Job 42

Job Replies to the Lord

1 Then Job replied to the Lord:
2 I[a] know that You can do anything[b] and no plan of Yours can be thwarted.
3 [You asked,] "Who is this who conceals [My] counsel with ignorance?"[c] Surely I spoke about things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to[d] know.
4 [You said,] "Listen now, and I will speak. When I question you, you will inform Me."[e]
5 I had heard rumors about You, but now my eyes have seen You.[f]
6 Therefore I take back [my words] and repent in dust and ashes.[g][h]
7 After the Lord had finished speaking[i] to Job, He said to Eliphaz the Temanite: "I am angry with you and your two friends, for you have not spoken the truth about Me, as My servant Job has.
8 Now take seven bulls and seven rams, go to My servant Job, and offer a burnt offering for yourselves.[j] Then My servant Job will pray for you.[k] I will surely accept his [prayer] and not deal with you as your folly deserves. For you have not spoken the truth about Me, as My servant Job has."
9 Then Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as the Lord had told them, and the Lord accepted Job's [prayer].

God Restores Job

10 After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his prosperity[l] and doubled his [previous] possessions.[m]
11 All his brothers, sisters, and former acquaintances came to his house and dined with him in his house. They offered him sympathy and comfort[n] concerning all the adversity the Lord had brought on him.[o] Each one gave him a qesitah,[p] and a gold earring.
12 So the Lord blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the earlier. He owned 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys.
13 He also had seven sons and three daughters.
14 He named his first [daughter] Jemimah, his second Keziah, and his third Keren-happuch.
15 No women as beautiful as Job's daughters could be found in all the land, and their father granted them an inheritance with their brothers.
16 Job lived 140 years after this and saw his children and their children to the fourth generation.
17 Then Job died, old and full of days.[q]

Footnotes 17

  • [a]. Alt Hb tradition reads You
  • [b]. Isa 44:24; 45:7; Jn 1:3
  • [c]. Jb 38:2
  • [d]. Lit me, and I did not
  • [e]. Jb 38:3
  • [f]. Jb 19:27; Gn 32:30; Ex 33:18-23
  • [g]. LXX reads I despise myself and melt; I consider myself dust and ashes
  • [h]. Jb 2:8; 2 Sm 13:19; Est 4:1,3
  • [i]. Lit speaking these words
  • [j]. Gn 8:20; 22:2-13; Ex 10:25
  • [k]. Gn 20:7,17; Nm 21:7; 1 Sm 2:25
  • [l]. Ps 85:1; Jr 29:14; Zph 2:7
  • [m]. Jb 1:13-19
  • [n]. Jb 2:11; 21:34; Gn 50:21; Ps 69:20
  • [o]. Jb 1:13-19; 2:7-11; Isa 45:7
  • [p]. The value of the currency is unknown; Gn 33:19; Jos 24:32
  • [q]. Gn 25:8; 35:29

Job 42 Commentaries

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