¹And the day came when the sons of God came to stand before the Lord, and Satan came too among them to stand before the Lord. ²And the Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” And Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth and walking up and down on it.” ³Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, for there is no-one like him on the earth, an integrous and upright man, fearing God and departing from evil, and still maintaining his integrity? But you have moved me against him, to swallow him up for no reason.” ⁴At this Satan answered the Lord and said, “Skin for skin, and everything a man has, he will give for his life. ⁵But just put out your hand and strike his bones and his flesh, and he will certainly curse you to your face.” ⁶Then the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand, but guard his life.” ⁷And Satan went out from the presence of the Lord, and he struck Job with sore ulcers, from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. ⁸And Job took an earthenware shard with which to scrape himself, and he sat in ashes. ⁹And his wife said to him, “Do you still hold on to your integrity? Curse God and die.” ¹⁰And he said to her, “You are talking the way one of the irreverent women would. Shall we receive good from God, and not also receive evil?” Despite all this, Job did not sin with his lips. ¹¹Then when three of Job's friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came, each one from his place: Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. And they agreed together to go and console him and comfort him. ¹²And they lifted up their eyes from a distance, and they did not recognize him, and they raised their voices and wept, and each one tore his coat, and they sprinkled dust on their heads, throwing it towards the sky. ¹³And they sat with him on the ground for seven days and seven nights, and no-one said anything to him, for they saw that his grief was very great.