Job 42
The Message
Job Worships God
I Babbled On About Things Far Beyond Me
42 1-6 Job answered God:
“I’m convinced: You can do anything and everything.
Nothing and no one can upset your plans.
You asked, ‘Who is this muddying the water,
ignorantly confusing the issue, second-guessing my purposes?’
I admit it. I was the one. I babbled on about things far beyond me,
made small talk about wonders way over my head.
You told me, ‘Listen, and let me do the talking.
Let me ask the questions. You give the answers.’
I admit I once lived by rumors of you;
now I have it all firsthand—from my own eyes and ears!
I’m sorry—forgive me. I’ll never do that again, I promise!
I’ll never again live on crusts of hearsay, crumbs of rumor.”
God Restores Job
I Will Accept His Prayer
7-8 After God had finished addressing Job, he turned to Eliphaz the Temanite and said, “I’ve had it with you and your two friends. I’m fed up! You haven’t been honest either with me or about me—not the way my friend Job has. So here’s what you must do. Take seven bulls and seven rams, and go to my friend Job. Sacrifice a burnt offering on your own behalf. My friend Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer. He will ask me not to treat you as you deserve for talking nonsense about me, and for not being honest with me, as he has.”
9 They did it. Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite did what God commanded. And God accepted Job’s prayer.
10-11 After Job had interceded for his friends, God restored his fortune—and then doubled it! All his brothers and sisters and friends came to his house and celebrated. They told him how sorry they were, and consoled him for all the trouble God had brought him. Each of them brought generous housewarming gifts.
12-15 God blessed Job’s later life even more than his earlier life. He ended up with fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand teams of oxen, and one thousand donkeys. He also had seven sons and three daughters. He named the first daughter Dove, the second, Cinnamon, and the third, Darkeyes. There was not a woman in that country as beautiful as Job’s daughters. Their father treated them as equals with their brothers, providing the same inheritance.
16-17 Job lived on another 140 years, living to see his children and grandchildren—four generations of them! Then he died—an old man, a full life.
Job 42
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 42
1 Then Job answered the Lord and said:
2 I know that you can do all things,[a]
and that no purpose of yours can be hindered.
3 “Who is this who obscures counsel with ignorance?”
I have spoken but did not understand;
things too marvelous for me, which I did not know.(A)
4 “Listen, and I will speak;
I will question you, and you tell me the answers.”
5 By hearsay I had heard of you,
but now my eye has seen you.[b]
6 Therefore I disown what I have said,
and repent in dust and ashes.[c]
IX. Epilogue
Job’s Restoration. 7 And after the Lord had spoken these words to Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My anger blazes against you and your two friends![d] You have not spoken rightly concerning me, as has my servant Job. 8 So now take seven bulls and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves, and let my servant Job pray for you.[e] To him I will show favor, and not punish your folly, for you have not spoken rightly concerning me, as has my servant Job.” 9 Then Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, went and did as the Lord had commanded them. The Lord showed favor to Job.
10 The Lord also restored the prosperity of Job, after he had prayed for his friends; the Lord even gave to Job twice[f] as much as he had before. 11 Then all his brothers and sisters came to him, and all his former acquaintances, and they dined with him in his house. They consoled and comforted him for all the evil the Lord had brought upon him, and each one gave him a piece of money[g] and a gold ring.
12 (B)Thus the Lord blessed the later days of Job more than his earlier ones. Now he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she-donkeys. 13 He also had seven sons and three daughters: 14 the first daughter he called Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch.[h] 15 In all the land no other women were as beautiful as the daughters of Job; and their father gave them an inheritance[i] among their brothers.
16 After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; and he saw his children, his grandchildren, and even his great-grandchildren.(C) 17 Then Job died, old and full of years.
Footnotes
- 42:2–4 In his final speech, Job quotes God’s own words (see 38:2–3; 40:7).
- 42:5 In 19:25–27 Job had affirmed a hope to “see” (three times) his vindicator. Now he has seen the Lord about whom he had heard so much.
- 42:6 A difficult verse. Some doubt, in view of God’s commendation in v. 7, that Job does in fact express repentance, and alternative translations are often given. Along with v. 5, it describes a change in Job, which the encounter with the Lord has brought about. Dust and ashes: an ambiguous phrase. It can refer to the human condition (cf. Gn 18:27; Jb 30:19) or to Job’s ash heap (2:8).
- 42:7 The three friends of Job (Elihu is ignored in the epilogue) are criticized by the Lord because they had “not spoken rightly” (vv. 7–8).
- 42:8 An ironic touch: Job becomes the intercessor for his friends.
- 42:10 Twice: this is the fine for damage inflicted upon another; cf. Ex 22:3. The Lord pays up!
- 42:11 A piece of money: lit., qesitah, value unknown; also used in Gn 33:19; Jos 24:32. Gold ring: for the nose or ear.
- 42:14 Job’s daughters had names symbolic of their charms: Jemimah, dove; Keziah, precious perfume (cf. Ps 45:9); Keren-happuch, cosmetic jar—more precisely, a container for a black powder used like modern mascara.
- 42:15 Ordinarily daughters did not inherit property unless there were no sons; cf. Nm 27:1–11.
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.