Excerpts from: Book of Job, oldest book of Hebrew Bible

Book of Job, from Revised Standard version of the Bible [Old Testament]
Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library [etext.lib.Virginia.edu]

Book 1. Prologue
There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man
was blameless and upright, one who feared God, and turned away from evil.
There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. He had seven
thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, and
five hundred she-asses, and very many servants; so that this man was
the greatest of the people of the east.His sons used to go and hold a feast in
the house of each on his day; and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat
and drink with them. And when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would
send and sanctify them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings
according to the number of them all; for Job said, "It may be that my sons have sinned,
and cursed God in their hearts." Thus Job did continually.

Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before
the LORD, and Satan also came among them. The LORD said to Satan, "Whence
have you come?" Satan answered the LORD, "From going to and fro on the earth,
and from walking up and down on it." And the LORD said to Satan, "Have you
considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless
and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?" Then Satan answered
the LORD, "Does Job fear God for no reason? Hast thou not put a hedge about him
and his house and all that he has, on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his
hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But put forth thy hand now,
and touch all that he has, and he will curse thee to thy face."

And the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your power; only upon himself
do not put forth your hand." So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.

Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking
wine in their eldest brother's house; and there came a messenger to Job, and said,
"The oxen were plowing and the asses feeding beside them; and the Sabeans
fell upon them and took them, and slew the servants with the edge of the sword;
and I alone have escaped to tell you."

While he was yet speaking, there came another, and said, "The fire of God
fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them;
and I alone have escaped to tell you." While he was yet speaking, there came
another, and said, "The Chaldeans formed three companies, and made a raid
upon the camels and took them, and slew the servants with the edge of the
sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you."

 While he was yet speaking, there came another, and said, "Your sons
and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house;
and behold, a great wind came across the wilderness, and struck the four
corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead;
and I alone have escaped to tell you."

Then Job arose, and rent his robe, and shaved his head, and fell upon the
ground, and worshipped. And he said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb,
and naked shall I 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 wrong.

Job, Chapter 2
Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before
the LORD, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the LORD. 
And the LORD said to Satan, "Whence have you come?" Satan answered the LORD,
"From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it."

The LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none
like him on the earth, a blameless upright man?  He holds fast his integrity, although
you moved me against him, to destroy him without cause."  Then Satan answered the
LORD, "Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life.  But put forth thy hand
now, touch his bone and flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face." 
And he LORD said to Satan, "Behold, he is in your power; only spare his life."

So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD, and afflicted Job with loathsome
sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.  And he took a potsherd with
which to scrape himself, and sat among the ashes. Then his wife said to him, "Do you
still hold fast your integrity? Curse God, and die." But he said to her, "You speak as
one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good at the hand of God,
and shall we not receive evil?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came
each from his own place, Eli'phaz the Te'manite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the
Na'amathite. They came together to console him and comfort him.  And when they saw
him from afar, they did not recognize him; and they raised their voices and wept; and
they rent their robes and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven. And they
sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to
him, for they saw that his suffering was very great.

Job, Chapter 3: Job’s Complaint
After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. And Job said:
"Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night which said, `A man-child
is conceived.'  Let that day be darkness! ... Let it hope for light, but have none,
nor see the eyelids of the morning;  because it did not shut the doors of my
mother's womb, nor hide trouble from my eyes.  "Why did I not die at birth, come
forth from the womb and expire?  For then I should have lain down and been quiet;
I should have slept; then I should have been at rest.... Or why was I not hidden
as an untimely birth, as infants that never see the light?

There the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest. There
the prisoners are at ease together; they hear not the voice of the taskmaster.
The small and the great are there, and the slave is free from his master.
"Why is light [or life] given to him that is in misery, and life to the bitter in soul,
who long for death, but it comes not, and dig for it more than for hidden treasures;
who rejoice exceedingly, and are glad, when they find the grave? Why is light given
to a man whose way is hid, whom God has hedged in? For my sighing comes as my
bread, and my groanings are poured out like water. For the thing that I fear comes
upon me, and what I dread befalls me. I am not at ease, nor am I quiet;
I have no rest; but trouble comes."

Chap 21 : Job argues against the justice of God:
Then Job answered: "Listen carefully to my words, and let this be your consolation...
Look at me, and be appalled, and lay your hand upon your mouth. When I think of it
I am dismayed, and shuddering seizes my flesh.

Why do the wicked live, reach old age, and grow mighty in power? Their children are established
in their presence, and their offspring before their eyes. Their houses are safe from fear, and
no rod of God is upon them. Their bull breeds without fail; their cow calves, and does not
cast [lose] her calf. They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance.
They sing to the tambourine and the lyre, and rejoice to the sound of the pipe. They spend their
days in prosperity, and in peace they go down to Sheol [afterlife or underworld].

They say to God, `Depart from us! We do not desire knowledge of thy ways. What is the Almighty,
that we should serve him? And what profit do we get if we pray to him?' Behold, is not their
prosperity in their hand? How often is it that the lamp of the wicked is put out? That their calamity
comes upon them? That God distributes pains in his anger? That they are like straw before the wind,
and like chaff that the storm carries away?

You say, `God stores up their iniquity for their sons.' Let him recompense it to themselves, that they
may know it. Let their own eyes see their destruction, and let them drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
For what do they care for their houses, when the number of their months is cut off? Will anyone
teach God knowledge, seeing that he judges those that are on high? One dies in full
prosperity, being wholly at ease and secure, his body full of fat and the marrow of his bones moist.
Another dies in bitterness of soul, never having tasted of good. They lie down alike in the dust . ...
How will you comfort me with empty nothings? There is nothing left of your answers but falsehood."

Chap 40 The Lord rebukes Job for his complaints:
And the LORD said to Job: "Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty?? He who
argues with God, let him answer for it." Then Job answered the LORD:
"Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer thee? I lay my hand on my mouth.
I have spoken once, and I will not answer; twice, but I will proceed no further."

Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind:  "Gird up your loins like a man;
I will question you, and you declare to me.  Will you even put me in the wrong?
Will you condemn me that you may be justified? Have you an arm like God, and
can you thunder with a voice like his?

Chap 42 The Submission of Job             Then Job answered the LORD:
"I know that thou canst do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. ...
Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, 
which I did not know. `Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you declare
to me.' I had heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees thee; 
therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes."  .…..

And the LORD accepted Job's prayer. And the LORD restored the fortunes of Job, when he had
prayed for his friends; and the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before. Then came to
him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and ate bread with him in
his house; and they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the LORD had
brought upon him; and each of them gave him a piece of money and a ring of gold.

The LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; he had fourteen thousand sheep,
six thousand camels, thousand yokes of oxen, and a thousand she-asses. He had also seven sons
and three daughters...And in all the land there were no women so fair as Job's daughters; their
father gave them inheritance among their brothers. And after this Job lived a hundred forty years,
and saw his sons, and his sons' sons, four generations. And Job died, an old man, and full of days.