Study Desk

As the prophet spoke, Amaziah said to him, "We never gave you the job of advising the king. Stop, or you will be killed." The prophet stopped speaking except to say, "I know that God has decided to destroy you because you have done this. You did not listen to my advice."

Then I said to the important people, the leaders, and everyone else, "This is a very big job. We are spreading out along the wall so that we are far apart.

So I purified them of everything that was foreign. I appointed duties for the priests and Levites, giving each man his own job.

A man named Job lived in the land of Uz. He was an honest and innocent man; he honored God and stayed away from evil.

Job had seven sons and three daughters.

After a feast was over, Job would send and have them made clean. Early in the morning Job would offer a burnt offering for each of them, because he thought, "My children may have sinned and cursed God in their hearts." Job did this every time.

Then the Lord said to Satan, "Have you noticed my servant Job? No one else on earth is like him. He is an honest and innocent man, honoring God and staying away from evil."

But Satan answered the Lord , "Job honors God for a good reason.

The Lord said to Satan, "All right, then. Everything Job has is in your power, but you must not touch Job himself." Then Satan left the Lord 's presence.

A messenger came to Job and said, "The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were eating grass nearby,

When Job heard this, he got up and tore his robe and shaved his head to show how sad he was. Then he bowed down to the ground to worship God.

In all this Job did not sin or blame God.

Then the Lord said to Satan, "Have you noticed my servant Job? No one else on earth is like him. He is an honest and innocent man, honoring God and staying away from evil. You caused me to ruin him for no good reason, but he continues to be without blame."

The Lord said to Satan, "All right, then. Job is in your power, but you may not take his life."

Job took a piece of broken pottery to scrape himself, and he sat in ashes in misery.

Job answered, "You are talking like a foolish woman. Should we take only good things from God and not trouble?" In spite of all this Job did not sin in what he said.

Now Job had three friends: Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. When these friends heard about Job's troubles, they agreed to meet and visit him. They wanted to show their concern and to comfort him.

They saw Job from far away, but he looked so different they almost didn't recognize him. They began to cry loudly and tore their robes and put dirt on their heads to show how sad they were.

Then they sat on the ground with Job seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him because they saw how much he was suffering.

After seven days Job cried out and cursed the day he had been born,