Journey
Job's questions
Read the book of Job from sudden loss and silent friends to the voice out of the whirlwind.
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Opening stop: Does Job fear God for nothing?, Job 1:1
Job 1:3 calls him the greatest of all the men of the east, and Lamentations 4:21 has Edom dwelling in the land of Uz, so the Bible's great sufferer seems not to be an Israelite. Satan stands in the same accusing role in Zechariah 3:1, at the high priest's right hand to resist him. His question in verse 9 is the one the whole book tests, whether anyone fears God for nothing. The disasters alternate between raiders and forces of nature: Sabeans, fire, Chaldeans and wind. Ezekiel 14:14 names Job with Noah and Daniel as models of righteousness.
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.
King James Version
The narrator introduces Job, a man in the land of Uz who is perfect and upright, fears God and avoids evil. He has seven sons, three daughters, large flocks and herds and a very great household, and is called the greatest of all the men of the east. His sons feast in turn and invite their sisters; after each round Job sanctifies them and offers burnt offerings in case they have sinned and cursed God in their hearts. On a day when the sons of God present themselves before the Lord, Satan comes among them. The Lord asks where he has been and points to Job as one with none like him in the earth. Satan asks whether Job fears God for nought, says the Lord has hedged him about, and claims that if the Lord touches all Job has, Job will curse him to his face. The Lord puts all that Job has into Satan's power but forbids touching Job himself. Four messengers arrive one after another: Sabeans take the oxen and asses and kill the servants; the fire of God burns the sheep and servants; Chaldeans in three bands carry off the camels and kill the servants; a great wind collapses the eldest brother's house where the sons and daughters are feasting, and the messenger says the young men are dead. Job tears his mantle, shaves his head, falls to the ground, worships, and says the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. The narrator closes: in all this Job sinned not.
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This journey has 11 stops. The opening stop is free. Premium opens the rest of the guided path, and every Scripture chapter stays free to read.