Job 1

Job and His Family

1 There was a man in the country of Uz  * 1:1 Jr 25:20; Lm 4:21 named Job.  * 1:1 Ezk 14:14,20; Jms 5:11 He was a man of complete integrity,  * 1:1 Jb 2:3; 8:20; 9:20–22 who feared God and turned away from evil.  * 1:1 Jb 28:28; Pr 3:72 He had seven sons and three daughters.  * 1:2 Jb 42:133 His estate included seven thousand sheep and goats, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys,  * 1:3 Jb 42:12 and a very large number of servants. Job was the greatest man among all the people of the east.  * 1:3 1Kg 4:30; Is 11:14; Jr 49:28; Ezk 25:4,10

4 His sons used to take turns having banquets at their homes. They would send an invitation to their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 Whenever a round of banqueting was over, Job would send for his children and purify them, rising early in the morning to offer burnt offerings for  * 1:5 Lit for the number of all of them. For Job thought, "Perhaps my children have sinned, having cursed God in their hearts."  * 1:5 Jb 42:8 This was Job’s regular practice.

Satan’s First Test of Job

6 One day the sons of God  * 1:6 Gn 6:2,4; Jb 2:1; 38:7 came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan  * 1:6 Or the adversary also came with them. 7 The Lord asked Satan, "Where have you come from? "

"From roaming through the earth,"  * 1:7 1Pt 5:8 Satan answered him, "and walking around on it."

8 Then the Lord said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? No one else on earth is like him, a man of perfect integrity,  * 1:8 Ps 25:21; Pr 29:10 who fears God and turns away from evil."  * 1:8 Jb 28:28; Pr 3:7; 13:19; 14:16; 16:6,17

9 Satan answered the Lord, "Does Job fear God for nothing? 10 Haven’t you placed a hedge around  * 1:10 Ps 34:7 him, his household, and everything he owns? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But stretch out your hand and strike  * 1:11 Jb 2:5; 4:5; 5:19 everything he owns, and he will surely curse you to your face."

12 "Very well," the Lord told Satan, "everything he owns is in your power. However, do not lay a hand on Job himself." So Satan left the Lord’s presence.

13 One day when Job’s sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, 14 a messenger came to Job and reported, "While the oxen were plowing and the donkeys grazing nearby, 15 the Sabeans  * 1:15 Gn 10:7; Jb 6:19; Is 45:14 swooped down and took them away. They struck down the servants with the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you! "

16 He was still speaking when another messenger came and reported, "God’s fire fell from heaven.  * 1:16 Gn 19:24; 1Kg 18:38; 2Kg 1:10–14 It burned the sheep and the servants and devoured them, and I alone have escaped to tell you! "

17 That messenger was still speaking when yet another came and reported, "The Chaldeans formed three bands, made a raid on the camels, and took them away. They struck down the servants with the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you! "

18 He was still speaking when another messenger came and reported, "Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house. 19 Suddenly a powerful wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on the young people so that they died, and I alone have escaped to tell you! "

20 Then Job stood up, tore  * 1:20 Gn 37:29,34; Jos 7:6; Jb 2:12 his robe, and shaved  * 1:20 Jr 7:29; Ezk 7:18; Mc 1:16 his head. He fell to the ground and worshiped, 21 saying:

Naked I came from my mother’s womb,  * 1:21 Jb 3:10–11; 10:17–18; Jr 20:17–18

and naked I will leave this life.  * 1:21 Lit will return there; Ps 139:13,15,* 1:21 Ps 139:13,15

The Lord gives, and the  Lord takes away.

Blessed be the name of the  Lord.  * 1:21 Jb 38:1; Ps 113:2; 118:26

22 Throughout all this Job did not sin or blame God for anything.  * 1:22 Lit or ascribe blame to God,* 1:22 Jb 2:10