Job 1:7

⁵ And when the days of feasting were over, Job would send for his children to purify them, rising early in the morning to offer burnt offerings for all of them. For Job thought, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular practice.

⁶ One day the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them.

“Where have you come from?” said the LORD to Satan. “From roaming through the earth,” he replied, “and walking back and forth in it.”

⁸ Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one on earth like him, a man who is blameless and upright, who fears God and shuns evil.”

⁹ Satan answered the LORD, “Does Job fear God for nothing?

Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: “Where have you come from?” said the LORD to Satan. “From roaming through the earth,” he replied, “and walking back and forth in it.”
KJV: And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.
WEB: The LORD said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, “From going back and forth on the earth, and from walking up and down in it.”
ASV: And Jehovah said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered Jehovah, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.
DARBY: And Jehovah said to Satan, Whence comest thou? And Satan answered Jehovah and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.
BLB: And YHWH said to Satan, “From where have you come?” And Satan answered YHWH and said, “From roaming on the earth, and walking back and forth on it.”

ÅB: Og Herren sa til Satan: Hvor kommer du fra? Satan svarte Herren: Jeg har faret og flakket omkring på jorden.
OTB: Herren spurte Satan: "Hvor kommer du fra?" Satan svarte Herren: "Fra å streife omkring på jorden og vandre fram og tilbake på den."
B1930: Og Herren sa til Satan: Hvor kommer du fra? Satan svarte Herren: Jeg har faret og flakket omkring på jorden.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

1 Peter 5:8
Be sober-minded and alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
Read in context
Job 2:2
“Where have you come from?” said the LORD to Satan. “From roaming through the earth,” he replied, “and walking back and forth in it.”
Read in context
Matthew 12:43
When an unclean spirit comes out of a man, it passes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it.
Read in context
Revelation 12:12–17
Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea; with great fury the devil has come down to you, knowing he has only a short time.”
Read in context
Revelation 12:9
And the great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
Read in context
Revelation 20:8
and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—to assemble them for battle. Their number is like the sand of the seashore.
Read in context
2 Kings 5:25
When Gehazi went in and stood before his master, Elisha asked him, “Gehazi, where have you been?” “Your servant did not go anywhere,” he replied.
Read in context
Zechariah 1:10–11
Then the man standing among the myrtle trees explained, “They are the ones the LORD has sent to patrol the earth.”
Read in context