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Job’s Confession

42 Then Job answered the Lord and said,

“I know that (A)You can do all things,
And that no plan is impossible for You.
‘Who is this who (B)conceals advice without knowledge?’
Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand,
Things (C)too wonderful for me, which I do not know.
‘Please listen, and I will speak;
I will (D)ask You, and You instruct me.’
I have (E)heard of You by the hearing of the ear;
But now my (F)eye sees You;
Therefore I retract,
And I repent, sitting on dust and ashes.”

God Is Displeased with Job’s Friends

It came about after the Lord had spoken these words to Job, that the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends, because you have not spoken of Me what is trustworthy, (G)as My servant Job has. Now therefore, take for yourselves (H)seven bulls and seven rams, and go to My servant Job, and offer up a (I)burnt offering for yourselves, and My servant Job will (J)pray for you. (K)For I will [a]accept him so as not to do with you as your foolishness deserves, because you have not spoken of Me what is trustworthy, as My servant Job has.” So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as the Lord told them; and the Lord [b]accepted Job.

God Restores Job’s Fortunes

10 The Lord also (L)restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends, and the Lord increased double all that Job had. 11 Then all his (M)brothers, all his sisters, and all who had known him before came to him, and they ate bread with him in his house; and they (N)sympathized with him and comforted him for all the adversities that the Lord had brought on him. And each one gave him a [c]piece of money, and each a ring of gold. 12 (O)The Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; (P)and he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand female donkeys. 13 (Q)He also had seven sons and three daughters. 14 He named the first Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch. 15 In all the land no women were found as beautiful as Job’s daughters; and their father gave them inheritances among their brothers. 16 After this, Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons and his grandsons, four generations. 17 (R)And Job died, an old man and full of days.

Footnotes

  1. Job 42:8 Lit lift up his face
  2. Job 42:9 Lit lifted up the face of
  3. Job 42:11 Heb qesitah

Job

42 Then Job replied to the Lord:

“I know that you can do all things;(A)
    no purpose of yours can be thwarted.(B)
You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’(C)
    Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
    things too wonderful for me to know.(D)

“You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak;
    I will question you,
    and you shall answer me.’(E)
My ears had heard of you(F)
    but now my eyes have seen you.(G)
Therefore I despise myself(H)
    and repent(I) in dust and ashes.”(J)

Epilogue

After the Lord had said these things to Job(K), he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “I am angry with you and your two friends,(L) because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has.(M) So now take seven bulls and seven rams(N) and go to my servant Job(O) and sacrifice a burnt offering(P) for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer(Q) and not deal with you according to your folly.(R) You have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has.”(S) So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite(T) did what the Lord told them; and the Lord accepted Job’s prayer.(U)

10 After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes(V) and gave him twice as much as he had before.(W) 11 All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before(X) came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the Lord had brought on him,(Y) and each one gave him a piece of silver[a] and a gold ring.

12 The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. 13 And he also had seven sons and three daughters. 14 The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch. 15 Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers.

16 After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. 17 And so Job died, an old man and full of years.(Z)

Footnotes

  1. Job 42:11 Hebrew him a kesitah; a kesitah was a unit of money of unknown weight and value.

Job's Confession and Repentance

42 Then Job answered the Lord and said:

“I know that you can (A)do all things,
    and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
(B)‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’
Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,
    things (C)too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
‘Hear, and I will speak;
    (D)I will question you, and you make it known to me.’
I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,
    but now my eye sees you;
therefore I despise myself,
    and repent[a] in (E)dust and ashes.”

The Lord Rebukes Job's Friends

After the Lord had spoken these words to Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz (F)the Temanite: “My anger burns against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has. Now therefore take (G)seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and (H)offer up a burnt offering for yourselves. And my servant Job shall (I)pray for you, for I will accept his prayer not to deal with you according to your folly. For you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.” (J)So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did what the Lord had told them, and the Lord accepted Job's prayer.

The Lord Restores Job's Fortunes

10 And the Lord (K)restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the Lord gave Job (L)twice as much as he had before. 11 Then came to him all his (M)brothers and sisters and all who had (N)known him before, and ate bread with him in his house. And they (O)showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil[b] that the Lord had brought upon him. And each of them gave him (P)a piece of money[c] and (Q)a ring of gold.

12 And the Lord blessed (R)the latter days of Job more than his beginning. And he had (S)14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys. 13 He had also (T)seven sons and three daughters. 14 And he called the name of the first daughter Jemimah, and the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-happuch. 15 And in all the land there were no women so beautiful as Job's daughters. And their father gave them an inheritance (U)among their brothers. 16 And after this Job lived 140 years, and (V)saw his sons, and his sons' sons, four generations. 17 And Job died, an old man, and (W)full of days.

Footnotes

  1. Job 42:6 Or and am comforted
  2. Job 42:11 Or disaster
  3. Job 42:11 Hebrew a qesitah; a unit of money of unknown value

Job's Reply to the Lord

No One Can Oppose You

42 Job said:
No one can oppose you,
because you have the power
    to do what you want.
(A) You asked why I talk so much
    when I know so little.
I have talked about things
that are far beyond
    my understanding.
(B) You told me to listen
    and answer your questions.[a]
I heard about you from others;
now I have seen you
    with my own eyes.
That's why I hate myself
and sit here in dust and ashes
    to show my sorrow.

The Lord Corrects Job's Friends

The Lord said to Eliphaz:

What my servant Job has said about me is true, but I am angry with you and your two friends for not telling the truth. So I want you to go over to Job and offer seven bulls and seven goats on an altar as a sacrifice to please me.[b] After this, Job will pray, and I will agree not to punish you for your foolishness.

Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar obeyed the Lord, and he answered Job's prayer.

A Happy Ending

10 (C) After Job had prayed for his three friends, the Lord made Job twice as rich as he had been before. 11 Then Job gave a feast for his brothers and sisters and for his old friends. They expressed their sorrow for the suffering the Lord had brought on him, and they each gave Job some silver and a gold ring.

12 The Lord now blessed Job more than ever; he gave him 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 pair of oxen, and 1,000 donkeys.

13 In addition to seven sons, Job had three daughters, 14 whose names were Jemimah, Keziah, and Keren Happuch. 15 They were the most beautiful women in that part of the world, and Job gave them shares of his property, along with their brothers.

16 Job lived for another 140 years—long enough to see his great-grandchildren have children of their own— 17 and when he finally died, he was very old.

Footnotes

  1. 42.4 questions: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 4.
  2. 42.8 sacrifice to please me: These sacrifices have traditionally been called “whole burnt offerings” because the whole animal was burned on the altar. A main purpose of such sacrifices was to please the Lord with the smell of the sacrifice, and so in the CEV they are often called “sacrifices to please the Lord.”

Job Responds to the Lord

42 Then Job replied to the Lord:

“I know that you can do anything,
    and no one can stop you.
You asked, ‘Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorance?’
    It is I—and I was talking about things I knew nothing about,
    things far too wonderful for me.
You said, ‘Listen and I will speak!
    I have some questions for you,
    and you must answer them.’
I had only heard about you before,
    but now I have seen you with my own eyes.
I take back everything I said,
    and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance.”

Conclusion: The Lord Blesses Job

After the Lord had finished speaking to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “I am angry with you and your two friends, for you have not spoken accurately about me, as my servant Job has. So take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer on your behalf. I will not treat you as you deserve, for you have not spoken accurately about me, as my servant Job has.” So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite did as the Lord commanded them, and the Lord accepted Job’s prayer.

10 When Job prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes. In fact, the Lord gave him twice as much as before! 11 Then all his brothers, sisters, and former friends came and feasted with him in his home. And they consoled him and comforted him because of all the trials the Lord had brought against him. And each of them brought him a gift of money[a] and a gold ring.

12 So the Lord blessed Job in the second half of his life even more than in the beginning. For now he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 teams of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys. 13 He also gave Job seven more sons and three more daughters. 14 He named his first daughter Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch. 15 In all the land no women were as lovely as the daughters of Job. And their father put them into his will along with their brothers.

16 Job lived 140 years after that, living to see four generations of his children and grandchildren. 17 Then he died, an old man who had lived a long, full life.

Footnotes

  1. 42:11 Hebrew a kesitah; the value or weight of the kesitah is no longer known.