Category: Job

Job and His Family

1 There was a man in the country of Uznamed Job.He was a man of perfect integrity,who feared God and turned away from evil.

2 He had seven sons and three daughters.

3 His estate included 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys,and a very large number of servants. Job was the greatest man among all the people of the east.

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 forall of them. For Job thought: Perhaps my children have sinned, having cursed God in their hearts.This was Job’s regular practice.

Satan’s First Test of Job

6 One day the sons of Godcame to present themselves before theLord, and Satanalso came with them.

7 TheLordasked Satan, “Where have you come from? ”

“From roaming through the earth,”Satan answered Him, “and walking around on it.”

8 Then theLordsaid to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? No one else on earth is like him, a man of perfect integrity,who fears God and turns away from evil.”

9 Satan answered theLord, “Does Job fear God for nothing?

10 Haven’t You placed a hedge aroundhim, 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 strikeeverything he owns, and he will surely curse You to Your face.”

12 “Very well,” theLordtold Satan, “everything he owns is in your power. However, you must not lay a hand on Job himself.” So Satan left theLord’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 Sabeansswooped 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: “A lightning stormstruck from heaven.It burned up 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, torehis robe, and shavedhis head.He fell to the ground and worshiped,

21 saying:

Naked I came from my mother’s womb,

and naked I will leave this life.

TheLordgives, and theLordtakes away.

Praise the name of Yahweh.

22 Throughout all this Job did not sin or blame God for anything.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/17/32k/JOB/1-e5c7dbbf774c35a0e69a0cfb97845f5d.mp3?version_id=72—

Satan’s Second Test of Job

1 One day the sons of Godcame again to present themselves before theLord, and Satan also came with them to present himself before theLord.

2 TheLordasked Satan, “Where have you come from? ”

“From roaming through the earth,” Satan answered Him, “and walking around on it.”

3 Then theLordsaid to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? No one else on earth is like him, a man of perfect integrity,who fears God and turns away from evil.He still retains his integrity, even though you incited Me against him, to destroy him without just cause.”

4 “Skin for skin! ” Satan answered theLord. “A man will give up everything he owns in exchange for his life.

5 But stretch out Your hand and strikehis flesh and bones, and he will surely curse You to Your face.”

6 “Very well,” theLordtold Satan, “he is in your power; only spare his life.”

7 So Satan left theLord’s presence and infected Job with terrible boils from the sole of his foot to the top of his head.

8 Then Job took a piece of broken pottery to scrape himself while he sat among the ashes.

9 His wife said to him, “Do you still retain your integrity? Curse God and die! ”

10 “You speak as a foolish woman speaks,” he told her. “Should we accept only good from God and not adversity? ” Throughout all this Job did not sin in what he said.

Job’s Three Friends

11 Now when Job’s three friends — Eliphaz the Temanite,Bildad the Shuhite,and Zophar the Naamathite — heard about all this adversity that had happened to him, each of them came from his home. They met together to go and sympathize with him and comforthim.

12 When they looked from a distance, they could barely recognize him. They wept aloud,and each man tore his robe and threw dust into the air and on his head.

13 Then they sat on the ground with him seven days and nights,but no one spoke a word to him because they saw that his sufferingwas very intense.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/17/32k/JOB/2-e0979857715c1f956c9a4d531f606e91.mp3?version_id=72—

Job’s Opening Speech

1 After this, Job began to speak and cursed the day he was born.

2 He said:

3 May the day I was born perish,

and the night when they said,

“A boy is conceived.”

4 If only that day had turned to darkness!

May God above not care about it,

or light shine on it.

5 May darkness and gloomreclaim it,

and a cloud settle over it.

May an eclipse of the sunterrify it.

6 If only darkness had taken that night away!

May it not appearamong the days of the year

or be listed in the calendar.

7 Yes, may that night be barren;

may no joyful shoutbe heard in it.

8 Let those who curse certain days

cast a spellon it,

those who are skilled in rousing Leviathan.

9 May its morning stars grow dark.

May it wait for daylight but have none;

may it not see the breakingof dawn.

10 For that night did not shut

the doors of my mother’s womb,

and hide sorrow from my eyes.

11 Why was I not stillborn;

why didn’t I die as I came from the womb?

12 Why did the knees receive me,

and why were there breasts for me to nurse?

13 Now I would certainly be lying down in peace;

I would be asleep.

Then I would be at rest

14 with the kings and counselorsof the earth,

who rebuilt ruined cities for themselves,

15 or with princes who had gold,

who filled their houseswith silver.

16 Or why was I not hidden like a miscarried child,

like infants who never see daylight?

17 There the wickedcease to make trouble,

and there the weary find rest.

18 The captives are completely at ease;

they do not hear the voice of their oppressor.

19 Both small and great are there,

and the slave is set free from his master.

20 Why is light given to one burdened with grief,

and life to those whose existence is bitter,

21 who wait for death,but it does not come,

and search for it more than for hidden treasure,

22 who are filled with much joy

and are glad when they reach the grave?

23 Why is life given to a man whose path is hidden,

whom God has hedged in?

24 I sigh when foodis put before me,

and my groans pour out like water.

25 For the thing I feared has overtaken me,

and what I dreaded has happened to me.

26 I cannot relax or be still;

I have no rest,for trouble comes.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/17/32k/JOB/3-b89e31e058e7c746ba7d935ec90b2a83.mp3?version_id=72—

Eliphaz Speaks

1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

2 Should anyone try to speak with you

when you are exhausted?

Yet who can keep from speaking?

3 Indeed, you have instructed many

and have strengthenedweak hands.

4 Your words have steadied the one who was stumbling

and braced the knees that were buckling.

5 But now that this has happened to you,

you have become exhausted.

It strikesyou, and you are dismayed.

6 Isn’t your piety your confidence,

and the integrity of your lifeyour hope?

7 Consider: who has perished when he was innocent?

Where have the honest been destroyed?

8 In my experience, those who plow injustice

and those who sow troublereap the same.

9 They perish at a single blastfrom God

and come to an end by the breath of His nostrils.

10 The lion may roar and the fierce liongrowl,

but the fangs of young lions are broken.

11 The strong lion dies if it catches no prey,

and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.

12 A word was brought to me in secret;

my ears caught a whisper of it.

13 Among unsettling thoughts from visions in the night,

when deep sleepdescends on men,

14 fear and trembling came over me

and made all my bones shake.

15 A windpassed by me,

and I shuddered with fear.

16 A figure stood there,

but I could not recognize its appearance;

a form loomed before my eyes.

I heard a quiet voice:

17 “Can a person be more righteous than God,

or a man more pure than his Maker? ”

18 If God puts no trust in His servants

and He charges His angels with foolishness,

19 how much more those who dwell in clay houses,

whose foundation is in the dust,

who are crushed like a moth!

20 They are smashed to pieces from dawn to dusk;

they perish forever while no one notices.

21 Are their tent cords not pulled up?

They die without wisdom.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/17/32k/JOB/4-0a5cccdeba3535337af74dddce6b090c.mp3?version_id=72—

1 Call out if you please. Will anyone answer you?

Which of the holy oneswill you turn to?

2 For anger kills a fool,

and jealousy slays the gullible.

3 I have seen a fool taking root,

but I immediately pronounced a curse on his home.

4 His children are far from safety.

They are crushed at the city gate,

with no one to rescue them.

5 The hungry consume his harvest,

even taking it out of the thorns.

The thirstypant for his children’s wealth.

6 For distress does not grow out of the soil,

and trouble does not sprout from the ground.

7 But mankind is born for trouble

as surely as sparks fly upward.

8 However, if I were you, I would appeal to God

and would present my case to Him.

9 He does greatand unsearchable things,

wonders without number.

10 He gives rain to the earth

and sends water to the fields.

11 He sets the lowly on high,

and mourners are lifted to safety.

12 He frustrates the schemes of the crafty

so that theyachieve no success.

13 He traps the wise in their craftiness

so that the plans of the deceptive

are quickly brought to an end.

14 They encounter darkness by day,

and they grope at noon

as if it were night.

15 He saves the needy from their sharp words

and from the clutches of the powerful.

16 So the poor have hope,

and injustice shuts its mouth.

17 See how happy the man is God corrects;

so do not reject the discipline of the Almighty.

18 For He crushes but also binds up;

He strikes, but His hands also heal.

19 He will rescue you from six calamities;

no harm will touch you in seven.

20 In famine He will redeem you from death,

and in battle, from the power of the sword.

21 You will be safe from slander

and not fear destruction when it comes.

22 You will laugh at destruction and hunger

and not fear the animals of the earth.

23 For you will have a covenant with the stones of the field,

and the wild animals will be at peace with you.

24 You will know that your tent is secure,

and nothing will be missing when you inspect your home.

25 You will also know that your offspring will be many

and your descendants like the grass of the earth.

26 You will approach the gravein full vigor,

as a stack of sheaves is gathered in its season.

27 We have investigated this, and it is true!

Hear it and understand it for yourself.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/17/32k/JOB/5-b2d5378735f1b46354b0b5fa1c8eddee.mp3?version_id=72—

Job’s Reply to Eliphaz

1 Then Job answered:

2 If only my grief could be weighed

and my devastationplaced with it in the scales.

3 For then it would outweigh the sand of the seas!

That is why my words are rash.

4 Surely the arrows of the Almighty have piercedme;

my spirit drinks their poison.

God’s terrors are arrayed against me.

5 Does a wild donkey bray over fresh grass

or an ox low over its fodder?

6 Is bland food eaten without salt?

Is there flavor in an egg white?

7 I refuse to touch them;

they are like contaminated food.

8 If only my request would be granted

and God would provide what I hope for:

9 that He would decide to crush me,

to unleash His power and cut me off!

10 It would still bring me comfort,

and I would leap for joy in unrelenting pain

that I have not deniedthe words of the Holy One.

11 What strength do I have that I should continue to hope?

What is my future, that I should be patient?

12 Is my strength that of stone,

or my flesh made of bronze?

13 Since I cannot help myself,

the hope for success has been banished from me.

14 A despairing man should receive loyalty from his friends,

even if he abandons the fear of the Almighty.

15 My brothers are as treacherous as a wadi,

as seasonal streams that overflow

16 and become darkenedbecause of ice,

and the snow melts into them.

17 The wadis evaporate in warm weather;

they disappear from their channels in hot weather.

18 Caravans turn away from their routes,

go up into the desert, and perish.

19 The caravans of Tema look for these streams.

The traveling merchants of Sheba hope for them.

20 They are ashamed because they had been confident of finding water.

When they arrive there, they are frustrated.

21 So this is what you have now become to me.

When you see something dreadful, you are afraid.

22 Have I ever said: “Give me something”

or “Pay a bribe for me from your wealth”

23 or “Deliver me from the enemy’s power”

or “Redeem me from the grasp of the ruthless”?

24 Teach me, and I will be silent.

Help me understand what I did wrong.

25 How painful honest words can be!

But what does your rebuke prove?

26 Do you think that you can disprove my words

or that a despairing man’s words are mere wind?

27 No doubt you would cast lots for a fatherless child

and negotiate a price to sell your friend.

28 But now, please look at me;

would I lie to your face?

29 Reconsider; don’t be unjust.

Reconsider; my righteousnessis still the issue.

30 Is there injustice on my tongue

or can my palate not taste disaster?

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/17/32k/JOB/6-b83f916e5d3335753722a76c8e22fa01.mp3?version_id=72—

1 Isn’t mankind consigned to forced laboron earth?

Are not his days like those of a hired hand?

2 Like a slave he longs for shade;

like a hired man he waits for his pay.

3 So I have been made to inherit months of futility,

and troubled nights have been assigned to me.

4 When I lie down I think:

When will I get up?

But the evening drags on endlessly,

and I toss and turn until dawn.

5 My flesh is clothed with maggots and encrusted with dirt.

My skin forms scabsand then oozes.

6 My days pass more swiftly than a weaver’s shuttle;

they come to an end without hope.

7 Remember that my life is but a breath.

My eye will never again see anything good.

8 The eye of anyone who looks on me

will no longer see me.

Your eyes will look for me, but I will be gone.

9 As a cloud fades away and vanishes,

so the one who goes down to Sheolwill never rise again.

10 He will never return to his house;

his hometown will no longer rememberhim.

11 Therefore I will not restrain my mouth.

I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;

I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.

12 Am I the seaor a sea monster,

that You keep me under guard?

13 When I say: My bed will comfort me,

and my couch will ease my complaint,

14 then You frighten me with dreams,

and terrify me with visions,

15 so that I prefer strangling—

death rather than life in this body.

16 I give up! I will not live forever.

Leave me alone,for my days are a breath.

17 What is man, that You think so highly of him

and pay so much attention to him?

18 You inspect him every morning,

and put him to the test every moment.

19 Will You ever look away from me,

or leave me alone long enough to swallow?

20 If I have sinned, what have I done to You,

Watcher of mankind?

Why have You made me Your target,

so that I have become a burden to You?

21 Why not forgive my sin

and pardon my transgression?

For soon I will lie down in the grave.

You will eagerly seek me, but I will be gone.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/17/32k/JOB/7-3f0023bc72b9d38f372803deca5dc35f.mp3?version_id=72—

Bildad Speaks

1 Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:

2 How long will you go on saying these things?

Your wordsare a blast of wind.

3 Does God pervert justice?

Does the Almighty pervert what is right?

4 Since your children sinned against Him,

He gave them over to their rebellion.

5 But if you earnestly seekGod

and ask the Almighty for mercy,

6 if you are pure and upright,

then He will move even now on your behalf

and restore the home where your righteousness dwells.

7 Then, even if your beginnings were modest,

your final days will be full of prosperity.

8 For ask the previous generation,

and pay attention to what their fathers discovered,

9 since we were born only yesterday and know nothing.

Our days on earth are but a shadow.

10 Will they not teach you and tell you

and speak from their understanding?

11 Does papyrus grow where there is no marsh?

Do reeds flourish without water?

12 While still uncut shoots,

they would dry up quicker than any other plant.

13 Such is the destinyof all who forget God;

the hope of the godlesswill perish.

14 His source of confidence is fragile;

what he trusts in is a spider’s web.

15 He leans on his web, but it doesn’t stand firm.

He grabs it, but it does not hold up.

16 He is a well-watered plant in the sunshine;

his shoots spread out over his garden.

17 His roots are intertwined around a pile of rocks.

He looks for a home among the stones.

18 If he is uprootedfrom his place,

it will deny knowing him, saying, “I never saw you.”

19 Surely this is the joy of his way of life;

yet others will sprout from the dust.

20 Look, God does not reject a person of integrity,

and He will not support evildoers.

21 He will yet fill your mouth with laughter

and your lips with a shout of joy.

22 Your enemies will be clothed with shame;

the tentof the wicked will exist no longer.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/17/32k/JOB/8-128277be5775f1491122f0038ca71d5c.mp3?version_id=72—

Job’s Reply to Bildad

1 Then Job answered:

2 Yes, I know what you’ve said is true,

but how can a person be justified before God?

3 If one wanted to takeHim to court,

he could not answer Godonce in a thousand times.

4 God is wiseand all-powerful.

Who has opposed Him and come out unharmed?

5 He removes mountains without their knowledge,

overturning them in His anger.

6 He shakes the earth from its place

so that its pillars tremble.

7 He commands the sun not to shine

and seals off the stars.

8 He alone stretches out the heavens

and treads on the waves of the sea.

9 He makes the stars: the Bear,Orion,

the Pleiades,and the constellationsof the southern sky.

10 He does great and unsearchable things,

wonders without number.

11 If He passes by me, I wouldn’t see Him;

if He goes right by, I wouldn’t recognize Him.

12 If He snatches something, who can stopHim?

Who can ask Him, “What are You doing? ”

13 God does not hold back His anger;

Rahab’sassistants cringe in fear beneath Him!

14 How then can I answer Him

or choose my arguments against Him?

15 Even if I were in the right, I could not answer.

I could only beg my Judge for mercy.

16 If I summoned Him and He answered me,

I do not believe He would pay attention to what I said.

17 He batters me with a whirlwind

and multiplies my wounds without cause.

18 He doesn’t let me catch my breath

but soaks me with bitter experiences.

19 If it is a matter of strength, look, He is the Mighty One!

If it is a matter of justice, who can summonHim?

20 Even if I were in the right, my own mouth would condemn me;

if I were blameless, my mouth would declare me guilty.

21 Though I am blameless,

I no longer care about myself;

I renounce my life.

22 It is all the same. Therefore I say,

“He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.”

23 When disaster brings sudden death,

He mocks the despair of the innocent.

24 The earthis handed over to the wicked;

He blindfoldsits judges.

If it isn’t He, then who is it?

25 My days fly by faster than a runner;

they flee without seeing any good.

26 They sweep by like boats made of papyrus,

like an eagle swooping down on its prey.

27 If I said, “I will forget my complaint,

change my expression, and smile,”

28 I would still live in terror of all my pains.

I know You will not acquit me.

29 Since I will be found guilty,

why should I labor in vain?

30 If I wash myself with snow,

and cleanse my hands with lye,

31 then You dip me in a pit of mud,

and my own clothes despise me!

32 For He is not a man like me, that I can answer Him,

that we can take each other to court.

33 There is no one to judge between us,

to lay his hand on both of us.

34 Let Him take His rod away from me

so His terror will no longer frighten me.

35 Then I would speak and not fear Him.

But that is not the case; I am on my own.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/17/32k/JOB/9-88ef01b2c47311a6933bf269bd3faeaf.mp3?version_id=72—

1 I am disgusted with my life.

I will express my complaint

and speak in the bitterness of my soul.

2 I will say to God:

“Do not declare me guilty!

Let me know why You prosecute me.

3 Is it good for You to oppress,

to reject the work of Your hands,

and favorthe plans of the wicked?

4 Do You have eyes of flesh,

or do You see as a human sees?

5 Are Your days like those of a human,

or Your years like those of a man,

6 that You look for my wrongdoing

and search for my sin,

7 even though You know that I am not wicked

and that there is no one who can deliver from Your hand?

8 “Your hands shaped me and formed me.

Will You now turn and destroy me?

9 Please remember that You formed me like clay.

Will You now return me to dust?

10 Did You not pour me out like milk

and curdle me like cheese?

11 You clothed me with skin and flesh,

and wove me together with bones and tendons.

12 You gave me life and faithful love,

and Your care has guarded my life.

13 “Yet You concealed these thoughts in Your heart;

I know that this was Your hidden plan:

14 if I sin, You would notice,

and would not acquit me of my wrongdoing.

15 If I am wicked, woe to me!

And even if I am righteous, I cannot lift up my head.

I am filled with shame

and aware of my affliction.

16 If I am proud,You hunt me like a lion

and again display Your miraculous power against me.

17 You produce new witnessesagainst me

and multiply Your anger toward me.

Hardships assault me, wave after wave.

18 “Why did You bring me out of the womb?

I should have died and never been seen.

19 I wishI had never existed

but had been carried from the womb to the grave.

20 Are my days not few? Stop it!

Leave me alone, so that I can smile a little

21 before I go to a land of darkness and gloom,

never to return.

22 It is a land of blackness like the deepest darkness,

gloomy and chaotic,

where even the light is likethe darkness.”

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/17/32k/JOB/10-cb183d18b45baa992ad4ed6cda7ce06f.mp3?version_id=72—