Once on a time—how very long ago we do not know—there lived a good man named Job. His home was in the country called Uz, which lay far east from Egypt and toward the place where the Harden of Eden had. once been.
Now Job was a very rich man. His camels and asses and his cattle and sheep were numbered by thousands. His servants, too, were very many. And Job had seven sons and three daughters.
Not only was Job good, and rich, he was also godly—he thought often about God and tried always to do those things which he believed would please God. Although many of his neighbors worshiped the sun and the moon, Job believed that the God who had made these great lights was the only true object of worship. He built altars of earth or of stone as Noah had done many long years before, and placed oxen and sheep upon those altars and gave them to God. Then he prayed and asked God to forgive his sins and to bless him.
And Job was the greatest man in all that country. Everybody knew about him and everybody honored him. When he passed by, even the children stopped their play to notice him. The poor people loved him because he helped them when they were in trouble.
After Job’s sons grew up to manhood and had homes of their own, often they made great feasts. They always invited their brothers and sisters to these feasts. And while they ate and drank together, Job thought about them and wondered whether they were behaving rightly. He wanted them to love God as he did. And he offered sacrifices to God for their sins, and prayed for their forgiveness just as he prayed for himself.
And God took much notice of Job. He blessed him with health and with happiness. He gave him many friends and great honors. He loved him because he knew that Job was a true man.
But one day an enemy spoke against Job. This enemy was Satan. He said, “Job serves God just because God blesses him. If troubles should come—if all his riches and all his blessings should be taken from him—then Job would turn away from God.”
This was not true. Satan is called “the father of lies” because he tells wrong things and tries to make others believe his words. God would not believe his words because he knew Job better.
But Satan wanted to trouble Job. So he sent bad men from other countries to steal away his oxen and sheep and camels and asses. They even killed his servants. And then a great storm came and tore down the house where Job’s sons and daughters were feasting, and killed them every one.
When Job heard about these troubles he tore his clothes as a sign of grief and fell down upon his face. But he did not turn away from God. Instead, he blessed God just as he had always done before.
Then Satan planned to send greater trouble upon Job. He thought, “I will make life so miserable for Job that he will blame God for his suffering. Then he will want to die.” In those days, many people believed their troubles were always sent from God to punish them for their sins. Because Satan thought Job, too, would believe this, he caused great, ugly sores to break out all over Job’s body. These sores were very painful. Everybody looked upon Job with horror and even his wife wished that he might die. Poor Job!
Then three rich men who for a long time had been friends of Job came to see him. They had heard about his troubles and they wanted to comfort him. But when they came near, at first they did not know him. His face looked so changed by the ugly sores that they could hardly believe he was Job. Then finally they sat down on the ground near him. But they would not speak to him for several days. They saw how greatly he was suffering and they believed God was surely punishing him for some awful sins. And when they spoke to him they did not speak comforting words. They told Job that he was covering his sins, that he was trying to hide his wrong-doing from God. All these words only added to Job’s sufferings and made him very unhappy indeed.
Then God spoke to Job out of a whirlwind, and Job bowed down low on the ground and worshiped. He did not think himself great nor wise nor good in the sight of God. And God told Job that he was pleased with him, but that he was not pleased with his three friends. He told those men to bring offerings for their sins and to ask Job to pray for them.
After this God caused the ugly sores to become dry, and soon Job’s body was well again. Then God sent many blessings to Job. Every year he grew richer, until after a while he had twice as many riches as he had before he was troubled by Satan. And God gave him seven sons and three daughters again. These daughters were the most beautiful women in all that country. And so health and happiness and riches and honor came again to Job—this man who would not let any kind of trouble or sorrow turn him away from God. And Job lived to be a very, very old man.