1 And there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord; Satan also came among them to stand before the Lord. 2 And the Lord said to Satan, 'Where have you come from?' And Satan answered the Lord, and said, I have walked on the earth, and have gone round it. 3 And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou paid attention unto my servant Job? for there is none like him on earth: a man blameless, just, God-fearing, and shunning evil, and to this day is firm in his integrity; but thou hast stirred Me up against him, that thou mayest destroy him innocently. 4 And Satan answered the Lord, saying, "Skin for skin, and for his life a man shall give all that he has; 5 but stretch out thy hand, and touch his bone and his flesh, and shall he bless thee? 6 And the Lord said to Satan, Behold, he is in thy hand, only save his life. 7 And Satan departed from the presence of the Lord, and smote Job with a fierce leprosy from the sole of his foot to the very top of his head. 8 And he took for himself a tile to scrape himself with it, and sat down in the ashes. 9 And his wife said unto him, Thou art still firm in thy integrity. blaspheme God and die. 10 But he said to her, 'You say like one of the fools, 'Shall we receive good from God, and not receive evil?' In all this Job did not sin with his mouth.

4. Job's Friends (Job 2:11-13)

11 And the three friends of Job heard of all these afflictions that had come upon him, and they went each one out of his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Sabhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, and came together to go together to mourn with him, and to comfort him. 12 And when they lifted up their eyes from afar, they did not recognize him; and they lifted up their voices and wept; And every man tore his outer garments, and threw dust over their heads toward heaven. 13 And they sat with him on the earth seven days and seven nights; and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great.

5. Job curses the day of his birth (Job 3)

From this point on, the text of the book is poetic.

1 And after these things Job opened his mouth, and cursed his day. 2 And Job began and said, "3 The day in which I was born perish, and the night in which it is said, 'A man was conceived!' 4 That day shall be darkness; let not God seek him from above, and let not the light shine upon him! 5 Let darkness darken him, and the shadow of death, let a cloud envelop him, let them fear him like scorching heat! 6 That night, let darkness possess it, let it not be numbered in the days of the year, let it not be included in the number of months! 7 Oh! that night - let it be deserted; let no merriment enter into it! 8 May those who curse the day curse her, who are able to awaken the leviathan! 9 Let the stars of her dawn be darkened: let her wait for the light, and it does not come, and let her not see the eyelashes of Lucifer, 10 because she did not shut the doors of my mother's womb, and hid sorrow from my eyes! 11 Why did I not die when I came out of the womb, and did I not die when I came out of the womb? 12 Why did the knees receive me? Why did I need to suck my nipples? 13 Now would I lie and rest; I would sleep, and I would be at peace 14 with the kings and counselors of the earth who built up deserts for themselves, 15 or with princes who had gold, and who filled their houses with silver; 16 Or like a miscarriage hidden, I would not exist, like babes that have not seen the light. 17 There the wicked cease to be afraid, and there the exhausted rest. 18 There the prisoners enjoy peace together, and do not hear the cries of the warden. 19 The small and the great are equal there, and the servant is free from his master. 20 Wherefore is light given to the afflicted, and life to those who are grieved in soul, 21 who await death, and there is none, who would dig it out more gladly than a treasure, 22 would rejoice to the point of delight, would be delighted that they had found the tomb? 23 For what is light given to a man whose way is closed, and whom God has surrounded with darkness? 24 My sighs warn my bread, and my groans pour out like water, 25 for the terrible thing that I was terrified of has come upon me; and what I feared came to me. 26 There is no peace for me, no rest, no comfort: misfortune has come upon me.

FIRST CONVERSATION

1. The word of Eliphaz: God is just; Job must repent (Job 4-5)

1 And Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said, 2 If we try to speak a word to you, will it not be hard for you? However, who can forbid a word! 3 Behold, thou hast guided many, and hast sustained the hands that were dropped, 4 thy words have raised up those who fall, and thou hast strengthened the knees that are bent. 5 But now it has come to you, and you are faint; touched you, and you lost heart. 6 Shall not thy fear of God be thy hope, and the purity of thy ways thy hope? 7 Remember, then, if any innocent man perished, and where were the righteous rooted out? 8 As I have seen, those who have plowed wickedness, and sowed evil, reap it; 9 at the breath of God they perish, and at the spirit of his wrath they perish. 10 The roar of the lion, and the voice of the roarer, is silenced, and the teeth of the skims are broken; 11 The mighty lion dies without prey, and the children of the lioness are scattered. 12 And behold, a word came to me secretly, and my ear received something of it. 13 In the midst of meditating on the visions of the night, when sleep comes upon men, 14 terror and trembling seized me, and shook all my bones. 15 And the spirit passed over me; The hair on me stood on end. 16 And he stood, but I did not recognize his form, but his form was before my eyes; a gentle breeze, and I hear a voice: Are 17 men more righteous than God? and is the man purer than his Creator? 18 Behold, he trusteth not even his servants, and sees faults in his angels: 19 much more in those who dwell in tabernacles of clay, whose foundation is dust, which are cut off more quickly than moths. 20 Between morning and evening they break up; you will not see them disappear altogether. 21 Do not their virtues also perish with them? They die before they have attained wisdom.

1 Cry out if there is one who answers you. And to which of the saints will you turn? 2 Thus anger killeth a fool, and irritability destroyeth a fool. 3 And I saw the fool taking root, and straightway I cursed his house. 4 His children are far from happy, they will be beaten at the gates, and there will be no protector. 5 His harvest shall be eaten by the hungry, and for the thorns he shall take it, and those who are thirsty shall devour his goods. 6 Thus it is not out of the dust that grief cometh out, nor out of the earth does trouble grow; 7 But man is born to affliction, like sparks to rush upward. 8 But I would turn to God, I would commit my work to God, 9 Who does great and unsearchable works, wonderful without number, 10 He gives rain on the face of the earth, and sends water on the face of the fields; 11 He sets up the lowly on high, and those who mourn are lifted up to salvation. 12 He frustrates the designs of the wicked, and their hands do not complete the work. 13 He catches the wise men by their own craftiness, and the counsel of the cunning is in vain: 14 by day they meet darkness, and at noon they grope as by night. 15 He saves the poor from the sword, from their mouth, and from the hand of the mighty. 16 And there is hope for the wretched, and iniquity shuts his mouth. 17 Blessed is the man whom God admonishes, and therefore do not reject the chastisement of the Almighty, 18 for he inflicts wounds, and binds them up himself. He strikes, and His own hands heal. 19 In six troubles he will save you, and in the seventh evil will not touch you. 20 In time of famine he shall deliver thee from death, and in war from the hand of the sword. 21 Thou shalt hide thyself from the scourge of the tongue, and thou shalt not fear desolation when it comes. 22 Thou shalt laugh at desolation and famine, and shalt not fear the beasts of the earth, 23 for thou hast a covenant with the stones of the field, and the beasts of the field are at peace with thee. 24 And you will know that your tent is safe, and you will watch over your house, and you will not sin. 25 And you will see that your seed is numerous, and your branches are like grass on the earth. 26 Thou shalt enter into the tomb in maturity, as sheaves of wheat are laid in their season. 27 This is what we have learned; And so it is: listen to this and take note for yourself.

The author puts many wise thoughts into the mouths of Job's friends. He does this in order to show that they are partially right. The mistake of the friends lies not in their views, but in the fact that they have rested on theories, turned away from the real world and do not wait for a new Revelation. Job, speaking with the utmost sincerity and directness, does not close his eyes to the evil that reigns around him. However, at the same time, finding himself in the abyss of despair, he does not cease to believe in the goodness of God and calls out to the Creator, asking Him to reveal to him the mystery of the tragic fate of man. It is this faith that justifies Job more than his formally pious friends.