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but I say, that into your hand I have given all that is his.” Surely he will bless you to your face. That is: he will curse, he will blaspheme openly, not holding back—for this is what "to your face" means—not secretly, but shamelessly. How do you know this, O foul one? Do you conjecture the things of others from your own? Since you, having suffered nothing terrible, were lifted up against the master, did you think that my athlete would also endure this, reasoning that, “If I, being bodiless,” he says, “was turned, how much more this man, being in a body”? And the Lord said to the devil: Behold, all that is his, I have given into your hand, but do not touch him—that is, his body, that is, his soul. Do you see that a measure is also given to temptations? Do you see that he does not touch the cattle, unless he receives authority? Behold, he says, I have given all things into your hand—the foul, the insatiable. Do we read these things and are not disturbed? When you see that God hands over a just man to the devil, do not be downcast; 21 there is no one like Job. What are you saying? “You testified of him, that he is just, true, God-fearing. What need is there of another trial after your testimony?” “So that the devil may be silenced,” he says, “so that the just man may appear more brilliant, so that I may leave behind remedies of both endurance and affliction for those who come after”—so that from the same love he also uttered those words: blameless, just, true and behold, he says, all that is his, I have given into your hand—, “so that you may learn that I do not testify out of favor, I entrust the examination to the test of deeds; nor do I make the struggle evenly matched, but I hand over to you the very one who was testified of.” For just as we, when loved by someone, want this to become manifest to all, so also God willed his beloved to be wonderful not only from his own testimony, but also from the test of deeds. For no one contradicts the test of deeds, but many contradict God. Do you see the devil being bridled? Do you see him keeping the limits of God? Do you see him not transgressing the commands? But he does not transgress the commands when necessity holds him and fear compels him, so that you may know that, if he were able to punish, he would have wanted to from the beginning, so that you may know that He does not set the limits for him without reason. 1,12d And the devil, he says, went out from the presence of the Lord. For he is outside of God, wanting to trip up the just. 1,13a And it happened on this day, 13b and the sons of Job and his daughters 13c were eating and drinking in the house of their eldest brother. 1,14a and behold, a messenger came to Job and said to him: 14b the pairs of oxen were plowing 14c and the female donkeys were grazing 22 beside them. 1,15a and the raiders came and captured them 15b and struck the servants with the edge of the sword, 15c and I alone escaped and have come to report to you. And behold, he says, a messenger came. Did you see how great the swiftness of the blow? And see how pitiable the fall becomes and how new and strange the misfortune. And he who was always in safety and in such great safety as one who enjoys the providence of God would likely have, see how he heard this, he who had never had experience of such a thing, but from his earliest years had experienced a tranquil life. And it cannot be said that some things were taken away, but others were left, so as to console the loss of the things taken; but this one alone is left who reports the tragedy, and the suffering becomes more grievous by the man being present and seeing these misfortunes clearly. Great is the fear, beloved, not only concerning the oxen, but also concerning the household, if indeed a war has occurred. “From where, tell me, and from whom? What battle having taken place?” How was he not astounded, hearing a new thing, he who lived his whole life in luxury, to whom this had never happened nor had ever been heard? Then the land is unplowed henceforth, and at the fitting time he was deprived of all present things. And the form of the loss is more grievous, and especially when this happens at an inopportune time, at the very moment of need. In the middle the work was interrupted, so that the loss was double, both the unfinished

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ἐγὼ δὲ λέγω, ὅτι ἐν τῇ χειρί σου δέδωκα πάντα ὅσα ἔστιν αὐτῷ.» ἦ μὴν εἰς πρόσωπόν σε εὐλογήσει. τουτέστιν· καταράσεται, βλασφημήσει φανερῶς, οὐχ ὑποστελλόμενος- τοῦτο γάρ ἐστιν εἰς πρόσωπον-οὐδὲ λάθρᾳ, ἀλλ' ἀναισχύντως. πόθεν οἶδας, ὦ μιαρέ, τοῦτο; ἀπὸ τῶν σεαυτοῦ καὶ τὰ τῶν ἄλλων στοχάζῃ; ἐπειδὴ σὺ μηδὲν παθὼν δεινὸν ἐπήρθης κατὰ τοῦ δεσπότου, ἐνόμισας τοῦτο καὶ τὸν ἐμὸν ἀθλητὴν ὑπομένειν ἐννοῶν, ὅτι «εἰ ἐγὼ ἀσώματος ὤν», φησίν, «ἐτράπην, πολλῷ μᾶλλον οὗτος ἐν σώματι ὤν»; καὶ εἶπεν ὁ κύριος τῷ διαβόλῳ· ἰδού, πάντα ὅσα ἔστιν αὐτῷ, ἐν τῇ χειρί σου δέδωκα, ἀλλ' αὐτοῦ μὴ ἅψῃ-τουτέστι τοῦ σώματος αὐτοῦ, τουτέστι τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτοῦ. ὁρᾷς, ὅτι καὶ μέτρον δίδοται πειρασμῶν; ὁρᾷς, ὅτι τῶν βοσκημάτων οὐχ ἅπτεται, ἐὰν μὴ λάβῃ ἐξουσίαν; ἰδού, φησίν, πάντα δέδωκα ἐν τῇ χειρί σου-τῇ μιαρᾷ, τῇ ἀκορέστῳ. ταῦτα ἀναγινώσκομεν καὶ οὐ θορυβούμεθα; ὅταν ἴδῃς, ὅτι ἐκδίδωσιν ἄνθρωπον δίκαιον ὁ θεὸς τῷ διαβόλῳ, μὴ καταπέσῃς· 21 οὐδείς ἐστι κατὰ τὸν Ἰώβ. τί λέγεις; «σὺ ἐμαρτύρησας αὐτῷ, ὅτι δίκαιος, ἀληθινός, θεοσεβής. τίς χρεία μετὰ τὴν σὴν μαρτυρίαν ἑτέρας βασάνου;» «ἵνα ἐπιστομισθῇ», φησίν, «ὁ διάβολος, ἵνα λαμπρότερος φανῇ ὁ δίκαιος, ἵνα τοῖς μετὰ ταῦτα γενομένοις καὶ ὑπομονῆς καὶ θλίψεως φάρμακα καταλείπω»-ὥστε ἀπὸ τῆς αὐτῆς ἀγάπης καὶ ἐκεῖνα ἐφθέγγετο τὰ ῥήματα ἄμεμπτος, δίκαιος, ἀληθινὸς καὶ ἰδού, φησίν, πάντα ὅσα ἔστιν αὐτῷ, ἐν τῇ χειρί σου δέδωκα-, «ἵνα μάθῃς, ὅτι οὐ κατὰ χάριν μαρτυρῶ, ἐπιτρέπω τῇ πείρᾳ τῶν πραγμάτων τὴν ἐξέτασιν· οὐδὲ ἰσοστάσιον ποιῶ τὴν πάλην, ἀλλ' αὐτὸν ἐκδίδωμί σοι τὸν μαρτυρηθέντα.» καθάπερ γὰρ ἡμεῖς φιλούμενοι παρά τινος βουλόμεθα πᾶσι κατάδηλον τοῦτο γενέσθαι, οὕτω καὶ ὁ θεὸς τὸν ἐρώμενον τὸν ἑαυτοῦ οὐκ ἀπὸ τῆς αὑτοῦ μαρτυρίας μόνον ἠθέλησεν εἶναι θαυμαστόν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς τῶν πραγμάτων πείρας. τῇ γὰρ πείρᾳ τῶν πραγμάτων οὐδεὶς ἀντιλέγει, τῷ δὲ θεῷ πολλοί. ὁρᾷς καὶ χαλινούμενον τὸν διάβολον; ὁρᾷς τηροῦντα τοὺς ὅρους τοῦ θεοῦ; ὁρᾷς οὐχ ὑπερβαίνοντα τὰ προστάγματα; ἀλλ' οὐχ ὑπερβαίνει τὰ προστάγματα, ὅταν ἀνάγκη αὐτὸν κατέχῃ καὶ φόβος βιάζηται, ἵνα εἰδῇς, ὅτι, εἰ ἠδύνατο κολάσαι, ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἤθελεν, ἵνα εἰδῇς, ὅτι οὐχ ἁπλῶς αὐτῷ τοὺς ὅρους τίθησιν. 1,12d καὶ ἐξῆλθεν, φησίν, ὁ διάβολος ἀπὸ προσώπου κυρίου. ἔξω γάρ ἐστι τοῦ θεοῦ τοὺς δικαίους ὑποσκελίσαι βουλόμενος. 1,13a καὶ ἐγένετο ὡς ἡ ἡμέρα αὕτη, 13b καὶ οἱ υἱοὶ τοῦ Ἰὼβ καὶ αἱ θυγατέρες αὐτοῦ 13c ἤσθιον καὶ ἔπινον ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ αὐτῶν τοῦ πρεσβυτέρου. 1,14a καὶ ἰδού, ἄγγελος ἦλθε πρὸς Ἰὼβ καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ· 14b τὰ ζεύγη τῶν βοῶν ἠροτρία 14c καὶ αἱ θήλειαι ὄνοι ἐβόσκοντο 22 ἐχόμεναι αὐτῶν. 1,15a καὶ ἐλθόντες οἱ αἰχμαλωτεύοντες ᾐχμαλώτευσαν αὐτὰς 15b καὶ τοὺς παῖδας ἐπάταξαν ἐν στόματι μαχαίρας, 15c καὶ ἐσώθην ἐγὼ μόνος καὶ ἦλθον τοῦ ἀναγγεῖλαί σοι. καὶ ἰδού, φησίν, ἄγγελος ἦλθεν. εἶδες, πόση ταχυτὴς τῆς πληγῆς; καὶ ὅρα, πῶς ἐλεεινὸν γίνεται τὸ πτῶμα καὶ καινὴ καὶ ξένη ἡ συμφορά. καὶ ὁ ἀεὶ ἐν ἀσφαλείᾳ καὶ ἐν ἀσφαλείᾳ τοσαύτῃ, ὅσην εἰκὸς ἔχειν τὸν τῆς θεοῦ προνοίας ἀπολαύοντα, ὅρα πῶς ἤκουσε τοῦτο, ὁ μηδέποτε πεῖραν λαβὼν τοιούτου τινός, ἀλλ' ἐκ πρώτης ἡλικίας γαληνοῦ τοῦ βίου πειραθείς. καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν εἰπεῖν, ὅτι τὰ μὲν ἀφῃρέθη, τὰ δὲ ὑπελείφθη, ὥστε τῶν ληφθέντων παραμυθήσασθαι τὴν ἀπώλειαν· ἀλλ' οὗτος καταλιμπάνεται μόνος ὁ τὴν τραγῳδίαν ἀπαγγέλλων, καὶ χαλεπώτερον τὸ πάθος γίνεται τῷ παρεῖναι τὸν ἄνθρωπον καὶ ὁρᾶν ἐναργῶς ταύτας τὰς συμφοράς. πολὺς ὁ φόβος, ἀγαπητέ, οὐχ ὁ περὶ τῶν βοῶν μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁ περὶ τῆς οἰκίας, εἴ γε πόλεμος γέγονεν. «πόθεν, εἰπέ, καὶ παρὰ τίνος; ποίας μάχης γενομένης;» πῶς οὐκ ἐξεπλάγη πρᾶγμα καινὸν ἀκούσας ὁ διὰ παντὸς ἐν τρυφῇ ζῶν, ᾧ οὐδέποτε τοῦτο γέγονεν οὐδὲ ἠκούσθη ποτέ; εἶτα ἀνήροτος ἡ γῆ λοιπόν, καὶ ἐν τῷ καιρῷ τῷ προσήκοντι τῶν παρόντων ἀφῄρητο πάντων. καὶ τὸ εἶδος δὲ τῆς ἀπωλείας χαλεπώτερον, μάλιστα δὲ καὶ ὅταν παρὰ καιρὸν τὸν καλοῦντα τὴν χρείαν τοῦτο γένηται. μεταξὺ τὸ ἔργον διεκόπη, ὥστε διπλῆν εἶναι τὴν ζημίαν, τό τε ἀτέλεστον