Job 42:4

Amplified Bible

'Hear, please, and I will speak; I will ask You, and You instruct [and answer] me.'

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
You said, “Listen now, and I will speak.When I question you, you will inform me.”

Hebrew Names Version
You said, 'Listen, now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you will answer me.'

King James Version
Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.

English Standard Version
‘Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you make it known to me.'

New Century Version
You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak. I will ask you questions, and you must answer me.'

New English Translation
You said, ‘Pay attention, and I will speak; I will question you, and you will answer me.'

New American Standard Bible
'Please listen, and I will speak; I will ask You, and You instruct me.'

World English Bible
You said, 'Listen, now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you will answer me.'

Geneva Bible (1587)
Heare, I beseech thee, and I will speake: I will demaunde of thee, & declare thou vnto me.

Legacy Standard Bible
‘Hear, now, and I will speak;I will ask You, and You make me know.'

Berean Standard Bible
You said, 'Listen now, and I will speak. I will question you, and you shall answer Me.'

Contemporary English Version
You told me to listen and answer your questions.

Complete Jewish Bible
"Please listen, and I will speak. [You said,] ‘I will ask questions; and you, give me answers' —

Darby Translation
Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak: I will demand of thee, and inform me.

Easy-to-Read Version
"You said to me, ‘Listen, and I will speak. I will ask you questions, and you will answer me.'

George Lamsa Translation
Hear me, I pray thee, and I will speak; I will ask thee, and declare thou to me;

Good News Translation
You told me to listen while you spoke and to try to answer your questions.

Lexham English Bible
‘Hear and I will speak; I will question you, then inform me.'

Literal Translation
I pray, Listen, and I will speak; I will ask You, and You will make me know.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
O herken thou vnto me also, and let me speake: answere me vnto the thinge that I will axe the.

American Standard Version
Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak; I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.

Bible in Basic English
Give ear to me, and I will say what is in my mind; I will put questions to you, and you will give me the answers.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Hear, I beseech Thee, and I will speak; I will demand of Thee, and declare Thou unto me.

King James Version (1611)
Heare, I beseech thee, and I will speake: I will demand of thee, and declare thou vnto me.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
O hearken thou vnto me also, and let me speake: aunswere vnto the thing that I wyll aske thee.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
But hear me, O Lord, that I also may speak: and I will ask thee, and do thou teach me.

English Revised Version
Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak; I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Here thou, and Y schal speke; Y schal axe thee, and answere thou to me.

Update Bible Version
Hear, I urge you, and I will speak; I will demand of you, and declare you to me.

Webster's Bible Translation
Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak: I will ask of thee, and declare thou to me.

New King James Version
Listen, please, and let me speak; You said, "I will question you, and you shall answer Me.'

New Living Translation
You said, ‘Listen and I will speak! I have some questions for you, and you must answer them.'

New Life Bible
‘Hear now, and I will speak. I will ask you, and you answer Me.'

New Revised Standard
‘Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you declare to me.'

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Hear thou, I pray thee, and, I, will speak, I will ask thee, and inform thou me.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Hear, and I will speak: I will ask thee, and do thou tell me.

Revised Standard Version
'Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you declare to me.'

Young's Literal Translation
`Hear, I pray thee, and I -- I do speak, I ask thee, and cause thou me to know.'

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Praise Him with timbrel and dancing; Praise Him with stringed instruments and pipe.

Contextual Overview

¹Then Job answered the LORD and said, ²"I know that You can do all things, And that no thought or purpose of Yours can be restrained. ³"[You said to me] 'Who is this that darkens and obscures counsel [by words] without knowledge?' Therefore [I now see] I have [rashly] uttered that which I did not understand, Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. ⁴'Hear, please, and I will speak; I will ask You, and You instruct [and answer] me.'⁵"I had heard of You [only] by the hearing of the ear, But now my [spiritual] eye sees You. ⁶"Therefore I retract [my words and hate myself] And I repent in dust and ashes."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Hear: Genesis 18:27, Genesis 18:30-32

I will: Job 38:3, Job 40:7

Reciprocal: Ezekiel 18:25 - way

Cross-References

Genesis 3:22
And the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us (Father, Son, Holy Spirit), knowing [how to distinguish between] good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take from the tree of life as well, and eat [its fruit], and live [in this fallen, sinful condition] forever"—

Genesis 11:4
They said, "Come, let us build a city for ourselves, and a tower whose top will reach into the heavens, and let us make a [famous] name for ourselves, so that we will not be scattered [into separate groups] and be dispersed over the surface of the entire earth [as the LORD instructed]."

Genesis 42:1
Now when Jacob (Israel) learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, "Why are you staring at one another [in bewilderment and not taking action]?"

Genesis 42:2
He said, "I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down there and buy [some] grain for us, so that we may live and not die [of starvation]."

Genesis 42:16
"Send one of you [back home], and let him bring your brother [here], while [the rest of] you remain confined, so that your words may be tested, [to see] whether there is any truth in you [and your story]; or else, by the life of Pharaoh, certainly you are spies."

Genesis 42:19
if you are honest men, let one of your brothers be confined in your [place here in] prison; but as for the rest of you, go, carry grain for the famine in your households,

Genesis 42:20
but bring your youngest brother to me, so your words will be verified and you will not die." And they did so.

Genesis 42:22
Reuben answered them, "Did I not tell you, 'Do not sin against the boy'; and you would not listen? Now the accounting for his blood is required [of us for we are guilty of his death]."

Genesis 42:27
And at the lodging place, as one of them opened his sack to feed his donkey, he saw his money in the opening of his sack.

Genesis 42:34
'Bring your youngest brother to me; then I will know that you are not spies, but that you are honest men. Then I will return your [imprisoned] brother [back] to you, and you may trade and do business in the land.'"

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak,.... Not in the manner he had before, complaining of God and justifying himself, but in a way of humble entreaty of favours of him, of confession of sin before him, and of acknowledgment of his wisdom, goodness, and justice in all his dealings with him, which before he arraigned;

I will demand of thee; or rather "I will make petition to thee", as Mr. Broughton renders it; humbly ask a favour, and entreat a gracious answer; for to demand is not so agreeable to the frame and temper of soul Job was now in;

and declare thou unto me; or make him know what he knew not; he now in ignorance applies to God, as a God of knowledge, to inform him in things he was in the dark about, and to increase what knowledge he had. He was now willing to take the advice of Elihu, and pursue it,

Job 34:31.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak - This is the language of humble, docile submission. On former occasions he had spoken confidently and boldly of God; he had called in question the equity of his dealings with him; he had demanded that he might be permitted to carry his cause before him, and argue it there himself; Notes, Job 13:3, and notes Job 13:20-22. Now he is wholly changed. His is the submissive language of a docile child, and he begs to be permitted to sit down before God, and humbly to inquire of him what was truth. “This is true religion.”

I will demand of thee - Or rather, “I will ask of thee.” The word “demand” implies more than there is of necessity in the original word (שׁאל shâ'al). That means simply “to ask,” and it may be done with the deepest humility and desire of instruction. That was now the temper of Job.

And declare thou unto me - Job was not now disposed to debate the matter, or to enter into a controversy with God. He was willing to sit down and receive instruction from God, and earnestly desired that he would “teach” him of his ways. It should be added, that very respectable critics suppose that in this verse Job designs to make confession of the impropriety of his language on former occasions, in the presumptuous and irreverent manner in which he had demanded a trial of argument with God. It would then require to be rendered as a quotation from his own words formerly.

“I have indeed uttered what I understood not,

Things too wonderful for me, which I know not,

(When I said) Hear now, I will speak,

I will demand of thee, and do thou teach me”

This is adopted by Umbreit, and has much in its favor that is plausible; but on the whole the usual interpretation seems to be most simple and proper.