Job 1-3

New International Version

Prologue

1 In the land of Uz^(A) there lived a man whose name was Job.^(B) This man was blameless^(C) and upright;^(D) he feared God^(E) and shunned evil.^(F) ²He had seven sons^(G) and three daughters,^(H) ³and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys,^(I) and had a large number of servants.^(J) He was the greatest man^(K) among all the people of the East.^(L)

⁴His sons used to hold feasts^(M) in their homes on their birthdays, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. ⁵When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would make arrangements for them to be purified.^(N) Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering^(O) for each of them, thinking, “Perhaps my children have sinned^(P) and cursed God^(Q) in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular custom.

⁶One day the angels^[a]^(R) came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan^[b]^(S) also came with them.^(T) ⁷The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”

Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”^(U)

⁸Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job?^(V) There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God^(W) and shuns evil.”^(X)

⁹“Does Job fear God for nothing?”^(Y) Satan replied. ¹⁰“Have you not put a hedge^(Z) around him and his household and everything he has?^(AA) You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land.^(AB) ¹¹But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has,^(AC) and he will surely curse you to your face.”^(AD)

¹²The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has^(AE) is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.”^(AF)

Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.

¹³One day when Job’s sons and daughters^(AG) were feasting^(AH) and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, ¹⁴a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing^(AI) nearby, ¹⁵and the Sabeans^(AJ) attacked and made off with them. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”

¹⁶While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The fire of God fell from the heavens^(AK) and burned up the sheep and the servants,^(AL) and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”

¹⁷While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The Chaldeans^(AM) formed three raiding parties and swept down on your camels and made off with them. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”

¹⁸While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and said, “Your sons and daughters^(AN) were feasting^(AO) and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, ¹⁹when suddenly a mighty wind^(AP) swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead,^(AQ) and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!^(AR)”

²⁰At this, Job got up and tore his robe^(AS) and shaved his head.^(AT) Then he fell to the ground in worship^(AU) ²¹and said:

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
and naked I will depart.^[c]^(AV)
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;^(AW)
may the name of the Lord be praised.”^(AX)

²²In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.^(AY)

2 On another day the angels^[d]^(AZ) came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them^(BA) to present himself before him. ²And the Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”

Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”^(BB)

³Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.^(BC) And he still maintains his integrity,^(BD) though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.”^(BE)

⁴“Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give all he has^(BF) for his own life. ⁵But now stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones,^(BG) and he will surely curse you to your face.”^(BH)

⁶The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, he is in your hands;^(BI) but you must spare his life.”^(BJ)

⁷So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head.^(BK) ⁸Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes.^(BL)

⁹His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity?^(BM) Curse God and die!”^(BN)

¹⁰He replied, “You are talking like a foolish^[e] woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”^(BO)

In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.^(BP)

¹¹When Job’s three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite,^(BQ) Bildad the Shuhite^(BR) and Zophar the Naamathite,^(BS) heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him.^(BT) ¹²When they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him;^(BU) they began to weep aloud,^(BV) and they tore their robes^(BW) and sprinkled dust on their heads.^(BX) ¹³Then they sat on the ground^(BY) with him for seven days and seven nights.^(BZ) No one said a word to him,^(CA) because they saw how great his suffering was.

Job Speaks

3 After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.^(CB) ²He said:

³“May the day of my birth perish,
    and the night that said, ‘A boy is conceived!’^(CC)
⁴That day—may it turn to darkness;
    may God above not care about it;
    may no light shine on it.
⁵May gloom and utter darkness^(CD) claim it once more;
    may a cloud settle over it;
    may blackness overwhelm it.
⁶That night—may thick darkness^(CE) seize it;
    may it not be included among the days of the year
    nor be entered in any of the months.
⁷May that night be barren;
    may no shout of joy^(CF) be heard in it.
⁸May those who curse days^[f] curse that day,^(CG)
    those who are ready to rouse Leviathan.^(CH)
⁹May its morning stars become dark;
    may it wait for daylight in vain
    and not see the first rays of dawn,^(CI)
¹⁰for it did not shut the doors of the womb on me
    to hide trouble from my eyes.

¹¹“Why did I not perish at birth,
    and die as I came from the womb?^(CJ)
¹²Why were there knees to receive me^(CK)
    and breasts that I might be nursed?
¹³For now I would be lying down^(CL) in peace;
    I would be asleep and at rest^(CM)
¹⁴with kings and rulers of the earth,^(CN)
    who built for themselves places now lying in ruins,^(CO)
¹⁵with princes^(CP) who had gold,
    who filled their houses with silver.^(CQ)
¹⁶Or why was I not hidden away in the ground like a stillborn child,^(CR)
    like an infant who never saw the light of day?^(CS)
¹⁷There the wicked cease from turmoil,^(CT)
    and there the weary are at rest.^(CU)
¹⁸Captives^(CV) also enjoy their ease;
    they no longer hear the slave driver’s^(CW) shout.^(CX)
¹⁹The small and the great are there,^(CY)
    and the slaves are freed from their owners.

²⁰“Why is light given to those in misery,
    and life to the bitter of soul,^(CZ)
²¹to those who long for death that does not come,^(DA)
    who search for it more than for hidden treasure,^(DB)
²²who are filled with gladness
    and rejoice when they reach the grave?^(DC)
²³Why is life given to a man
    whose way is hidden,^(DD)
    whom God has hedged in?^(DE)
²⁴For sighing^(DF) has become my daily food;^(DG)
    my groans^(DH) pour out like water.^(DI)
²⁵What I feared has come upon me;
    what I dreaded^(DJ) has happened to me.^(DK)
²⁶I have no peace,^(DL) no quietness;
    I have no rest,^(DM) but only turmoil.”^(DN)

Footnotes

Job 1:6 Hebrew the sons of God
Job 1:6 Hebrew satan means adversary.
Job 1:21 Or will return there
Job 2:1 Hebrew the sons of God
Job 2:10 The Hebrew word rendered foolish denotes moral deficiency.
Job 3:8 Or curse the sea

Acts 7:1-19

New International Version

Stephen’s Speech to the Sanhedrin

7 Then the high priest asked Stephen, “Are these charges true?”

²To this he replied: “Brothers and fathers,^(A) listen to me! The God of glory^(B) appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Harran.^(C) ³‘Leave your country and your people,’ God said, ‘and go to the land I will show you.’^[a]^(D)

⁴“So he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Harran. After the death of his father, God sent him to this land where you are now living.^(E) ⁵He gave him no inheritance here,^(F) not even enough ground to set his foot on. But God promised him that he and his descendants after him would possess the land,^(G) even though at that time Abraham had no child. ⁶God spoke to him in this way: ‘For four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated.^(H) ⁷But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves,’ God said, ‘and afterward they will come out of that country and worship me in this place.’^[b]^(I) ⁸Then he gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision.^(J) And Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him eight days after his birth.^(K) Later Isaac became the father of Jacob,^(L) and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs.^(M)

⁹“Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph,^(N) they sold him as a slave into Egypt.^(O) But God was with him^(P) ¹⁰and rescued him from all his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom and enabled him to gain the goodwill of Pharaoh king of Egypt. So Pharaoh made him ruler over Egypt and all his palace.^(Q)

¹¹“Then a famine struck all Egypt and Canaan, bringing great suffering, and our ancestors could not find food.^(R) ¹²When Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our forefathers on their first visit.^(S) ¹³On their second visit, Joseph told his brothers who he was,^(T) and Pharaoh learned about Joseph’s family.^(U) ¹⁴After this, Joseph sent for his father Jacob and his whole family,^(V) seventy-five in all.^(W) ¹⁵Then Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our ancestors died.^(X) ¹⁶Their bodies were brought back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor at Shechem for a certain sum of money.^(Y)

¹⁷“As the time drew near for God to fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt had greatly increased.^(Z) ¹⁸Then ‘a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt.’^[c]^(AA) ¹⁹He dealt treacherously with our people and oppressed our ancestors by forcing them to throw out their newborn babies so that they would die.^(AB)