Job 42
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Job Is Humbled and Satisfied
42 Then Job answered the Lord:
2 “I know that you can do all things
and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.(A)
3 ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’
Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me that I did not know.(B)
4 ‘Hear, and I will speak;
I will question you, and you declare to me.’(C)
5 I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,
but now my eye sees you;(D)
6 therefore I despise myself
and repent in dust and ashes.”(E)
Job’s Friends Are Humiliated
7 After the Lord had spoken these words to Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.(F) 8 Now therefore take seven bulls and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering, and my servant Job shall 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 done.”(G) 9 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.
Job’s Fortunes Are Restored Twofold
10 And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job when he had prayed for his friends, and the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.(H) 11 Then there came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and they ate bread with him in his house; they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him; and each of them gave him a piece of money[a] and a gold ring.(I) 12 The Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning, and he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand donkeys.(J) 13 He also had seven sons and three daughters.(K) 14 He named the first Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch. 15 In all the land there were no women so beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father gave them an inheritance along with their brothers. 16 After this Job lived one hundred and forty years and saw his children and his children’s children, four generations.(L) 17 And Job died, old and full of days.(M)
Footnotes
- 42.11 Heb a qesitah
Job 42
Contemporary English Version
Job's Reply to the Lord
No One Can Oppose You
42 Job said:
2 No one can oppose you,
because you have the power
to do what you want.
3 (A) You asked why I talk so much
when I know so little.
I have talked about things
that are far beyond
my understanding.
4 (B) You told me to listen
and answer your questions.[a]
5 I heard about you from others;
now I have seen you
with my own eyes.
6 That's why I hate myself
and sit here in dust and ashes
to show my sorrow.
The Lord Corrects Job's Friends
7 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. 8 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.
9 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
- 42.4 questions: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 4.
- 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.”
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
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