Jób is an Old Testament righteous man.The main source for describing his life is the Book of Job of the Old Testament.
According to these sources, Job lived 2000 - 1500 years before the birth of Christ, in North Arabia, in the country of Ausitidia, in the land of Uz. It is believed that Job was Abraham's nephew; was the son of Abraham's brother Nahor.
Job was a God-fearing and pious man. With all his soul, he was devoted to the Lord God and in everything he acted according to His will, moving away from everything evil, not only in deeds, but also in thoughts. The Lord blessed his earthly existence and endowed righteous Job with great wealth: he had a lot of livestock and all kinds of property. He had seven sons and three daughters, making up a happy family. This happiness was envied by Satan and in the face of God began to assert that Job is righteous and fearing God only because of his earthly happiness, with the loss of which all his piety will disappear. To expose this lie, God allowed Satan to test Job with all the calamities of earthly life.
Satan is robbing him of all his wealth, all his servants and all his children. Righteous Job turned to God and said: "Naked I went out of my mother's womb, naked I will return to my mother earth. The Lord gave, the Lord took it. Blessed be the Name of the Lord!" And Job did not sin before the Lord God, and did not utter a single foolish word. Then Satan struck his body with a terrible leprosy. The disease deprived him of the right to stay in the city: he had to retire outside of it and there, scraping scabs on his body with a shard, sat in ash and dung. Everyone turned away from him.
Seeing his suffering, his wife told him: "What are you waiting for? Deny God, and He will smite you with death! " But Job said to her: “You sound like crazy. If we love to receive happiness from God, shouldn't we endure with patience and unhappiness? " Job was so patient. He lost everything and fell ill himself, endured insults and humiliations, but did not grumble, did not complain about God and did not say a single harsh word against God. His friends Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar heard about Job's misfortune. For seven days they silently mourned his suffering; finally they began to console him, assuring him that God is just, and if he suffers now, he suffers for some of his sins, which he must repent of. This statement came out of the general Old Testament notion that all suffering is retribution for some untruth. Friends who comforted him tried to find in Job any sins that would justify his unfortunate fate as expedient and meaningful.
But even in such suffering, Job did not sin with a single word of murmuring before God.
After that, the Lord rewarded Job twice for patience. Soon he was healed of his illness and became rich twice as much as before. He again had seven sons and three daughters. He lived after that in happiness for 140 years and died at a ripe old age.
THE LAW OF GOD. History of the Long-Suffering Job.
Why do the innocent suffer? Why does a good God allow evil in the world?In the 18th century, the philosopher Leibniz combined these issues into the doctrine of theodicy, literally - the justification of God. But almost 4 thousand years before Leibniz, this question was asked by Job, a righteous man from the country of Uz, - to God himself ...
Job lived in an area called Uz. He was rich and God-fearing blameless, just and removed from evil(Job 1 :1). Job had ten children: seven sons and three daughters.
One day Satan came to God and began to claim that Job feared God because God had given him prosperity. But will Job still love God if all this is taken away from him?
God allowed Satan to take away from Job everything that he had: both wealth and children. Job accepted this test and did not say a word against God: Naked I came out of my mother's womb, naked and I will return. The Lord gave, the Lord also took; blessed be the name of the Lord!(Job 1 :21).
Then Satan sent leprosy on Job. Job was expelled from the city, he was forced to sit in the dust by the road and scrape off a shard of scabs from his body. Seeing the torment of her husband, Job's wife suggested that he blaspheme God and die immediately. But Job remained adamant: Are we really going to receive good from God and not evil?(Job 2 :10).
His friends came to Job. For seven days they sat silently beside him and mourned his suffering. They consoled him, tried to help him: after all, God could not punish Job in vain, which means that Job needs to remember what he sinned before God. But Job knew for sure that he was pure before God: he suffered innocently.
Job turned to God with a prayer. Grieving, he asked God Himself to testify to his innocence. And the Lord answered him. It was, as they would say now, an asymmetric answer. He showed him the beauty of the created world, and this is the very appearance of the Lord, His words - and became the answer for Job.
The righteous man repented of his thoughts: I renounce and repent in ashes and ashes(Job 42 : 6). Job was forgiven, his well-being was restored: the leprosy passed, new children were born, wealth returned. He lived for another 140 years and died at a ripe old age.
Nevertheless, the Book of Job cannot be considered to provide a universal, logically consistent answer to the question posed by the same Leibniz. Rather, it provides a clue to the answer. The real answer is impossible without the Savior Christ, without the Good News. And maybe the meaning of the presence of the Book of Job in the Old Testament is to show that the Old Testament is not self-sufficient. That this is a preparation for those revelations that humanity will receive through the Coming of Christ and will be sealed in the New Testament and Church Tradition.
Drawings by Natalia Kondratova
In ancient times, a righteous man named Job lived east of Palestine in the land of Uz. He was the fifth from Abraham. He was a just and kind man who always tried to please God throughout his life.
The Lord rewarded him with great blessings for his piety. He had many hundreds of cattle and thousands of small livestock. He was comforted by a large and friendly family: he had seven sons and three daughters.
But the devil was jealous of Job. He began to slander God against the righteous Job: “Is Job fearing God for nothing? Take everything he has from him - will he bless you? "
God, in order to show everyone how faithful Job is to Him, and to teach people patience in their suffering, allowed the devil to take away from Job everything that he had.
One day the robbers stole all of Job's cattle, killed the servants, and a terrible whirlwind from the desert destroyed the house in which Job's children gathered, where they all perished. But Job not only did not begin to murmur against God, but said: “God gave, God also took; blessed be the name of the Lord. "
The disgraced devil was not satisfied with this. He again began to slander Job: "A man will give up everything that he has for his life: touch his bones, his body (that is, strike him with a disease), - will you see if he will bless you?"
God allowed the devil to deprive Job of his health. And so Job fell ill with the most terrible disease - leprosy.
Even Job's wife began to persuade him to speak the word of murmuring against God. And his friends, instead of consolation, only upset the innocent sufferer with their unfair suspicions.
They believed that God rewards the good, and punishes the evil, and whoever suffers punishment from God is a sinner. Job defended his good name: he assured that he was suffering not for sins, but that God was sending one a grievous, and another a happy fate by His unknown will. His friends believed that God deals with people according to the same laws by which he adjudicates human justice.
But Job remained firm, did not lose hope in the mercy of God and only asked the Lord to testify of his innocence.
God appeared to Job in a whirlwind and showed him that for man there is too much incomprehensible in the phenomena and creations of the surrounding nature. And it is impossible to penetrate into the secrets of God's destinies - why God deals with people in one way or another.
Job was right when he spoke about God's Providence about man and that God deals with people according to His Wise will.
In a conversation with friends, Job prophesied about the Savior and about the future resurrection: “I know that my Redeemer lives, and on the last day He will raise up this decaying skin from the dust, and I will see God in my flesh. I will see Him myself; my eyes, and not the eyes of another, will see Him. "
After that, God, having shown everyone an example of faithfulness and patience in His servant Job, Himself appeared and ordered his friends, who looked at Job as a great sinner, to ask him for prayers for themselves.
God rewarded His faithful servant. Job returned to health. He again had seven sons and three daughters, and the cattle was twice as large as before, and Job lived another hundred and forty years in high esteem, calmly, piously and happily.
The history of the long-suffering Job teaches us that God sends misfortunes to the righteous not for sins, but for their even greater confirmation in good, for shaming the devil and glorifying the righteousness of God. Then the story of Job's life reveals to us that earthly happiness does not always correspond to the virtuous life of a person, teaches us to be compassionate towards the unfortunate.
Job, with his innocent suffering and patience, typified the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, in the days of remembering the sufferings of Jesus Christ (on Holy Week), a story from the book of Job is read in the church.
"Know that there is a judgment at which only those who have true wisdom will be justified - the fear of the Lord and true reason - removal from evil"
May 19 - memory of the righteous Job the Long-suffering. The image of Job is a symbol of unlimited trust in God. The Book of Job, which describes his life and sufferings, his deep and sublime conversation with friends about the Providence of God, is included in the canonical books of the Old Testament.
The life of the righteous
Job the Long-suffering - according to legend, the nephew of the forefather Abraham lived 2000 - 1500 years before the birth of Christ, in North Arabia, in the land of Ausitidia, in the land of Uz. He was a God-fearing and pious man. In everyday life, he removed himself from everything evil, not only in deeds, but also in thoughts. Job was wealthy, famous and respected throughout the East.
The seven sons of the righteous Job and his three daughters were friendly with each other and gathered for a common meal all together in turn at each of them. Every seven days, the righteous Job offered sacrifices to God for his children, saying: "Maybe one of them sinned or blasphemed God in his heart."
He lived in fame and fortune for 78 years.
But then the Lord let it go - and Job suffered terrible misfortunes: at first he was completely ruined, and then all of his children immediately died.
Then Job tore his outer garment, shaved off his head, fell to the ground, bowed and said, “Naked I came out of my mother’s womb, naked and will return. The Lord gave, the Lord took. As the Lord pleased, so it happened. Blessed be the name of the Lord! " (Job 1.21-22)
All friends and acquaintances left him. His wife was forced to find food for herself, working and wandering from house to house. She not only did not support her husband in patience, but thought that God was punishing Job for any secret sins. She wept, murmured against God, reproached her husband, and even advised the righteous Job to blaspheme the Most High so that Job would die and end his torment.
But Job answered all this: “You speak like one of the insane. Are we really going to receive the good from God, the evil we will not receive? " (Job 2:10)
And Job did not sin against the Lord God, and did not utter a single foolish word.
“I know,” said the righteous Job, stricken with leprosy, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and He will raise my decaying skin from the dust on the last day, and I will see God in my flesh. I will see Him myself, my eyes, not the eyes of another will see Him. With this hope my heart melts in my chest! " (Job 19, 25-27).
Hearing about Job's misfortunes, three of his friends came from afar to share his grief. They believed that Job was punished by God for his sins, and convinced the innocent righteous man to repent.
The righteous man answered that he was suffering not for sins, but that these trials were sent to him from the Lord according to the Divine will incomprehensible to man. Friends, however, did not believe and continued to believe that the Lord acts with Job according to the law of human retribution, punishing him for his sins.
In emotional grief, the righteous Job turned with prayer to God, asking Him Himself to testify before them of his innocence.
And then God appeared to him in a stormy whirlwind and rebuked him, because the very desire to penetrate the secrets of God's destinies and explain why He acts with people this way and not otherwise is insolence.
And the vision of the Lord enlightened Job.
And Job said to the Lord: “I know that You can do everything and that Your intention cannot be stopped ... I spoke about what I did not understand, about deeds that were wonderful for me, which I did not know ... I heard about You by hearing of the ear, now but my eyes see You, so I repent of dust and ashes. " (Job 39, 34; 42, 6).
Then the Lord commanded Job's friends to turn to him and ask him to offer a sacrifice for them, for, - said the Lord, - I will accept only Job's face, so as not to reject you because you did not speak about Me as faithfully as My servant Job ( Job 42, 8).
Job offered a sacrifice to God and prayed for his friends, and the Lord accepted his intercession, and also restored the righteous Job to health and gave him twice as much as he had before. Instead of the children who died, Job had seven sons and three daughters.
After suffering suffering, Job lived another 140 years and saw his offspring up to the fourth kind.
Job's Lessons
The life and sufferings of the righteous Job are the best example and evidence of God's providence in the world.
According to the definition of the Providence of God by the Bishop of Emesa Nemesius: "Providence is Divine care for the existing"
The Monk John Damascene sets out the main ideas of the doctrine of the Providence of God as follows:
God foresees everything, including that which depends on us, but does not impose anything. He does not want evil to be, but he also does not force virtue.
Everything happens by the grace of God or by permission. By good will - that which is indisputably good, and by permission - that which is indisputably not good.
Often God allows the righteous to fall into misery in order to show others the virtue hidden in him. So it was with Job.
Sometimes God allows the saint to endure evil so that the saint does not fall away from his right conscience or fall into arrogance because of the strength and grace given to him. This was the case with the apostle Paul (2 Cor. 12: 7).
God can leave a person for a while to correct another, so that, looking at him, others may be brought to understanding. This was the case, for example, with Lazarus and the rich (See Luke 16, 19).
God also allows someone to suffer in order to arouse jealousy in another. Seeing how the victim became famous, others fearlessly went to suffer in the hope of future glory. This was the case, for example, with the martyrs.
Sometimes God even allows a person to commit a shameful act to correct an even worse passion.
Thus, following Saint Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna, “The providence of God is the unceasing action of the omnipotence, wisdom and goodness of God, with which God preserves the existence and strength of created beings, directs them to good goals, supports all good, and evil that arises through removal from good suppresses, or corrects and turns to good consequences. "
Materials used:
Prepared by Alexander A. Sokolovsky
Holy righteous Job the Long-suffering
The holy righteous Job lived 2000 - 1500 years before the birth of Christ, in North Arabia, in the land of Ausitidia, in the land of Uz. His life and suffering are described in the Bible (Book of Job). It is believed that Job was Abraham's nephew; was the son of Abraham's brother Nahor. Job was a God-fearing and pious man. With all his soul, he was devoted to the Lord God and in everything he acted according to His will, moving away from everything evil, not only in deeds, but also in thoughts. The Lord blessed his earthly existence and endowed righteous Job with great wealth: he had a lot of livestock and all kinds of property. The seven sons of the righteous Job and three daughters were friendly with each other and gathered for a common meal all together in turn at each of them. Every seven days, the righteous Job offered sacrifices to God for his children, saying: "Maybe one of them sinned or blasphemed God in his heart." For his justice and honesty, Saint Job was held in high esteem by his fellow citizens and had a great influence in public affairs.
Old Testament, Book of Job
1
There was a man in the land of Uz, his name was Job; and this man was blameless, just, and fearing God, and withdrew from evil.
And seven sons and three daughters were born to him.
He had estates: seven thousand small livestock, three thousand camels, five hundred pairs of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and very many servants; and this man was more famous than all the sons of the East.
His sons came together, making feasts each in his own house on his own day, and sent and invited their three sisters to eat and drink with them.
When the circle of feast days was completed, Job sent for them and sanctified them and, getting up early in the morning, offered burnt offerings according to the number of all of them [and one calf for the sin of their souls]. For Job said: Perhaps my sons have sinned and blasphemed God in their hearts. So did Job all such days.
And there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord; among them Satan also came.
And the Lord said to Satan, Have you turned your attention to my servant Job? for there is no one like him on earth: a man blameless, just, fearing God and moving away from evil.
And Satan answered the Lord and said, Is Job fearing God for nothing?
Did you not round about him and his house and all that he had? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his flocks are scattered over the earth;
but stretch out Thy hand and touch all that he has; will he bless Thee?
And the Lord said to Satan, Behold, all that he has is in your hand; only do not stretch out your hand on him. And Satan departed from the presence of the Lord. 
And there was a day when his sons and his daughters ate and drank wine in their first-born brother's house.
And behold, a messenger comes to Job and says:
the oxen screamed, and the donkeys grazed beside them, as the Sabeans attacked and took them, but they struck the youths with the edge of the sword. and I was the only one saved to announce to you.
He also said how another came and said: the fire of God fell from heaven and scorched the sheep and youths and devoured them; and I was the only one saved to announce to you.
He also said how another came and said: The Chaldeans formed themselves in three detachments and threw themselves on the camels and took them, and struck the youths with the edge of the sword; and I was the only one saved to announce to you.
This one also spoke, another comes and says: Your sons and your daughters have eaten and drank wine in their first-born brother's house;
and behold, a great wind came from the wilderness and swept the four corners of the house, and the house fell on the youths, and they died; and I was the only one saved to announce to you.
Then Job got up and tore his outer garment, shaved off his head, and fell to the ground and bowed down.
And he said, naked I came out of my mother's womb, naked and I will return. The Lord gave, the Lord also took; [as the Lord pleased, so it was done;] blessed be the name of the Lord!
In all this Job did not sin and did not say anything unreasonable about God.
2
There was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord; among them Satan also came to present himself before the Lord.
And the Lord said to Satan, Where have you come from? And Satan answered the Lord and said: I walked on the earth and went around it.
And the Lord said to Satan, Have you turned your attention to my servant Job? for there is no one like him on earth: a man blameless, just, fearing God and moving away from evil, and until now is firm in his integrity; but you incited Me against him to destroy him innocently.
And Satan answered the Lord and said, Skin for skin, but a man will give up all that he has for his life;
but stretch out Thy hand, and touch his bone and his flesh; will he bless Thee?
And the Lord said to Satan: Behold, he is in your hand; only save his soul.
And Satan departed from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with fierce leprosy from the sole of his foot to the very crown of his head.
And he took a tile to scrape himself with it, and sat down in the ashes [outside the village].
And his wife said to him, You are still firm in your integrity! blaspheme God and die.
When the Angels of God again appeared before the Lord and Satan was among them, the devil said that Job is righteous, while he himself is unharmed. Then the Lord announced: "I allow you to do with him, what you want, just save his soul." After that, Satan struck the righteous Job with a fierce disease - leprosy, which covered him from head to toe. The sufferer was forced to move out of the society of people, sat outside the city on a heap of ash and scraped his purulent wounds with a clay skull. All friends and acquaintances left him. His wife was forced to find food for herself, working and wandering from house to house. She not only did not support her husband in patience, but thought that God was punishing Job for any secret sins, cried, murmured against God, reproached her husband and finally advised the righteous Job to blaspheme God and die. Righteous Job grieved deeply, but even in these sufferings he remained faithful to God. He answered his wife: “You sound like one of the insane. Are we really going to receive the good from God, the evil we will not receive? " And the righteous did not sin in anything before God.
Jan Lievens, Job
12
And Job answered and said:
truly, only you are people, and wisdom will die with you!
And I have a heart like yours; I am not lower than you; and who does not know the same?
I became a laughingstock for my friend, I, who cried out to God, and to whom He answered, a laughingstock - a righteous man, blameless.
So despicable in the minds of the seated one is the torch prepared for those who stumble with their feet.
The tents of the robbers are quiet and safe with those who annoy God, who, as it were, carry God in their hands.
And truly: ask the cattle, and he will teach you, the bird of the air, and he will announce to you;
or talk to the land, and he will guide you, and the fish of the sea will tell you.
Who in all this does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this?
In His hand is the soul of all living and the spirit of all human flesh.
Is it not the ear that discerns words, and is it not the tongue that discerns the taste of food?
In the elders - wisdom, and in the old - reason.
He has wisdom and strength; His advice and intelligence.
What He destroys will not be built; whoever He concludes will not be released.
Will stop the water and everything will dry up; will let them in, and they will transform the earth.
He has power and wisdom, before Him that deceives and deceives.
He makes the advisers ill-considered and makes the judges stupid.
He strips kings of the sling and binds their loins with a sash;
he deprives princes of their dignity and overthrows the brave;
it takes away the language from the grandiose and the elders deprives it of meaning;
covers the famous with shame and weakens the strength of the mighty;
reveals the deep from the midst of darkness and brings out a mortal shadow into the light;
multiplies nations and destroys them; scatters the nations and gathers them;
takes the minds of the heads of the people of the earth and leaves them wandering in the wilderness, where there is no way:
they grope in darkness without light, and stagger like drunkards.
Ilya Efimovich Repin, Job and his friends, 1869
13
Behold, my eye saw all this, my ear heard and noticed for itself.
As much as you know, I also know: I am not inferior to you.
But I would like to speak to the Almighty and would like to compete with God.
And you are the scammers of lies; you are all useless doctors.
Oh, if only you were silent! it would be imputed to you for wisdom.
Hear my reasoning and listen to the objection of my lips.
Did you have to tell a lie for God's sake and tell a lie for Him?
Should you have shown respect for Him and argued like this for God?
Will it be good when He tests you? Will you deceive Him as a man is deceived?
He will severely punish you, although you are secretly a hypocrite.
Does not His majesty terrify you, and does His fear not fall upon you?
Your reminders are like ashes; your strongholds are clay strongholds.
Shut up before me, and I will speak, no matter what befalls me.
Why should I tear my body with my teeth, and lay my soul in my hand?
Now, He is killing me, but I will hope; I would only wish to defend my ways before Him!
And this is already to justify me, because a hypocrite will not go before Him!
Listen carefully to my word and my explanation with your ears.
So, I opened a lawsuit: I know that I will be right.
Who can challenge me? For I will soon be silent and give up my spirit.
Do not only two things to me, and then I will not hide from Your presence:
remove Thy hand from me, and let Thy horror not shake me.
Then call, and I will answer, or I will speak, and You answer me.
How many vices and sins do I have? show me my iniquity and my sin.
Why do you hide your face and consider me your enemy?
Are you breaking a torn leaf and chasing a dry straw?
For you write bitter against me and impute the sins of my youth to me,
And you put my feet in the log and lie in wait for all my paths - you chase in the footsteps of my feet.
And he, like rot, disintegrates, like moth-eaten clothes.
14
A person born as a wife is short-lived and satiated with sorrows:
like a flower it comes out and falls; runs away like a shadow and does not stop.
And to him, Thou dost open Thy eyes, and lead me to judgment with Thee?
Who will be born clean of the unclean? No one…
William Blake, Job the Accused
Hearing about Job's misfortunes, three of his friends came from afar to share his grief. They believed that Job was punished by God for his sins, and convinced the innocent righteous man to repent. The righteous man answered that he was suffering not for sins, but that these trials were sent to him from the Lord according to the Divine will incomprehensible to man. Friends, however, did not believe and continued to believe that the Lord acts with Job according to the law of human retribution, punishing him for his sins. In deep spiritual sorrow, the righteous Job turned with prayer to God, asking Him Himself to testify before them of his innocence. Then God revealed Himself in a stormy whirlwind and reproached Job for trying to penetrate with his mind into the secrets of the universe and the fate of God.
Job and his three friends, Holman Bible, 1890
40
And the Lord answered Job out of the storm and said:
You gird, like a husband, your loins: I will ask you, and you explain to Me.
Do you want to overthrow My judgment, accuse Me, in order to justify yourself?
Is your muscle like God? And can you thunder with a voice like Him?
Decorate yourself with grandeur and glory, clothe yourself in splendor and splendor;
pour out the fury of your anger, look at all that is proud and humble it;
Look at all the arrogant and humiliate them, and crush the wicked in their places;
bury them all in the ground and cover their faces with darkness.
Then I also acknowledge that your right hand can save you.
Here is the hippopotamus that I created, just like you; he eats grass like an ox;
behold, his strength is in his loins, and his strength is in the muscles of his belly;
turns his tail like a cedar; the veins on his thighs are intertwined;
his legs are like copper pipes; his bones are like iron bars;
this is the height of the ways of God; only He who created it can draw His sword closer to it;
the mountains bring him food, and there all the beasts of the field play;
he lies under shady trees, under the roof of reeds, and in swamps;
shady trees cover it with their shadow; willows by the streams surround him;
behold, he drinks from the river and is in no hurry; remains calm, even if Jordan rushed to his mouth.
Will anyone take him in his eyes and pierce his nose with a hook?
Can you pull the leviathan out with a bait and grab his tongue with a rope?
will you put the ring in his nostrils? will you pierce his jaw with a needle?
Will he beg you much, and will he speak to you meekly?
will he make a covenant with you, and will you take him forever as a slave?
Will you play with it like a bird, and knit it for your girls?
will the fishing comrades sell it, will it be divided among the Canaanite merchants?
can you pierce his skin with a spear and his head with a sharp fisherman?
Put your hand on it, and remember about the struggle: you will not go forward.
41
Hope is in vain: will you not fall at his glance?
There is no one so brave who would dare to disturb him; who can resist my face?
Who preceded Me, that I might repay him? under the whole sky, everything is Mine.
I will not keep silent about its members, about their strength and beautiful proportionality.
Who can open the top of his garment, who can fit his double jaws?
Who can open the doors of his face? the circle of his teeth is terror;
his strong shields are splendor; they are sealed, as it were, with a firm seal;
one touches the other close, so that the air does not pass between them;
one with the other lie tightly, adhered and do not move apart.
A light appears from his sneeze; his eyes are like the eyelashes of the dawn;
flames come out of his mouth, fiery sparks jump out;
smoke comes out of his nostrils as from a boiling pot or cauldron.
His breath ignites the coals, and a flame comes out of his mouth.
Power dwells on his neck, and terror runs before him.
The fleshy parts of his body are firmly united with each other, do not tremble.
His heart is as hard as a stone, and as hard as a lower millstone.
When he rises, the strong men are in fear, completely lost in horror.
The sword that touches him will not stand, not a spear, not a dart, not a plate.
He considers iron as straw, copper as rotten wood.
The daughter of the bow will not put him to flight; sling stones become hymen for him.
The mace is considered a straw for him; he laughs at the whistle of a dart.
There are sharp stones under him, and he lies on sharp stones in the mud.
He boils the abyss like a cauldron, and transforms the sea into a boiling ointment;
leaves behind a luminous path; the abyss looks gray.
There is no one like him on earth; he is made fearless;
he looks boldly at everything lofty; he is king over all the sons of pride.
42
And Job answered the Lord and said:
I know that You can do everything, and that Your intention cannot be stopped.
Who is this, darkening Providence, not understanding anything? - So, I talked about what I did not understand, about things wonderful for me, which I did not know.
Listen, I cried, and I will speak, and what I will ask You, explain to me.
I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; now my eyes see you;
therefore I renounce and repent in dust and ashes.
And it happened after the Lord had spoken those words to Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite: My anger burns against you and your two friends because you spoke of Me not so faithfully as My servant Job.
Take therefore seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer a sacrifice for yourself; and My servant Job will pray for you, for I will only accept his face, so that I do not reject you because you did not speak about Me as faithfully as My servant Job.
And Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Sabchaean and Zophar the Naamite went and did as the Lord commanded them - and the Lord took the face of Job.
And the Lord restored Job's loss when he prayed for his friends; and the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.
Then all his brothers and all his sisters and all his former acquaintances came to him, and ate bread with him in his house, and grieved with him, and comforted him for all the evil that the Lord had brought on him, and each gave him kesite and on a gold ring.
And God blessed Job's last days more than before: he had fourteen thousand flocks, six thousand camels, a thousand pairs of oxen and a thousand donkeys.
And he had seven sons and three daughters.
And he called the name of the first Emima, the name of the second - Cassia, and the name of the third - Kerengappuh.
And there were not in all the earth such beautiful women as the daughters of Job, and their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers.
After that Job lived one hundred and forty years, and saw his sons and sons' sons up to the fourth generation;
and Job died in old age, full of days.
Saint John Chrysostom is talking: " There is no human misfortune that this man, the hardest of every adamant, would not endure, who suddenly experienced hunger, and poverty, and illness, and the loss of children, and deprivation of wealth, and then, having experienced treachery from his wife, insults from friends, attacks from slaves, in everything he turned out to be harder than any stone, and, moreover, to the Law and Grace. "
Evgeny Makarov, Job and Friends, 1869
Holy righteous Job the Long-suffering, holy prophet God-seer Moses, holy prophet King David
Prayers to the holy and righteous Job the Long-suffering
First prayer
O great righteous man, Job the Long-suffering, shining with his pure life and holy closeness to God. You lived on earth before Moses and Christ, but all the commandments of God, carrying them in your heart, you fulfilled. The mysteries revealed to the world through Christ and His Holy Apostles, having understood by their deep revelations, the partaker of the breezes of the Holy Spirit was honored to be. All the wiles of the devil, in the special temptations sent to you from the Lord, having conquered with your true humility, the image of malice and longsuffering throughout the whole universe appeared. Great love for God and for all people in your immeasurable sorrows, having preserved, with a pure heart behind the grave of unity with the Lord, you joyfully awaited. Now abide in the villages of the righteous, and stand before the Throne of God. Hear us sinners and obscene, standing before your holy icon and zealously resorting to your intercession. Pray for the Human Lover of God, so that he will strengthen us in faith, more blameless and indestructible, he will protect us from all evil, the enemy of the visible and invisible, in sorrow and temptation he will give us strength, in our hearts he will always preserve the memory of death, in patience and brotherly love will strengthen us, and will vouch for us to to the terrible judgment of Christ, a kind response to give and in the resurrected flesh of our Triune God to contemplate and glorify Him with all the saints for ever and ever. Amen.
Julius Schnorr von Karolsfeld, The Suffering Job and His Friends, 1852-1860, Leipzig
Second prayer
O holy pleaser of God, righteous Job! Having fought on the earth with a good deed, thou art in Heaven the crown of righteousness, which the Lord has prepared for all who love Him. The same, looking at your holy image, we rejoice at the glorious end of your residence and honor your holy memory. But you, standing before the Throne of God, accept our prayers and bring them to the All-Merciful God, forgive us every sin and help us to become against the wiles of the devil, and get rid of sorrows, diseases, troubles and misfortunes and all evil, piously and righteously we will live in the present forever and we will be honored by your intercession, if you do not deserve to be, see the good on the land of the living, glorifying the One in His saints glorified God, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
