Job lived in the land of Uz. He was blameless and upright, feared God, and turned away from evil. He had seven sons and three daughters, thousands of sheep and camels, many oxen and donkeys, and a large household. He was the greatest of the people of the east.
His sons held feasts in their homes, inviting their sisters. When the days of feasting were complete, Job would send for them and consecrate them. Early in the morning he offered burnt offerings according to their number, thinking that they might have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.
One day the sons of God came to present themselves before God, and Satan came among them. God asked where he had come from, and Satan said that he had been roaming the earth. God spoke of Job’s integrity. Satan replied that Job feared God because God had protected him and blessed the work of his hands. If his possessions were struck, Satan said, Job would curse God.
God allowed Satan to touch everything Job had, but not Job himself. On a day when Job’s children were eating and drinking in their oldest brother’s house, messengers came one after another. The Sabeans had taken the oxen and donkeys and killed the servants. Fire from heaven had burned the sheep and servants. Chaldeans had taken the camels and killed the servants.
Before the last messenger finished, another said that a great wind had struck the four corners of the house where Job’s children were gathered. The house fell, and they died. The messenger alone had escaped to tell Job.
Job rose, tore his robe, shaved his head, and fell to the ground in worship. He said that he had come naked from his mother’s womb and would return naked. God had given and God had taken away; God’s name was to be blessed. In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.
Later Satan again appeared before God. God said that Job still held fast to his integrity. Satan said that a person would give everything for life and that Job would curse God if his body were struck. God allowed Satan to afflict Job but forbade him to take Job’s life.
Satan covered Job with painful sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. Job sat among ashes and scraped himself with a broken piece of pottery. His wife told him to curse God and die. Job answered that they should receive not only good from God but also trouble. He did not sin with his lips.
Job’s friends Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar heard of his trouble and came from their homes to comfort him. From far away they did not recognize him. They wept, tore their robes, and threw dust over their heads. They sat with Job on the ground seven days and seven nights. No one spoke, because they saw that his suffering was very great.