Job 1-5

21st Century King James Version

1 There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one who feared God and eschewed evil.

² And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters.

³ His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred sheasses, and a very great household, so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the East.

⁴ And his sons went and feasted in their houses, every one his day, and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them.

⁵ And it was so, that when the days of their feasting were ended, Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all; for Job said, “It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” Thus did Job continually.

⁶ Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them.

⁷ And the Lord said unto Satan, “From whence comest thou?” Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down upon it.”

⁸ And the Lord said unto Satan, “Hast thou considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one who feareth God and escheweth evil?”

⁹ Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Doth Job fear God for nought?

¹⁰ Hast not Thou made a hedge about him and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance hath increased in the land.

¹¹ But put forth Thine hand now and touch all that he hath, and he will curse Thee to Thy face!”

¹² And the Lord said unto Satan, “Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand.” So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord.

¹³ And there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house,

¹⁴ and there came a messenger unto Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the asses feeding beside them,

¹⁵ and the Sabeans fell upon them and took them away. Yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword, and I only have escaped alone to tell thee!”

¹⁶ While he was yet speaking, there came also another and said, “The fire of God hath fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them; and I only have escaped alone to tell thee!”

¹⁷ While he was yet speaking, there came also another and said, “The Chaldeans made up three bands, and fell upon the camels and have carried them away, yea, and have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only have escaped alone to tell thee!”

¹⁸ While he was yet speaking, there came also another and said, “Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house,

¹⁹ and behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only have escaped alone to tell thee!”

²⁰ Then Job arose, and rent his mantle and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground and worshiped,

²¹ and said, “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither. The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

²² In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.

2 Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the Lord.

² And the Lord said unto Satan, “From whence comest thou?” And Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down upon it.”

³ And the Lord said unto Satan, “Hast thou considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one who feareth God and escheweth evil? And still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst Me against him to destroy him without cause.”

⁴ And Satan answered the Lord and said, “Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.

⁵ But put forth Thine hand now and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse Thee to Thy face!”

⁶ And the Lord said unto Satan, “Behold, he is in thine hand; only spare his life.”

⁷ So went Satan forth from the presence of the Lord, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.

⁸ And he took him a potsherd with which to scrape himself, and he sat down among the ashes.

⁹ Then said his wife unto him, “Dost thou still retain thine integrity? Curse God, and die!”

¹⁰ But he said unto her, “Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this did not Job sin with his lips.

¹¹ Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came every one from his own place: Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite.For they had made an appointment together to come to mourn with him and to comfort him.

¹² And when they lifted up their eyes afar off and knew him not, they lifted up their voice and wept; and they rent every one his mantle, and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven.

¹³ So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spoke a word unto him; for they saw that his grief was very great.

3 After this opened Job his mouth and cursed his day.

² And Job spoke and said:

³ “Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, ‘There is a manchild conceived.’

⁴ Let that day be darkness; let not God regard it from above, neither let the light shine upon it.

⁵ Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it; let a cloud dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it.

⁶ As for that night, let darkness seize upon it; let it not be joined unto the days of the year, let it not come into the number of the months.

⁷ Lo, let that night be solitary; let no joyful voice come therein.

⁸ Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to raise up their mourning.

⁹ Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark; let it look for light, but have none; neither let it see the dawning of the day,

¹⁰ because it shut not up the doors of my mother’s womb, nor hid sorrow from mine eyes.

¹¹ “Why died I not from the womb? Why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly?

¹² Why did the knees precede me, or why the breasts that I should suck?

¹³ For now should I have lain still and been quiet, I should have slept; then would I have been at rest

¹⁴ with kings and counselors of the earth, who built desolate places for themselves,

¹⁵ or with princes that had gold, who filled their houses with silver;

¹⁶ or as a hidden untimely birth I would not have been, as infants who never saw light.

¹⁷ There the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary be at rest.

¹⁸ There the prisoners rest together; they hear not the voice of the oppressor.

¹⁹ The small and great are there, and the servant is free from his master.

²⁰ “Why is light given to him that is in misery, and life unto the bitter in soul,

²¹ who long for death but it cometh not, and dig for it more than for hidden treasures;

²² who rejoice exceedingly, and are glad when they can find the grave?

²³ Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, and whom God hath hedged in?

²⁴ For my sighing cometh before I eat, and my roarings are poured out like the waters.

²⁵ For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.

²⁶ I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came.”

4 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:

² “If we attempt to commune with thee, wilt thou be grieved? But who can withhold himself from speaking?

³ Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands.

⁴ Thy words have upheld him that was falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees.

⁵ But now it is come upon thee, and thou faintest; it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled.

⁶ Is not this thy fear, thy confidence, thy hope, and the uprightness of thy ways?

⁷ “Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent? Or where were the righteous cut off?

⁸ Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity and sow wickedness reap the same.

⁹ By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of His nostrils are they consumed.

¹⁰ The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions are broken.

¹¹ The old lion perisheth for lack of prey, and the stout lion’s whelps are scattered abroad.

¹² “Now a thing was secretly brought to me, and mine ear received a little thereof.

¹³ In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men,

¹⁴ fear came upon me and trembling, which made all my bones to shake.

¹⁵ Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up.

¹⁶ It stood still, but I could not discern the form thereof; an image was before mine eyes. There was silence and I heard a voice, saying,

¹⁷ ‘Shall mortal man be more just than God? Shall a man be more pure than his Maker?

¹⁸ Behold, He put no trust in His servants, and His angels He charged with folly:

¹⁹ How much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed before the moth?

²⁰ They are destroyed from morning to evening; they perish for ever without any regarding it.

²¹ Doth not their excellence which is in them go away? They die, even without wisdom.’

5 “Call now, if there be any that will answer thee; and to which of the saints wilt thou turn?

² For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one.

³ I have seen the foolish taking root, but suddenly I cursed his habitation.

⁴ His children are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate, neither is there any to deliver them.

⁵ His harvest the hungry eateth up and taketh it even out of the thorns, and the robber swalloweth up their substance.

⁶ Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground;

⁷ yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.

⁸ “I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause.

⁹ He doeth great things and unsearchable, marvelous things without number:

¹⁰ He giveth rain upon the earth, and sendeth waters upon the fields,

¹¹ to set up on high those that are low, that those who mourn may be exalted to safety.

¹² He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise.

¹³ He taketh the wise in their own craftiness, and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong.

¹⁴ They meet with darkness in the daytime, and grope in the noonday as in the night.

¹⁵ But He saveth the poor from the sword, from the mouth and from the hand of the mighty.

¹⁶ So the poor hath hope, and iniquity stoppeth her mouth.

¹⁷ “Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth; therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty.

¹⁸ For He maketh sore, and bindeth up; He woundeth, and His hands make whole.

¹⁹ He shall deliver thee in six troubles; yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee.

²⁰ In famine He shall redeem thee from death, and in war from the power of the sword.

²¹ Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue, neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh.

²² At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh; neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth.

²³ For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field, and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.

²⁴ And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle shall be in peace; and thou shalt visit thy habitation, and shalt not sin.

²⁵ Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be great, and thine offspring as the grass of the earth.

²⁶ Thou shalt come to thy grave at a full age, as a shock of corn cometh in in his season.

²⁷ Lo, this we have searched out; so it is. Hear it, and know thou it for thy good.”