The holy righteous Job, by birth, came from the tribe of Abraham; he lived in Arabia, - his place of residence was the land of Khus 1, which was inhabited by the descendants of Utz, the nephew of Abraham, the son - the firstborn of Nahor, the brother of Abraham (Gen.22:20-21).

Life of Righteous Job. Mstera. 19th century icon.

Job was a man of truth (Job. 6:24-30; cf. 27:2-4), - he was distinguished by impeccable behavior, justice with benevolence to all and charity, and most of all by God-fearing, observing the innocence of his heart and avoiding everything evil not only in their deeds, but also in their inner thoughts.

He had seven sons and three daughters. He was also famous in his country for wealth: he had seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred pairs of oxen, five hundred donkeys and many servants; he took a lively and active part in the lives of his fellow tribesmen and had a great influence on public affairs, for throughout the East he was in great honor for his nobility and honesty (Job. 30: 5-10; cf. 1-3).

The sons of Job, although each lived separately, in his own tent - house, but nurtured such strong mutual love and lived in such harmony with each other that they never allowed themselves to eat and drink separately, apart from their kindred community. Every day, in turn, they made feasts at their place and spent time in a brotherly circle, together with their sisters, among innocent amusements, free from all excesses, alien to drunkenness and outrages. Even their good and righteous father would not have allowed gatherings of the unprincipled.

But since the feasts of Job's children were an expression of their brotherly love and quiet good manners, the righteous husband not only did not forbid them, but even encouraged them, consoling himself with family peace. Each time, after seven days, at the end of regular fraternal meetings, Job invited his children to carefully, in sincere conscience, check their behavior - whether any of them had sinned against God in word or thought; for he was very much afraid of God, but he was not afraid of the fear of a servant, but of the fear of filial love, and carefully watched both himself and his house, so that nothing would happen to them that would anger the Lord God.

However, the God-fearing righteous man was not limited only to observing his household and admonishing them to lead a blameless life, so that none of them even sinned in their thoughts before their Creator - but every time the circle of feasting days ended, Job, in the presence of all families early in the morning offered burnt offerings according to the number of all his children and one calf for the sin of their souls, for, he said, maybe my sons have sinned and blasphemed God in their hearts; so did Job on all such deliberate days (Job 1:5).

At one time, when in heaven the Angels of God, the guardians of the human race, gathered before the throne of the Almighty God to intercede before Him with their intercession for the people and bring to Him human prayers for all kinds of vital needs, the devil came between them, the slanderers and tempter of the human race. Satan, cast down from heaven, by the permission of God appeared there, among the Angels, without changing his fallen nature, not out of good will to intercede for the good, but in order to vomit his anger and blaspheme the good. Satanic pride in its inner blindness never reconciles itself with the truth, does not see a joyful world in humility and submissive devotion to the will of the All-good God; she boldly introduces a reassessment of the existing, according to her gloomy look and into the alien, luminous area of ​​the Divine life, boldly measuring everything with the measure of her conceit!

And the Lord said to Satan, who appeared with the angels:

Where did you come from?

Satan replied:

I have walked the earth and traveled all over it.

The Lord said to him:

Have you turned your attention to My servant Job? You cannot find another person on earth who, like him, would be so blameless, just, God-fearing, alien to any vice!

To this Satan answered the Lord:

Is Job God-fearing for nothing? Are you protecting him? Didn't You fence around his house and everything that he has? You blessed the works of his hands and multiplied his flocks and spread them over the earth. But stretch out Your hand and touch everything that he has, take it away from him, then you will see if he will bless You?

Then the Lord said to Satan:

Everything that he has, I give into your hands, do as you will, but do not touch him.

Satan departed from the presence of the Lord (Job 1:6-12). There was a day on which the sons and daughters of Job feasted in the house of their elder brother. And then a messenger came to Job and said:

Your oxen in the field plowed in pairs under a yoke, and donkeys grazed beside them; suddenly the Sabeans attacked and drove them away, and killed the servants; only I escaped and ran to inform you.

While this one was speaking, another messenger came to Job and said:

Fire fell from heaven and consumed all the flocks and shepherds; I escaped alone and came to tell you.

This one had not yet finished his speech, a new messenger comes and informs:

The Chaldeans came up and, dividing into three detachments, surrounded the camels and drove them away, and killed the servants; I escaped alone and came to tell you.

While this one was speaking, another messenger comes and says to Job:

Your sons and your daughters feasted in the house of their elder brother; suddenly a terrible whirlwind rushed out of the desert, grabbed the house from four corners and brought it down on your children; all died; I alone escaped and came to inform you.

After listening to these terrible news one after another, Job got up, as a token of his severe grief, tore his outer garment, cut off his head, fell to the ground and, bowing before the Lord, said:

Naked I came out of my mother's womb, and naked I will return to the womb of mother earth. The Lord gave, the Lord took! - as He pleased, so it happened; may the name of the Lord be blessed!

So in all this Job did not sin against God with one foolish word (Job 1:13-22).

There was a day when the Angels of God again stood before the Lord; Satan also came between them.

And the Lord said to Satan:

Where did you come from?

Satan replied:

I was on the ground and went around it all.

The Lord said to him:

Have you turned your attention to My servant Job? There is no person on earth who would be like him: he is so kind, truthful and pious, he is so far from everything evil! And with the misfortunes that befell him, he still remains firm in his integrity; and you provoked Me against him, to destroy him without guilt!

And Satan answered the Lord and said:

Skin for skin, and for his life a man will give everything that he has - that is: in someone else's skin a person can suffer; in someone else's skin, the blows are not so sensitive, even the removal of this skin is tolerable, not painful for him, and he can remain calm; but try to touch his own body, stretch out your hand and touch his bones and his flesh and you will see - will he bless you?

Then the Lord said to Satan:

Here it is in your hand. I let you do with it what you want; only save his soul - do not encroach on the basis of his being, free will (Job. 2: 1-6).

Satan departed from the presence of the Lord and struck Job's whole body with a terrible leprosy from the soles of his feet to the very crown of his head. The sufferer had to move out of the midst of living people, since he was intolerant among them due to the contagiousness of the disease that had seized him. His body was covered with disgusting, stinking scabs; a burning inner fire poured through all the joints; sitting, outside the village, in the ashes, Job scraped his festering wounds with a piece of a shard. All his neighbors and acquaintances moved away, left him. Even his wife lost compassion for him.

After a long time, in a state of despair, she once said to Job: “How long will you endure? - Behold, I will wait a little longer in the hope of my salvation; for your memory, sons and daughters, the diseases of my womb and the labors with which I labored in vain, have perished from the earth. You yourself sit in the stench of worms, spending the night without a cover, while I wander and serve, move from place to place, from house to house, waiting for the sun to set in order to calm down from my labors and illnesses that now depress me. persevere, do not unswervingly defend your integrity; but say a certain word to God, blaspheme Him and die - in death you will find liberation from your sufferings, it will also deliver me from torment.

So simply and naturally, apparently even satisfactorily, Job's wife resolved for him and for herself the question of life, without extending beyond the earthly understanding of its meaning and purpose, at the suggestion of Satan - "skin for skin." Exhausted and morally tired, she was ready to put out the last light of true life: "blaspheme God and die."

However, the sufferer himself, Job, did not talk about his condition in this way, looking at his human nature not from the point of view of narrow selfishness. Looking at his wife with regret, he said to her:

Why are you talking like one of those crazy wives? If we accepted the good from God, then are we really intolerant of the evil - we will not accept!

And this time, in this way, Job did not sin against God - his mouth did not utter anything blasphemous against God (Job.2: 7-10).

The rumor about the misfortune that befell Job spread throughout the surrounding countries. His three friends: Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Sabbathite, and Zophar the Naamite 2, aware of his misfortune, gathered together to go and comfort the sufferer, sharing his sorrow. But, approaching him and not recognizing him, because his face was a continuous purulent scab, they still screamed and sobbed from afar from horror, each tore his outer clothes and in great sorrow threw dust up over their heads. They then spent seven days and seven nights sitting on the ground opposite their friend and not saying a single word, for they saw that his suffering was very great and did not find means to comfort him in such a state (Job 2:11-13). This lingering silence was broken by Job himself. He was the first to open his mouth: he cursed the day of his birth and expressed deep sorrow about why he was given to see the light, which is now covered with darkness for him? Why was life given to him when it is a joyless torment for him?

The terrible thing, which I was terrified of, then befell me, - said the sufferer, - and the terrible thing, which I was afraid of, then came to me. I have no peace, no rest, no joy! (Job 3:1-26).

Then his friends also entered into a conversation with him, although with their reasoning, with which they wanted to console him, they only poisoned his tormented heart even more (Job. 21:34; 16:2 ff.). According to their sincere conviction, according to their belief that the Just God rewards the good and punishes the evil, they considered it indisputable and undeniable that if anyone is subjected to misfortune, he is a sinner, and the greater this misfortune, the darker his sinful state. Therefore, they thought about Job that he had some secret sins that he knew how to skillfully hide (Job. 32 - 33, etc.) from people and for which the All-Seeing God punishes their friend. This they made the sufferer feel from the very beginning of their conversations, and then, in the continuation of their long reasoning, they urged him to confess and repent of his crimes. Job, in the consciousness of his integrity with all the apparently convincing speeches, considered himself inwardly far from recognizing their reasoning as just (Job. 27:1-7; cf. 10:17); with all the strength of innocence he defended his good name.

How long will you torment my soul and torment me with your words? Behold, you have shamed me ten times already, and do not be ashamed to torment me! Wretched comforters! - will there be an end to your windy words? (Job 19:2-3; cf. 16:2).

Job explained to his friends and assured them that he did not suffer for sins, but that God, in His will, incomprehensible to man, sends one a difficult life, and another a happy one. Job's friends, who believed that God also deals with people according to the same laws of retribution, according to which He pronounces His judgment and human justice, were not convinced by his justifying words, although they stopped their denunciations directed against him and stopped responding to his words (Job. 32:1-15). At this time, a certain Elihu, the son of Barahiel, from the tribe of Ramov, a Vuzite, took an ardent part in the general conversation, young in years; with fiery boldness, he took up arms against the venerable sufferer "because he justified himself, his innocence, more than God" (Job.32: 2ff.). Giving justice to the Creator, which is inaccessible to man, this interlocutor also saw the reason for Job's suffering in his depravity, even if it was not noticeable to human eyes.

God is mighty and does not despise a strong heart with a fortress. He does not support the wicked, nor turn away His eyes from the righteous; but you, - said Elihu to Job, - you are full of judgments of the ungodly, for, according to your judgment, the punishment sent to you from God is undeserved, "but judgments and condemnation are close," so closely adjoin between you (Job.36: 5- 17).

Finally, the sufferer turned with a prayer to God, so that He Himself would testify of his innocence.

Indeed, God appeared to Job in a stormy whirlwind and rebuked him for his intention to demand an account in the affairs of world government. The Almighty pointed out to Job that for a person there is a lot of incomprehensible in the phenomena and creations of even one visible, surrounding nature; and after that - the desire to penetrate into the mysteries of God's fate and to explain why He treats people this way and not otherwise - such a desire is already impudent arrogance.

Who is this who darkens Providence with words without meaning? - the Lord asked Job from a stormy whirlwind. Now gird up your loins like a man, and answer: where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? - Tell me if you know. On what are its foundations established, or who laid its cornerstone amid the general rejoicing of the heavenly luminaries and the joyful laudatory exclamations of the sons of God? Have you ever in your life commanded the morning and indicated the place for the dawn? Do you know the statutes of heaven, can you raise your voice to the clouds, can you send lightning? - Adorn yourself with majesty and glory, put on splendor and splendor; Pour out the fury of your wrath, look at everything that is proud and arrogant and humble it, crush the strong wicked in their places. Then I also acknowledge that your right hand is strong to protect you. Competing with the Almighty, convicting God, let him answer.

And Job answered the Lord and said:

I know that You can do everything and that Your intention is unchanging.

Who is this who darkens providence, understanding nothing?

This is me, talking about what I did not understand - about wonderful things for me, which I did not know. I used to hear about You only out of the corner of my ear, but now my eyes see You; therefore I renounce and repent to dust and ashes; I am insignificant and what will I answer You? - I put my hand on my mouth (Job 38-40).

And it was after that command from the Lord to Job's friends that they turned to him and asked him to offer a sacrifice for them, for only the face of Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, I will accept, so as not to reject you because you spoke about Me not so faithfully, as My servant Job (Job. 42:7-9). Friends fulfilled this Lord's command and brought seven bulls and seven rams to Job for sacrifice. Job offered a sacrifice to God and prayed for his friends. God accepted his intercession for them, restored his own bodily health, and gave him twice as much as he had before. The relatives and all former acquaintances of Job, having heard about his healing, came to visit him and confer and rejoice with him, and each of them brought him a gift and a golden ring. The Lord rewarded Job with His blessing: after that, he had fourteen thousand flocks, six thousand camels, a thousand pairs of oxen and a thousand donkeys. Born to Job, instead of the dead, and seven sons and three daughters; and in all the earth there were no such beautiful women as the daughters of Job, and their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers (Job. 42:10-15). The Lord did not double the number of Job's children, just as He doubled his shepherd's wealth: this is so that no one would think that his first dead children died completely - no, although they died, they did not die - they will rise on a common resurrection righteous.

Job, after the trials he patiently endured, lived one hundred and forty years (in all, he lived on earth two hundred and forty-eight years), and he saw his offspring up to the fourth generation; he died full of days in deep old age (Job. 42:16-17); now he lives a life that does not grow old and is not painful in the kingdom of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the One in the Trinity of the glorious God, for even among the misfortunes he suffered on earth, he already saw how Abraham, the great day of the Lord, saw him and rejoiced ( John 8:56).

I know, - he said, stricken with a foul ulcer, - I know that my Redeemer lives and He will raise from the dust on the last day my decaying skin, and I will see God in my flesh. I will see Him myself; my eyes, not the eyes of another, will see Him. This expectation melts my heart in my chest! (Job 19:25-27)

Righteous Job confessed this before his friends, instilling in them "to fear" not bodily suffering and deprivation of earthly blessings, but "the sword of the Lord," the wrath of the Almighty, "who is the avenger of unrighteousness."

Know that there is a court (Job.19:29) 3 , - he broadcasts in instruction to us, - a court, in which only those who have true wisdom - the fear of the Lord and - true mind - removal from evil (Job.28:28) will be justified.

Troparion, tone 1:

Seeing the wealth of the virtues of the owls, steal the wiles of your righteous enemies, and having torn apart the pillar of the body, the treasure does not steal the spirit, find more armed a blameless soul. And having laid bare my captivity: having preceded me before the end, deliver me the flatterer, Savior, and save me.

Kontakion, tone 8:

Yako is true and righteous, godly and blameless, consecrated is all-glorious, God's true servant, enlightened the world in your patience, patient and kind: the same is all God-wise, we sing your memory.

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1 The land of Khus was located southeast of Palestine, across the Dead Sea.

2 They came from the offspring of Esau, otherwise "Edom" (see Genesis 36).

3 The subject of the book of Job is the solution of the question: how to agree with the existence of the Providence of God in the world, that not uncommon phenomenon on earth that virtuous people spend their lives in the midst of disasters, while the wicked prosper? About the misfortunes that befell the righteous Job, his friends, Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar, learned; they came to visit the sufferer, and when they saw a friend on the pus, they silently mourned him for seven days.

Then they entered into a conversation with him: coming out of the idea, common to the Old Testament, that all suffering is a punishment for some kind of unrighteousness, they, in their speeches addressed to Job, developed the idea that if he suffers now, then, without a doubt , for any of his sins, in which, therefore, he must repent. Grieved by the speeches of his friends and feeling that he was right before God, Job, complaining that the hands of the Lord were heavy on him, expressed his faith in the inscrutable judgments of God, before which the thought of man is powerless, and also his desire that the Lord Himself judge him. God appears to Job in the storm. Having denounced Job for the reckless demand from Him of an account in the administration of the world, the Lord inspires Job with reverence for the boundless and incomprehensible ways of God's Providence, which directs everything to good deeds. In conclusion, the Lord commands Eliphaz and his companions to ask Job for prayerful intercession for the sin of his unjust condemnation, and Job was doubly rewarded for his losses and suffering. The question of the writer of the book of Job is debatable. St. Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom were inclined to the idea that they were Solomon. But with this it is difficult to agree with the general impression received from the book, which speaks of its incomparably earlier origin. It is completely silent about the laws of Moses; at the same time, the features of a patriarchal way of life, in which signs of a highly developed social life are already visible, appear in her presentation. Job, as a noble warrior, prince and judge, lives with considerable splendor and is honored with frequent visits to the nearby city; in the book, in addition, there are indications of the correct forms of legal proceedings, the ability of Job's contemporaries to observe celestial phenomena and draw appropriate astronomical conclusions from these observations; it speaks of mines, large buildings, as well as major political upheavals. All this gives grounds with a very significant degree of probability to attribute the time of Job's life to the time of the stay of the Jews in Egypt. Job, after days of prosperity, having experienced the loss of property, children, and severe illness, and then again and to a greater extent (42:10) having received from God what was lost, serves as a type of Christ the Savior, Who humbled Himself to the point of accepting a shameful death on the cross and for this was exalted from God the Father (Philippians 2:7-9), who accepted as a crown for the redemptive feat of mankind the glory that He had with the Father before the existence of the world (John 17:6). The Holy Hieromartyr Zenon, Bishop of Verona, who lived in the 4th century, finds still others - the most particular features of similarity between the prototype and the image. "Job, in my opinion," says the holy father, "was the image of our Savior Jesus Christ. Comparison will explain this truth to us. Job was righteous - our Savior is truth itself, the source of our righteousness, because it was predicted about Him:" the day will come ... the sun of truth will rise"(Mal. 4:1,2). Job was true, - our Lord is the true, perfect truth: " I am the way and the truth and the life"(John 14:6). Job was rich, but whose wealth can be compared with the wealth of our Lord, to whom the whole world belongs, according to the testimony of blessed David:" The Lord's is the earth and what fills it, the universe and all that lives in it"(Ps. 23: 1)? Job was tempted three times by the devil (deprivation of property, death of children and illness); similarly, according to the testimony of the evangelist, the devil also tempted our Lord three times (Matt. 4: 1-11). Job deprived of all his possessions, became impoverished - our Lord, out of love for us, descending to earth and leaving heaven with all its blessings, also became impoverished in order to enrich us. The children of Job were killed by the enraged devil, - the children of our Lord, the prophets, were beaten foolish people of the Pharisees (Luke 13:34; Acts 7:52). Job was stricken with ulcers - our Lord, having taken upon Himself our flesh and the sins of the entire human race, at the same time took all the uncleanness and sores of sin. Friends attacked Job him - the chief priests and scribes, who should especially honor Him and be His friends, rebelled against our Lord, primarily before all. human, addressed in this unclean world among people full of vices and seething with lusts, who betrayed Him to a shameful death outside the city. Job, with his invincible patience, again acquired both health and wealth - our Lord, having conquered death by His resurrection, granted those who believe in Him not only health, but also immortality, and received from God the Father power and dominion over everything, as He himself testified: " everything is given to me by my Father"(Luke 10:22). Blessed Job died in peace - our Lord, leaving us the world, bought at the price of His blood, ascended to His Father in meek and peaceful glory. In view of such a transformative significance of the life of righteous Job, the Church of old established dedicated to the remembrance of the sufferings of Christ, to offer to the attention of believers readings on the book of Job - Parimia from the book of Job during Passion Week are as follows: on Monday, at Vespers 1:1-12; on Tuesday, at Vespers 1:13-22; on Wednesday Vespers 2:1-10; Great Thursday Vespers 38:1-23; 42:1-5; Great Friday Vespers 42:12-17.

Some people hear the call of God in their hearts from childhood. Such was the Monk Job of Pochaev, who went to the monastery as a ten-year-old boy. Truly, it was a life entirely devoted to the Lord.

The future saint (before monasticism he bore the name Ivan Zhelezo) was born in Ukraine, little is known about his parents - they were small landowners who led a pious life. There were priests in the family.

For a short stay in the Ugornitsky monastery, the young monk earned the love of the brethren, was appointed abbot. At the age of 30, he was ordained a priest. The fame of him spread throughout the region, people reached out to the monk for help and advice.

Job of Pochaevsky gave soul-saving advice to everyone. In the middle of the 16th century at the request of Prince Ostrozhsky, Job was transferred to the Exaltation of the Cross Monastery. After serving there as abbot for several years, the saint began to be weary of his duties.

Prayer feats

The day came when the monk secretly moved to the Pochaev Monastery. There he retired to his favorite cave, where he spent several days - on his knees he prayed for all sinners. The Monk Job of Pochaevsky was elected abbot in his new place. He had to combine monastic exploits with public duties. He did not shy away from hard physical labor: he planted trees, strengthened the dam. At the same time, he wore chains (metal rings on his legs).

For more than half a century, he ruled the holy Pochaev monastery. However, he still found time for monastic solitude. Even during the earthly life of Job Pochaevsky, miracles happened around him. So, once he was in a cave for prayer, at that time the icon, placed at the entrance, began to radiate a beautiful radiance, which lasted for several hours. In the cave, traces of kneeling prayer are still visible.

Not a single idle word escaped the monk's lips; all his thoughts were occupied with the unceasing Jesus Prayer and the good of others. Meek, merciful, he always showed love for his brothers in the monastery.

Departure from life

Saint Job of Pochaev died at the age of more than a hundred years. He managed to predict his day of death in advance, like many righteous people. The death was quiet, painless. His body had been in the ground for several years. Then they began to notice a glow over the grave, and Job Pochaevsky himself appeared in a dream to the Metropolitan of Kiev and asked to open the relics.

During the gathering of many people, the incorruptible body was removed from the coffin, it was transferred to the temple of the Life-Giving Trinity. In the life, which his disciples began to compose immediately after the death of the saint, there are many testimonies of healings. And today he gives blessed miracles to those who ask in faith.

The Orthodox Church sings the troparion to Job of Pochaevsky three times a year, serves him a litia - on the day of his death, the acquisition of relics and glorification. On this day, the canon and other prayers to the reverend are read. It is believed that it is on holidays that an appeal to a saint will have special power.

Miracles near the relics

Job of Pochaevsky is still known for many miraculous deliverances from ailments.

• The abbot of the monastery where the monk lived fell ill with an incurable disease. The saint appeared to one of the pilgrims, passed through her a cloth saturated with the world. Having attached the shrine, hegumen Dosifey became healthy.
• A large monetary donation to the monastery was recorded, which was made by Ivan Lobos - he was healed after praying at the tomb of the saint.
• Not only Orthodox, but also Catholics came. A strong fever left the Polish Count Yavorsky; G. Volyansky's rheumatism stopped, and I. Ligurri, a gunsmith from Italy, also received healing.

According to the monastery chronicles, only from 1719 to 1830. more than 500 miracles were performed. They happen even today.

What do they pray to Saint Job

What do parishioners pray to Job Pochaevsky? Everyone brings their own trouble. Many ask for healing from bodily infirmities. The saint helps to achieve spiritual perfection, to arrange worldly life, if it is pleasing to the Lord, and delivers from grave temptations. The cave where he prayed is still preserved.

The relics of the monk are in the cave church, under the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This is where pilgrims flock to. Today there is an opportunity for visitors to stay for a couple of days in a hotel at the holy monastery. This is done so that you can confess and take communion in a holy place, pray longer about your troubles. The sums taken are small, but the spiritual benefit from such a trip will be very great - after all, the Mother of God Herself appeared at the Pochaev Lavra. God bless you!

Prayer to the Monk Job of Pochaev

O Reverend Father Job, God-wise mentor of the monks of an industrious life, meekness and abstinence, purity and chastity, brotherly love and poverty, patience and vigilance from early youth to late old age, tireless ascetic, great zealot of the Orthodox faith and unstoppable champion, the lands of Volyn and Galicia shone with divine light and invincible defender of the holy Pochaev monastery! Look with the eye of your mercy on us, your unworthy children, who diligently resort to you all the days and to these God-loving people, gathered before your spirit-bearing and multi-healing relics and reverently fall down to those, and ask for your intercession to the Almighty Ruler of them and us all, even to belly and piety, useful and useful: heal the sick, encourage the faint-hearted, console the grieving, intercede for the offended, strengthen the weak and the downtrodden, restore everything, all the grace given to you from God, grant according to every need and need, for the salvation of the soul and for the health of the body . Offer up, servant of God, your almighty prayer, may there be peace and quiet, piety and prosperity in our country, truth and mercy in the courts, wisdom and good progress in councils, may loyalty be affirmed in good people, and fear and fear in evil ones. , in a hedgehog stop them from evil and do good, so that in our country the Kingdom of Christ grows and multiplies, and may God be glorified in it, wondrous in His Saints: He alone deserves all glory, honor and worship of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and forever, and forever and ever. Amen.

Holy Righteous Job the Long-suffering

The holy righteous Job lived 2000 - 1500 years before the birth of Christ, in Northern Arabia, in the country of Avsitidia, in the land of Uts. His life and suffering are described in the Bible (Book of Job). It is believed that Job was the nephew of Abraham; 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 acted according to His will, moving away from all evil not only in deeds, but also in thoughts. The Lord blessed his earthly existence and endowed the righteous Job with great wealth: he had a lot of cattle and all sorts 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: “Perhaps one of them has sinned or blasphemed God in his heart.” For his justice and honesty, Saint Job was held in great esteem by his fellow citizens and had 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 God-fearing and moved away from evil.
And he had seven sons and three daughters.
He had estates: seven thousand small cattle, three thousand camels, five hundred pairs of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and a very large number of 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 banquet days was completed, Job sent for them and sanctified them, and rising 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 on all such days.
And there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord; Satan also came between them.
And the Lord said to Satan: Have you paid attention to my servant Job? for there is no one like him on earth: a man blameless, just, God-fearing and moving away from evil.
And Satan answered the Lord and said, Is Job fearing God for nothing?
Didn't You fence him around, and his house, and all that he had? You blessed the work of his hands, and his flocks spread over the earth;
but stretch out your hand and touch everything he has, will he bless you?
And the Lord said to Satan, Behold, all that he has is in your hand; but 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 were eating and drinking wine in their firstborn brother's house.
And behold, a messenger came to Job and said:
the oxen were screaming, and the donkeys were grazing beside them, when the Sabeans attacked and took them, and struck the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone escaped to tell you.
While he was still speaking, another comes and says: the fire of God fell from heaven and scorched the sheep and the servants and devoured them; and I alone escaped to tell you.
While he was still speaking, another one comes and says: The Chaldeans settled down in three detachments and rushed at the camels and took them, and they struck the youths with the edge of the sword; and I alone escaped to tell you.
While this one was speaking, another comes and says: Your sons and your daughters ate and drank wine in the house of their firstborn brother;
and behold, a great wind came out of the wilderness and swept the four corners of the house, and the house fell on the youths, and they died; and I alone escaped to tell you.
Then Job got up and tore his outer garment, shaved off his head, and fell to the ground and bowed down.
and said, Naked I came out of my mother's womb, and naked I will return. The Lord gave, the Lord took; [as the Lord pleased, so it happened;] blessed be the name of the Lord!
In all this Job did not sin and did not say anything foolish about God.

2

There was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord; Satan also came among them to present himself before the Lord.
And the Lord said to Satan: Where did you come from? And Satan answered the Lord and said, I have walked on the earth and have gone round it.
And the Lord said to Satan: Have you paid attention to my servant Job? for there is no one like him on earth: a man blameless, just, God-fearing and moving away from evil, and hitherto firm in his purity; but you stirred me up against him, to destroy him without guilt.
And Satan answered the Lord and said, Skin for skin, and for his life a man will give all that he has;
but stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, will he bless you?
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 a fierce leprosy from the sole of his foot to the very crown of his head.
And he took for himself 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! Fuck God and die.

When the Angels of God again appeared before the Lord and Satan among them, the devil said that Job was righteous as long as he himself was unharmed. Then the Lord announced: "I allow you to do with him whatever 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 leave the society of people, sat outside the city on a heap of ashes and scraped his festering wounds with a clay skull. All friends and acquaintances left him. His wife was forced to earn her living by working and wandering from house to house. Not only did she not support her husband in patience, but she thought that God was punishing Job for some secret sins, she wept, murmured against God, reproached her husband, and finally advised the righteous Job to blaspheme God and die. Righteous Job grieved grievously, but even in these sufferings he remained faithful to God. He answered his wife: “You speak like one of the crazy ones. Shall we accept good things from God, and shall we not accept evil?” And the righteous have not sinned 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 you; I am not below you; and who does not know the same?
I have become a laughingstock for my friend, I, who cried out to God, and to whom He answered, a laughingstock - a righteous, blameless man.
So despised is the torch prepared for the stumbling feet in the thoughts of the one who sits at rest.
The tents of robbers are quiet, and safe are those who irritate 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 tell you;
or talk to the earth, 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 things and the spirit of all human flesh.
Does not the ear discern words, and does not the tongue recognize the taste of food?
In the elders - wisdom, and in long-term - reason.
He has wisdom and power; His advice and wisdom.
What He destroys, it will not be built up; whoever he locks up will not be released.
The water will stop and everything will dry up; let them go, and they will turn the earth.
He has power and wisdom, before Him he who errs and leads astray.
He drives the councilors into rashness and makes the judges stupid.
He strips the baldrics of kings and binds their loins with a sash;
deprives princes of dignity and overthrows the brave;
takes away the language from the eloquent and deprives the elders of meaning;
covers with shame the famous and weakens the strength of the mighty;
opens the deep from the midst of darkness and brings into the light the shadow of death;
multiplies nations and destroys them; he scatters the nations and gathers them;
takes away the minds of the heads of the people of the earth and leaves them to wander 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 has seen all this, my ear has heard, and noticed for itself.
As much as you know, I also know: I am not lower than you.
But I would like to speak to the Almighty and would like to compete with God.
And you gossipers of lies; you are all useless doctors.
Oh, if only you were silent! this would be imputed to you as wisdom.
Hear therefore my reasoning, and consider the objection of my mouth.
Did you have to tell lies for God's sake and tell lies for Him?
Was it proper for you to be partial to Him, and for God to contend in such a way?
Will it be good when He tests you? Will you deceive Him as a man is deceived?
He will punish you severely, even though you are secretly hypocritical.
Does not His majesty terrify you, and does not His fear fall upon you?
Your reminders are like ashes; your strongholds are strongholds of clay.
Be silent before me, and I will speak, whatever befalls me.
Why should I tear my body with my teeth and put my soul in my hand?
Behold, He kills me, but I will hope; I would only wish to stand my ways before Him!
And this is already an excuse for me, because the hypocrite will not go before Him!
Listen attentively to my word and my explanation with your ears.
So, I started a lawsuit: I know that I will be right.
Who can challenge me? For I will soon be silent and give up my breath.
Only do not do two things to me, and then I will not hide from Your presence:
take thy hand away from me, and let not thy terror overwhelm 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?
Is it not a plucked leaf that You crush and do not you pursue a dry straw?
For You write bitter things against me and impute to me the sins of my youth,
and you put my feet in a stump and lie in wait for all my paths, you follow in the footsteps of my feet.
And he, like rot, decays, like clothes eaten by moths.

14

A man born of a woman is short-lived and full of sorrows:
like a flower it comes out and falls off; runs away like a shadow and does not stop.
And on him you open your eyes, and lead me to judgment with you?
Who is born pure from the impure? No one…

William Blake, Job the Accused

Hearing of Job's misfortunes, his three friends came from afar to share his grief. They believed that Job was punished by God for sins, and they urged the innocent righteous man to repent. The righteous answered that he did not suffer for sins, but that these trials were sent to him by the Lord according to the divine will incomprehensible to man. Friends, however, did not believe and continued to believe that the Lord was dealing with Job according to the law of human retribution, punishing him for his sins. In severe spiritual grief, the righteous Job turned with a 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 mysteries 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:
Gird up your loins like a man: I will ask you, and you explain to Me.
Do you want to overthrow My judgment, accuse Me in order to justify yourself?
Do you have a muscle like God's? And can you thunder with your voice like Him?
Adorn yourself with greatness and glory, put on splendor and splendor;
Pour out the fury of your wrath, look at everything that is proud and humble it;
look at all the arrogant and humble 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 behemoth that I created, 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 its tail like a cedar; the veins on his thighs are intertwined;
his legs are like copper pipes; his bones are like iron rods;
it is the top of the ways of God; only He who made him can draw his sword near him;
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 streams surround it;
behold, he drinks from the river and takes his time; remains calm, even though Jordan rushes to his mouth.
Will anyone take him in front of his eyes and pierce his nose with a hook?
Can you draw Leviathan with a fishhook and grab hold of his tongue with a rope?
Will you put a ring in his nostrils? Will you pierce his jaw with a needle?
will he beseech you much, and will he speak meekly to you?
Will he make an agreement with you, and will you take him forever as your slave?
will you play with him like a bird, and will you bind him for your girls?
will his fellow hunters sell it, will it be divided among the Canaanite merchants?
can you pierce his skin with a spear and his head with a fisher's point?
Lay your hand on it, and remember the struggle: you will not go forward.

41

Hope is in vain: will you not fall from one look of it?
There is no one so brave who would dare to disturb him; Who can stand before My face?
Who forewarned 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 proportion.
Who can open the top of his garment, who can approach his double jaws?
Who can open the doors of his face? the circle of his teeth is horror;
his strong shields are splendor; they are sealed, as it were, with a firm seal;
one touches the other closely, so that even the air does not pass between them;
one with the other lie tightly, grappled and do not move apart.
His sneezing shows light; 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 kindles coals, and a flame comes out of his mouth.
Strength dwells on his neck, and terror runs before him.
The fleshy parts of his body are firmly united among themselves, do not flinch.
His heart is as hard as stone and as hard as the bottom millstone.
When he rises, the strong men are in fear, completely lost in horror.
The sword that touches him will not stand, neither the spear, nor the javelin, nor the armor.
He regards iron as straw, copper as rotten wood.
The daughter of the bow will not put him to flight; sling stones turn to chaff for him.
The mace is considered by him as a straw; he laughs at the whistle of a dart.
There are sharp stones under him, and he lies in the mud on sharp stones.
He boils the abyss like a cauldron, and turns 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;
looks boldly at everything high; 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 who darkens Providence, understanding nothing? - So, I spoke about what I did not understand, about things wonderful for me, which I did not know.
Hear, I called, and I will speak, and what I will ask You, explain to me.
I have heard about You by ear; now my eyes see you;
therefore I renounce and repent in dust and ashes.
And it came to pass after the Lord had spoken those words to Job, that the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath burns against you and against your two friends, because you did not speak of me so well as my servant Job did.
Take therefore for yourselves seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to My servant Job, and offer up a sacrifice for yourself; and My servant Job will pray for you, for I will only accept his face, so as not to reject you because you spoke about Me not so correctly as My servant Job.
And Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shebheite and Zophar the Nahamite went and did as the Lord commanded them, and the Lord took the face of Job.
And the Lord returned the loss of Job 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 consoled him for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him, and each gave him a kesite and a golden ring.
And God blessed the last days of Job more than the former: 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 no such beautiful women in all the earth as the daughters of Job, and their father gave them their inheritance among their brothers.
After that Job lived a hundred and forty years, and saw his sons and sons of sons to the fourth generation;
and Job died in old age, full of days.

Saint John Chrysostom He speaks: " There is no human misfortune that this husband, the hardest of all adamants, would not endure, who suddenly experienced hunger, and poverty, and illness, and the loss of children, and deprivation of wealth, and then, having experienced deceit from his wife, insults from friends, attacks from slaves, in everything he turned out to be harder than any stone, and, moreover, to Law and Grace.

Yevgeny Makarov, Job and his friends, 1869

Holy righteous Job the Long-suffering, holy prophet Moses the God-seer, holy prophet King David

Prayers to the holy and righteous Job the Long-suffering

Prayer one

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, and all the commandments of God, carrying them in your heart, fulfilled you. The mysteries revealed to the world through Christ and His Holy Apostles, having comprehended with their deep revelations, have been honored to be a partaker of the influences of the Holy Spirit. All the intrigues of the devil, in the special temptations sent to you from the Lord, having overcome with your true humility, the image of malice and longsuffering of the whole universe appeared to you. I have great love for God and for all people in their immeasurable sorrows, preserving with a pure heart behind the tomb of unity with the Lord, joyfully waiting for you. Now you are in the village of the righteous and stand before the Throne of God. Hear us sinners and indecent ones, standing before your holy icon and diligently resorting to your intercession. Pray to God, who loves mankind, that he will strengthen us in faith, more immaculate and indestructible, the enemy of the visible and invisible will protect us from all evil, in sorrows and temptations he will give us a fortress, in our hearts the memory of death will forever be preserved, in long-suffering and brotherly love he will strengthen, and will make us worthy of give a good answer to the terrible judgment of Christ and in the resurrected flesh of our Triune God, contemplate and sing His glory with all the saints forever and ever. Amen.

Julius Schnorr von Karolsfeld, The Suffering Job and His Friends, 1852-1860, Leipzig

Prayer two

O holy servant of God, righteous Job! Having labored on earth with a good feat, you received in Heaven the crown of truth, which the Lord has prepared for all those who love Him. The same, looking at your holy image, we rejoice in the glorious end of your residence and honor your holy memory. You, standing before the Throne of God, accept our prayers and bring to the All-Merciful God, to forgive us every sin and help us become against the wiles of the devil, and get rid of sorrows, illnesses, troubles and misfortunes and all evil, we will live piously and righteously in the present forever and we will be honored by your intercession, if not worthy of us, to see the good on the land of the living, glorifying the One in His saints glorifying God, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The holy righteous Job lived 2000-1500 years before the birth of Christ, in Northern Arabia, in the country of Avsitidia, in the land of Uts. His life and suffering are described in the Bible (Book of Job). It is believed that Job was the nephew of Abraham; 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 acted according to His will, moving away from all evil not only in deeds, but also in thoughts. The Lord blessed his earthly existence and endowed the righteous Job with great wealth: he had a lot of cattle and all sorts 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: "Perhaps one of them has sinned or blasphemed God in his heart." For his justice and honesty, Saint Job was held in great esteem by his fellow citizens and had a great influence on public affairs.

Once, when the Holy Angels appeared before the Throne of God, Satan appeared among them. The Lord God asked Satan if he had seen His servant Job, a righteous man and free from all vice. Satan boldly answered that it was not for nothing that Job was God-fearing - God protects him and multiplies his wealth, but if misfortunes are sent to him, he will stop blessing God. Then the Lord, wanting to show Job's patience and faith, said to Satan: "Everything that Job has, I give into your hands, just don't touch him." After that, Job suddenly lost all his wealth, and then all his children. Righteous Job turned to God and said: "Naked I came out of my mother's womb, naked I will return to my mother earth. The Lord gave, the Lord took away. Blessed be the Name of the Lord!" And Job did not sin before the Lord God, and did not utter a single foolish word.

When the Angels of God again appeared before the Lord, and among them Satan, the devil said that Job was righteous as long as he himself was unharmed. Then the Lord announced: "I allow you to do with him whatever 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 leave the society of people, sat outside the city on a heap of ashes and scraped his festering wounds with a clay skull. All friends and acquaintances left him. His wife was forced to earn her living by working and wandering from house to house. Not only did she not support her husband in patience, but she thought that God was punishing Job for some secret sins, she wept, murmured against God, reproached her husband, and finally advised the righteous Job to blaspheme God and die. Righteous Job grieved grievously, but even in these sufferings he remained faithful to God. He answered his wife: "You speak like one of the insane. Shall we accept good from God, shall we not accept evil?" And the righteous have not sinned in anything before God.

Hearing of Job's misfortunes, three of his friends came from afar to share his grief. They believed that Job was punished by God for sins, and they urged the innocent righteous man to repent. The righteous answered that he did not suffer for sins, but that these trials were sent to him by the Lord according to the divine will incomprehensible to man. Friends, however, did not believe and continued to believe that the Lord was dealing with Job according to the law of human retribution, punishing him for his sins. In severe spiritual grief, the righteous Job turned with a 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 mysteries of the universe and the fate of God. The righteous repented of these thoughts with all his heart and said: "I am worthless, I renounce and repent in dust and ashes." 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 only accept the face of Job, so as not to reject you because you spoke about me not so correctly as My servant Job ". Job offered a sacrifice to God and prayed for his friends, and the Lord accepted his petition, and also restored the righteous Job to health and gave him twice as much as he had before. Instead of dead children, Job had seven sons and three daughters, the most beautiful of which was not on earth. After suffering, Job lived another 140 years (he lived 248 years in total) and saw his offspring up to the fourth generation.

Saint Job represents the Lord Jesus Christ, who descended to earth, suffered for the salvation of people, and then glorified by His glorious Resurrection.

“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 see Him, my heart melts in my bosom with this expectation!” (Job 19:25-27).

"Know that there is a judgment in which only those who have true wisdom - the fear of the Lord and true understanding - the removal from evil" will be justified.

St. John Chrysostom says: “There is no human misfortune that this husband, the hardest of all 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 deceit from his wife, insults from friends, attacks from slaves, in everything turned out to be harder than any stone, and, moreover, to Law and Grace.

Archimandrite Tikhon (Agrikov)

Naked I came out of my mother's womb, naked I will return, the Lord gave, the Lord took

(Job 1:21).

There is no person in the whole world who would have suffered more injustice than Job the long-suffering. Slander, poverty, terrible blows of loss, evil hatred from loved ones, grumbling, despondency, despair - this is the chain of terrible torments endured by a righteous and innocent person.

Being immaculate before God and people, Job suffered exclusively from demonic envy. Satan did not tolerate his virtues and righteous life. And so, by God's permission, he brought terrible disasters on Job.

Righteous Job was rich and famous. He had seven sons and three daughters. There were seven thousand heads of small cattle, three thousand camels, five hundred pairs of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and also a very large number of servants.

One ill-fated day, Job lost it all. The children, when they were all together, were crushed by the fallen house they were in. All his cattle were stolen by foreigners. The estate was looted by robbers. Servants and servants were beaten.

When Job heard about all this, he tore his clothes as a sign of great grief, fell to the ground and said: “Naked I came out of my mother’s womb, naked I will return, the Lord gave, the Lord took ... Blessed be the name of the Lord!” (Job 1:21).

But the devil did not rest on this. He struck Job with severe leprosy from the soles of his feet to the very top of his head. Job left the village because he could not be there because of the stench emanating from him. He sat down on the ashes outside the village and scraped off the pus from his wounds with a shard. It was physical suffering. But besides them, there are more serious sufferings - moral, spiritual.

Satan, seeing that even leprosy did not break the spirit of Job, brought upon him spiritual suffering. Job's wife - the closest person - began to reproach and slander him. She came to the dunghill of Job and said to him:

How long will you endure? I'll wait a little longer and leave you. All my children perished, my estate too, all my illnesses and labors with which I worked, all in vain. You yourself sit in the stench of worms, spending the night without a cover, while I wander and serve, move from place to place ... How long will all this be? Say a word to God and die.

But Job said to his wife:

You talk like one of the crazy ones. Shall we accept the good from God, and shall we not accept the evil? (Job 2:10).

But then three of his noble friends came to Job. They wanted to comfort him, but instead they caused him even more suffering. Friends began to reproach Job for the fact that he suffers for his secret, evil deeds. Hiding some sins from people, Job could not hide them from the All-Seeing God, Who now, they say, is punishing him with these sufferings.

For an honest and innocent person, the most painful pain is when he is accused of something, and he is completely innocent and pure in this. This mental torment is more painful than any physical suffering.

Hearing from his loved ones an unjust accusation against himself and seeing that they did not understand him at all, Job felt the full burden of his loneliness. Bitterness and tears filled his poor soul, and he exclaimed:

Perish the day in which I was born, and the night in which man was conceived! Why didn’t I die, leaving the womb, and didn’t die when I came out of the womb ... Now I would lie and rest, sleep, and I would be calm ... Or, like a hidden miscarriage, I would die like babies who have not seen the light ... Why is light given to the sufferer, and life to the grieving soul, who are waiting for death, and there is none ... Why is light given to a man whose path is closed and whom God has surrounded by darkness? My sighs warn my bread, and my groans flow like water... There is no peace for me, no peace, no joy (Job 3:26). My life is disgusting to my soul, I will give myself over to my sorrow, I will speak in the sorrow of my soul. I will say to God: do not accuse me, tell me what you are fighting with me for? It is good for You that You oppress, that You leave the work of Your hands (Job 10:1-3).

And the Lord answered Job out of the storm:

Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you know... Who closed the sea with a gate when it burst out, coming out as if from a womb?.. Have you ever given instructions to the morning in your life and did you show the dawn its place? Have you descended into the depths of the sea and entered into the exploration of the abyss? Do you know the statutes of heaven, can you establish his dominion on earth? .. (Job. 38, 4-33).

Job answered the Lord:

I know that You can do everything, and that Your intention cannot be stopped... Therefore, I renounce and repent in dust and ashes... (Job 42:1-2, 6).

Job the long-suffering was terribly tormented by his soul, seeing how the dishonest prospered and increased their lawlessness and violence against the weak. He almost doubted whether it was worth striving to live in truth and act according to conscience? If the wicked sin, transgress, live with impunity in luxury and glory, then what is the point of doing good and living in truth?

But the Lord told Job that God is so great, so wise and kind that His ways are impenetrable. And everything that He does with a person, He does out of His goodness and love. And if a person suffers unjustly, he will receive a great reward for this. But while suffering, a person should not try to find out the ways of God that are being done to him. He must trust God in everything that the Lord would do with a person. And in this trust in God is the whole beauty of man's obedience to his Creator and the whole meaning of saving humility.

Having tested the patience of the righteous, God put Satan to shame, who no longer dared to slander the servants of God. Then the Lord rewarded Job with even more wealth than he had before. And again Job had seven sons and three daughters.

Righteous Job lived for many more years. He saw his sons and sons of sons up to the fourth generation, and died in old age, full of days (Job 42:17).

This is how God rewards the patience of people, their suffering, their torment, if they are accepted not as accidental disasters, but as sent from God for our benefit.

How close Job the long-suffering is to many modern people who suffer severe calamities from their loved ones! They lose their homes, children, property, high position. And how often they, the poor, are ready to grumble against God, each and every one, seeing how unfairly they are oppressed, vilified, humiliated, ready to wipe their names off the face of the earth. And let such sufferers always remember Job the long-suffering, who, through the envy and malice of others, lost everything, and then received here on earth twice, three times more than he had before.

Yes, if people before the coming of Christ could endure like that, then how should we be patient now, when before our eyes we have the sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and His great patience for us sinners.