{"product_id":"the-book-of-job-isbn-9780375700224","title":"The Book of Job","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 Tutu\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHow 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWith a new Preface by Cynthia Ozick, nominated for the National Book Award for her book \u003cb\u003eThe Puttermesser Papers\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eJohn F. Thornton\u003c\/b\u003e is a literary agent, former book editor, and the coeditor, with Katharine Washburn, of \u003ci\u003eDumbing Down \u003c\/i\u003e(1996) and \u003ci\u003eTongues of Angels, Tongues of Men: A Book of Sermons \u003c\/i\u003e(1999). He lives in New York City.Chapter 1\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThere 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNow 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNow 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.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThen 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.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eChapter 2\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAgain 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.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSo 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThen 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNow 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eChapter 3\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAfter this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd Job said:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Let the day perish wherein I was born,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eand the night which said, 'A man-child is conceived.'\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLet that day be darkness!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMay God above not seek it, nor light shine upon it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLet gloom and deep darkness claim it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLet clouds dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThat night-let thick darkness seize it!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003elet it not rejoice among the days of the year,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003elet it not come into the number of the months.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYea, let that night be barren;\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003elet no joyful cry be heard in it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLet those who curse it curse the day,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ewho are skilled to rouse the Leviathan.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLet the stars of its dawn be dark;\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003elet it hope for light, but have none,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003enor see the eyelids of the morning;\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ebecause it did not shut the doors of my mother's womb,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003enor hide trouble from my eyes.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Why did I not die at birth,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ecome forth from the womb and expire?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhy did the knees receive me?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOr why the breasts, that I should suck?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor then I should have lain down and been quiet;\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI should have slept; then I should have been at rest,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ewith kings and counselors of the earth\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ewho rebuilt ruins for themselves,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eor with princes who had gold,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ewho filled their houses with silver.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOr why was I not as a hidden untimely birth,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eas infants that never see the light?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThere the wicked cease from troubling,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eand there the weary are at rest.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThere the prisoners are at ease together;\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ethey hear not the voice of the taskmaster.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe small and the great are there,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eand the slave is free from his master.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Why is light given to him that is in misery,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eand life to the bitter in soul,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ewho long after death, but it comes not,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eand dig for it more than for hid treasures;\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ewho rejoice exceedingly,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eand are glad, when they find the grave?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhy is light given to a man whose way is hid,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ewhom God has hedged in?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor my sighing comes as my bread,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eand my groanings are poured out like water.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor the thing that I fear comes upon me,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eand what I dread befalls me.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI am not at ease, nor am I quiet; I have no rest,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ebut trouble comes.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eChapter 4\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThen Eliphaz the Temanite answered:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"If one ventures a word with you, will you be offended?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYet who can keep from speaking?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBehold, you have instructed many,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eand you have strengthened the weak hands.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYour words have upheld him who was stumbling,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eand you have made firm the feeble knees.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut now it has come to you, and you are impatient;\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eit touches you, and you are dismayed.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIs not your fear of God your confidence,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eand the integrity of your ways your hope?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Think now, who that was innocent ever perished?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOr where were the upright cut off?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs I have seen, those who plow iniquity\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eand sow trouble reap the same.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBy the breath of God they perish,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eand by the blast of his anger they are consumed.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe roar of the lion, the voice of the fierce lion,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ethe teeth of the young lions, are broken.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe strong lion perishes for lack of prey,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eand the whelps of the lioness are scattered.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Now a word was brought to me stealthily,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003emy ear received the whisper of it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAmid thoughts from visions of the night,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ewhen deep sleep falls on men,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003edread came upon me, and trembling,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ewhich made all my bones shake.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA spirit glided past my face;\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ethe hair of my flesh stood up.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt stood still,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ebut I could not discern its appearance.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA form was before my eyes;\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ethere was silence, then I heard a voice:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Can mortal man be righteous before God?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCan a man be pure before his Maker?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEven in his servants he puts no trust,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eand his angels he charges with error;\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ehow much more those who dwell in houses of clay,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ewhose foundation is in the dust,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ewho are crushed before the moth.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBetween morning and evening they are destroyed;\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ethey perish forever without any regarding it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIf their tent-cord is plucked up within them,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003edo they not die, and that without wisdom?'\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eChapter 5\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Call now, is there anyone who will answer you?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTo which of the holy ones will you turn?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSurely vexation kills the fool,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eand jealousy slays the simple.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI have seen the fool taking root,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ebut suddenly I cursed his dwelling.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHis sons are far from safety,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ethey are crushed in the gate,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eand there is no one to deliver them.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHis harvest the hungry eat,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eand he takes it even out of thorns;\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eand the thirsty pant after his wealth.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor affliction does not come from the dust,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003enor does trouble start from the ground;\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ebut man is born to trouble\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eas the sparks fly upward.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"As for me, I would seek God,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eand to God would I commit my cause;\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ewho does great things and unsearchable,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003emarvelous things without number:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ehe gives rain upon the earth\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eand sends water upon the fields;\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ehe sets on high those who are lowly,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eand those who mourn are lifted to safety.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe frustrates the devices of the crafty,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eso that their hands achieve no success.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe takes the wise in their own craftiness;\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eand the schemes of the wily are brought to a quick end.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThey meet with darkness in the daytime,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eand grope at noonday as in the night.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut he saves the fatherless from their mouth,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ethe needy from the hand of the mighty.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSo the poor have hope,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eand injustice shuts her mouth.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Behold, happy is the man whom God reproves;\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003etherefore despise not the chastening of the Almighty.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor he wounds, but he binds up;\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ehe smites, but his hands heal.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe will deliver you from six troubles;\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ein seven there shall no evil touch you.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn famine he will redeem you from death,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eand in war from the power of the sword.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYou shall be hid from the scourge of the tongue,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eand shall not fear destruction when it comes.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt destruction and famine you shall laugh,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eand shall not fear the beasts of the earth.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor you shall be in league with the stones of the field,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eand the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYou shall know that your tent is safe,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eand you shall inspect your fold and miss nothing.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYou shall know also that your descendants shall be many,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eand your offspring as the grass of the earth.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYou shall come to your grave in ripe old age,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eas a shock of grain comes up to the threshing floor\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ein its season.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLo, this we have searched out; it is true.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHear, and know it for your good.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eChapter 6\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThen Job answered:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"O that my vexation were weighed,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eand all my calamity laid in the balances!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea;\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003etherefore my words have been rash.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor the arrows of the Almighty are in me;\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003emy spirit drinks their poison;\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ethe terrors of God are arrayed against me.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDoes the wild ass bray when he has grass,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eor the ox low over his fodder?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCan that which is tasteless be eaten without salt,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eor is there any taste in the slime of the purslane?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMy appetite refuses to touch them;\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ethey are food that is loathsome to me.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"O that I might have my request,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eand that God would grant my desire;\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ethat it would please God to crush me,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ethat he would let loose his hand and cut me off!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis would be my consolation;\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI would even exult in pain unsparing;\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003efor I have not denied the words of the Holy One.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhat is my strength, that I should wait?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd what is my end, that I should be patient?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIs my strength the strength of stones,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eor is my flesh bronze?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn truth I have no help in me,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eand any resource is driven from me.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"He who withholds kindness from a friend\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eforsakes the fear of the Almighty.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMy brethren are as treacherous as a torrent-bed,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eas freshets that pass away,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ewhich are dark with ice,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eand where the snow hides itself.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn time of heat they disappear;\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ewhen it is hot, they vanish from their place.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe caravans turn aside from their course;\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ethey go up into the waste, and perish.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe caravans of Tema look,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ethe travelers of Sheba hope.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThey are disappointed because they were confident;\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ethey come thither and are confounded.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSuch you have now become to me;\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eyou see my calamity, and are afraid.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHave I said, 'Make me a gift'?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOr, 'From your wealth offer a bribe for me'?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOr, 'Deliver me from the adversary's hand'?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOr, 'Ransom me from the hand of oppressors'?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Teach me, and I will be silent;\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003emake me understand how I have erred.Preface by Cynthia Ozick","brand":"Vintage","offers":[{"title":"Default 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