Go to my servant Job, my servant will pray for you and you will live. O the goodness of the Lord! He himself is benevolent and gives the favor to Job. Exceedingly well. For just as among present earthly kings, a king wishing both to enrich and glorify the one nearest to him, through him grants tablets of gifts and bestows salvation on the condemned, so that he may both benefit them and enrich the one nearest him, so also the king of all, God, wishing to glorify Job as his own man, through him forgives the sin of his friends, so that both he himself may be glorified and they may be delivered from sin. Go to my servant Job. If I am not entreated by him, I will not give forgiveness. Go to my servant Job; entreat him whom you insulted, glorify him whom you rejected, receive the ulcerous one as a priest, behold the one on the dunghill as at the altar. For I did not abandon him as a sinner, but I glorified him as righteous. Gold is tested in a furnace, and a righteous man is made glorious in trials. Did the dunghill harm him? Did he not become more glorious? Did he conduct his business badly? Did he not give single things, and receive double? Go to my servant Job, who has come from toil and affliction into rest. Learn the progress of a faithful friend; he is faithful, but you are faithless. From what you have seen, learn that no one who has believed in the Lord was ever abandoned. Go to my servant Job, for if it were not for him, I would have destroyed you. Having heard these things, Eliphaz immediately took his two friends, Bildad and Zophar, and they went with swift foot to the most noble Job, and having gone they fell down, they besought, they pleaded, they asked for intercession, saying to Job: We were mistaken, most noble one, we did not know what happened to you. Now we have known your contests, now we have known that the adversary is broken, from which you have been shown to be a crown-bearer. Intercede for us; may our king be reconciled to us, who is also your God and the giver of the contest. He himself sent us to you, having said that without your intercession we would not receive forgiveness for our transgressions. Having heard these things, Job, the lover of friends, did not delay, did not hesitate, did not reproach, did not turn away; for he knew how to forgive the failings of friends. Therefore, having immediately fulfilled the sacrifice of prayer, he besought God, and benefited his friends, and presented himself for thanksgiving. What then says the writer Moses? For it is good to report the things that follow. And he says that when Job prayed for his friends, the Lord forgave them their sin. And God added to Job double all that he had before. And when his brothers and sisters heard all that had happened to him, they came to him; and having eaten and drunk with him, they comforted him. O the rush of brothers and relatives. In mourning, no one; in feasting, many. When he was sitting on the dunghill, all fled; when he was lodging in the royal courts, all ran. And this happens not only then, but also now. Often someone is poor, and not only is he not recognized by his relatives, but on the contrary he receives oaths to never approach the family. But if by the providence of the one who enriched Job a second time, this man also becomes rich and obtains a position of dignity, immediately all the relatives run down, they entreat, they cherish, they often say: What we prayed for, we have seen, so that such men are relatives of substance and not of nature. In the same way also in the case of the most noble Job; when he sat upon the dunghill and scraped off the discharge and worn out he rallied himself and groaning said: Why did I not die in my mother’s womb? Why, having come forth, did I not immediately perish? Why did knees receive me? Why did I suckle my mother's breasts? then no brother weeping, no sister

Πορεύθητε πρὸς τὸν παῖδά μου Ἰώβ, ὁ θεράπων μου προσεύξηται ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν καὶ ζήσεσθε. Ὢ τῆς τοῦ κυρίου ἀγαθότητος. Αὐτὸς φιλανθρωπεύεται καὶ τῷ Ἰὼβ τὴν χάριν παρέχει. Σφόδρα καλῶς. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐν τοῖς παροῦσι κοσμικοῖς βασιλεὺς βουλόμενος τὸν ἔγγιστα αὐτοῦ καὶ πλουτίσαι καὶ δο ξάσαι, δι' αὐτοῦ δέλτους δωρεῖται καὶ σωτηρίαν καταδίκοις χα ρίζεται, ὅπως κἀκείνους εὐεργετήσῃ καὶ τὸν ἔγγιστα πλουτίσῃ, οὕτω καὶ ὁ τῶν πάντων βασιλεὺς θεὸς βουλόμενος τὸν Ἰὼβ ὡς ἴδιον ἄνδρα δοξάσαι, δι' αὐτοῦ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν τοῖς φίλοις συγχωρεῖ, ὅπως καὶ αὐτὸς δοξασθῇ κἀκεῖνοι τῆς ἁμαρτίας ῥυσθῶσιν. Πορεύθητε πρὸς τὸν παῖδά μου Ἰώβ. Εἰ μὴ παρ' αὐτοῦ παρακληθῶ, συγγνώμην οὐ δίδωμι. Πορεύθητε πρὸς τὸν παῖδά μου Ἰώβ· ὃν ὑβρίσατε παρακαλέσατε, ὃν ἠθετήσατε δοξάσατε, τὸν εἱλκωμένον ἱερέα δέξασθε, τὸν ἐπὶ τῆς κοπρίας ἐπὶ τῷ θυσιαστηρίῳ κατανοήσατε. Οὐ γὰρ ὡς ἁμαρτωλὸν αὐτὸν ἐγκατέλιπον, ἀλλ' ὡς δίκαιον ἐδόξασα. Χρυσὸς ἐν καμίνῳ δοκιμάζεται, καὶ δίκαιος ἐν πειρασμοῖς λαμπρύνεται. Μὴ ἐζημίωσεν αὐτὸν ἡ κοπρία; Μὴ οὐ γέγονεν ἐνδοξότερος; Μὴ κακῶς ἐπραγματεύσατο; Οὐκ ἔδωκεν ἁπλᾶ, καὶ διπλᾶ ἔλαβεν; Πορεύθητε πρὸς τὸν παῖδά μου Ἰώβ, τὸν ἀπὸ καμάτου καὶ συγκοπῆς εἰς ἄνεσιν ἐλθόντα. Μάθετε φίλου πιστοῦ προκοπήν· ἐκεῖνος πιστός, ὑμεῖς δὲ ἄπιστοι. Ἐξ ὧν εἴδατε, μάθετε ὅτι οὐδεὶς πιστεύσας εἰς κύριον ἐγκατελείφθη. Πορεύθητε πρὸς τὸν παῖδά μου Ἰώβ, ὅτι εἰ μὴ δι' αὐτὸν ἀπώλεσα ἂν ὑμᾶς. Ταῦτα ἀκούσας Ἐλιφὰζ εὐθέως παραλαβὼν τοὺς δύο φίλους, Βάλδαν καὶ τὸν Σοφάρ, ἐπορεύθησαν δρομαίῳ ποδὶ πρὸς τὸν γενναιότατον Ἰώβ, καὶ πορευθέντες προσέπεσαν, ἐδεήθησαν, ἠξίωσαν , παράκλησιν ᾔτησαν λέγοντες πρὸς τὸν Ἰώβ· Ἐσφάλημεν γενναιότατε, οὐκ ᾔδειμεν τὸ συμβάν σοι. Νῦν ἔγνωμεν τοὺς ἀγῶνας σου, νῦν ἔγνωμεν ὅτι ἐρράγη ὁ ἀντίπαλος , ἐξ ὧν σὺ στεφανηφόρος ἀνεδείχθης. Πρέσβευσον ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν· καταλλαγείη ἡμῖν ὁ ἡμέτερος βασιλεύς, σὸς δὲ καὶ θεὸς καὶ ἀγωνοθέτης. Αὐτὸς ἡμᾶς ἀπέστειλε πρὸς σὲ εἰρηκώς, ὡς δίχα τῆς σῆς παρακλήσεως συγγνώμην ἡμᾶς τῶν πλημμελημάτων μὴ δέξασθαι. Ταῦτα ἀκούσας ὁ φιλόφιλος Ἰὼβ οὐκ ἀνεβάλετο, οὐκ ἐδίστασεν, οὐκ ὠνείδισεν, οὐκ ἀπεστράφη· ᾔδει καὶ φίλων πταίσματα συγχωρεῖν. ∆ιὸ παραυτὰ τὴν θυσίαν τῆς προσευχῆς πληρώσας, τὸν μὲν θεὸν ἐδυσώπησεν, τοὺς δὲ φίλους εὐεργέτησεν, ἑαυτὸν δὲ πρὸς εὐχαριστίαν παρέστησεν. Τί οὖν ὁ συγγραφεὺς Μωϋσῆς; Καλὸν γὰρ καὶ τὰ ἀκόλουθα μηνύσαι. Προσευξαμένου δέ φησι τοῦ Ἰὼβ περὶ τῶν φίλων αὐτοῦ ἀφῆκεν αὐτοῖς ὁ κύριος τὴν ἁμαρτίαν αὐτῶν. Προσέθηκε δὲ ὁ θεὸς τῷ Ἰὼβ διπλᾶ πάντα ὧν εἶχεν ἔμπροσθεν. Ἀκούσαντες δὲ οἱ ἀδελφοὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ αἱ ἀδελφαὶ πάντα τὰ συμβάντα αὐτῷ παρεγένοντο πρὸς αὐτόν· φαγόντες δὲ καὶ πιόντες παρ' αὐτῷ παρεκάλεσαν αὐτόν. Ὦ ἀδελφῶν καὶ συγγενῶν καταδρομή. Ἐν πένθει οὐδείς, ἐν εὐωχίᾳ πολλοί. Ὅτε ἐπὶ τῆς κοπρίας ἐκαθέζετο, πάντες ἀπέφευγον· ὅτε ἐν τοῖς βασιλείοις ηὐλίζετο, πάντες ἔτρεχον. Τοῦτο δὲ οὐ μόνον τότε, ἀλλὰ καὶ νῦν συμβαίνει. Πολλάκις τις πένεται, καὶ οὐ μόνον ὑπὸ τῶν συγγενῶν οὐ γνωρίζεται, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὐναντίον ὅρκους δέχεται μηδέποτε τῷ γένει πλησιάζειν. Ἐὰν δὲ προνοίᾳ τοῦ τὸν Ἰὼβ ἐκ δευτέρου πλουτίσαντος πλουτήσῃ καὶ οὗτος καὶ ἀξιώματος ἐπιλάβηται, εὐθέως πάντες οἱ συγγενεῖς κατατρέχουσιν, παρακαλοῦσιν, θάλπουσιν, πολλάκις λέγουσιν· Ἃ ηὐξάμεθα, εἴδαμεν, ὡς εἶναι τοὺς τοιούτους τῆς ὑπάρξεως καὶ οὐ τῆς φύσεως συγγενεῖς. Τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ γενναιοτάτου Ἰώβ· ὅτε ἐπὶ τῆς κοπρίας ἐκαθέζετο καὶ τοὺς ἰχῶρας ἀπέξεε καὶ κάμνων ἀνελέγετο καὶ στένων ἔλεγεν· ∆ιὰ τί ἐν κοιλίᾳ μητρός μου οὐκ ἐτελεύτησα; ∆ιὰ τί δὲ ἐξελθὼν εὐθέως οὐκ ἀπωλόμην; ∆ιὰ τί δὲ συνήντησάν μοι γόνατα; ∆ιὰ τί δὲ μαζοὺς ἐθήλασα μητρός μου; τότε οὐκ ἀδελφὸς δακρύων, οὐκ ἀδελφὴ