1One day when the sons of God came to stand in front of the LORD, Satan the Accuser came along with them. 2The LORD asked Satan, "Where have you come from?" Satan answered the LORD, "From wandering all over the earth." 3The LORD asked Satan, "Have you thought about my servant Job? No one in the world is like him! He is a man of integrity: He is decent, he fears God, and he stays away from evil. And he still holds on to his principles. You're trying to provoke me into ruining him for no reason." 4Satan answered the LORD, "Skin for skin! Certainly, a man will give everything he has for his life. 5But stretch out your hand, and strike his flesh and bones. I bet he'll curse you to your face." 6The LORD told Satan, "He is in your power, but you must spare his life!"

7Satan left the LORD's presence and struck Job with painful boils from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. 8Job took a piece of broken pottery to scratch himself as he sat in the ashes.

9His wife asked him, "Are you still holding on to your principles? Curse God and die!" 10He said to her, "You're talking like a godless fool. We accept the good that God gives us. Shouldn't we also accept the bad?" Through all this Job's lips did not utter one sinful word.

11When Job's three friends heard about all the terrible things that had happened to him, each of them came from his home-Eliphaz of Teman, Bildad of Shuah, Zophar of Naama. They had agreed they would go together to sympathize with Job and comfort him. 12When they saw him from a distance, they didn't even recognize him. They cried out loud and wept, and each of them tore his own clothes in grief. They threw dust on their heads. 13Then they sat down on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him because they saw that he was in such great pain.