1On another day angels came to the LORD. Satan also came to him along with them.2The LORD said to Satan, ‘Where have you come from?’ Satan answered, ‘From travelling all around the earth. I’ve been going from one end of it to the other.’3Then the LORD said to Satan, ‘Have you thought about my servant Job? There isn’t anyone on earth like him. He is honest. He does what is right. He has respect for God and avoids evil. You tried to turn me against him. You wanted me to destroy him without any reason. But he still continues to be faithful.’4Satan replied, ‘A man will give everything he has to save himself. So Job is willing to give up the lives of his family to save his own life.5But now reach out your hand and strike his flesh and bones. Then I’m sure he will speak evil things against you. In fact, he’ll do it right in front of you.’6The LORD said to Satan, ‘All right. I am handing him over to you. But you must spare his life.’7Then Satan left the LORD and went on his way. He sent painful sores on Job. They covered him from the bottom of his feet to the top of his head.8He got part of a broken pot. He used it to scrape his skin. He did it while he was sitting in ashes.9His wife said to him, ‘Are you still continuing to be faithful to the LORD? Speak evil things against him and die!’10Job replied, ‘You are talking like a foolish woman. We accept good things from God. So we should also accept trouble when he sends it.’ In spite of everything, Job didn’t say anything that was sinful.11Job had three friends named Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They heard about all the troubles that had come to Job. So they started out from their homes. They had agreed to meet together. They wanted to go and show their concern for Job. They wanted to comfort him.12When they got closer to where he lived, they could see him. But they could hardly recognise him. They began to weep out loud. They tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads.13Then they sat down on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him. That’s because they saw how much he was suffering.
Job 2
English Standard Version
Satan Attacks Job’s Health
1Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the Lord. (Job 1:6)2And the Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.”3And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil? He still holds fast his integrity, although you incited me against him to destroy him without reason.” (Job 2:9; Job 9:17; Job 27:5)4Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life.5But stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.” (Job 1:5; Job 1:11)6And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand; only spare his life.”7So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. (Ex 9:9; Le 13:18; De 28:27; De 28:35; Isa 1:6)8And he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat in the ashes. (Job 41:30; Job 42:6; Eze 27:30; Jon 3:6; Mt 11:21)9Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die.” (Job 2:3; Job 2:5)10But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?”[1] In all this Job did not sin with his lips. (Job 1:22; Ps 39:1; Ps 74:18; Ps 74:22; Jas 5:10)
Job’s Three Friends
11Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They made an appointment together to come to show him sympathy and comfort him. (Ge 25:2; 1Ch 1:32; 1Ch 1:45; Job 42:11; Pr 17:17; Ro 12:15)12And when they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him. And they raised their voices and wept, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads toward heaven. (Ge 37:29; Jos 7:6; Ne 9:1; La 2:10; Eze 27:30)13And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great. (Ge 50:10; Eze 3:15)