¹Så hendte det en dag at Guds sønner kom og stilte sig frem for Herren, og blandt dem kom også Satan og stilte sig frem for Herren.

¹Again it happened on the day when the God’s sons came to present themselves before Yahweh, that Satan came also among them to present himself before Yahweh.

²Og Herren sa til Satan: Hvor kommer du fra? Satan svarte Herren: Jeg har faret og flakket omkring på jorden.

²Yahweh said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered Yahweh, and said, “From going back and forth in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.”

³Da sa Herren til Satan: Har du gitt akt på min tjener Job? For det er ingen på jorden som han - en ulastelig og rettskaffen mann, som frykter Gud og viker fra det onde; ennu er han like ulastelig, og du har uten grunn egget mig til å ødelegge ham.

³Yahweh said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? For there is none like him in the earth, a blameless and an upright man, one who fears God, and turns away from evil. He still maintains his integrity, although you incited me against him, to ruin him without cause.”

⁴Men Satan svarte Herren: Hud for hud, men alt det en mann har, gir han for sitt liv.

⁴Satan answered Yahweh, and said, “Skin for skin. Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life.

⁵Men rekk bare ut din hånd og rør ved hans ben og hans kjøtt! Da vil han visselig si dig farvel like i ditt ansikt.

⁵But put forth your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will renounce you to your face.”

⁶Da sa Herren til Satan: Se, han er i din hånd; spar bare hans liv!

⁶Yahweh said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand. Only spare his life.”

⁷Så gikk Satan bort fra Herrens åsyn, og han slo Job med onde bylder fra fotsålen til issen.

⁷So Satan went forth from the presence of Yahweh, and struck Job with painful sores from the sole of his foot to his head.

⁸Og han tok sig et potteskår og skrapte sig med, der han satt midt i asken.

⁸He took for himself a potsherd to scrape himself with, and he sat among the ashes.

⁹Da sa hans hustru til ham: Holder du dig ennu like ulastelig? Si Gud farvel og dø!

⁹Then his wife said to him, “Do you still maintain your integrity? Renounce God, and die.”

¹⁰Men han svarte: Du taler som en av de uforstandige kvinner; skal vi bare ta imot det gode av Gud og ikke også det onde? Under alt dette syndet Job ikke med sine leber.

¹⁰But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. What? Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this Job didn’t sin with his lips.

¹¹Da Jobs tre venner fikk høre om all denne ulykke som var kommet over ham, kom de fra hver sitt hjemsted: Elifas fra Teman, Bildad fra Suah og Sofar fra Na'ama; og de avtalte med hverandre å gå til ham for å vise ham medynk og trøste ham.

¹¹Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this evil that had come on him, they each came from his own place: Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, and they made an appointment together to come to sympathize with him and to comfort him.

¹²Men da de så op et stykke ifra, kjente de ham ikke, og de brast i gråt og sønderrev sine kapper og kastet støv op imot himmelen, ned over sine hoder.

¹²When they lifted up their eyes from a distance, and didn’t recognize him, they raised their voices, and wept; and they each tore his robe, and sprinkled dust on their heads toward the sky.

¹³Og de satt hos ham på jorden i syv dager og syv netter, og ingen talte et ord til ham; for de så at hans pine var såre stor.

¹³So they sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief was very great.