Job 2

1Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before Yahweh, and the Adversary also came among them to present himself before Yahweh.

2And Yahweh said to the Accuser, “From where have you come?” And the Accuser answered Yahweh and said, “From roaming about on the earth and from walking around on it.”

3Then Yahweh said to the Accuser, “Have you set your heart on my servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and turns away from evil. He still holds fast his integrity, though you incited me against him to swallow him up for nothing.”

4Then the Adversary answered Yahweh and said, “Skin for skin! Indeed, all that a man has he will give for his life.”

5But stretch out your hand, please, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will surely curse you to your face.

6And Yahweh said to the Accuser, “Look, he is in your hand; only spare his life.”

7So the Adversary went out from the presence of Yahweh and struck Job with severe sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.

8And he took a potsherd and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes.

9Then his wife said to him, “Are you still holding fast to your integrity? Curse God and die.”

10But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we receive the good from God, and shall we not receive the bad?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

11When Job’s three friends heard about all this trouble that had come upon him, they came each from his own place: Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They agreed together to come to sympathize with him and to comfort him.

12And when they lifted up their eyes from a distance, they did not recognize him. Then they raised their voices and wept, and each man tore his robe and threw dust over his head toward the heavens.

13And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, because they saw that his pain was very great.