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Satan wanted to test Job again
1 On another day, the angels came again and gathered together in front of Yahweh, and Satan came too.
2 Yahweh asked Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan replied, “I have come from the earth, where I have been traveling back and forth, seeing what is happening.”
3 Yahweh asked Satan, “Have you ◄noticed/thought about► my faithful servant Job?
He is very godly/righteous [DOU], he greatly respects/reveres me, and he always avoids doing evil things. And he still acts in a very godly/righteous manner, even though you persuaded me to let you cause disastrous things to happen to him for no reason.”
4 Satan replied to Yahweh, “He praises you only because you bless him [IDM]. People will give up everything they have to save their own lives.
5 But if you harm his body [MTY], he will surely curse you openly [IDM]!”
6 Yahweh replied to Satan, “◄All right/Okay►, you may do to him whatever you want to do, but do not cause him to die.”
7 So Satan left, and he caused Job to be afflicted with very painful boils, from the top of his head to the soles of his feet.
8 Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped the boils on his skin, and he sat in ashes as people did when they were mourning for those who had died.
9 His wife said to him, “Are you still trying to ◄be loyal to/faithfully trust in► God? You should curse God, and then you will die.”
10 But Job replied, “You talk like people who do not know God talk. ◄Should we accept only the good things that God does for us?/We should not accept only the good things that God does for us.► [RHQ] We should also accept bad things.” So in spite of all these things that happened to Job, he did not say anything against God.
Job’s three friends came to comfort him
11 Among Job’s friends were Eliphaz from Teman town, Bildad from Shuah land and Zophar from Naamah land. When they heard about all the terrible things that had happened to Job, they left their home areas and went together to Job to console/comfort him [DOU].
12 When they saw Job from a distance, they almost did not recognize him. They wailed loudly, they tore their robes, and they threw dust over their heads to show how sorry they were because of what had happened to Job.
13 Then they sat on the ground with Job for seven days. None of them said anything to Job, because they saw that he was suffering greatly, and they did not think that anything that they said would lessen his pain.