Job, as a timeline

There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. And this man was blameless and upright, fearing God and shunning evil. He had seven sons and three daughters, and he owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and a very large number of servants. Job was the greatest man of all the people of the East.

Job’s sons would take turns holding feasts in their homes, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. And when the days of feasting were over, Job would send for his children to purify them, rising early in the morning to offer burnt offerings for all of them. For Job thought, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular practice.

One day the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them. “Where have you come from?” said the LORD to Satan. “From roaming through the earth,” he replied, “and walking back and forth in it.” Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one on earth like him, a man who is blameless and upright, who fears God and shuns evil.” Satan answered the LORD, “Does Job fear God for nothing? Have You not placed a hedge on every side around him and his household and all that he owns? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But stretch out Your hand and strike all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face.” “Very well,” said the LORD to Satan. “Everything he has is in your hands, but you must not lay a hand on the man himself.” Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.

While he was still speaking, another messenger came and reported: “The fire of God fell from heaven. It burned and consumed the sheep and the servants, and I alone have escaped to tell you!” While he was still speaking, another messenger came and reported: “The Chaldeans formed three bands, raided the camels, and took them away. They put the servants to the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you!” While he was still speaking, another messenger came and reported: “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house,

Then Job stood up, tore his robe, and shaved his head. He fell to the ground and worshiped, saying: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.”

In all this, Job did not sin or charge God with wrongdoing.

On another day the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them to present himself before Him. “Where have you come from?” said the LORD to Satan. “From roaming through the earth,” he replied, “and walking back and forth in it.” Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one on earth like him, a man who is blameless and upright, who fears God and shuns evil. He still retains his integrity, even though you incited Me against him to ruin him without cause.” “Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give up all he owns in exchange for his life. But stretch out Your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse You to Your face.” “Very well,” said the LORD to Satan. “He is in your hands, but you must spare his life.”

So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and infected Job with terrible boils from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. And Job took a piece of broken pottery to scrape himself as he sat among the ashes.

Now when Job’s three friends—Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite—heard about all this adversity that had come upon him, each of them came from his home, and they met together to go and sympathize with Job and comfort him.

When they lifted up their eyes from afar, they could barely recognize Job. They began to weep aloud, and each man tore his robe and threw dust in the air over his head. Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights, but no one spoke a word to him because they saw how intense his suffering was.

Now a word came to me secretly; my ears caught a whisper of it. In disquieting visions in the night, when deep sleep falls on men, fear and trembling came over me and made all my bones shudder. Then a spirit glided past my face, and the hair on my body bristled. It stood still, but I could not discern its appearance; a form loomed before my eyes, and I heard a whispering voice: ‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God, or a man more pure than his Maker?

Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward.

When I lie down I think: ‘When will I get up?’ But the night drags on, and I toss and turn until dawn. My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle; they come to an end without hope.

What is man that You should exalt him, that You should set Your heart upon him, that You attend to him every morning, and test him every moment? Will You never look away from me, or leave me alone to swallow my spittle?

Your hands shaped me and altogether formed me. Would You now turn and destroy me? Please remember that You molded me like clay. Would You now return me to dust?

“Truly then you are the people with whom wisdom itself will die! But I also have a mind; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know such things as these?

But ask the animals, and they will instruct you; ask the birds of the air, and they will tell you. Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you; let the fish of the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this? The life of every living thing is in His hand, as well as the breath of all mankind.

You, however, smear with lies; you are all worthless physicians. If only you would remain silent; for that would be your wisdom!

Though He slay me, I will hope in Him. I will still defend my ways to His face.

“Man, who is born of woman, is short of days and full of trouble. Like a flower, he comes forth, then withers away; like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure.

For there is hope for a tree: If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its tender shoots will not fail. But a man dies and is laid low; he breathes his last, and where is he? When a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait, until my renewal comes.

“I have heard many things like these; miserable comforters are you all. Is there no end to your long-winded speeches? What provokes you to continue testifying? I could also speak like you if you were in my place; I could heap up words against you and shake my head at you. But I would encourage you with my mouth, and the consolation of my lips would bring relief.

Even now my witness is in heaven, and my advocate is on high. My friends are my scoffers as my eyes pour out tears to God.

“How long will you torment me and crush me with your words? Ten times now you have reproached me; you shamelessly mistreat me.

I wish that my words were recorded and inscribed in a book, by an iron stylus on lead, or chiseled in stone forever. But I know that my Redeemer lives, and in the end He will stand upon the earth. Even after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God. I will see Him for myself; my eyes will behold Him, and not as a stranger. How my heart yearns within me!

“So my anxious thoughts compel me to answer, because of the turmoil within me. I have heard a rebuke that insults me, and my understanding prompts a reply. Do you not know that from antiquity, since man was placed on the earth, the triumph of the wicked has been brief and the joy of the godless momentary?

“How you have helped the powerless and saved the arm that is feeble! How you have counseled the unwise and provided fully sound insight!

He stretches out the north over empty space; He hangs the earth upon nothing. Indeed, these are but the fringes of His ways; how faint is the whisper we hear of Him! Who then can understand the thunder of His power?”

I will never say that you are right; I will maintain my integrity until I die. I will cling to my righteousness and never let go. As long as I live, my conscience will not accuse me.

“But now they mock me, men younger than I am, whose fathers I would have refused to put with my sheep dogs. And now they mock me in song; I have become a byword among them.

I cry out to You for help, but You do not answer; when I stand up, You merely look at me.

If I have denied the desires of the poor or allowed the widow’s eyes to fail, if I have eaten my morsel alone, not sharing it with the fatherless— but no stranger had to lodge on the street, for my door has been open to the traveler—

if I have covered my transgressions like Adam by hiding my guilt in my heart, because I greatly feared the crowds and the contempt of the clans terrified me, so that I kept silent and would not go outside—

So these three men stopped answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.

This kindled the anger of Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram. He burned with anger against Job for justifying himself rather than God, and he burned with anger against Job’s three friends because they had failed to refute Job, and yet had condemned him.

For God speaks in one way and in another, yet no one notices. In a dream, in a vision in the night, when deep sleep falls upon men as they slumber on their beds,

But no one asks, ‘Where is God my Maker, who gives us songs in the night,

“At this my heart also pounds and leaps from its place. Listen closely to the thunder of His voice and the rumbling that comes from His mouth. Listen to this, O Job; stand still and consider the wonders of God.

“Behold, I am insignificant. How can I reply to You? I place my hand over my mouth. I have spoken once, but I have no answer—twice, but I have nothing to add.”

Look at Behemoth, which I made along with you. He feeds on grass like an ox. “Can you pull in Leviathan with a hook or tie down his tongue with a rope? No one is so fierce as to rouse Leviathan. Then who is able to stand against Me? Who has given to Me that I should repay him? Everything under heaven is Mine.

After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD restored his prosperity and doubled his former possessions.

All his brothers and sisters and prior acquaintances came and dined with him in his house. They consoled him and comforted him over all the adversity that the LORD had brought upon him. And each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring.

And he also had seven sons and three daughters. He named his first daughter Jemimah, his second Keziah, and his third Keren-happuch. No women as beautiful as Job’s daughters could be found in all the land, and their father granted them an inheritance among their brothers.

After this, Job lived 140 years and saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. And so Job died, old and full of years.