No matter how bad you've got it, Job had it worse. His family killed, his body covered with boils, his property destroyed, and his faith decimated, Job cried out to God, who was responsible for all his troubles. God answered Job from the decidedly un-lectern-like podium of a whirlwind, and delivered a message about the ways of God to man that still echoes with pathos today. --Michael Joseph Gross


Book Description
"God is our home but many of us have strayed from our native land. The venerable authors of these Spiritual Classics are expert guides--may we follow their directions home." --Archbishop Desmond TutuHow can a just God abandon His creatures to suffering? How do we reconcile our notions of divine goodness and omnipotence with the fact that the universe is visibly unfair? Sooner or later, these questions confront anyone who attempts to lead a life of faith. And nowhere have they been articulated with greater drama, poignancy, and despairing fury than in the Biblical parable of the blamelessly unfortunate Job.With a new Preface by Cynthia Ozick, nominated for the National Book Award for her book The Puttermesser Papers


From the Inside Flap
"God is our home but many of us have strayed from our native land.  The venerable authors of these Spiritual Classics are expert guides--may we follow their directions home."  --Archbishop Desmond Tutu

How can a just God abandon His creatures to suffering?  How do we reconcile our notions of divine goodness and omnipotence with the fact that the universe is visibly unfair?  Sooner or later, these questions confront anyone who attempts to lead a life of faith.  And nowhere have they been articulated with greater drama, poignancy, and despairing fury than in the Biblical parable of the blamelessly unfortunate Job.

With a new Preface by Cynthia Ozick, nominated for the National Book Award for her book The Puttermesser Papers


Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Chapter 1

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 all 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 nought? 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." When 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." When 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 this robe, and shaved his head, and fell upon the ground, and worshiped. 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.

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 upon it." And the Lord said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil? He still 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, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face." And the 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 all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They made an appointment together to come to condole with 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.

Chapter 3

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!

May God above not seek it, nor light shine upon it.

Let gloom and deep darkness claim it.

Let clouds dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it.

That night-let thick darkness seize it!

let it not rejoice among the days of the year,

let it not come into the number of the months.

Yea, let that night be barren;

let no joyful cry be heard in it.

Let those who curse it curse the day,

who are skilled to rouse the Leviathan.

Let the stars of its dawn be dark;

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?

Why did the knees receive me?

Or why the breasts, that I should suck?

For then I should have lain down and been quiet;

I should have slept; then I should have been at rest,

with kings and counselors of the earth

who rebuilt ruins for themselves,

or with princes who had gold,

who filled their houses with silver.

Or why was I not as a hidden 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 given to him that is in misery,

and life to the bitter in soul,

who long after death, but it comes not,

and dig for it more than for hid 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."

Chapter 4

Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:

"If one ventures a word with you, will you be offended?

Yet who can keep from speaking?

Behold, you have instructed many,

and you have strengthened the weak hands.

Your words have upheld him who was stumbling,

and you have made firm the feeble knees.

But now it has come to you, and you are impatient;

it touches you, and you are dismayed.

Is not your fear of God your confidence,

and the integrity of your ways your hope?

"Think now, who that was innocent ever perished?

Or where were the upright cut off?

As I have seen, those who plow iniquity

and sow trouble reap the same.

By the breath of God they perish,

and by the blast of his anger they are consumed.

The roar of the lion, the voice of the fierce lion,

the teeth of the young lions, are broken.

The strong lion perishes for lack of prey,

and the whelps of the lioness are scattered.

"Now a word was brought to me stealthily,

my ear received the whisper of it.

Amid thoughts from visions of the night,

when deep sleep falls on men,

dread came upon me, and trembling,

which made all my bones shake.

A spirit glided past my face;

the hair of my flesh stood up.

It stood still,

but I could not discern its appearance.

A form was before my eyes;

there was silence, then I heard a voice:

'Can mortal man be righteous before God?

Can a man be pure before his Maker?

Even in his servants he puts no trust,

and his angels he charges with error;

how much more those who dwell in houses of clay,

whose foundation is in the dust,

who are crushed before the moth.

Between morning and evening they are destroyed;

they perish forever without any regarding it.

If their tent-cord is plucked up within them,

do they not die, and that without wisdom?'

Chapter 5

"Call now, is there anyone who will answer you?

To which of the holy ones will you turn?

Surely vexation kills the fool,

and jealousy slays the simple.

I have seen the fool taking root,

but suddenly I cursed his dwelling.

His sons are far from safety,

they are crushed in the gate,

and there is no one to deliver them.

His harvest the hungry eat,

and he takes it even out of thorns;

and the thirsty pant after his wealth.

For affliction does not come from the dust,

nor does trouble start from the ground;

but man is born to trouble

as the sparks fly upward.

"As for me, I would seek God,

and to God would I commit my cause;

who does great things and unsearchable,

marvelous things without number:

he gives rain upon the earth

and sends water upon the fields;

he sets on high those who are lowly,

and those who mourn are lifted to safety.

He frustrates the devices of the crafty,

so that their hands achieve no success.

He takes the wise in their own craftiness;

and the schemes of the wily are brought to a quick end.

They meet with darkness in the daytime,

and grope at noonday as in the night.

But he saves the fatherless from their mouth,

the needy from the hand of the mighty.

So the poor have hope,

and injustice shuts her mouth.

"Behold, happy is the man whom God reproves;

therefore despise not the chastening of the Almighty.

For he wounds, but he binds up;

he smites, but his hands heal.

He will deliver you from six troubles;

in seven there shall no evil touch you.

In famine he will redeem you from death,

and in war from the power of the sword.

You shall be hid from the scourge of the tongue,

and shall not fear destruction when it comes.

At destruction and famine you shall laugh,

and shall not fear the beasts of the earth.

For you shall be in league with the stones of the field,

and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you.

You shall know that your tent is safe,

and you shall inspect your fold and miss nothing.

You shall know also that your descendants shall be many,

and your offspring as the grass of the earth.

You shall come to your grave in ripe old age,

as a shock of grain comes up to the threshing floor

in its season.

Lo, this we have searched out; it is true.

Hear, and know it for your good."

Chapter 6

Then Job answered:

"O that my vexation were weighed,

and all my calamity laid in the balances!

For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea;

therefore my words have been rash.

For the arrows of the Almighty are in me;

my spirit drinks their poison;

the terrors of God are arrayed against me.

Does the wild ass bray when he has grass,

or the ox low over his fodder?

Can that which is tasteless be eaten without salt,

or is there any taste in the slime of the purslane?

My appetite refuses to touch them;

they are food that is loathsome to me.

"O that I might have my request,

and that God would grant my desire;

that it would please God to crush me,

that he would let loose his hand and cut me off!

This would be my consolation;

I would even exult in pain unsparing;

for I have not denied the words of the Holy One.

What is my strength, that I should wait?

And what is my end, that I should be patient?

Is my strength the strength of stones,

or is my flesh bronze?

In truth I have no help in me,

and any resource is driven from me.

"He who withholds kindness from a friend

forsakes the fear of the Almighty.

My brethren are as treacherous as a torrent-bed,

as freshets that pass away,

which are dark with ice,

and where the snow hides itself.

In time of heat they disappear;

when it is hot, they vanish from their place.

The caravans turn aside from their course;

they go up into the waste, and perish.

The caravans of Tema look,

the travelers of Sheba hope.

They are disappointed because they were confident;

they come thither and are confounded.

Such you have now become to me;

you see my calamity, and are afraid.

Have I said, 'Make me a gift'?

Or, 'From your wealth offer a bribe for me'?

Or, 'Deliver me from the adversary's hand'?

Or, 'Ransom me from the hand of oppressors'?

"Teach me, and I will be silent;

make me understand how I have erred.

FROM THE PUBLISHER