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Job 1
There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared Elohim, and turned away from evil. 2 And there were born to him seven sons and three daughters. 3 His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she-asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the children of the east. 4 And his sons went and held a feast in the house of each one upon his day; and they sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them. 5 And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt-offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and renounced Elohim in their hearts. In this manner did Job continually.
6 Now it came to pass on the day when the sons of Elohim came to present themselves before Yahweh, that Satan also came among them. 7 And Yahweh said to Satan, From where have you come? Then Satan answered Yahweh, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. 8 And Yahweh said to Satan, Have you considered my servant Job? For there is no one like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that fears Elohim, and turns away from evil. 9 Then Satan answered Yahweh, and said, Does Job fear Elohim for nothing? 10 Have not you made a hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his substance has increased in the land. 11 But put forth your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will renounce you to your face. 12 And Yahweh said to Satan, Behold, all that he has is in your power; only upon himself put not forth your hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of Yahweh.
13 And it fell on a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, 14 that there came a messenger to Job, and said, The oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them; 15 and the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away: yes, they have killed the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only have escaped alone to tell you. 16 While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The fire of Elohim has fallen from heaven, and has burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them; and I only have escaped alone to tell you. 17 While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The Chaldeans made three bands, and fell upon the camels, and have taken them away, yes, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only have escaped alone to tell you. 18 While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house; 19 and, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only have escaped alone to tell you.
20 Then Job arose, and rent his robe, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshiped; 21 and he said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there: Yahweh gave, and Yahweh has taken away; blessed be the name of Yahweh. 22 In all this Job sinned not, nor charged Elohim foolishly.
Job 2
Again it came to pass on the day when the sons of Elohim came to present themselves before Yahweh, that Satan came also among them to present himself before Yahweh. 2 And Yahweh said to Satan, From where have you come? And Satan answered Yahweh, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. 3 And Yahweh said to Satan, Have you considered my servant Job? For there is no one like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that fears Elohim, and turns away from evil: and he still holds fast his integrity, although you moved me against him, to destroy him without cause. 4 And Satan answered Yahweh, and said, Skin for skin, yes, all that a man has will he give for his life. 5 But put forth your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will renounce you to your face. 6 And Yahweh said to Satan, Behold, he is in your hand; only spare his life.
7 So Satan went forth from the presence of Yahweh, and struck Job with severe boils from the sole of his foot to his crown. 8 And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself with it; and he sat among the ashes. 9 Then said his wife to him, Do you still hold fast your integrity? Renounce Elohim, and die. 10 But he said to her, You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. What? Shall we receive good at the hand of Elohim, and shall we not receive evil? In all this Job did not sin with his lips.
11 Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came every one from his own place: Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite; and they made an appointment together to come to bemoan him and to comfort him. 12 And when they lifted up their eyes afar off, and knew him not, they lifted up their voice, and wept; and they rent every one his robe, and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven. 13 So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him: for they saw that his grief was very great.
Job 3
After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day. 2 And Job answered and said:
3 Let the day perish in which I was born,
And the night which said,
There is a man-child conceived.
4 Let that day be darkness;
Let not Eloah from above seek for it,
Neither let the light shine upon it.
5 Let darkness and the shadow of death claim it for their own;
Let a cloud dwell upon it;
Let all that makes black the day terrify it.
6 As for that night, let thick darkness seize upon it:
Let it not rejoice among the days of the year;
Let it not come into the number of the months.
7 Lo, let that night be barren;
Let no joyful voice come in it.
8 Let them curse it that curse the day,
Who are ready to rouse up leviathan.
9 Let the stars of the twilight of it be dark:
Let it look for light, but have none;
Neither let it behold the eyelids of the morning:
10 Because it shut not up the doors of my mother’s womb,
Nor hid trouble from my eyes.
11 Why did I not die from the womb?
Why did I not give up the spirit when my mother bore Me?
12 Why did the knees receive me?
Or why the breasts, that I should suck?
13 For now should I have lain down and been quiet;
I should have slept; then I would have been at rest,
14 With kings and counselors of the earth,
Who built up waste places for themselves;
15 Or with princes that had gold,
Who filled their houses with silver:
16 Or as a hidden untimely birth I had not been,
As infants that never saw light.
17 There the wicked cease from troubling;
And there the weary are at rest.
18 There the prisoners are at ease together;
They hear not the voice of the taskmaster.
19 The small and the great are there;
And the servant is free from his master.
20 Why is light given to him that is in misery,
And life to the bitter in soul;
21 Who long for death, but it comes not,
And dig for it more than for hid treasures;
22 Who rejoice very much,
And are glad, when they can find the grave?
23 Why is light given to a man whose way is hid,
And whom Eloah has hedged in?
24 For my sighing comes before I eat,
And my groanings are poured out like water.
25 For the thing which I fear comes upon me,
And that which I am afraid of comes to me.
26 I am not at ease, neither am I quiet, neither have I rest;
But trouble comes.
