June 7

Job 1:1 — 4:21

 Job

1 There happened to be a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and that man proved to be blameless and upright, and fearing God and turning aside from bad. 2 And seven sons and three daughters came to be born to him. 3 And his livestock got to be seven thousand sheep and three thousand camels and five hundred spans of cattle and five hundred she-asses, along with a very large body of servants; and that man came to be the greatest of all the Orientals.

4 And his sons went and held a banquet at the house of each one on his own day; and they sent and invited their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 And it would occur that when the banquet days had gone round the circuit, Job would send and sanctify them; and he got up early in the morning and offered up burnt sacrifices according to the number of all of them; for, said Job, “maybe my sons have sinned and have cursed God in their heart.” That is the way Job would do always.

6 Now it came to be the day when the sons of the [true] God entered to take their station before Jehovah, and even Satan proceeded to enter right among them.

7 Then Jehovah said to Satan: “Where do you come from?” At that Satan answered Jehovah and said: “From roving about in the earth and from walking about in it.” 8 And Jehovah went on to say to Satan: “Have you set your heart upon my servant Job, that there is no one like him in the earth, a man blameless and upright, fearing God and turning aside from bad?” 9 At that Satan answered Jehovah and said: “Is it for nothing that Job has feared God? 10 Have not you yourself put up a hedge about him and about his house and about everything that he has all around? The work of his hands you have blessed, and his livestock itself has spread abroad in the earth. 11 But, for a change, thrust out your hand, please, and touch everything he has [and see] whether he will not curse you to your very face.” 12 Accordingly Jehovah said to Satan: “Look! Everything that he has is in your hand. Only against him himself do not thrust out your hand!” So Satan went out away from the person of Jehovah.

13 Now it came to be the day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their brother the firstborn. 14 And there came a messenger to Job, and he proceeded to say: “The cattle themselves happened to be plowing and the she-asses were grazing at the side of them 15 when the Sabeans came making a raid and taking them, and the attendants they struck down with the edge of the sword; and I got to escape, only I by myself, to tell you.”

16 While this one was yet speaking that one came and proceeded to say: “The very fire of God fell from the heavens and went blazing among the sheep and the attendants and eating them up; and I got to escape, only I by myself, to tell you.”

17 While that one was yet speaking another one came and proceeded to say: “The Chaldeans made up three bands and went dashing against the camels and taking them, and the attendants they struck down with the edge of the sword; and I got to escape, only I by myself, to tell you.”

18 While this other one was yet speaking, still another one came and proceeded to say: “Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their brother the firstborn. 19 And, look! there came a great wind from the region of the wilderness, and it went striking the four corners of the house, so that it fell upon the young people and they died. And I got to escape, only I by myself, to tell you.”

20 And Job proceeded to get up and rip his sleeveless coat apart and cut the hair off his head and fall to the earth and bow down 21 and say:

 “Naked I came out of my mother’s belly,

        And naked shall I return there.

 Jehovah himself has given, and Jehovah himself has taken away.

 Let the name of Jehovah continue to be blessed.”

22 In all this Job did not sin or ascribe anything improper to God.

2 Afterward it came to be the day when the sons of the [true] God entered to take their station before Jehovah, and Satan also proceeded to enter right among them to take his station before Jehovah.

2 Then Jehovah said to Satan: “Just where do you come from?” At that Satan answered Jehovah and said: “From roving about in the earth and from walking about in it.” 3 And Jehovah went on to say to Satan: “Have you set your heart upon my servant Job, that there is no one like him in the earth, a man blameless and upright, fearing God and turning aside from bad? Even yet he is holding fast his integrity, although you incite me against him to swallow him up without cause.” 4 But Satan answered Jehovah and said: “Skin in behalf of skin, and everything that a man has he will give in behalf of his soul. 5 For a change, thrust out your hand, please, and touch as far as his bone and his flesh [and see] whether he will not curse you to your very face.”

6 Accordingly Jehovah said to Satan: “There he is in your hand! Only watch out for his soul itself!” 7 So Satan went out away from the person of Jehovah and struck Job with a malignant boil from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. 8 And he proceeded to take for himself a fragment of earthenware with which to scrape himself; and he was sitting in among the ashes.

9 Finally his wife said to him: “Are you yet holding fast your integrity? Curse God and die!” 10 But he said to her: “As one of the senseless women speaks, you speak also. Shall we accept merely what is good from the [true] God and not accept also what is bad?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

11 And three companions of Job got to hear of all this calamity that had come upon him, and they proceeded to come, each one from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite. So they met together by appointment to come and sympathize with him and comfort him. 12 When they raised their eyes from far off they did not then recognize him. And they proceeded to raise their voice and weep and rip each one his sleeveless coat apart and toss dust toward the heavens upon their heads. 13 And they kept sitting with him on the earth seven days and seven nights, and there was no one speaking a word to him, for they saw that the pain was very great.

3 It was after this that Job opened his mouth and began to call down evil upon his day. 2 Job now answered and said:

 3 “Let the day perish on which I came to be born,

          Also the night that someone said, ‘An able-bodied man has been conceived!’

 4 As for that day, let it become darkness.

          Let not God look for it from above,

          Nor let daylight beam upon it.

 5 Let darkness and deep shadow reclaim it.

          Let a rain cloud reside over it.

          Let the things that darken a day terrorize it.

 6 That night—let gloom take it;

          Let it not feel glad among the days of a year;

          Among the number of the lunar months let it not enter.

 7 Look! That night—let it become sterile;

          Let no joyful cry come in it.

 8 Let cursers of the day execrate it,

          Those ready to awaken Leviathan.

 9 Let the stars of its twilight grow dark;

          Let it wait for the light and there be none;

          And let it not see the beams of dawn.

10 For it did not close the doors of my [mother’s] belly,

          And so conceal trouble from my eyes.

11 Why from the womb did I not proceed to die?

           [Why did I not] come forth from the belly itself and then expire?

12 Why was it that knees confronted me,

          And why breasts that I should take suck?

13 For by now I should have lain down that I might be undisturbed;

          I should have slept then; I should be at rest

14 With kings and counselors of the earth,

          Those building desolate places for themselves,

15 Or with princes who have gold,

          Those who fill their houses with silver;

16 Or, like a hidden miscarriage, I should not come to be,

          Like children that have seen no light.

17 There the wicked themselves have ceased from agitation,

          And there those weary in power are at rest.

18 Together prisoners themselves are at ease;

          They actually do not hear the voice of one driving them to work.

19 Small and great are there the same,

          And the slave is set free from his master.

20 Why does he give light to one having trouble,

          And life to those bitter of soul?

21 Why are there those waiting for death, and it is not,

          Although they keep digging for it more than for hidden treasures?

22 Those who are rejoicing to gleefulness,

          They exult because they find a burial place.

23 [Why does he give light] to able-bodied man, whose way has been concealed,

          And whom God hedges in?

24 For before my food my sighing comes,

          And like waters my roaring cries pour forth;

25 Because a dreadful thing I have dreaded, and it comes upon me;

          And what I have been scared of comes to me.

26 I have not been carefree, nor have I been undisturbed,

          Nor been at rest, and yet agitation comes.”

4 And Eliphaz the Temanite proceeded to reply and say:

 2 “If one does try out a word to you, will you become weary?

          But to put a restraint on words who is able?

 3 Look! You have corrected many,

          And the weak hands you used to strengthen.

 4 Anyone stumbling, your words would raise up;

          And knees giving way you would make firm.

 5 But this time it comes to you, and you become weary;

          It touches even you, and you get disturbed.

 6 Is not your reverence [the basis of] your confidence?

          Is not your hope even the integrity of your ways?

 7 Remember, please: Who that is innocent has ever perished?

          And where have the upright ever been effaced?

 8 According to what I have seen, those devising what is hurtful

          And those sowing trouble will themselves reap it.

 9 Through the breath of God they perish,

          And through the spirit of his anger they come to an end.

10 There is the roaring of a lion, and the voice of a young lion,

          But the teeth of maned young lions do get broken down.

11 A lion is perishing from there being no prey,

          And the cubs of a lion are separated from one another.

12 Now to me a word was stealthily brought,

          And my ear proceeded to get a whisper of it,

13 In disquieting thoughts from visions of the night,

          When deep sleep falls upon men.

14 A dread came over me, and a trembling,

          And the multitude of my bones it filled with dread.

15 And a spirit itself went passing over my face;

          The hair of my flesh began to bristle.

16 It began to stand still,

                But I did not recognize its appearance;

          A form was in front of my eyes;

          There was a calm, and I now heard a voice:

17 ‘Mortal man—can he be more just than God himself?

          Or can able-bodied man be cleaner than his own Maker?’

18 Look! In his servants he has no faith,

          And his messengers he charges with faultiness.

19 How much more so with those dwelling in houses of clay,

          Whose foundation is in the dust!

          One crushes them more quickly than a moth.

20 From morning to evening they are crushed to pieces;

          Without anyone’s taking [it to heart] they perish forever.

21 Has not their tent cord within them been pulled out?

          They die for lack of wisdom.