and a messenger came to Job, saying, &#8220;The oxen were plowing<n id="1" /> and the donkeys were grazing beside them,

<p class="bodytext">So the <sc>Lordsc> said to Satan, &#8220;All right,<n id="1" /> he is<n id="2" /> in your power;<n id="3" /> only preserve<n id="4" /> his life.&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">The hungry<n id="1" /> eat up his harvest,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">and take it even from behind the thorns,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">and the thirsty<n id="4" /> swallow up<n id="5" /> their fortune.<n id="6" />p>

<p class="poetry">If he snatches away,<n id="1" /> who can turn him back?<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Who dares to say to him, &#8216;What are you doing?&#8217;p>

<p class="poetry">I will say to God, &#8216;Do not condemn<n id="1" /> me;p> <p class="poetry">tell me<n id="2" /> why you are contending<n id="3" /> with me.&#8217;p>

<p class="poetry">Even if he slays me, I will hope in him;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">I will surely<n id="2" /> defend<n id="3" /> my ways to his face!p>

<p class="poetry">He does not expect<n id="1" /> to escape from darkness;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">he is marked for the sword;<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">Surely then you will delight yourself<n id="1" /> in the Almighty,p> <p class="poetry">and will lift up your face toward God.p>

<p class="poetry">I will not show partiality to anyone,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">nor will I confer a title<n id="2" /> on any man.p>

<p class="poetry">He entreats God, and God<n id="1" /> delights in him,p> <p class="poetry">he sees God&#8217;s face<n id="2" /> with rejoicing,p> <p class="poetry">and God<n id="3" /> restores to him his righteousness.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">For he does not still consider a person,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">that he should come before God in judgment.p>

<p class="poetry">Take heed, do not turn to evil,p> <p class="poetry">for because of this you have been tested<n id="1" /> by affliction.p>

<p class="poetry">Who prepares prey for the raven,p> <p class="poetry">when its young cry out to Godp> <p class="poetry">and wander about<n id="1" /> for lack of food?p>

<p class="poetry">If the river rages,<n id="1" /> it is not disturbed,p> <p class="poetry">it is secure,<n id="2" /> though the Jordanp> <p class="poetry">should surge up to its mouth.p>

<p class="bodytext">So the <sc>Lordsc> said to Satan, &#8220;All right then,<n id="1" /> everything he has is<n id="2" /> in your power.<n id="3" /> Only do not extend your hand against the man himself!&#8221;<n id="4" /> So Satan went out<n id="5" /> from the presence of the <sc>Lordsc>.<n id="6" />p>

Then the <sc>Lordsc> said to Satan, &#8220;Have you considered my servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a pure and upright man, one who fears God and turns away from evil. And he still holds firmly<n id="1" /> to his integrity,<n id="2" /> so that<n id="3" /> you stirred me up to destroy him<n id="4" /> without reason.&#8221;<n id="5" />p>

The <sc>Lordsc> said to Satan, &#8220;Where have you come from?&#8221;<n id="1" /> And Satan answered the <sc>Lordsc>,<n id="2" /> &#8220;From roving about<n id="3" /> on the earth, and from walking back and forth across it.&#8221;<n id="4" />

And the <sc>Lordsc> said to Satan, &#8220;Where do you come from?&#8221; Satan answered the <sc>Lordsc>,<n id="1" /> &#8220;From roving about on the earth, and from walking back and forth across it.&#8221;<n id="2" />

Then they sat down with him on the ground for seven days and seven nights, yet no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his pain<n id="1" /> was very great.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="bodytext">So they went, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, and did just as the <sc>Lordsc> had told them; and the <sc>Lordsc> had respect for Job.<n id="1" />p>