الشيطان يجرب أيّوب ثانية
1 وجاءَ الملائِكةُ يوما للمُثولِ أمامَ الرّبِّ، وجاءَ الشَّيطانُ بَينَهُم. 2 فقالَ الرّبُّ لِلشَّيطانِ: «مِنْ أينَ جِئتَ؟» فأجابَ الشَّيطانُ: «مِنَ التَّجَوُّلِ في الأرضِ والسَّيرِ فيها». 3 فقالَ لَه الرّبُّ: «هلِ استَرْعى انتِباهَكَ عبدي أيُّوبُ؟ فهوَ لا مَثيلَ لَه في الأرضِ لأنَّهُ رَجلٌ نَزيهٌ مُستَقيمٌ يَخافُ اللهَ ويَحيدُ عَنِ الشَّرِّ، وإلى الآنَ هوَ مُتَمَسِّكٌ بِنَزاهَتِهِ، معَ أنَّكَ حَرَّضتَني علَيهِ مِنْ دُونِ سبَبٍ». 4 فأجابَ الشَّيطانُ: «نَجا بِـجِلدِه! كُلُّ ما يَملِكُهُ الإنسانُ يَبذُلُهُ عَنْ نفْسِهِ. 5 ولكِنْ مُدَّ يدَكَ ومُسَّ عظْمَهُ ولَحمَهُ، فترَى كيفَ يُجَدِّفُ علَيكَ في وجهِكَ».
6 فقالَ الرّبُّ للشَّيطانِ: «ها هوَ الآنَ في قبضَةِ يَدِكَ، ولكِنِ احفَظْ حياتَهُ».
7 وخرَجَ الشَّيطانُ مِنْ أمامِ وجهِ الرّبِّ وضرَبَ أيُّوبَ بِالجرَبِ مِنْ باطِنِ قدَمِهِ إلى قِمَّةِ رأسِهِ. 8 فأخذَ أيُّوبُ شَقفَةً مِنَ الخَزَفِ ليَحُكَّ جسَدَه بِها وهوَ جالِسٌ على الرَّمادِ.
9 فقالَت لَه امرأتُهُ: «أتَبقى إلى الآنَ مُتَمَسِّكا بِنَزاهَتِكَ؟ جَدِّفْ على اللهِ ومُتْ!»
10 فقالَ لها أيُّوبُ: «كلامُكِ هذا كلامُ امرأةٍ جاهِلَةٍ. أنَقبَلُ الخَيرَ مِنَ اللهِ، وأمَّا الشَّرَّ فلا نقبَلُهُ؟» ومعَ هذا كَلِّهِ لم يَخطَأْ أيُّوبُ بكَلِمَةٍ مِنْ شَفَتَيهِ.
11 وسَمِعَ ثَلاثَةُ أصدِقاءٍ لأيُّوبَ بِكُلِّ ما حَلَّ بهِ مِنَ المصائِبِ، فأقبلَ كُلُّ واحدٍ مِنْ مَكانِهِ: أليفازُ التِّيمانيُّ وبلدَدُ الشُّوحيُّ وصوفَرُ النَّعماتيُّ، واتَّفَقوا أنْ يذهَبوا إلى أيُّوبَ لِـيَرثوا لِحالِه ويُعَزُّوهُ. 12 فلمَّا رفَعوا أعينَهُم مِنْ بَعيدٍ لم يعرِفوهُ، تعالَت أصواتُهُم بالبُكاءِ وشَقَّ كُلٌّ مِنهُم ثيابَه وذَرَّوا تُرابا فوقَ رُؤوسِهِم نحوَ السَّماءِ. 13 ثُمَّ قَعَدوا معَهُ على الأرضِ سبعةَ أيّامٍ بِلَياليها مِنْ غيرِ أنْ يُكلِّمَهُ أحدٌ بِكلِمَةٍ، لأنَّهُم رأوا كم كانَت كآبَتُهُ شديدةً.
Satan Tests Job Again
1 When the day came for the heavenly beings to appear before the Lord again, Satan was there among them. 2 The Lord asked him, “Where have you been?”
Satan answered, “I have been walking here and there, roaming around the earth.”
3 “Did you notice my servant Job?” the Lord asked. “There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil. You persuaded me to let you attack him for no reason at all, but Job is still as faithful as ever.”
4 Satan replied, “A person will give up everything in order to stay alive. 5 But now suppose you hurt his body—he will curse you to your face!”
6 So the Lord said to Satan, “All right, he is in your power, but you are not to kill him.”
7 Then Satan left the Lord's presence and made sores break out all over Job's body. 8 Job went and sat by the garbage dump and took a piece of broken pottery to scrape his sores. 9 His wife said to him, “You are still as faithful as ever, aren't you? Why don't you curse God and die?”
10 Job answered, “You are talking nonsense! When God sends us something good, we welcome it. How can we complain when he sends us trouble?” Even in all this suffering Job said nothing against God.
Job's Friends Come
11 Three of Job's friends were Eliphaz, from the city of Teman, Bildad, from the land of Shuah, and Zophar, from the land of Naamah. When they heard how much Job had been suffering, they decided to go and comfort him. 12 While they were still a long way off they saw Job, but did not recognize him. When they did, they began to weep and wail, tearing their clothes in grief and throwing dust into the air and on their heads. 13 Then they sat there on the ground with him for seven days and nights without saying a word, because they saw how much he was suffering.