Bible in 90 Days
15 One day I was on a farm and saw some men treading winepresses on the Sabbath, hauling in sheaves, and loading their donkeys with wine, grapes, figs, and all sorts of produce, which they took that day into Jerusalem. So I opposed them publicly. 16 There were also some men from Tyre bringing in fish and all sorts of wares and selling them on the Sabbath to the people of Jerusalem.
17 Then I asked the leaders of Judah, “Why are you profaning the Sabbath? 18 Wasn’t it enough that your fathers did this sort of thing and brought the present evil days upon us and upon our city? And now you are bringing more wrath upon the people of Israel by permitting the Sabbath to be desecrated in this way.”
19 So from then on I commanded that the gates of the city be shut as darkness fell on Friday evenings and not be opened until the Sabbath had ended; and I sent some of my servants to guard the gates so that no merchandise could be brought in on the Sabbath day. 20 The merchants and tradesmen camped outside Jerusalem once or twice, 21 but I spoke sharply to them and said, “What are you doing out here, camping around the wall? If you do this again, I will arrest you.” And that was the last time they came on the Sabbath.
22 Then I commanded the Levites to purify themselves and to guard the gates in order to preserve the sanctity of the Sabbath. Remember this good deed, O my God! Have compassion upon me in accordance with your great goodness.
23 About the same time I realized that some of the Jews had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab, 24 and that many of their children spoke in the language of Ashdod and couldn’t speak the language of Judah at all. 25 So I confronted these parents and cursed them and punched a few of them and knocked them around and pulled out their hair; and they vowed before God that they would not let their children intermarry with non-Jews.
26 “Wasn’t this exactly King Solomon’s problem?” I demanded. “There was no king who could compare with him, and God loved him and made him the king over all Israel; but even so he was led into idolatry by foreign women. 27 Do you think that we will let you get away with this sinful deed?”
28 One of the sons of Jehoiada (the son of Eliashib the High Priest) was a son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite, so I chased him out of the Temple. 29 Remember them, O my God, for they have defiled the priesthood and the promises and vows of the priests and Levites. 30 So I purged out the foreigners and assigned tasks to the priests and Levites, making certain that each knew his work. 31 They supplied wood for the altar at the proper times and cared for the sacrifices and the first offerings of every harvest. Remember me, my God, with your kindness.
1 1-3 It was the third year of the reign of King Ahasuerus, emperor of vast Media-Persia, with its 127 provinces stretching from India to Ethiopia. This was the year of the great celebration at Shushan Palace, to which the emperor invited all his governors, aides, and army officers, bringing them in from every part of Media-Persia for the occasion. 4 The celebration lasted six months, a tremendous display of the wealth and glory of his empire.
5 When it was all over, the king gave a special party for the palace servants and officials—janitors and cabinet officials alike—for seven days of revelry, held in the courtyard of the palace garden. 6 The decorations were green, white, and blue, fastened with purple ribbons[a] tied to silver rings imbedded in marble pillars. Gold and silver benches stood on pavements of black, red, white, and yellow marble. 7 Drinks were served in gold goblets of many designs, and there was an abundance of royal wine, for the king was feeling very generous. 8 The only restriction on the drinking was that no one should be compelled to take more than he wanted, but those who wished could have as much as they pleased. For the king had instructed his officers to let everyone decide this matter for himself.
9 Queen Vashti gave a party for the women of the palace at the same time.
10 On the final day when the king was feeling high, half drunk from wine, he told the seven eunuchs who were his personal aides—Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carkas— 11 to bring Queen Vashti to him with the royal crown upon her head so that all the men could gaze upon her beauty—for she was a very beautiful woman. 12 But when they conveyed the emperor’s order to Queen Vashti, she refused to come. The king was furious 13-15 but first consulted his lawyers, for he did nothing without their advice. They were men of wisdom who knew the temper of the times as well as Persian law and justice, and the king trusted their judgment. These men were Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan—seven high officials of Media-Persia. They were his personal friends as well as being the chief officers of the government.
“What shall we do about this situation?” he asked them. “What penalty does the law provide for a queen who refuses to obey the king’s orders, properly sent through his aides?”
16 Memucan answered for the others, “Queen Vashti has wronged not only the king but every official and citizen of your empire. 17 For women everywhere will begin to disobey their husbands when they learn what Queen Vashti has done. 18 And before this day is out, the wife of every one of us officials throughout your empire will hear what the queen did and will start talking to us husbands the same way, and there will be contempt and anger throughout your realm. 19 We suggest that, subject to your agreement, you issue a royal edict, a law of the Medes and Persians that can never be changed, that Queen Vashti be forever banished from your presence and that you choose another queen more worthy than she. 20 When this decree is published throughout your great kingdom, husbands everywhere, whatever their rank, will be respected by their wives!”
21 The king and all his aides thought this made good sense, so he followed Memucan’s counsel 22 and sent letters to all of his provinces, in all the local languages, stressing that every man should rule his home and should assert his authority.
2 But after King Ahasuerus’ anger had cooled, he began brooding over the loss of Vashti, realizing that he would never see her again.
2 So his aides suggested, “Let us go and find the most beautiful girls in the empire and bring them to the king for his pleasure. 3 We will appoint agents in each province to select young lovelies for the royal harem. Hegai, the eunuch in charge, will see that they are given beauty treatments, 4 and after that, the girl who pleases you most shall be the queen instead of Vashti.”
This suggestion naturally pleased the king very much, and he put the plan into immediate effect.
5 Now there was a certain Jew at the palace named Mordecai (son of Jair, son of Shimei, son of Kish, a Benjaminite). 6 He had been captured when Jerusalem was destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar and had been exiled to Babylon along with King Jeconiah of Judah and many others. 7 This man had a beautiful and lovely young cousin, Hadassah (also called Esther), whose father and mother were dead, and whom he had adopted into his family and raised as his own daughter.[b] 8 So now, as a result of the king’s decree, Esther was brought to the king’s harem at Shushan Palace along with many other young girls. 9 Hegai, who was responsible for the harem, was very much impressed with her and did his best to make her happy; he ordered a special menu for her, favored her for the beauty treatments, gave her seven girls from the palace as her maids, and gave her the most luxurious apartment in the harem. 10 Esther hadn’t told anyone that she was a Jewess, for Mordecai had said not to. 11 He came daily to the court of the harem to ask about Esther and to find out what was happening to her.
12-14 The instructions concerning these girls were that before being taken to the king’s bed, each would be given six months of beauty treatments with oil of myrrh, followed by six months with special perfumes and ointments. Then, as each girl’s turn came for spending the night with King Ahasuerus, she was given her choice of clothing or jewelry she wished, to enhance her beauty. She was taken to the king’s apartment in the evening and the next morning returned to the second harem where the king’s wives lived. There she was under the care of Shaashgaz, another of the king’s eunuchs and lived there the rest of her life, never seeing the king again unless he had especially enjoyed her and called for her by name.
15 When it was Esther’s[c] turn to go to the king, she accepted the advice of Hegai, the eunuch in charge of the harem, dressing according to his instructions. And all the other girls exclaimed with delight when they saw her. 16 So Esther was taken to the palace of the king in January of the seventh year of his reign. 17 Well, the king loved Esther more than any of the other girls. He was so delighted with her that he set the royal crown on her head and declared her queen instead of Vashti. 18 To celebrate the occasion, he threw another big party for all his officials and servants, giving generous gifts to everyone and making grants to the provinces in the form of remission of taxes.
19 Later the king demanded a second bevy of beautiful girls.[d] By that time Mordecai had become a government official.
20 Esther still hadn’t told anyone she was a Jewess, for she was still following Mordecai’s orders, just as she had in his home.
21 One day as Mordecai was on duty at the palace, two of the king’s eunuchs, Bigthan and Teresh—who were guards at the palace gate—became angry at the king and plotted to assassinate him. 22 Mordecai heard about it and passed on the information to Queen Esther, who told the king, crediting Mordecai with the information. 23 An investigation was made, the two men found guilty, and impaled alive.[e] This was all duly recorded in the book of the history of King Ahasuerus’ reign.
3 Soon afterwards King Ahasuerus appointed Haman (son of Hammedatha the Agagite) as prime minister. He was the most powerful official in the empire next to the king himself. 2 Now all the king’s officials bowed before him in deep reverence whenever he passed by, for so the king had commanded. But Mordecai refused to bow.
3-4 “Why are you disobeying the king’s commandment?” the others demanded day after day, but he still refused. Finally they spoke to Haman about it to see whether Mordecai could get away with it because of his being a Jew, which was the excuse he had given them. 5-6 Haman was furious but decided not to lay hands on Mordecai alone, but to move against all of Mordecai’s people, the Jews, and destroy all of them throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus.
7 The most propitious time for this action was determined by throwing dice. This was done in April of the twelfth year of the reign of Ahasuerus, and February of the following year was the date indicated.
8 Haman now approached the king about the matter. “There is a certain race of people scattered through all the provinces of your kingdom,” he began, “and their laws are different from those of any other nation, and they refuse to obey the king’s laws; therefore, it is not in the king’s interest to let them live. 9 If it please the king, issue a decree that they be destroyed, and I will pay $20,000,000 into the royal treasury for the expenses involved in this purge.”
10 The king agreed, confirming his decision by removing his ring from his finger and giving it to Haman,[f] telling him, 11 “Keep the money, but go ahead and do as you like with these people—whatever you think best.”
12 Two or three weeks later,[g] Haman called in the king’s secretaries and dictated letters to the governors and officials throughout the empire, to each province in its own languages and dialects; these letters were signed in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with his ring.
13 They were then sent by messengers into all the provinces of the empire, decreeing that the Jews—young and old, women and children—must all be killed on the 28th day of February of the following year and their property given to those who killed them. 14 “A copy of this edict,” the letter stated, “must be proclaimed as law in every province and made known to all your people, so that they will be ready to do their duty on the appointed day.” 15 The edict went out by the king’s speediest couriers, after being first proclaimed in the city of Shushan. Then the king and Haman sat down for a drinking spree as the city fell into confusion and panic.
4 When Mordecai learned what had been done, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the city, crying with a loud and bitter wail. 2 Then he stood outside the gate of the palace, for no one was permitted to enter in mourning clothes. 3 And throughout all the provinces there was great mourning among the Jews, fasting, weeping, and despair at the king’s decree; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.
4 When Esther’s maids and eunuchs came and told her about Mordecai, she was deeply distressed and sent clothing to him to replace the sackcloth, but he refused it. 5 Then Esther sent for Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs who had been appointed as her attendant, and told him to go out to Mordecai and find out what the trouble was and why he was acting like that. 6 So Hathach went out to the city square and found Mordecai just outside the palace gates, 7 and heard the whole story from him, and about the $20,000,000 Haman had promised to pay into the king’s treasury for the destruction of the Jews. 8 Mordecai also gave Hathach a copy of the king’s decree dooming all Jews, and told him to show it to Esther and to tell her what was happening and that she should go to the king to plead for her people. 9 So Hathach returned to Esther with Mordecai’s message. 10 Esther told Hathach to go back and say to Mordecai, 11 “All the world knows that anyone, whether man or woman, who goes into the king’s inner court without his summons is doomed to die unless the king holds out his gold scepter; and the king has not called for me to come to him in more than a month.”
12 So Hathach gave Esther’s message to Mordecai.
13 This was Mordecai’s reply to Esther: “Do you think you will escape there in the palace when all other Jews are killed? 14 If you keep quiet at a time like this, God will deliver the Jews from some other source, but you and your relatives will die; what’s more, who can say but that God has brought you into the palace for just such a time as this?”
15 Then Esther sent this message to Mordecai: 16 “Go and gather together all the Jews of Shushan and fast for me; do not eat or drink for three days, night or day; and I and my maids will do the same; and then, though it is strictly forbidden, I will go in to see the king; and if I perish, I perish.”
17 So Mordecai did as Esther told him to.
5 Three days later Esther put on her royal robes and entered the inner court just beyond the royal hall of the palace, where the king was sitting upon his royal throne. 2 And when he saw Queen Esther standing there in the inner court, he welcomed her, holding out the golden scepter to her. So Esther approached and touched its tip.
3 Then the king asked her, “What do you wish, Queen Esther? What is your request? I will give it to you, even if it is half the kingdom!”
4 And Esther replied, “If it please Your Majesty, I want you and Haman to come to a banquet I have prepared for you today.”
5 The king turned to his aides. “Tell Haman to hurry!” he said. So the king and Haman came to Esther’s banquet.
6 During the wine course the king said to Esther, “Now tell me what you really want, and I will give it to you, even if it is half of the kingdom!”
7-8 Esther replied, “My request, my deepest wish, is that if Your Majesty loves me and wants to grant my request, that you come again with Haman tomorrow to the banquet I shall prepare for you. And tomorrow I will explain what this is all about.”
9 What a happy man was Haman as he left the banquet! But when he saw Mordecai there at the gate, not standing up or trembling before him, he was furious. 10 However, he restrained himself, went on home, and gathered together his friends and Zeresh, his wife, 11 and boasted to them about his wealth, his many children, and promotions the king had given him, and how he had become the greatest man in the kingdom next to the king himself.
12 Then he delivered his punch line: “Yes, and Esther the queen invited only me and the king himself to the banquet she prepared for us; and tomorrow we are invited again! 13 But yet,” he added, “all this is nothing when I see Mordecai the Jew just sitting there in front of the king’s gate, refusing to bow to me.”
14 “Well,” suggested Zeresh, his wife, and all his friends, “get ready a 75-foot-high gallows, and in the morning ask the king to let you hang Mordecai on it; and when this is done you can go on your merry way with the king to the banquet.” This pleased Haman immensely, and he ordered the gallows built.
6 1-2 That night the king had trouble sleeping and decided to read awhile. He ordered the historical records of his kingdom from the library, and in them he came across the item telling how Mordecai had exposed the plot of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs, watchmen at the palace gates, who had plotted to assassinate him.
3 “What reward did we ever give Mordecai for this?” the king asked.
His courtiers replied, “Nothing!”
4 “Who is on duty in the outer court?” the king inquired. Now, as it happened, Haman had just arrived in the outer court of the palace to ask the king to hang Mordecai from the gallows he was building.
5 So the courtiers replied to the king, “Haman is out there.”
“Bring him in,” the king ordered. 6 So Haman came in, and the king said to him, “What should I do to honor a man who truly pleases me?”
Haman thought to himself, “Whom would he want to honor more than me?” 7-8 So he replied, “Bring out some of the royal robes the king himself has worn, and the king’s own horse, and the royal crown, 9 and instruct one of the king’s most noble princes to robe the man and to lead him through the streets on the king’s own horse, shouting before him, ‘This is the way the king honors those who truly please him!’”
10 “Excellent!” the king said to Haman. “Hurry and take these robes and my horse, and do just as you have said—to Mordecai the Jew, who works at the Chancellery. Follow every detail you have suggested.”
11 So Haman took the robes and put them on Mordecai, and mounted him on the king’s own steed, and led him through the streets of the city, shouting, “This is the way the king honors those he delights in.”
12 Afterwards Mordecai returned to his job, but Haman hurried home utterly humiliated. 13 When Haman told Zeresh his wife and all his friends what had happened, they said, “If Mordecai is a Jew, you will never succeed in your plans against him; to continue to oppose him will be fatal.”
14 While they were still discussing it with him, the king’s messengers arrived to conduct Haman quickly to the banquet Esther had prepared.
7 So the king and Haman came to Esther’s banquet. 2 Again, during the wine course, the king asked her, “What is your petition, Queen Esther? What do you wish? Whatever it is, I will give it to you, even if it is half of my kingdom!”
3 And at last Queen Esther replied, “If I have won your favor, O King, and if it please Your Majesty, save my life and the lives of my people. 4 For I and my people have been sold to those who will destroy us. We are doomed to destruction and slaughter. If we were only to be sold as slaves, perhaps I could remain quiet, though even then there would be incalculable damage to the king that no amount of money could begin to cover.”
5 “What are you talking about?” King Ahasuerus demanded. “Who would dare touch you?”
6 Esther replied, “This wicked Haman is our enemy.”
Then Haman grew pale with fright before the king and queen. 7 The king jumped to his feet and went out into the palace garden as Haman stood up to plead for his life to Queen Esther, for he knew that he was doomed. 8 In despair he fell upon the couch where Queen Esther was reclining, just as the king returned from the palace garden.
“Will he even rape the queen right here in the palace, before my very eyes?” the king roared. Instantly the death veil was placed over Haman’s face.
9 Then Harbona, one of the king’s aides, said, “Sir, Haman has just ordered a 75-foot gallows constructed, to hang Mordecai, the man who saved the king from assassination! It stands in Haman’s courtyard.”
“Hang Haman on it,” the king ordered.
10 So they did, and the king’s wrath was pacified.
8 On that same day King Ahasuerus gave the estate of Haman, the Jews’ enemy, to Queen Esther. Then Mordecai was brought before the king, for Esther had told the king that he was her cousin and foster father.[h] 2 The king took off his ring—which he had taken back from Haman—and gave it to Mordecai appointing him Prime Minister;[i] and Esther appointed Mordecai to be in charge of Haman’s estate.
3 And now once more Esther came before the king, falling down at his feet and begging him with tears to stop Haman’s plot against the Jews. 4 And again the king held out the golden scepter to Esther. So she arose and stood before him, 5 and said, “If it please Your Majesty, and if you love me, send out a decree reversing Haman’s order to destroy the Jews throughout the king’s provinces. 6 For how can I endure it, to see my people butchered and destroyed?”
7 Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and Mordecai the Jew, “I have given Esther the palace of Haman, and he has been hanged upon the gallows because he tried to destroy you. 8 Now go ahead and send a message to the Jews, telling them whatever you want to in the king’s name, and seal it with the king’s ring so that it can never be reversed.”[j]
9-10 Immediately the king’s secretaries were called in—it was now the 23rd day of the month of July—and they wrote as Mordecai dictated—a decree to the Jews and to the officials, governors, and princes of all the provinces from India to Ethiopia, 127 in all: the decree was translated into the languages and dialects of all the people of the kingdom. Mordecai wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed the message with the king’s ring and sent the letters by swift carriers—riders on camels, mules, and young dromedaries used in the king’s service. 11 This decree gave the Jews everywhere permission to unite in the defense of their lives and their families, to destroy all the forces opposed to them, and to take their property. 12 The day chosen for this throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus was the 28th day of February![k] 13 It further stated that a copy of this decree, which must be recognized everywhere as law, must be broadcast to all the people so that the Jews would be ready and prepared to overcome their enemies. 14 So the mail went out swiftly, carried by the king’s couriers and speeded by the king’s commandment. The same decree was also issued at Shushan Palace.
15 Then Mordecai put on the royal robes of blue and white and the great crown of gold, with an outer cloak of fine linen and purple, and went out from the presence of the king through the city streets filled with shouting people. 16 And the Jews had joy and gladness and were honored everywhere. 17 And in every city and province, as the king’s decree arrived, the Jews were filled with joy and had a great celebration and declared a holiday. And many of the people of the land pretended to be Jews, for they feared what the Jews might do to them.
9 1-2 So on the 28th day of February, the day the two decrees of the king were to be put into effect—the day the Jews’ enemies had hoped to vanquish them, though it turned out quite to the contrary—the Jews gathered in their cities throughout all the king’s provinces to defend themselves against any who might try to harm them; but no one tried, for they were greatly feared. 3 And all the rulers of the provinces—the governors, officials, and aides—helped the Jews for fear of Mordecai; 4 for Mordecai was a mighty name in the king’s palace and his fame was known throughout all the provinces, for he had become more and more powerful.
5 But the Jews went ahead on that appointed day and slaughtered their enemies. 6 They even killed 500 men in Shushan. 7-10 They also killed the ten sons of Haman (son of Hammedatha), the Jews’ enemy—Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha. But they did not try to take Haman’s property.
11 Late that evening, when the king was informed of the number of those slain in Shushan, 12 he called for Queen Esther. “The Jews have killed 500 men in Shushan alone,” he exclaimed, “and also Haman’s ten sons. If they have done that here, I wonder what has happened in the rest of the provinces! But now, what more do you want? It will be granted to you. Tell me and I will do it.”
13 And Esther said, “If it please Your Majesty, let the Jews who are here at Shushan do again tomorrow as they have done today, and let Haman’s ten sons be hanged upon the gallows.”
14 So the king agreed, and the decree was announced at Shushan, and they hung up the bodies of Haman’s ten sons. 15 Then the Jews at Shushan gathered together the next day also and killed 300 more men, though again they took no property.
16 Meanwhile the other Jews throughout the king’s provinces had gathered together and stood for their lives and destroyed all their enemies, killing 75,000 of those who hated them; but they did not take their goods. 17 Throughout the provinces this was done on the 28th day of February, and the next day they rested, celebrating their victory with feasting and gladness. 18 But the Jews at Shushan went on killing their enemies the second day also and rested the next day, with feasting and gladness. 19 And so it is that the Jews in the unwalled villages throughout Israel to this day have an annual celebration on the second day when they rejoice and send gifts to each other.
20 Mordecai wrote a history of all these events and sent letters to the Jews near and far, throughout all the king’s provinces, 21 encouraging them to declare an annual holiday on the last two days of the month, 22 to celebrate with feasting, gladness, and the giving of gifts these historic days when the Jews were saved from their enemies, when their sorrow was turned to gladness and their mourning into happiness.
23 So the Jews adopted Mordecai’s suggestion and began this annual custom 24-25 as a reminder of the time when Haman (son of Hammedatha the Agagite), the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted to destroy them at the time determined by a throw of the dice; and to remind them that when the matter came before the king, he issued a decree causing Haman’s plot to boomerang, and he and his sons were hanged on the gallows. 26 That is why this celebration is called “Purim” because the word for “throwing dice” in Persian is pur. 27 All the Jews throughout the realm agreed to inaugurate this tradition and to pass it on to their descendants and to all who became Jews; they declared they would never fail to celebrate these two days at the appointed time each year. 28 It would be an annual event from generation to generation, celebrated by every family throughout the countryside and cities of the empire, so that the memory of what had happened would never perish from the Jewish race.
29-31 Meanwhile Queen Esther (daughter of Abihail and later adopted by Mordecai the Jew) had written a letter throwing her full support behind Mordecai’s letter inaugurating his annual Feast of Purim. In addition, letters were sent to all the Jews throughout the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus with messages of good will and encouragement to confirm these two days annually as the Feast of Purim, decreed by both Mordecai the Jew and by Queen Esther; indeed, the Jews themselves had decided upon this tradition as a remembrance of the time of their national fasting and prayer. 32 So the commandment of Esther confirmed these dates, and it was recorded as law.
10 King Ahasuerus not only laid tribute upon the mainland but even on the islands of the sea. 2 His great deeds, and also the full account of the greatness of Mordecai and the honors given him by the king, are written in The Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Media and Persia. 3 Mordecai the Jew was the Prime Minister, with authority next to that of King Ahasuerus himself. He was, of course, very great among the Jews and respected by all his countrymen because he did his best for his people and was a friend at court for all of them.
1 There lived in the land of Uz a man named Job—a good[l] man who feared God and stayed away from evil. 2-3 He had a large family of seven sons and three daughters and was immensely wealthy,[m] for he owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 teams of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and employed many servants. He was, in fact, the richest cattleman in that entire area.
4 Every year when Job’s sons had birthdays, they invited their brothers and sisters to their homes for a celebration. On these occasions they would eat and drink with great merriment. 5 When these birthday parties ended—and sometimes they lasted several days—Job would summon his children to him and sanctify them, getting up early in the morning and offering a burnt offering for each of them. For Job said, “Perhaps my sons have sinned and turned away from God[n] in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular practice.
6 One day as the angels[o] came to present themselves before the Lord, Satan, the Accuser, came with them.
7 “Where have you come from?” the Lord asked Satan.
And Satan replied, “From earth, where I’ve been watching everything that’s going on.”
8 Then the Lord asked Satan, “Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth—a good man[p] who fears God and will have nothing to do with evil.”
9 “Why shouldn’t he when you pay him so well?” Satan scoffed. 10 “You have always protected him and his home and his property from all harm. You have prospered everything he does—look how rich he is! No wonder he ‘worships’ you! 11 But just take away his wealth, and you’ll see him curse you to your face!”
12-13 And the Lord replied to Satan, “You may do anything you like with his wealth, but don’t harm him physically.”
So Satan went away; and sure enough, not long afterwards when Job’s sons and daughters were dining at the oldest brother’s house, tragedy struck.
14-15 A messenger rushed to Job’s home with this news: “Your oxen were plowing, with the donkeys feeding beside them, when the Sabeans raided us, drove away the animals, and killed all the farmhands except me. I am the only one left.”
16 While this messenger was still speaking, another arrived with more bad news: “The fire of God has fallen from heaven and burned up your sheep and all the herdsmen, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”
17 Before this man finished, still another messenger rushed in: “Three bands of Chaldeans have driven off your camels and killed your servants, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”
18 As he was still speaking, another arrived to say, “Your sons and daughters were feasting in their oldest brother’s home, 19 when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and engulfed the house so that the roof fell in on them and all are dead; and I alone escaped to tell you.”
20 Then Job stood up and tore his robe in grief[q] and fell down upon the ground before God. 21 “I came naked from my mother’s womb,” he said, “and I shall have nothing when I die. The Lord gave me everything I had, and they were his to take away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.”
22 In all of this Job did not sin or revile God.
2 Now the angels[r] came again to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan was with them.
2 “Where have you come from?” the Lord asked Satan.
“From earth, where I’ve been watching everything that’s going on,” Satan replied.
3 “Well, have you noticed my servant Job?” the Lord asked. “He is the finest man in all the earth—a good man who fears God and turns away from all evil. And he has kept his faith in me despite the fact that you persuaded me to let you harm him without any cause.”
4-5 “Skin for skin,” Satan replied. “A man will give anything to save his life. Touch his body with sickness, and he will curse you to your face!”
6 “Do with him as you please,” the Lord replied; “only spare his life.”
7 So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with a terrible case of boils from head to foot. 8 Then Job took a broken piece of pottery to scrape himself and sat among the ashes.
9 His wife said to him, “Are you still trying to be godly when God has done all this to you? Curse him and die.”
10 But he replied, “You talk like some heathen woman. What? Shall we receive only pleasant things from the hand of God and never anything unpleasant?” So in all this Job said nothing wrong.
11 When three of Job’s friends heard of all the tragedy that had befallen him, they got in touch with each other and traveled from their homes to comfort and console him. Their names were Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. 12 Job was so changed that they could scarcely recognize him. Wailing loudly in despair, they tore their robes and threw dust into the air and put earth on their heads to demonstrate their sorrow. 13 Then they sat upon the ground with him silently for seven days and nights, no one speaking a word; for they saw that his suffering was too great for words.
3 At last Job spoke and cursed the day of his birth.
2-3 “Let the day of my birth be cursed,” he said, “and the night when I was conceived. 4 Let that day be forever forgotten.[s] Let it be lost even to God, shrouded in eternal darkness. 5 Yes, let the darkness claim it for its own, and may a black cloud overshadow it. 6 May it be blotted off the calendar, never again to be counted among the days of the month of that year. 7 Let that night be bleak and joyless. 8 Let those who are experts at cursing curse it.[t] 9 Let the stars of the night disappear. Let it long for light but never see it, never see the morning light. 10 Curse it for its failure to shut my mother’s womb, for letting me be born to come to all this trouble.
11 “Why didn’t I die at birth? 12 Why did the midwife let me live? Why did she nurse me at her breasts? 13 For if only I had died at birth, then I would be quiet now, asleep and at rest, 14-15 along with prime ministers and kings with all their pomp, and wealthy princes whose castles are full of rich treasures. 16 Oh, to have been stillborn!—to have never breathed or seen the light. 17 For there in death the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest. 18 There even prisoners are at ease, with no brutal jailer to curse them. 19 Both rich and poor alike are there, and the slave is free at last from his master.
20-21 “Oh, why should light and life be given to those in misery and bitterness, who long for death, and it won’t come; who search for death as others search for food or money? 22 What blessed relief when at last they die! 23 Why is a man allowed to be born if God is only going to give him a hopeless life of uselessness and frustration? 24 I cannot eat for sighing; my groans pour out like water. 25 What I always feared has happened to me. 26 I was not fat and lazy, yet trouble struck me down.”
4 A reply to Job from Eliphaz the Temanite:
2 “Will you let me say a word? For who could keep from speaking out? 3-4 In the past[u] you have told many a troubled soul to trust in God and have encouraged those who are weak or falling, or lie crushed upon the ground or are tempted to despair. 5 But now when trouble strikes, you faint and are broken.
6 “At such a time as this should not trust in God still be your confidence? Shouldn’t you believe that God will care for those who are good?[v] 7-8 Stop and think! Have you ever known a truly good and innocent person who was punished? Experience teaches that it is those who sow sin and trouble who harvest the same. 9 They die beneath the hand of God. 10 Though they are fierce as young lions, they shall all be broken and destroyed. 11 Like aged, helpless lions they shall starve, and all their children shall be scattered.
12 “This truth was given me in secret, as though whispered in my ear. 13 It came in a nighttime vision as others slept. 14 Suddenly, fear gripped me; I trembled and shook with terror, 15 as a spirit passed before my face—my hair stood up on end. 16 I felt the spirit’s presence, but couldn’t see it standing there. Then out of the dreadful silence came this voice:
17 “‘Is mere man more just than God? More pure than his Creator?’
18-19 “If God cannot trust his own messengers (for even angels make mistakes), how much less men made of dust, who are crushed to death as easily as moths! 20 They are alive in the morning, but by evening they are dead, gone forever with hardly a thought from anyone. 21 Their candle of life is snuffed out. They die and no one cares.
5 “They cry for help but no one listens; they turn to their gods, but none gives them aid. 2 They die in helpless frustration, overcome by their own anger. 3 Those who turn from God may be successful for the moment, but then comes sudden disaster. 4 Their children are cheated, with no one to defend them. 5 Their harvests are stolen, and their wealth slakes the thirst of many others, not themselves! 6 Misery comes upon them to punish them for sowing seeds of sin. 7 Mankind heads for sin and misery as predictably as flames shoot upwards from a fire.
8 “My advice to you is this: Go to God and confess your sins to him.[w] 9 For he does wonderful miracles, marvels without number. 10 He sends the rain upon the earth to water the fields, 11 and gives prosperity to the poor and humble, and takes sufferers to safety.
12 “He frustrates the plans of crafty men. 13 They are caught in their own traps; he thwarts their schemes. 14 They grope like blind men in the daylight; they see no better in the daytime than at night.
15 “God saves the fatherless and the poor from the grasp of these oppressors. 16 And so at last the poor have hope, and the fangs of the wicked are broken.
17 “How enviable the man whom God corrects! Oh, do not despise the chastening of the Lord when you sin. 18 For though he wounds, he binds and heals again. 19 He will deliver you again and again so that no evil can touch you.
20 “He will keep you from death in famine and from the power of the sword in time of war.
21 “You will be safe from slander; no need to fear the future.
22 “You shall laugh at war and famine; wild animals will leave you alone. 23 Dangerous animals will be at peace with you.
24 “You need not worry about your home while you are gone; nothing shall be stolen from your barns.
25 “Your sons shall become important men; your descendants shall be as numerous as grass! 26 You shall live a long, good life; like standing grain, you’ll not be harvested until it’s time! 27 I have found from experience that all of this is true. For your own good, listen to my counsel.”
6 Job’s reply:
2 “Oh, that my sadness and troubles were weighed. 3 For they are heavier than the sand of a thousand seashores. That is why I spoke so rashly. 4 For the Lord has struck me down with his arrows; he has sent his poisoned arrows deep within my heart. All God’s terrors are arrayed against me. 5-7 When wild donkeys bray, it is because their grass is gone; oxen do not low when they have food; a man complains when there is no salt in his food. And how tasteless is the uncooked white of an egg—my appetite is gone when I look at it; I gag at the thought of eating it!
8-9 “Oh, that God would grant the thing I long for most—to die beneath his hand and be freed from his painful grip. 10 This, at least, gives me comfort despite all the pain—that I have not denied the words of the holy God. 11 Oh, why does my strength sustain me? How can I be patient till I die? 12 Am I unfeeling, like stone? Is my flesh made of brass? 13 For I am utterly helpless, without any hope.
14 “One should be kind to a fainting friend, but you have accused me without the slightest fear of God. 15-18 My brother, you have proved as unreliable as a brook; it floods when there is ice and snow, but in hot weather, disappears. The caravans turn aside to be refreshed, but there is nothing there to drink, and so they perish. 19-21 When caravans from Tema and from Sheba stop for water there, their hopes are dashed. And so my hopes in you are dashed—you turn away from me in terror and refuse to help. 22 But why? Have I ever asked you for one slightest thing? Have I begged you for a present? 23 Have I ever asked your help? 24 All I want is a reasonable answer—then I will keep quiet. Tell me, what have I done wrong?
25-26 “It is wonderful to speak the truth, but your criticisms are not based on fact. Are you going to condemn me just because I impulsively cried out in desperation? 27 That would be like injuring a helpless orphan, or selling a friend. 28 Look at me! Would I lie to your face? 29 Stop assuming my guilt, for I am righteous. Don’t be so unjust. 30 Don’t I know the difference between right and wrong? Would I not admit it if I had sinned?
7 “How mankind must struggle. A man’s life is long and hard, like that of a slave. 2 How he longs for the day to end. How he grinds on to the end of the week and his wages. 3 And so to me also have been allotted months of frustration, these long and weary nights. 4 When I go to bed I think, ‘Oh, that it were morning,’ and then I toss till dawn.
5 “My skin is filled with worms and blackness. My flesh breaks open, full of pus. 6 My life drags by—day after hopeless day. 7 My life is but a breath, and nothing good is left. 8 You see me now, but not for long. Soon you’ll look upon me dead. 9 As a cloud disperses and vanishes, so those who die shall go away forever— 10 gone forever from their family and their home—never to be seen again. 11 Ah, let me express my anguish. Let me be free to speak out of the bitterness of my soul.
12 “O God, am I some monster that you never leave me alone? 13-14 Even when I try to forget my misery in sleep, you terrify with nightmares. 15 I would rather die of strangulation than go on and on like this. 16 I hate my life. Oh, leave me alone for these few remaining days. 17 What is mere man that you should spend your time persecuting him? 18 Must you be his inquisitor every morning and test him every moment of the day? 19 Why won’t you leave me alone—even long enough to spit?
20 “Has my sin harmed you, O God, watcher of mankind? Why have you made me your target, and made my life so heavy a burden to me? 21 Why not just pardon my sin and take it all away? For all too soon I’ll lie down in the dust and die, and when you look for me, I shall be gone.”
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.