and let the robe and the horse be handed over to one of the king’s most noble officials. Let him dress the man whom the king delights to honor [in the royal robe] and lead him on horseback through the open square of the city, and proclaim before him, ‘This is what shall be done for the man whom the king desires to honor.’”

So Haman took the royal robe and the horse and dressed Mordecai, and led him on horseback through the open square of the city, proclaiming before him, “This is what shall be done for the man whom the king desires to honor.”

Then Haman told Zeresh his wife and all his friends everything that had happened to him. Then his wise counselors and his wife Zeresh said to him, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall in status, is of Jewish heritage, you will not overcome him, but will certainly fall before him.”

Esther said, “An adversary and an enemy is Haman, this evil man.” Then Haman became terrified before the king and queen.

On that day King Ahasuerus (Xerxes) gave the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews, to Queen Esther; and Mordecai came before the king, because Esther had disclosed what [relation] he was to her.

Then the king held out to Esther the golden scepter. So Esther arose and stood before the king.

Then she said, “If it pleases the king and if I have found favor before him and the matter is proper in the king’s view and I am pleasing in his sight, let it be written to revoke the letters devised by Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, which he wrote [in order] to destroy the Jews who are in all the king’s provinces.

On that day the number of those who were killed at the citadel in Susa was reported to the king.

But when it came before the king, he commanded in writing that Haman’s wicked scheme which he had devised against the Jews was to return on his own head, and that he and his sons should [endure what he planned for the Jews and] be hanged on the gallows.

Now there was a day when the sons of God (angels) came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan (adversary, accuser) also came among them.

Again there was a day when the sons of God (angels) came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan (adversary, accuser) also came among them to present himself before the Lord.

“For my groaning comes at the sight of my food,
And my cries [of despair] are poured out like water.

“Then a spirit passed before my face;
The hair on my skin stood on end!

“The spirit stood still, but I could not discern its appearance;
A form was before my eyes;
There was silence, and then I heard a voice, saying:

‘Can [mortal] man be just before God or be more righteous than He?
Can a man be pure before his Maker or be more cleansed than He?

“While it is still green (in flower) and not cut down,
Yet it withers before any other plant [when without water].

“He thrives and prospers [like a green plant] before the sun,
And his branches spread out over his garden.

“If he is snatched from his place [in the garden],
Then his place will forget him, saying, ‘I have never seen you.’

“Yes, I know it is true.
But how can a mortal man be right before God?

Before I go—and I shall not return—
To the land of darkness and the deep shadow [of death],

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

“This also will be my salvation,
For a godless man may not come before Him.

“Indeed, you are doing away with fear,
And you are diminishing meditation before God.

“Were you the first man to be born [the original wise man],
Or were you created before the hills?

“Give me a pledge (guarantee, promise) with Yourself [acknowledge my innocence before my death];
Who is there that will be my guarantor and give security for me?

“But He has made me a byword and mockery among the people,
And I have become one in whose face people spit.

“Those in the west are astonished and appalled at his fate,
And those in the east are seized with horror.

“Their children and descendants are established with them in their sight,
And their offspring before their eyes.

“Are they like straw before the wind,
And like chaff that the storm steals and carries away?

“The [dirt] clods of the valley are sweet to him [and gently cover him],
Moreover, all men will follow after him [to a grave],
While countless ones go before him.

Men who were snatched away before their time,
Whose foundations were poured out like a river?

“If you return to the Almighty [and submit and humble yourself before Him], you will be built up [and restored];
If you remove unrighteousness far from your tents,

“I would present my cause before Him
And fill my mouth with arguments.

But I am not silenced by the darkness [of these woes that fell on me],
Nor by the thick darkness which covers my face.

“How then can man be justified and righteous with God?
Or how can he who is born of a woman be pure and clean?

“Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead) is naked before God,
And Abaddon (the place of destruction) has no covering [from His eyes].

“For it will hurl [thunderbolts of God’s wrath] at him unsparingly and without compassion;
He flees in haste from its power.

“For God has loosed His bowstring [attacking me] and [He has] afflicted and humbled me;
They have cast off the bridle [of restraint] before me.

“Answer me, if you can;
Set yourselves before me, take your stand.

“Behold, I belong to God like you;
I too was formed out of the clay.

“For He sets no appointed time for a man,
That he should appear before Him in judgment.

“He breaks mighty men without inquiry,
And sets others in their place.

“Even though you say that you do not see Him [when missing His righteous judgment on earth],
Yet your case is before Him, and you must wait for Him!

“No one is so fierce [and foolhardy] that he dares to stir up Leviathan;
Who then is he who can stand before Me [or dares to contend with Me, the beast’s creator]?

“In Leviathan’s neck resides strength,
And dismay and terror dance before him.

The Lord restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends, and the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.

Then all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before came to him, and they ate bread with him in his house; and they consoled him and comforted him over all the [distressing] adversities that the Lord had brought on him. And each one gave him a piece of money, and each a ring of gold.

O Lord, lead me in Your righteousness because of my enemies;
Make Your way straight (direct, right) before me.

He has dug a pit and hollowed it out,
And has fallen into the [very] pit which he made [as a trap].

When my enemies turn back,
They stumble and perish before You.

Arise, O Lord, do not let man prevail;
Let the nations be judged before You.

I have set the Lord continually before me;
Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

My steps have held closely to Your paths;
My feet have not staggered.

In my distress [when I seemed surrounded] I called upon the Lord
And cried to my God for help;
He heard my voice from His temple,
And my cry for help came before Him, into His very ears.

Out of the brightness before Him passed His thick clouds,
Hailstones and coals of fire.

For all His ordinances were before me,
And I did not put away His statutes from me.

I was blameless before Him,
And I kept myself free from my sin.

Then I beat them fine as the dust before the wind;
I emptied them out as the dirt of the streets.

My praise will be of You in the great assembly.
I will pay my vows [made in the time of trouble] before those who [reverently] fear Him.

All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord,
And all the families of the nations will bow down and worship before You,

All the prosperous of the earth will eat and worship;
All those who go down to the dust (the dead) will bow before Him,
Even he who cannot keep his soul alive.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You have anointed and refreshed my head with oil;
My cup overflows.

For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes,
And I have walked [faithfully] in Your truth.

How great is Your goodness,
Which You have stored up for those who [reverently] fear You,
Which You have prepared for those who take refuge in You,
Before the sons of man!

As for me, I said in my alarm,
“I am cut off from Your eyes.”
Nevertheless You heard the voice of my supplications (specific requests)
When I cried to You [for help].

When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away
Through my groaning all the day long.

Let them be [blown away] like chaff before the wind [worthless, without substance],
With the angel of the Lord driving them on.

Transgression speaks [like an oracle] to the wicked (godless) [deep] within his heart;
There is no fear (dread) of God before his eyes.

Lord, all my desire is before You;
And my sighing is not hidden from You.

For I am ready to fall;
My sorrow is continually before me.

I said, “I will guard my ways
That I may not sin with my tongue;
I will muzzle my mouth
While the wicked are in my presence.”

“O look away from me, that I may smile and again know joy
Before I depart and am no more.”

These things I [vividly] remember as I pour out my soul;
How I used to go along before the great crowd of people and lead them in procession to the house of God [like a choirmaster before his singers, timing the steps to the music and the chant of the song],
With the voice of joy and thanksgiving, a great crowd keeping a festival.

My dishonor is before me all day long,
And humiliation has covered my face,

May our God come and not keep silent;
Fire devours before Him,
And around Him a mighty tempest rages.

“I do not reprove you for your sacrifices;
Your burnt offerings are continually before Me.

“These things you have done and I kept silent;
You thought that I was just like you.
Now I will reprimand and denounce you and state the case in order before your eyes.

For I am conscious of my transgressions and I acknowledge them;
My sin is always before me.

For strangers have risen against me
And violent men have sought my life;
They have not set God before them. Selah.

For You have rescued my soul from death,
Yes, and my feet from stumbling,
So that I may walk before God
In the light of life.

Before your cooking pots can feel the fire of thorns [burning under them as fuel],
He will sweep them away with a whirlwind, the green and the burning ones alike.

He will sit enthroned forever before [the face of] God;
Appoint lovingkindness and truth to watch over and preserve him.

Trust [confidently] in Him at all times, O people;
Pour out your heart before Him.
God is a refuge for us. Selah.

Let God arise, and His enemies be scattered;
Let those who hate Him flee before Him.

As smoke is driven away, so drive them away;
As wax melts before the fire,
So let the wicked and guilty perish before [the presence of] God.

But let the righteous be glad; let them be in good spirits before God,
Yes, let them rejoice with delight.

Sing to God, sing praises to His name;
Lift up a song for Him who rides through the desert—
His name is the Lord—be in good spirits before Him.

O God, when You went out before Your people,
When You marched through the wilderness, Selah.

You know my reproach and my shame and my dishonor [how I am insulted];
My adversaries are all before You [each one fully known].

The nomads of the desert will bow before him,
And his enemies will lick the dust.

Yes, all kings will bow down before him,
All nations will serve him.

May his name endure forever;
May his name continue as long as the sun;
And let men bless themselves by him;
Let all nations call him blessed.

Then I was senseless and ignorant;
I was like a beast before You.

He also drove out the nations before the sons of Israel
And allotted their land as an inheritance, measured out and partitioned;
And He had the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents [the tents of those who had been dispossessed].

Let the groaning and sighing of the prisoner come before You;
According to the greatness of Your power keep safe those who are doomed to die.

Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh, stir up Your power
And come to save us!

You cleared away the ground before it,
And it took deep root and filled the land.

Those who hate the Lord would pretend obedience to Him and cringe before Him,
And their time of punishment would be forever.

O my God, make them like whirling dust,
Like chaff before the wind [worthless and without substance].

They go from strength to strength [increasing in victorious power];
Each of them appears before God in Zion.