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wonderful life

Job 42:1-17 (JDV)

Job 42:1 Then Job answered and said to Yahveh:
Job 42:2 I know that you can do anything and no plan of yours can be thwarted.
Job 42:3 You asked, “Who is this who conceals my counsel with ignorance?” Surely, I spoke about things I did not understand, things too wondrous for me to know.
Job 42:4 You said, “Listen now, and I will speak. When I question you, you will inform me.”
Job 42:5 I had heard what my ears could hear about you, but now my eyes have seen you.
Job 42:6 Therefore, I reject my words and regret them; I am dust and ashes.
Job 42:7 After Yahveh had finished speaking 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.
Job 42:8 Now take seven bulls and seven rams, go to my servant Job, and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. Then my servant Job will pray for you. I will surely accept his prayer and not deal with you as your stupidity deserves. For you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has.”
Job 42:9 Then Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as Yahveh had told them, and Yahveh accepted Job’s prayer.
Job 42:10 After Job had prayed for his friends, Yahveh restored his fortunes and doubled his previous possessions.
Job 42:11 All his brothers, sisters, and former acquaintances came to him and dined with him in his house. They sympathized with him and comforted him concerning all the adversity Yahveh had brought on him. Each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold earring.
Job 42:12 So Yahveh blessed the last part of Job’s life more than the first. He owned fourteen thousand sheep and goats, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys.
Job 42:13 He also had seven sons and three daughters.
Job 42:14 He named his first daughter Jemimah, his second Keziah, and his third Keren-happuch.
Job 42:15 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.
Job 42:16 Job lived 140 years after this and saw his children and their children to the fourth generation.
Job 42:17 Then Job died, old and full of days.

wonderful life

Job’s restoration begins when God intercedes, and the first thing to be restored is his relationship with those three therapists. Job takes the upper hand and prays for them. This is more than simply a vindication of Job’s righteousness, it is an acknowledgment that no amount of evil experienced can overcome the power of a right relationship with God.

Afterward, all of those who would have been expected to show Job support and sympathy return to his life, and then his health and fortune are restored. The man who had lost it all returns to become a shining example of God’s blessing and goodness.

LORD, out of all the blessings that you give us, help us to cherish the one thing we will never lose – our relationship with you.