Read the Bible

¹ THERE was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and that man was innocent and upright, and one who revered God and turned away from evil.² And there were born to him seven sons and three daughters.³ His substance was 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 men of the East.

⁴ And his sons went and feasted in the house of each other on his appointed day; and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them.⁵ And it was so, when the days of their feasting were over, 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 cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually.

⁶ Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present them selves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.⁷ And the LORD said to Satan, Whence have you come? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking on it.⁸ Then the LORD said to Satan, Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, an innocent and upright man, one who reveres God, and turns away from evil?⁹ Then Satan answered the LORD and said, Does Job revere God for nought?¹⁰ Thou hast rested thy hand of protection upon him and upon his house and upon his children and upon everything that he has everywhere; thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.¹¹ But put forth thy hand now, and destroy all that he has, and he will curse thee to thy face.¹² And the LORD said to Satan, Behold, all that he has is in your power; only upon himself you shall not put forth your hand. So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.

¹³ And there was a day when Jobs sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brothers house;¹⁴ And there came a messenger to Job, and said to him, The oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding be side them;¹⁵ And robbers raided them, and carried them away, and they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword, and I only have escaped to inform you.¹⁶ While he was yet speaking, there came another, and said to him, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and has burned up the sheep and the shepherds, and consumed them; and I only have escaped to inform you.¹⁷ While he was yet speaking, there came another, and said to him, The Chaldeans divided themselves into three bands, and raided the camels, and carried them away, and slew the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only have escaped to inform you.¹⁸ While he was yet speaking, there came another, and said to him, Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brothers 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 to inform you.

²⁰ Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped,²¹ And he said, Naked I came out of my mothers womb, and naked shall I return; the LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.²² In all these disasters, Job did not sin, nor did he blaspheme against the LORD.