Job 2

And it came to pass on that day that the angels of God came to stand before the Lord, and the devil came among them to stand before the Lord.

And the Lord said to the devil, "Where do you come from?" Then the devil said before the Lord, "I have come from traversing what is under heaven and walking through the whole earth."

And the Lord said to the devil, "Have you then given attention to my attendant Job? For there is no man on the earth like him: guileless, true, blameless, god-fearing, abstaining from every evil; and he still holds fast to his guilelessness, while you said to destroy his possessions without cause."

And the devil answered and said to the Lord, "Skin for skin; whatever a man has he will pay out for his life.

But nevertheless, stretch out your hand and touch his bones and his flesh — surely he will bless you to your face."

And the Lord said to the devil, "Behold, I hand him over to you; only preserve his life."

And the devil went out from the Lord and struck Job with a grievous sore from his feet to his head.

And he took a potsherd to scrape away the discharge, and he sat on the dunghill outside the city.

And when much time had passed, his wife said to him, "How long will you hold out, saying, 'Behold, I wait yet a little while, looking for the hope of my deliverance'? For behold, your memorial has vanished from the earth — sons and daughters, the birth-pangs and toils of my womb, for whom I labored in vain with hardships. And you yourself sit in the rottenness of worms, passing the nights in the open air; while I am a wanderer and a servant-woman, going about from place to place and from house to house, waiting for the sun, when it will set, that I may rest from the toils and the pains that now grip me. But say some word against the Lord, and die."

But he looked at her and said, "You have spoken like one of the foolish women. If we have received good things from the Lord's hand, shall we not endure the evil things?" In all these things that befell him Job did not sin with his lips before God.

Now when his three friends heard of all the evils that had come upon him, they came to him each from his own country: Eliphaz the king of the Thaimanites, Baldad the ruler of the Sauchites, Sophar the king of the Minaeans; and they came to him with one accord to comfort and to visit him.

And when they saw him from afar they did not recognize him, and they cried out with a loud voice and wept, each one tearing his own robe and sprinkling dust upon themselves.

And they sat beside him seven days and seven nights, and none of them spoke, for they saw that his affliction was terrible and exceedingly great.