Job 1 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.

There was a man in the land of Uz named Job. He was a man of complete integrity, straight in everything he did, someone who took God seriously and kept clear of evil.

He had seven sons and three daughters.

He owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred pairs of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and he had a very large household of servants. This man was the biggest man among all the peoples of the east.

His sons used to hold a feast at each of their houses in turn, every one on his own day, and they would send for their three sisters to come eat and drink with them.

When a round of feast days had run its course, Job would send for his children and have them made ready for God. He would get up early in the morning and offer a burnt offering for each of them, because he thought, "Maybe my children have failed somehow and turned their backs on God in their own hearts." Job did this every single time.

One day the sons of God came to take their places before Yahweh, and the Accuser came in among them.

Yahweh said to the Accuser, "Where have you come from?" The Accuser answered Yahweh, "From roaming the earth, from walking up and down in it."

Yahweh said to the Accuser, "Have you noticed my servant Job? There is no one like him on earth — a man of complete integrity, straight in everything he does, who takes God seriously and keeps clear of evil."

The Accuser answered Yahweh, "Does Job take God seriously for nothing?"

"Haven't you put a hedge around him and his household and everything he owns, on every side? You have made the work of his hands pay off, and his herds have spread out across the land.

"But reach out your hand and hit everything he has, and he will curse you to your face."

Yahweh said to the Accuser, "All right. Everything he has is in your hands. Only do not lay a hand on the man himself." So the Accuser left Yahweh's presence.

One day, while Job's sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine at their oldest brother's house,

a messenger came to Job and said, "The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing beside them,

when the Sabeans swept in and took them, and put the farmhands to the sword. I am the only one who got away to tell you."

He was still speaking when another one came and said, "The fire of God fell from the sky and burned up the sheep and the shepherds and finished them off. I am the only one who got away to tell you."

He was still speaking when another one came and said, "The Chaldeans formed three raiding parties, swept down on the camels and carried them off, and put the herdsmen to the sword. I am the only one who got away to tell you."

He was still speaking when another one came and said, "Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine at their oldest brother's house,

and a huge wind came in off the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It came down on the young people and they are dead. I am the only one who got away to tell you."

Then Job stood up, tore his robe and shaved his head. He fell to the ground and bowed down low.

He said, "Naked I came out of my mother's womb, and naked I will go back. Yahweh gave and Yahweh took away. May Yahweh's name be honored."

Through all of this Job did not fail, and he laid nothing improper at God's door.