ה' נָתַן וה' לָקָח, יְהִי שֵׁם ה' מְבֹרָךְ (איוב א, כא)

THERE was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was whole-hearted and upright, and one that feared God, and shunned evil. And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters. His possessions also were seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she-asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the children of the east. And his sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one upon his day; and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and to drink with them. And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that 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 blasphemed God in their hearts.’ Thus did Job continually. Now it fell upon a day, that the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them. And the LORD said unto Satan: ‘Whence comest thou?’ Then Satan answered the LORD, and said: ‘From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.’ And the LORD said unto Satan: ‘Hast thou considered My servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a whole-hearted and an upright man, one that feareth God, and shunneth evil?’ Then Satan answered the LORD, and said: ‘Doth Job fear God for nought? 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 possessions are increased in the land. But put forth Thy hand now, and touch all that he hath, surely he will blaspheme Thee to Thy face.’ And the LORD said unto Satan: ‘Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thy hand.’ So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD. And it fell on a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house, that there came a messenger unto Job, and said: ‘The oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them; and the Sabeans made a raid, and took them away; yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.’ While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said: ‘A fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.’ While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said: ‘The Chaldeans set themselves in three bands, and fell upon the camels, and have taken them away, yea, and slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.’ 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; And, behold, there came a great wind from across the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.’ Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped; And he 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. For all this Job sinned not, nor ascribed aught unseemly to God.

Again it fell upon a day, that the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD. And the LORD said unto Satan: ‘From whence comest thou?’ And Satan answered the LORD, and said: ‘From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.’ And the LORD said unto Satan: ‘Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a whole-hearted and an upright man, one that feareth God, and shunneth evil? and he still holdeth fast his integrity, although thou didst move Me against him, to destroy him without cause.’ And Satan answered the LORD, and said: ‘Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life. But put forth Thy hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, surely he will blaspheme Thee to Thy face.’ And the LORD said unto Satan: ‘Behold, he is in thy hand; only spare his life.’ So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot even unto his crown. And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself therewith; and he sat among the ashes. Then said his wife unto him: ‘Dost thou still hold fast thine integrity? blaspheme God, and die.’ But he said unto her: ‘Thou speakest as one of the impious women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?’ For all this did not Job sin with his lips.

And Abraham drew near, and said: ‘Will You indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Peradventure there are fifty righteous within the city; wilt Thou indeed sweep away and not forgive the place for the fifty righteous that are therein? That be far from Thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked, that so the righteous should be as the wicked; that be far from Thee; shall not the judge of all the earth do justly?’

And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto My commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, that I will give the rain of your land in its season, the former rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil. And I will give grass in thy fields for thy cattle, and thou shalt eat and be satisfied. Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them; and the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and He shut up the heaven, so that there shall be no rain, and the ground shall not yield her fruit; and ye perish quickly from off the good land which the LORD giveth you. Therefore shall ye lay up these My words in your heart and in your soul; and ye shall bind them for a sign upon your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes. And ye shall teach them your children, talking of them, when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt write them upon the door-posts of thy house, and upon thy gates; that your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, upon the land which the LORD swore unto your fathers to give them, as the days of the heavens above the earth.