because certain of them kept claiming, "Since we have so many sons and daughters, we must get some grain so we can eat and survive."

Some also there were that said, We have mortgaged our lands, vineyards, and houses, that we might buy corn, because of the dearth.

We and our children are just like our countrymen and their children, yet we are subjecting our sons and daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters are already enslaved, but we are powerless because our fields and vineyards belong to others.”

I considered these things carefully and then registered a complaint with the wealthy and the officials. I said to them, "Each one of you is seizing the collateral from your own countrymen!" Because of them I called for a great public assembly.

Also I said, It is not good that ye do: ought ye not to walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the heathen our enemies?

But the former governors that had been before me were chargeable unto the people, and had taken of them bread and wine, beside forty shekels of silver; yea, even their servants bare rule over the people: but so did not I, because of the fear of God.

Now that which was prepared for me daily was one ox and six choice sheep; also fowls were prepared for me, and once in ten days store of all sorts of wine: yet for all this required not I the bread of the governor, because the bondage was heavy upon this people.

in which was written, "It is reported among the nations, and Gashmu says it, that you and the Jews intend to rebel. Because of that, you are building the wall. You would be their king, according to these words.

I went to the house of Shemaiah son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was restricted to his house. He said:

Let us meet at the house of God
inside the temple.
Let us shut the temple doors
because they are coming to kill you.
They are coming to kill you tonight!

Then I realized that God had not sent him, but he spoke this prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.

For there were many in Judah sworn unto him, because he was the son in law of Shechaniah the son of Arah; and his son Johanan had taken the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah.

Then I put my brother Hanani in charge of Jerusalem, along with Hananiah, commander of the fortress, because he was a faithful man who feared God more than most.

All these were the people who went up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addon, and Immer; but because they had no knowledge of their fathers' families or offspring, it was not certain if they were Israelites:

Of the priests: the sons of Hobaiah, the sons of Hakkoz, and the sons of Barzillai, who [was so named because he had] married one of the daughters of Barzillai, the [well-known] Gileadite, and was named after them.

Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, because he was above all of the people. When he opened it all the people stood up.

Because all the people were weeping as they listened to the words of the Law, Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the descendants of Levi who taught the people told everyone, "This day is holy to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep."

Then he said to them, "Go, eat festive food and drink sweet drinks, and send a share to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our lord. Do not be grieved because the joy of Yahweh is your refuge."

And all the people went their way to eat, and to drink, and to send portions, and to make great mirth, because they had understood the words that were declared unto them.

And all of the assembly of those who returned from captivity made booths and lived in the booths because the {Israelites} had not done it from the days of Jeshua son of Nun until that day. And there was very great joy.

You found his heart faithful before you and made a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite and the Girgashite--to give [it] to his seed. And you have kept your word because you are righteous.

You gave signs and wonders against Pharaoh, all of his servants, and all of the people of his land because you knew that they acted arrogantly against them. You made a name for yourself, as it is this day.

You did not abandon them in the wilderness
because of Your great compassion.
During the day the pillar of cloud
never turned away from them,
guiding them on their journey.
And during the night the pillar of fire
illuminated the way they should go.

Nevertheless, in your great compassion you did not completely destroy them or abandon them, because you are a God of grace and you are merciful.

You are righteous concerning all that has come on us,
because You have acted faithfully,
while we have acted wickedly.

And it yieldeth much increase unto the kings whom thou hast set over us because of our sins: also they have dominion over our bodies, and over our cattle, at their pleasure, and we are in great distress.

And because of all this we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, Levites, and priests, seal unto it.

"Now the rest of the people -- the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple attendants, and all those who have separated themselves from the neighboring peoples because of the law of God, along with their wives, their sons, and their daughters, all of whom are able to understand --

from Beth-gilgal, and from the area of Geba and Azmaveth, because the singers had built villages for themselves in the vicinity of Jerusalem.

They offered on that day great sacrifices and rejoiced because God brought great joy to them. And the women and children also rejoiced. The joy of Jerusalem was heard from afar.

On that same day men were placed in charge of the rooms that housed the supplies, contributions, firstfruits, and tenths. The legally required portions for the priests and Levites were gathered from the village fields, because Judah was grateful to the priests and Levites who were serving.

Because they met not the children of Israel with bread and with water, but hired Balaam against them, that he should curse them: howbeit our God turned the curse into a blessing.

During all of this, I was not in Jerusalem because in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I went to the king. At the end of [some] days I asked permission from the king [to leave].

I also found out that because the portions for the Levites had not been given, each of the Levites and the singers performing the service had gone back to his own field.

I appointed as treasurers over the storehouses Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah of the Levites, with Hanan son of Zaccur, son of Mattaniah to assist them, because they were considered trustworthy. They were responsible for the distribution to their colleagues.

Was it not because of things like these that King Solomon of Israel sinned? Among the many nations there was no king like him. He was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel. But the foreign wives made even him sin!

Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood, and the covenant of the priesthood, and of the Levites.

Drinks were served in gold vessels of various kinds, and there was plenty of royal wine because the king was generous.

According to the king's decree the drinking was not compulsory because the king instructed every steward in his house to serve each individual what he desired.

to bring Queen Vashti before him with her royal crown. He wanted to show off her beauty to the people and the officials, because she was very beautiful.

What shall we do unto the queen Vashti according to law, because she hath not performed the commandment of the king Ahasuerus by the chamberlains?

And let the king's decree that he will make be proclaimed in all his kingdom, because it [is] vast and all the women will honor their husbands, great and small."

Mordecai was the legal guardian of his cousin Hadassah (that is, Esther), because she didn’t have a father or mother. The young woman had a beautiful figure and was extremely good-looking. When her father and mother died, Mordecai had adopted her as his own daughter.

Esther did not disclose her people and her family because Modecai had charged her that she must not tell.

And the king made a great feast unto all his princes and his servants - which feast was because of Esther - and let the lands be in quietness, and gave royal gifts.

The entire royal staff at the King’s Gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman, because the king had commanded this to be done for him. But Mordecai would not bow down or pay homage.

Because they had told him who the people of Mordecai were, Haman found it unacceptable to kill only Mordecai. So Haman sought to destroy all of Mordecai's people, the Jewish people, who were in all the kingdom of Ahasuerus.

He came as far as the front of the king's gate, because no one was allowed to enter the king's gate clothed in sackcloth.

And Mordecai told him of all that had happened unto him, and of the sum of silver that Haman had promised to weigh down in the king's chamber because of the Jews, for to destroy them.

Mordecai told the messenger to reply to Esther, “Don’t think that you will escape the fate of all the Jews because you are in the king’s palace.

"Don't imagine that because you are part of the king's household you will be the one Jew who will escape. If you keep quiet at this time, liberation and protection for the Jews will appear from another source, while you and your father's household perish. It may very well be that you have achieved royal status for such a time as this!"

Then went Haman forth on that day, joyful and of a merry heart, - but, when Haman saw Mordecai in the gate of the king, that he rose not up nor moved because of him, then was Haman filled with wrath against Mordecai.

The king asked, "What great honor was bestowed on Mordecai because of this?" The king's attendants who served him responded, "Not a thing was done for him."

Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had happened. His advisers and his wife Zeresh said to him, “Since Mordecai is Jewish, and you have begun to fall before him, you won’t overcome him, because your downfall is certain.”

I and my people have been sold to be destroyed and killed, to be annihilated. If we had been sold as male and female slaves I would have kept quiet, because this is not a need sufficient to trouble the king."

Angered by this, the king arose from where they were drinking wine and went to the palace garden. Haman remained to beg Queen Esther for his life because he realized the king was planning something terrible for him.

That same day King Ahasuerus awarded Queen Esther the estate of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. Mordecai entered the king’s presence because Esther had revealed her relationship to Mordecai.

Then the king Ahasuerus said unto Esther the queen and to Mordecai the Jew, Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and him they have hanged upon the gallows, because he laid his hand upon the Jews.

In every province and city, wherever the king's edict and his law came, there was gladness and joy for the Jews, a banquet and a {holiday}, and many of the people from the country [were] posing as Jews because the fear of the Jews had fallen on them.

the Jews gathered themselves together in their cities throughout all the provinces of the King Ahasuerus, to lay hands on those who wanted to harm them. No one could withstand them, because the fear of them had fallen on all the people.

And all the rulers of the provinces, and the lieutenants, and the deputies, and officers of the king, helped the Jews; because the fear of Mordecai fell upon them.

because during those days the Jews got rid of their enemies. That was the month when their sorrow was turned into rejoicing and their mourning into a holiday. They were to be days of feasting, rejoicing, and of sending gifts to one another and the poor.

Because Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had devised against the Jews to destroy them, and had cast Pur, that is, the lot, to consume them, and to destroy them;

Wherefore they called these days Purim, after the name of Pur. Therefore because of all the words of this letter, and of that which they had seen concerning this matter, and that which had come unto them,

Therefore, because of the account found in this letter and what they had faced in this regard and what had happened to them, the Jews established as binding on themselves, their descendants, and all who joined their company that they should observe these two days without fail, just as written and at the appropriate time on an annual basis.

There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God [with reverence] and abstained from and turned away from evil [because he honored God].

{Then when} the days of the feast had run their course, {Job would send}, and he would sanctify them. Thus he would arise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings [according to] the number of all of them, because Job thought, "Perhaps my children have sinned and {cursed} God in their heart." This is what Job used to do {all the time}.

And Jehovah saith unto the Adversary, 'Hast thou set thy heart against My servant Job because there is none like him in the land, a man perfect and upright, fearing God, and turning aside from evil?'

And Jehovah saith unto the Adversary, 'Hast thou set thy heart unto My servant Job because there is none like him in the land, a man perfect and upright, fearing God and turning aside from evil? and still he is keeping hold on his integrity, and thou dost move Me against him to swallow him up for nought!'

And lifting up their eyes when they were still far off, it did not seem that the man they saw was Job because of the change in him. And they gave way to bitter weeping, with signs of grief, and put dust on their heads.

Then they sat with him on the ground [for] seven days and seven nights, but no one spoke a word to him because they saw that {his} suffering was very great.

Because it shut not up the doors of my mother's womb, nor hid sorrow from mine eyes.

because the dread that I {feel} has come upon me, and what I feared befalls me.

I will not be at ease; I will not be quiet; I will not rest; because trouble has arrived."

because though he wounds, but then applies bandages; though he strikes, his hands still heal.

For then its weight would be more than the sand of the seas: because of this my words have been uncontrolled.

Because the arrows of the Almighty are within me,
My spirit drinks their poison;
The terrors of God are arrayed against me.

That are black because of ice, By them doth snow hide itself.

Under the burning sun they are cut off, and come to nothing because of the heat.

They were confounded because they had hoped; they came thither, and were ashamed.

Is it because I said, Give to me? And, By your power bribe for me?

I hate the thought of living forever! Leave me alone, because my days are pointless."

Thou dost not take away my transgression, And cause to pass away mine iniquity, Because now, for dust I lie down: And Thou hast sought me -- and I am not!

(For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days upon earth are a shadow:)

Because with a tempest He bruiseth me, And hath multiplied my wounds for nought.

Otherwise, I would speak without being terrified of him, because I'm not like that inside myself."

because of your knowledge that I am not guilty, and there is no escaping from your hand?

"If I did sin, thou haddest an eye unto me, and shalt not declare me innocent because of mine offense.

""Woe to me if I'm guilty! If I'm innocent, I cannot lift my head, because I am filled with disgrace. Look at my affliction!

Are all these words to go unanswered? and is a man seen to be right because he is full of talk?

that he might show thee out of his secret wisdom how manifold his law is! Then shouldest thou know that God had forgotten thee, because of thy sins.

“But a hollow (empty-headed) man will become intelligent and wise
[Only] when the colt of a wild donkey is born as a man.

Because thou shalt forget thy misery, and remember it as waters that pass away:

And thou shalt be secure, because there is hope; yea, thou shalt dig about thee, and thou shalt take thy rest in safety.

“Even though He kills me;
I will hope in Him.
Nevertheless, I will argue my ways to His face.

Because your sin dictates your speech, you have chosen the language of the crafty.

“He does not believe that he will return out of the darkness [for fear of being murdered],
And he is destined for the sword [of God’s vengeance].

Because he hath stretched out his hand against God, And behaveth himself proudly against the Almighty;

Because he covereth his face with his fatness, and maketh collops of fat on his flanks.

My face is red because of weeping, and deep shadows [are] on my eyelids,

Truly, those who make sport of me are round about me, and my eyes become dark because of their bitter laughing.