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JOB 3
page 453
Job’s Second Test
One day the members of the heavenly
court* came again to present themselves
before the Lord, and the Accuser, Satan,* came
with them. 2 “Where have you come from?” the
Lord asked Satan.
Satan answered the Lord, “I have been patrolling the earth, watching everything that’s
going on.”
3 Then the Lord asked Satan, “Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in
all the earth. He is blameless—a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away
from evil. And he has maintained his integrity,
even though you urged me to harm him without
cause.”
4 Satan replied to the Lord, “Skin for skin!
A man will give up everything he has to save
his life. 5 But reach out and take away his health,
and he will surely curse you to your face!”
6 “All right, do with him as you please,” the
Lord said to Satan. “But spare his life.” 7 So Satan left the Lord’s presence, and he struck Job
with terrible boils from head to foot.
8 Job scraped his skin with a piece of broken
pottery as he sat among the ashes. 9 His wife
said to him, “Are you still trying to maintain
your integrity? Curse God and die.”
10 But Job replied, “You talk like a foolish
woman. Should we accept only good things
from the hand of God and never anything bad?”
So in all this, Job said nothing wrong.
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Job’s Three Friends Share His Anguish
11 When three of Job’s friends heard of the
tragedy he had suffered, they got together
and traveled from their homes to comfort and
console him. Their names were Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. 12 When they saw Job from a distance,
they scarcely recognized him. Wailing loudly,
they tore their robes and threw dust into the
air over their heads to show their grief. 13 Then
they sat on the ground with him for seven days
and nights. No one said a word to Job, for they
saw that his suffering was too great for words.
Job’s First Speech
At last Job spoke, and he cursed the day of
his birth. 2 He said:
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“Let the day of my birth be erased,
and the night I was conceived.
Let that day be turned to darkness.
Let it be lost even to God on high,
and let no light shine on it.
Let the darkness and utter gloom claim
that day for its own.
Let a black cloud overshadow it,
2:1a Hebrew the sons of God. 2:1b Hebrew and the satan;
similarly throughout this chapter. 3:8 The identification of
Leviathan is disputed, ranging from an earthly creature to a
mythical sea monster in ancient literature.
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and let the darkness terrify it.
Let that night be blotted off the calendar,
never again to be counted among the
days of the year,
never again to appear among the months.
Let that night be childless.
Let it have no joy.
Let those who are experts at cursing—
whose cursing could rouse Leviathan*—
curse that day.
Let its morning stars remain dark.
Let it hope for light, but in vain;
may it never see the morning light.
Curse that day for failing to shut my
mother’s womb,
for letting me be born to see all this
trouble.
“Why wasn’t I born dead?
Why didn’t I die as I came from the womb?
Why was I laid on my mother’s lap?
Why did she nurse me at her breasts?
Had I died at birth, I would now be at peace.
I would be asleep and at rest.
I would rest with the world’s kings and
prime ministers,
whose great buildings now lie in ruins.
I would rest with princes, rich in gold,
whose palaces were filled with silver.
Why wasn’t I buried like a stillborn child,
like a baby who never lives to see the light?
For in death the wicked cause no trouble,
and the weary are at rest.
Even captives are at ease in death,
with no guards to curse them.
Rich and poor are both there,
and the slave is free from his master.
“Oh, why give light to those in misery,
and life to those who are bitter?
They long for death, and it won’t come.
They search for death more eagerly than
for hidden treasure.
• Comfort
JOB 2:11
Upon learning of Job’s difficulties, three of
his friends came to comfort and console
him. Later we learn that their words of
comfort were not helpful, but at least they
came. If we are sensitive to God’s Spirit,
we will find ourselves going to people who
are in need. We will put ourselves in the
place of a person who is suffering, and we
will grieve with that person. And if we are
more sensitive than Job’s friends were,
we will listen patiently and speak words
that heal.