United States Catholic Catechism for Adults

26 THE SECOND

COMMANDMENT: REVERENCE GOD’S NAME

“YOU SHALL NOT TAKE THE NAME OF THE L ord YOUR GOD IN VAIN” (EX 20:7) —CCC, NOS. 2142-2167

JOB: THE POOR MAN PRAISES GOD

Why do the innocent suffer? This has been an age old question that is addressed in Scripture as well, perhaps most extensively in the Book of Job. Written probably in the sixth century BC, it tells the story of a prosperous and prestigious man named Job, father of a large family and deeply devoted to God. In a series of calamities provoked by Satan, Job loses everything—family, wealth, and even his own health. In the midst of all this loss, he cries out,

Naked I came forth from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I go back again. The L ord gave and the L ord has taken away; blessed be the name of the L ord ! (Jb 1:21)

Nothing could shake his faith in God. His wife, seeing his pitiable state, tells him, “Curse God and die” (2:9). He responds, “We accept good things from God; and should we not accept evil?” (2:10). Three friends come to see Job and argue with him, telling him that he must have sinned against God and so is being punished. But Job insists that he has done nothing