What happensPermalink
In a second heavenly council, God again commends Job’s integrity, but the accuser argues that Job will curse God if his own body is touched. God permits Satan to afflict Job, sparing only his life. Job is covered with painful sores and sits among ashes. His wife urges him to curse God and die, but Job refuses. Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar come to comfort him, weep, mourn, and sit in silence seven days.
Why it mattersPermalink
Job’s suffering is again framed as a test, not punishment: God says Job holds fast his integrity, though struck “without reason.” The accuser’s central question remains whether faith can endure when blessing becomes agony. Job accepts both good and adversity from God without sinful speech. His friends begin wisely, offering presence before explanation, but their coming arguments will expose the limits of human counsel.
Key versePermalink
But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.