Book of Job

The Book of Job is a book of the Hebrew Bible. It addresses the problem of theodicy, meaning why God permits evil in the world, through the experiences of the eponymous protagonist. The book is found in the Ketuvim ("Writings") section of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh), and is the first poetic book in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. Scholars are generally agreed that it was written between the 7th and 4th centuries BCE.

Quotes

Chapter 1

In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.
- 1:1, New International Version

There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil. And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters. His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east.
- 1:1-3, King James Version

Now it came to be the day when the sons of the true God entered to take their station before Jehovah, and even Satan proceeded to enter right among them. Then Jehovah said to Satan: “Where do you come from?” At that Satan answered Jehovah and said: “From roving about in the earth and from walking about in it.”
- 1:6-7, New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures

And Jehovah said to Satan: “Have you taken note of my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth. He is an upright man of integrity, fearing God and shunning what is bad.” At that Satan answered Jehovah: “Is it for nothing that Job has feared God? Have you not put up a protective hedge around him and his house and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his livestock has spread out in the land. But, for a change, stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your very face.” Then Jehovah said to Satan: “Look! Everything that he has is in your hand. Only do not lay your hand on the man himself!” So Satan went out from the presence of Jehovah.
- 1:8-12, New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures

Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.
- 1:20-21, King James Version

With nothing I came out of my mother's body, and with nothing I will go back there; the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; let the Lord's name be praised.
- 1:21, Bible in Basic English

Chapter 2

Finally his wife said to him: “Are you still holding firmly to your integrity? Curse God and die!” But he said to her: “thouh speakest as one of the foolish women. Should we accept only what is good from the true God and not accept also what is bad?” In all of this, Job did not sin with his lips.
- 2:9-10, New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures

Chapter 3

Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived.
- 3:3, King James Version

Why did I not perish at birth, and die as I came from the womb? Why were there knees to receive me and breasts that I might be nursed? For now I would be lying down in peace; I would be asleep and at rest.
- 3:11-13, New International Version

Or as a child dead at birth I might never have come into existence; like young children who have not seen the light. There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary be at rest.
- 3:16-17, Bible in Basic English

Why giveth He to the miserable light, and life to the bitter soul? Who are waiting for death, and it is not, And they seek it above hid treasures.
- 3:20-21, Young's Literal Translation

Chapter 4

Behold, thou hast instructed many, And thou hast strengthened the weak hands. Thy words have upholden him that was falling, And thou hast made firm the feeble knees. But now it is come unto thee, and thou faintest; It toucheth thee, and thou art troubled. Is not thy fear of God thy confidence, And the integrity of thy ways thy hope? Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent? Or where were the upright cut off?
- 4:3-7, American Standard Version

Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.
- 4:8, King James Version

Chapter 5

Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.
- 5:7, King James Version

Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward.
- 5:7, New International Version

To the One doing great and unsearchable things,
Wonderful things without number.
He gives rain to the earth
And sends waters upon the fields.
He raises the lowly up high,
And he raises up the dejected one to salvation.
He frustrates the schemes of the crafty,
So that the work of their hands does not succeed.
He catches the wise in their own cunning,
So that the plans of the shrewd are thwarted.
- 5:9-13, New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures

Chapter 6

Then Job answered and said, Oh that my vexation were but weighed, And all my calamity laid in the balances! For now it would be heavier than the sand of the seas: Therefore have my words been rash. For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, The poison whereof my spirit drinketh up: The terrors of God do set themselves in array against me.
- 6:1-4, American Standard Version

If only he would be pleased to put an end to me; and would let loose his hand, so that I might be cut off!
- 6:9, Bible in Basic English

Have I strength to go on waiting, or have I any end to be looking forward to?
- 6:11, Bible in Basic English

Chapter 9

He commands the sun not to shine
And seals off the light of the stars;
He spreads out the heavens by himself,
And he treads upon the high waves of the sea.
He made the Ash, the Ke′sil, and the Ki′mah constellations,
And the constellations of the southern sky;
He does great and unsearchable things,
Wonderful things that cannot be counted.
- 9:7-10, New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures

Chapter 11

Yet if you devote your heart to him and stretch out your hands to him, if you put away the sin that is in your hand and allow no evil to dwell in your tent, then you will lift up your face without shame; you will stand firm and without fear. You will surely forget your trouble, recalling it only as waters gone by. Life will be brighter than noonday, and darkness will become like morning. You will be secure, because there is hope; you will look about you and take your rest in safety. You will lie down, with no one to make you afraid, and many will court your favor.
- 11:13-19, New International Version

...and their hope shall be as the giving up of the ghost.
- 11:20, King James Bible

Chapter 12

But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee: Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee. Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the LORD hath wrought this? In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.
- 12:7-10, King James Version

With God is wisdom and might; He hath counsel and understanding.
- 12:13, American Standard Version

Chapter 13

Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him
- 13:15, King James Version

Chapter 14

Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.
- 14:1, King James Version

For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease. Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground; Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant. But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he? As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up: So man lieth down, and riseth not.
- 14:7-12

But as a mountain erodes and crumbles and as a rock is moved from its place, as water wears away stones and torrents wash away the soil, so you destroy man's hope.
- 14:18-19, New International Version

Chapter 18

Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out, and the spark of his fire shall not shine.
- 18:5, King James Version

His roots shall be dried up beneath, and above shall his branch be cut off. His remembrance shall perish from the earth, and he shall have no name in the street. He shall be driven from light into darkness, and chased out of the world. He shall neither have son nor nephew among his people, nor any remaining in his dwellings. They that come after him shall be astonied at his day, as they that went before were affrighted. Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked.
- 18:16-21, King James Version

Chapter 19

For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.
- 19:25-26, King James Version

Be ye afraid of the sword: for wrath bringeth the punishments of the sword, that ye may know there is a judgment.
- 19:29, King James Version

Chapter 20

Knowest thou not this of old, since man was placed upon earth, That the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment?
- 20:4-5, King James Version

Chapter 23

But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.
- 23:10, King James Version

Chapter 27

All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils; My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit.
- 27:3-4, King James Version

Till I die I will not put away mine integrity from me.
- 27:5, American Standard Version

My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: my heart shall not reproach me so long as I live.
- 27:6, King James Version

"Here is the fate God allots to the wicked, the heritage a ruthless man receives from the Almighty: However many his children, their fate is the sword; his offspring will never have enough to eat. The plague will bury those who survive him, and their widows will not weep for them. Though he heaps up silver like dust and clothes like piles of clay, what he lays up the righteous will wear, and the innocent will divide his silver. The house he builds is like a moth's cocoon, like a hut made by a watchman. He lies down wealthy, but will do so no more; when he opens his eyes, all is gone. Terrors overtake him like a flood; a tempest snatches him away in the night. The east wind carries him off, and he is gone; it sweeps him out of his place. It hurls itself against him without mercy as he flees headlong from its power. It claps its hands in derision and hisses him out of his place.
- 27:13-23, New International Version

Chapter 28

But where shall wisdom be found?
And where is the place of understanding?
Man knoweth not the price thereof;
neither is it found in the land of the living.
The depth saith, It is not in me:
and the sea saith, It is not with me.
It cannot be gotten for gold,
neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof.
It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir,
with the precious onyx, or the sapphire.
The gold and the crystal cannot equal it:
and the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine gold.
No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls:
for the price of wisdom is above rubies.
- 28:12–18, King James Version

Chapter 29

Oh that I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved me; When his candle shined upon my head, and when by his light I walked through darkness;
- 29:2-3, King James Version

Whoever heard me spoke well of me, and those who saw me commended me, because I rescued the poor who cried for help, and the fatherless who had none to assist him. The man who was dying blessed me; I made the widow's heart sing. I put on righteousness as my clothing; justice was my robe and my turban. I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame. I was a father to the needy; I took up the case of the stranger. I broke the fangs of the wicked and snatched the victims from their teeth. "I thought, 'I will die in my own house, my days as numerous as the grains of sand. My roots will reach to the water, and the dew will lie all night on my branches. My glory will remain fresh in me, the bow ever new in my hand.' "Men listened to me expectantly, waiting in silence for my counsel. After I had spoken, they spoke no more; my words fell gently on their ears. They waited for me as for showers and drank in my words as the spring rain. When I smiled at them, they scarcely believed it; the light of my face was precious to them. I chose the way for them and sat as their chief; I dwelt as a king among his troops; I was like one who comforts mourners.
- 29:11-25, New International Version

Chapter 32

Great men are not always wise: neither do the aged understand judgment.
- 32:9, King James Version

It is not only the old who are wise, not only the aged who understand what is right.
- 32:9, New International Version

Let me not, I pray you, respect any man`s person; Neither will I give flattering titles unto any man. For I know not to give flattering titles; Else would my Maker soon take me away.
- 32:21-22, American Standard Version

I will show partiality to no one, nor will I flatter any man; for if I were skilled in flattery, my Maker would soon take me away.
- 32:21-22, New International Version

Chapter 36

God is greater than we can know; The number of his years is beyond comprehension.
He draws up the drops of water;
They condense into rain from his mist;
Then the clouds pour it down;
They shower down upon mankind.
Can anyone understand the layers of clouds,
The thundering from his tent?
See how he spreads his lightning over it
And covers the depths of the sea.
By these he sustains the peoples;
He gives them food in abundance.
- 36:26-31, New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures

Chapter 37

Do you know how God controls the clouds
And how he causes the lightning to flash from his cloud?
Do you know how the clouds float?
These are the wonderful works of the One perfect in knowledge.
- 37:15-16, New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures

Chapter 38

Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,
Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?
Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.
Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.
Who hast laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?
Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;
When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
- 38:1-7, King James Version

Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm. He said:
"Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge?
Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me.
"Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me, if you understand.
- 38:1-4, New International Version

Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed[.]
- 38:11, King James Version

In which direction does the light reside?
And where is the place of darkness?
- 38:19, New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures

Chapter 40

The LORD said to Job: "Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let him who accuses God answer him!" Then Job answered the LORD: "I am unworthy--how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth.
- 40:1-4, New International Version

Dost thou also make void My judgment? Dost thou condemn Me, That thou mayest be righteous?
- 40:8, Young's Literal Translation

Chapter 42

I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.
- 42:5-6, King James Version

So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses. He had also seven sons and three daughters.
- 42:12-13, King James Version

And in all the land were no women found so fair as the daughters of Job: and their father gave them inheritance among their brethren. After this lived Job an hundred and forty years, and saw his sons, and his sons' sons, even four generations. So Job died, being old and full of days.
- 42: 15-17, King James Version