Job 42
Job’s happy ending
Job says he’s sorry
1Job told the LORD:2I know you can do anything.
And I know that no one can stop you.
3You asked, “Who are you to criticize my plans?” [1]
You’re right. I didn’t know what I was talking about.
What you do is wonderful and beyond my understanding.
4You said you were going to question me
And I was going to answer.
5I knew about you because of what I had heard.
But now, I see you for myself.
6I am so sorry.
I hate myself for what I said.
Please forgive me
As I sit here in dirt and ashes, repenting.
God humbles Job’s visitors
7When the LORD finished talking to Job, he turned to Eliphaz from Teman and said, “I am angry with you and your two friends. What you said about my servant Job is dead wrong. 8I want you to go see Job and make a burnt offering, [2] to erase the guilt of your sin. [3] You’ll need seven bulls and seven rams. After that, Job will pray for you. And I’ll accept the words he speaks on your behalf, and I’ll not punish you like I would otherwise. What you said about me when you spoke to Job was wrong. That’s not me you were describing.”9So all three did what the LORD had said: Eliphaz from Teman, Bildad from Shuah, and Zophar from Naaman. And the LORD listened to Job’s prayer.
Job’s new money, new family
10After Job prayed for his three visitors, the LORD made him rich again—twice as rich. 11His family came to comfort Job after the LORD dumped all these tragedies on him. His brothers came, along with his sisters and others who knew him. They each gave him some money and a gold ring to help him start over.12Job’s closing years proved better than his early years, thanks to God’s blessing. His flock of sheep grew to 14,000. He had 6,000 camels, a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand donkeys. 13He also had more children: seven sons and three daughters. 14He named the first three children Jemimiah, Keziah, and Keren-happuch.
15Job’s daughters were the most beautiful in the territory. And they had assets because Job gave them part of the family inheritance, like he did with their brothers.
16Job lived long enough to see his great-grandchildren—140 years, into the family’s fourth generation. 17He died an old man, in a body loaded with years.
Footnotes
Job 28:2.
Burnt offerings were the most common animal sacrifices. Worshipers burned the entire animal. See Leviticus 1. A “burnt offering” paid the price for sin, atoning for sin. Jews taught that in God’s eyes, sin was a capital offense. Jewish law, however, says God allowed them to substitute the death of an animal for the death they deserved. “Blood is what brings a body to life. I’ve given you blood to use exclusively on the altar. It atones for your sin—it gets rid of your guilt so you can stay on good terms with the LORD. Blood is the price of your sin” (Leviticus 17:11; see also Exodus 29:14). The writer of Hebrews says the blood of Jesus was the last sacrifice needed; it paid the price for the sins of all people for all time (Hebrews 10:10).
The text says only that it’s a burnt offering. But burnt offerings were intended to remove the guilt of any sins the people committed.
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