< Job 2 >
1 Again it happened on the day when the sons of God came to present themselves before YHWH, that Satan came also among them to present himself before YHWH.
But it happened that, on a certain day, when the sons of God had arrived and they stood before the Lord, Satan likewise arrived among them, and he stood in his sight.
2 YHWH said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Satan answered YHWH, and said, "From going back and forth on the earth, and from walking up and down on it."
So the Lord said to Satan, “Where do you come from?” Answering, he said, “I have circled the land, and walked around in it.”
3 YHWH said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? For there is none like him in the earth, a blameless and an upright man, one who fears God, and turns away from evil. And he still holds firmly to his integrity, although you incited me against him, to ruin him without cause."
And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you not considered my servant, Job, that there is no one like him in the land, a simple and honest man, fearing God and withdrawing from evil, and still retaining his innocence? Yet you have stirred me against him, so that I would afflict him to no purpose.”
4 Then Satan answered YHWH, and said, "Skin for skin. Indeed, all that a man has he will give for his life.
Answering him, Satan said, “Skin for skin; and everything that a man has, he will give for his life.
5 But put forth your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face."
Yet send your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and then you will see whether or not he blesses you to your face.”
6 YHWH said to Satan, "Look, he is in your power. Only preserve his life."
Therefore, the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand, but even so, spare his life.”
7 So Satan went forth from the presence of YHWH, and struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his foot to the top of his head.
And so, Satan departed from the face of the Lord and he struck Job with a very serious ulcer from the sole of the foot all the way to the crown of his head.
8 And he took for himself a potsherd to scrape himself with while he sat among the ashes.
So he took a shard of earthenware and scraped the discharge, while sitting on a heap of refuse.
9 Then his wife said to him, "Do you still hold firmly to your integrity? Curse God, and die."
But his wife said to him, “Do you still continue in your simplicity? Bless God and die.”
10 But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we indeed accept good at the hand of God, and shall we not accept adversity?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips.
He said to her, “You have spoken like one of the foolish wives. If we accepted good things from the hand of God, why should we not accept bad things?” In all this, Job did not sin with his lips.
11 Now when Job's three friends heard of all this adversity that had come on him, they each came from his own place: Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, and they made an appointment together to come to sympathize with him and to comfort him.
And so, three friends of Job, hearing about all the evil that had befallen him, arrived, each one from his own place, Eliphaz the Themanite, and Baldad the Suhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. For they had agreed to come together to visit and console him.
12 When they lifted up their eyes from a distance, and did not recognize him, they raised their voices, and wept; and they each tore his robe, and threw dust in the air over their heads.
And when they had raised up their eyes from a distance, they did not recognize him, and, crying out, they wept, and, tearing their garments, they scattered dust over their heads into the sky.
13 So they sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spoke a word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great.
And they sat with him on the ground for seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his sorrow was very great.