Storyteller. 42:7After the Lord had said these words to Job, he found occasion to speak to Eliphaz the Temanite, saying, "My anger has grown hot against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right as has my servant Job. 8Now therefore take with you seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job; offer up for yourselves a burnt offering and let my servant Job pray for you -- for him I will accept -- lest I do something scandalous to you, for you did not speak of me what is right as did my servant Job." 9And so Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuite and Zophar the Na'amathite did just as God had told them and the Lord accepted Job's prayer.
As the storyteller continues, Job and his wife come down into the audience where they are congratulated, and money is pressed upon them. Job puts his mark on copies of the play presented to him for his signature by the audience.
10And the Lord turned the captivity of Job because he had prayed on behalf of his neighbor, and he gave Job double what he had before. 11All his brothers and sisters and all those who had known him came to him and dined with him at his house. They sympathized with him and comforted him for all the evil the Lord had brought upon him, and each of them brought him a piece of money and a gold ring.
12So the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. And he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, {and} a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkey mares. 13Also he had seven sons and three daughters. 14Jemimah he called the first daughter, Keziah the second and the third Keren-happuch -- Turtledove, Cinnamon and Mascara. 15In all the land no women were found so fair as the daughters of Job. Their father gave them an inheritance with their brothers.
16After this Job lived a hundred and forty years. He saw his sons and grandsons to the fourth generation. So Job died old and full of days.
Job and his wife return to the stage, where the entire cast, including the Satan and God, takes the finale in chorus.
| 28:1There is a mine for silver And a place where gold is refined. 2Iron is taken from the earth And copper is smelted from rock. 3Man puts an end to darkness Searching out the farthest bounds Through stone of heavy gloom and shadow. 4Another people sink their shafts there; Forgotten of the foot that passes by, Far from men they dangle and sway. 5The earth, from which comes bread, Below seems overturned by fire. 6From its rock comes sapphire And in its dust is gold. 7A path it is unknown to bird of prey, Unseen by falcon's eye. 8No proud beast has trod that path; The lion has not crossed it. 9Man puts his hand to the flinty rock And overturns the mountains at their roots. 10He honeycombs the stone; His eye sees every precious thing. 11He probes the weeping river spring And what is hid he brings to light. 12But where is wisdom to be found And where the place of understanding? 13No man knows the way to her; She is not found among the living. 14"Not with me," says the Deep; "Nor with me," says the Sea. 15Solid gold cannot get her And her price cannot be weighed in silver 16Or valued in gold of Ophir," In precious onyx or sapphire. 17Gold and glass cannot compare, Nor can any vessel of fine gold be exchanged for her. 18No mention shall be made of coral or of quartz; The price of wisdom is beyond rubies. 19Topaz of Cush is not her match; Pure gold cannot buy her. 20Whence, then, does wisdom come And where is the place of understanding? 21For she is hidden from the eyes of every living thing, Unseen by the birds in the sky. 22Death and Destruction say, "We have only heard report of her." 23God understands the way to her; He knows her dwelling place, 24For he looks to the ends of the earth And he sees the whole world under heaven. 25When he made a weight for the wind And measured out the waters, 26When he cut a groove for the rain, A channel for the thundershower, 27Then it was that he saw wisdom and told her worth, Measured her and searched her through. 28And he said to man, |
| God. 28:8"Behold, the fear
of the Lord is wisdom And to turn from evil is understanding." |
God takes the last line. |
Music. God points the Satan's way to the Pit, and the Satan obeys. As he jumps into the Pit, he jostles the dead man, waking him. Job takes the man's hand and pulls him up onto the stage, where he dons Job's old cloak, the one that originally had been worn by the Satan. Job and the risen man parade together to the music. Inner curtain. Outer curtain.
The End
last changed May 3, 1997