Da de kom til Job, kunne de næsten ikke genkende ham, så frygtelig så han ud. De brast i gråd, rev flænger i deres tøj og kastede støv op i luften. 13Så satte de sig på jorden ved siden af ham uden at sige et ord, for de kunne se, at han havde store smerter. I syv dage, dag og nat,2,13 Ordret: „syv dage og syv nætter”, men der var faktisk kun seks nætter i denne syv dages periode. sad de og led sammen i tavshed.
