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.
1On another day angels came to the Lord. Satan also came to him along with them. 2The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”
Satan answered, “From traveling all around the earth. I’ve been going from one end of it to the other.”
3Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you thought about my servant Job? There isn’t anyone on earth like him. He is honest. He does what is right. He has respect for God and avoids evil. You tried to turn me against him. You wanted me to destroy him without any reason. But he still continues to be faithful.”
4Satan replied, “A man will give everything he has to save himself. So Job is willing to give up the lives of his family to save his own life. 5But now reach out your hand and strike his flesh and bones. Then I’m sure he will speak evil things against you. In fact, he’ll do it right in front of you.”
6The Lord said to Satan, “All right. I am handing him over to you. But you must spare his life.”
7Then Satan left the Lord and went on his way. He sent painful sores on Job. They covered him from the bottom of his feet to the top of his head. 8He got part of a broken pot. He used it to scrape his skin. He did it while he was sitting in ashes.
9His wife said to him, “Are you still continuing to be faithful to the Lord? Speak evil things against him and die!”
10Job replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. We accept good things from God. So we should also accept trouble when he sends it.”
In spite of everything, Job didn’t say anything that was sinful.
11Job had three friends named Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They heard about all the troubles that had come to Job. So they started out from their homes. They had agreed to meet together. They wanted to go and show their concern for Job. They wanted to comfort him. 12When they got closer to where he lived, they could see him. But they could hardly recognize him. They began to weep out loud. They tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads. 13Then they sat down on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him. That’s because they saw how much he was suffering.