Job is introduced as a man from the land of Uz who fears God and turns away from evil. He has a large family, enormous herds, many servants, and a reputation as the greatest man in the region.

The narrative then shifts to a heavenly scene. The satan, functioning as an accuser, challenges the idea that Job’s faithfulness is genuine. Perhaps Job serves God only because his life has been protected and blessed.

Permission is given for Job’s possessions to be tested, though Job himself is initially protected.

Disaster arrives in waves. Raiders take livestock and kill servants. Fire destroys sheep and servants. More raiders seize camels. Before one messenger has finished speaking, another arrives.

The final messenger brings the worst news. A powerful wind has struck the house where Job’s sons and daughters were eating together, and all of them have died.

Job tears his robe, shaves his head, falls to the ground, and worships. His response does not erase grief; it places grief and worship in the same scene.

A second heavenly scene follows. The accuser argues that physical suffering will break Job’s integrity. Job is then afflicted with painful sores from head to foot.

Job sits among ashes scraping himself with broken pottery. His wife challenges his continued integrity, but Job refuses to curse God.

Three friends arrive and initially do something profoundly appropriate: they sit with Job on the ground for seven days and nights without speaking because they see that his suffering is very great. The long debates that follow will begin only after this silence.