OUTLINE OF CONTENTS

 1

• Job’s integrity and wealth (1-5)

• Satan questions Job’s motives (6-12)

• Job loses his property and children (13-19)

• Job does not blame God (20-22)

 2

• Satan again questions Job’s motives (1-5)

• Satan permitted to strike Job’s body (6-8)

• Job’s wife: “Curse God and die!” (9, 10)

• Job’s three companions arrive (11-13)

 3

• Job laments his birth (1-26)

  • Asks why he is suffering (20, 21)

 4

• Eliphaz’ first speech (1-21)

  • Ridicules Job’s integrity (7, 8)

  • Relates a spirit’s message (12-17)

  • ‘God has no faith in his servants’ (18)

 5

• Eliphaz’ first speech continues (1-27)

  • ‘God catches the wise in their cunning’ (13)

  • ‘Job should not reject God’s discipline’ (17)

 6

• Job’s reply (1-30)

  • Claims he is justified in crying out (2-6)

  • His comforters are treacherous (15-18)

  • “Honest words are not painful!” (25)

 7

• Job’s reply continues (1-21)

  • Life like compulsory labor (1, 2)

  • “Why have you made me your target?” (20)

 8

• Bildad’s first speech (1-22)

  • Implies that Job’s sons have sinned (4)

  • ‘If you were pure, God would protect you’ (6)

  • Implies that Job is godless (13)

 9

• Job’s reply (1-35)

  • Mortal man cannot contend with God (2-4)

  • ‘God does unsearchable things’ (10)

  • One cannot argue with God (32)

10

• Job’s reply continues (1-22)

  • ‘Why does God contend with me?’ (2)

  • God contrasted to mortal Job (4-12)

  • ‘May I find some relief’ (20)

11

• Zophar’s first speech (1-20)

  • Accuses Job of empty talk (2, 3)

  • Tells Job to put away evil (14)

12

• Job’s reply (1-25)

  • “I am not inferior to you” (3)

  • “I have become a laughingstock” (4)

  • ‘Wisdom is with God’ (13)

  • God is above judges and kings (17, 18)

13

• Job’s reply continues (1-28)

  • ‘I would rather speak to God’ (3)

  • “You are useless physicians” (4)

  • “I know I am in the right” (18)

  • Asks why God views him as an enemy (24)

14

• Job’s reply continues (1-22)

  • Man short-lived and with trouble (1)

  • “There is hope even for a tree” (7)

  • ‘O that you would conceal me in the Grave!’ (13)

  • “If a man dies, can he live again?” (14)

  • God will long for work of his hands (15)

15

• Eliphaz’ second speech (1-35)

  • Claims that Job has no fear of God (4)

  • Calls Job presumptuous (7-9)

  • ‘God has no faith in his holy ones’ (15)

  • ‘One who suffers is wicked’ (20-24)

16

• Job’s reply (1-22)

  • “You are troublesome comforters!” (2)

  • Claims that God sets him up as his target (12)

17

• Job’s reply continues (1-16)

  • “Mockers surround me” (2)

  • “He has made me an object of scorn” (6)

  • “The Grave will become my home” (13)

18

• Bildad’s second speech (1-21)

  • Depicts the lot of sinners (5-20)

  • Implies that Job does not know God (21)

19

• Job’s reply (1-29)

  • Rejects rebukes from his “friends” (1-6)

  • Says that he is abandoned (13-19)

  • “My redeemer is alive” (25)

20

• Zophar’s second speech (1-29)

  • Feels insulted by Job (2, 3)

  • Implies that Job is wicked (5)

  • Claims that Job enjoys sin (12, 13)

21

• Job’s reply (1-34)

  • ‘Why do the wicked prosper?’ (7-13)

  • Exposes his “comforters” (27-34)

22

• Eliphaz’ third speech (1-30)

  • ‘Can a man benefit God?’ (2, 3)

  • Accuses Job of greed and injustice (6-9)

  • ‘Return to God and be restored’ (23)

23

• Job’s reply (1-17)

  • Wants to present his case before God (1-7)

  • Says that he cannot find God (8, 9)

  • ‘I kept to his way without deviating’ (11)

24

• Job’s reply continues (1-25)

  • ‘Why does God not set a time?’ (1)

  • Says that God permits wickedness (12)

  • Sinners love darkness (13-17)

25

• Bildad’s third speech (1-6)

  • ‘How can man be innocent before God?’ (4)

  • Claims that man’s integrity is in vain (5, 6)

26

• Job’s reply (1-14)

  • ‘How you have helped the powerless!’ (1-4)

  • ‘God suspends the earth upon nothing’ (7)

  • ‘Just the fringes of God’s ways’ (14)

27

• Job determined to keep his integrity (1-23)

  • “I will not renounce my integrity” (5)

  • Godless without hope (8)

  • ‘Why are your speeches so empty?’ (12)

  • The wicked end up with nothing (13-23)

28

• Job contrasts earth’s treasures with wisdom (1-28)

  • Man’s mining efforts (1-11)

  • Wisdom worth more than pearls (18)

  • Fear of Jehovah is true wisdom (28)

29

• Job recalls happy days before his trials (1-25)

  • Respected in the city gate (7-10)

  • His past course of justice (11-17)

  • Everyone listened to his counsel (21-23)

30

• Job describes his changed situation (1-31)

  • Mocked by worthless ones (1-15)

  • Seemingly no help from God (20, 21)

  • “My skin has blackened” (30)

31

• Job defends his integrity (1-40)

  • “A covenant with my eyes” (1)

  • Asks to be weighed by God (6)

  • Not an adulterer (9-12)

  • Not a lover of money (24, 25)

  • Not an idolater (26-28)

32

• Young Elihu enters the discussion (1-22)

  • Angry with Job and Job’s companions (2, 3)

  • Waited respectfully before speaking (6, 7)

  • Age alone does not make one wise (9)

  • Elihu eager to speak (18-20)

33

• Elihu reproves Job for his self-righteousness (1-33)

  • A ransom found (24)

  • Return to youthful vigor (25)

34

• Elihu vindicates God’s justice and ways (1-37)

  • Job said that God denied him justice (5)

  • The true God never acts wickedly (10)

  • Job is lacking knowledge (35)

35

• Elihu points out Job’s faulty reasoning (1-16)

  • Job said he is more righteous than God (2)

  • God so high, not affected by sin (5, 6)

  • Job should wait for God (14)

36

• Elihu extols God’s unsearchable greatness (1-33)

  • Obedient prosper; godless rejected (11-13)

  • ‘What instructor is like God?’ (22)

  • Job should magnify God (24)

  • “God is greater than we can know” (26)

  • God controls rain and lightning (27-33)

37

• Natural forces reveal God’s greatness (1-24)

  • God can stop man’s activities (7)

  • ‘Consider God’s wonderful works’ (14)

  • To understand God is beyond the reach of humans (23)

  • No human should think he is wise (24)

38

• Jehovah gives a lesson in man’s littleness (1-41)

  • ‘Where were you at earth’s creation?’ (4-6)

  • God’s sons shouted in applause (7)

  • Questions about natural phenomena (8-32)

  • “Laws governing the heavens” (33)

39

• Animal creation shows man’s ignorance (1-30)

  • Mountain goats and deer (1-4)

  • The wild donkey (5-8)

  • The wild bull (9-12)

  • The ostrich (13-18)

  • The horse (19-25)

  • The falcon and the eagle (26-30)

40

• Further questions from Jehovah (1-24)

  • Job admits he has nothing to say (3-5)

  • ‘Will you question my justice?’ (8)

  • God describes Behemoth’s strength (15-24)

41

• God describes the amazing Leviathan (1-34)

42

• Job’s reply to Jehovah (1-6)

• The three companions condemned (7-9)

• Jehovah restores Job (10-17)

  • Job’s sons and daughters (13-15)