Job 1:1-10

¹Once there was a man called Job who lived in the land of Uz. He was a man of integrity who did what was right. He respected God and avoided evil.

²He had seven sons and three daughters.

³He owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred teams of oxen, and five hundred female donkeys, as well as many servants. He was more wealthy than anyone else in the East.

⁴Job's sons used to take turns holding feasts in their homes on their specific day, also inviting their sisters to come and eat and drink with them.

⁵When the days of feasting were over, Job would send for them and purify them by getting up early in the morning to offer a burnt offering for each of them. He was concerned, thinking to himself, “Maybe my children have sinned in some way and have unintentionally offended God.” This is what Job always did.

⁶One day the angels came to present themselves to the Lord, and Satan came with them.

⁷The Lord asked Satan, “What have you been doing?” “Traveling around on earth, going here and there,” Satan replied.

⁸“Have you paid attention to Job, my servant?” asked the Lord. “There's no one like him on earth, a man of integrity who does what is right, who respects God and avoids evil.”

⁹“Is it for nothing that Job respects God?” Satan answered. “You've placed a protective fence around him and his family—in fact around everything he has.

¹⁰You have blessed everything he does. His flocks and herds have increased so much they fill the whole land!