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Job lives as a good rich man from Uz. He has seven sons and three daughters. Job makes offerings when his sons feast, in case they sinned. Satan meets with God, and obtains permission to test him by making him suffer. A string of servants come to tell Job that his property has been destroyed by fire, his livestock taken away, and his children when a wind collapses the house they were in. At the end of each servant’s news, there is the refrain, ‘and I alone have escaped to tell you.’ Job says that the Lord gives, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. 2 Satan and the Lord discuss Job. The Lord gloats that Job did not lose his integrity. Satan replies that Job will curse God if he is afflicted in the body. Job is afflicted with boils from tip to toe. Job’s wife tells him to curse God, but Job says he must accept adversity as well as prosperity from the Lord. Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite visit Job, and stay with him seven days in silence while he is afflicted. 3 Job curses the day of his birth, wishing it to be consumed in darkness. Job wishes he had died that day, so he could have lain at rest with the kings and counsellors of the earth. Why is light given to him that is in misery? 4 Eliphaz says that Job may be guilty of some sin, because the upright do not suffer. He talks of an angel who visited him in a vision and talked about man's frailty, unholiness and mortality: ‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God?’ 5 Eliphaz speaks to Job: people bring trouble on themselves. He encourages Job to turn to God, listing examples of his goodness and willingness to help people. Happy is the man whom God corrects, for he bruises, but he binds up.
