Job Answers the Father
Job says he spoke of things he did not understand; his ears had heard, now his eyes have seen, and he repents in dust and ashes. Then our Father tells the friends they spoke wrongly, and Job prays for them. His fortunes are doubled, his family restored.
42 1Then Job answered our Father: 2"I know that you can do all things, and that no plan of yours can be thwarted. 3You asked, 'Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?' Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. 4You said, 'Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you must answer me.' 5My ears had heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you. a a v5 Job had only heard about God before; now he sees our Father face to face, and the distant-deity caricature is gone forever. 6Therefore I take back my words, and I repent in dust and ashes."
Mercy for the Three Friends
7After our Father had spoken these words to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, "My anger burns against you and your two friends, for you have not spoken rightly about me, as my servant Job has. b b v7 The friends spoke of God as a distant deity exacting accounts; Job, through all his pain and protest, kept reaching toward our Father — and our Father honored it. 8So now take seven bulls and seven rams to my servant Job and offer them as a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will intercede for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your foolishness. For you have not spoken rightly about me, as my servant Job has."
9So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as our Father had told them, and our Father accepted Job's prayer.
10And when Job prayed for his friends, our Father restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before. 11Then all his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate bread with him in his house. They consoled and comforted him over all the trouble our Father had brought upon him, and each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring.
12Our Father blessed Job's later years more than his earlier ones. He had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 pairs of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys. 13He also had seven sons and three daughters. 14He named the first daughter Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch. c c v14 The daughters' names celebrate restored beauty and joy: Jemimah means 'dove,' Keziah means 'cinnamon,' and Keren-happuch means 'horn of eye cosmetics.' 15Nowhere in all the land were there women as beautiful as Job's daughters, and their father gave them an inheritance along with their brothers. d d v15 In the ancient world daughters rarely inherited alongside sons — Job's gift to them was an extraordinary act of grace and equality. 16After this Job lived 140 years, and he saw his children and his children's children, four generations. 17And so Job died, old and full of days.
