Univerfal Sovereign, and to pay their accuftomed homage, Job's piety and virtue became the fubject of celestial conversation.

Satan coming among the rest, to make these acknowledgements, which even his rebellious conduct and degraded rank could not exempt him from, the Lord asked the Prince of fallen angels, from whence he came? To which Satan replied, " From going to and fro in the earth." "Haft thou, then," said the Lord, " confidered my servant Job, that most perfect and upright man?" " I have," answered Satan, " and allow the justice of the encomium thou dost pass upon him:-but doth he serve thee for nought?-haft thou not blessed him with affluence, and taken him under thy immediate protection?-Put thy hand forth, and deprive him of that wealth and those comforts thou hast bestowed upon him, or fuffer me to do it, and he will curse thee to thy face." "Be it, Satan, as thou hast said," replied the Lord; "I permit thee to take from him what I have given, but against his perfon put not forth thy hand."

Ever ready to execute commissions of this nature, Satan immediately retired from the prefence

prefence of the Lord, and, by means of fecondary causes-by the hands of the Sabeans and the Chaldeans-by fire from Heaven, and by a hurricane, in a short time destroyed not only the cattle and servants of Job, but his children also, as they were feafting in their elder brother's housfe.

This extreme viciffitude, this trying stroke of fortune, was not, however, fufficient totally to depress Job. With that patience and refignation which so eminently distinguished his character, and have caused his name to be handed down, through so many generations, to this remote period, he bowed to the unfeen hand that gave the blow, but murmured not. We read that he rent his mantle as a token of his humiliation, and, falling down upon the ground, worshipped the great Difpofer of events; breathing forth at the fame time, this memorable ejaculation, "Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither; -the Lord gave, and the Lord taketh away; bleffed be the name of the Lord!" Thus, patient and fubmiffive to the Divine will, did the venerable man bear this first trial, this first attack of his malign affailant.

On the next appearance of Satan before

his Almighty Sovereign, the Lord, after the usual interrogations, said to him, "Thou seest, Satan, that my fervant Job still holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me to destroy him without caufe." "True," replied the fallen potentate, "he does fo; skin for skin, yea all that a man hath, will he give for his life. But permit me to afflict him with disease, and I have no doubt but he will curse thee."

Having obtained permiffion to do this likewife, Satan again left the prefence of the Lord, and smote Job with fore boils, from the fole of his foot to the crown of his head. When Job found himself thus afflicted, instead of breaking out into fruitless complaints and murmurings, he still preserved his ferenity of mind; and, patiently fitting down among the ashes, scraped himself with a potsherd.

In this situation he continued for several days. At length, his wife, irritated by his fufferings, advised him, with the impatience natural to her sex, to curse God; and by thus drawing down the immediate vengeance of the Almighty, put a speedier end to his misfortunes. But, far from being excited by his wife's counsel, to pursue the defperate

D

desperate means she pointed out, Job only calmly replied to her, "Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh: What! shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?"

Whilft Job laboured under these afflictive difpenfations, three of his friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, having heard of his distress, came, by appointment with each other, to mourn with him, and to endeavour to afford him some comfort. As they approached the place where Job fat, they did not recognize him; fo much had grief, his disease, and the mean apparel in which he was now clothed, altered him. But no fooner did they perceive that the piteous object before them was their once opulent and happy friend, than they all wept aloud, rent their mantles, and sprinkled duft upon their heads: and so overcome were they by the excess of their forrow, that they filently feated themselves by him on the ground, and continued there seven days and seven nights, without speaking a word; for they faw that his dejection was extreme.

At the expiration of that time, Job first

broke filence: wearied out by his fufferings,

he

he could not help bemoaning his hard fate, and bitterly lamenting that he had ever been born. This brought on an argumentative contest between him and his three friends; who, instead of affording him that confolation naturally to be expected from their visit, only augmented his forrow. For they took great pains to convince him, and made use of many fubtle arguments for this purpose, that God was a fevere and rigorous judge, and would not have inflicted on him the punishment he had done, had he not deserved it by proportionable tranfgreffions: they consequently would have perfuaded him, that justice must have its course, and that he had no room to hope that God would show him any favour.

Job combated these dejecting tenets, with asserting, that the judgements which happened to mankind, are not a rule whereby to judge of their tranfgreffions. But that God had frequently secret reasons for punishing them, which were beyond our difcernment. He from thence argued, that though his present afflictions were excessive, they ought not to drive him to despair, or lead him to conclude that God had cast him off for ever.

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