And that you have prophets preaching about you in Jerusalem, and saying, There is a king in Judah: now an account of these things will be sent to the king. So come now, and let us have a discussion.

For in Judah there were a number of people who had made an agreement by oath with him, because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah, the son of Arah; and his son Jehohanan had taken as his wife the daughter of Meshullam, the son of Berechiah.

As well as their men-servants and their women-servants, of whom there were seven thousand, three hundred and thirty-seven; and they had two hundred and forty-five men and women to make music.

And Nehemiah, who was the Tirshatha, and Ezra, the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were the teachers of the people, said to all the people, This day is holy to the Lord your God; let there be no sorrow or weeping; for all the people were weeping on hearing the words of the law.

Then he said to them, Go away now, and take the fat for your food and the sweet for your drink, and send some to him for whom nothing is made ready: for this day is holy to our Lord: and let there be no grief in your hearts; for the joy of the Lord is your strong place.

All the people who had been prisoners and had come back, made tents and were living in them: for from the time of Jeshua, the son of Nun, till that day, the children of Israel had not done so. And there was very great joy.

And day by day, from the first day till the last, he was reading from the book of the law of God. And they kept the feast for seven days: and on the eighth day there was a holy meeting, as it is ordered in the law.

And in Jerusalem there were living certain of the children of Judah and of Benjamin. Of the children of Judah: Athaiah, the son of Uzziah, the son of Zechariah, the son of Amariah, the son of Shephatiah, the son of Mahalalel, of the children of Perez;

For there was an order from the king about them and a regular amount for the music-makers, for their needs day by day.

And in the days of Joiakim there were priests, heads of families: of Seraiah, Meraiah; of Jeremiah, Hananiah;

For in the days of David and Asaph in the past, there was a master of the music, and songs of blessing and praise to God.

On that day there was a reading from the book of Moses in the hearing of the people; and they saw that it said in the book that no Ammonite or Moabite might ever come into the meeting of God;

And there were men of Tyre there, who came with fish and all sorts of goods, trading with the children of Judah and in Jerusalem on the Sabbath.

Was it not in these things that Solomon, king of Israel, did wrong? among a number of nations there was no king like him, and he was dear to his God, and God made him king over all Israel: but even he was made to do evil by strange women.

There were fair hangings of white and green and blue, fixed with cords of purple and the best linen to silver rings and pillars of polished stone: the seats were of gold and silver on a floor of red and white and yellow and black stone.

And the wives of the captains of Persia and Media, hearing what the queen has done, will say the same to all the king's captains. So there will be much shame and wrath.

And sent letters to all the divisions of the kingdom, to every division in the writing commonly used there, and to every people in the language which was theirs, saying that every man was to be the ruler in his house, and that this order was to be given out in the language of his people.

Now there was a certain Jew in Shushan named Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite;

And Haman said to King Ahasuerus, There is a certain nation living here and there in small groups among the people in all the divisions of your kingdom; their laws are different from those of any other nation, and they do not keep the king's laws: for this reason it is not right for the king to let them be.

Then on the thirteenth day of the first month, the king's scribes were sent for, and they put in writing Haman's orders to all the king's captains and the rulers of every division of his kingdom and the chiefs of every people: for every division of the kingdom in the writing commonly used there, and to every people in the language which was theirs; it was signed in the name of King Ahasuerus and stamped with the king's ring.

And in every part of the kingdom, wherever the king's word and his order came, there was great sorrow among the Jews, and weeping and crying and going without food; and numbers of them were stretched on the earth covered with dust and haircloth.

It is common knowledge among all the king's servants and the people of every part of the kingdom, that if anyone, man or woman, comes to the king in his inner room without being sent for, there is only one law for him, that he is to be put to death; only those to whom the king's rod of gold is stretched out may keep their lives: but I have not been sent for to come before the king these thirty days.

Then at that time, on the twenty-third day of the third month, which is the month Sivan, the king's scribes were sent for; and everything ordered by Mordecai was put in writing and sent to the Jews and the captains and the rulers and the chiefs of all the divisions of the kingdom from India to Ethiopia, a hundred and twenty-seven divisions, to every division in the writing commonly used there, and to every people in their language, and to the Jews in their writing and their language.

And that those days were to be kept in memory through every generation and every family, in every division of the kingdom and every town, that there might never be a time when these days of Purim would not be kept among the Jews, or when the memory of them would go from the minds of their seed.

There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. He was without sin and upright, fearing God and keeping himself far from evil.

And there was a day when the sons of the gods came together before the Lord, and the Satan came with them.

And the Lord said to the Satan, Have you taken note of my servant Job, for there is no one like him on the earth, a man without sin and upright, fearing God and keeping himself far from evil?

And there was a day when his sons and daughters were feasting in the house of their oldest brother,

With nothing I came out of my mother's body, and with nothing I will go back there; the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; let the Lord's name be praised.

And there was a day when the sons of the gods came together before the Lord, and the Satan came with them.

And the Lord said to the Satan, Have you taken note of my servant Job, for there is no one like him on the earth, a man without sin and upright, fearing God and keeping himself far from evil? and he still keeps his righteousness, though you have been moving me to send destruction on him without cause.

There the passions of the evil are over, and those whose strength has come to an end have rest.

There the prisoners are at peace together; the voice of the overseer comes not again to their ears.

The small and the great are there, and the servant is free from his master.

Something was present before me, but I was not able to see it clearly; there was a form before my eyes: a quiet voice came to my ears, saying:

Give now a cry for help; is there anyone who will give you an answer? and to which of the holy ones will you make your prayer?

When there is need of food he will keep you from death, and in war from the power of the sword.

Will a man take food which has no taste without salt? or is there any taste in the soft substance of purslain?

How pleasing are upright words! but what force is there in your arguments?

Is there evil in my tongue? is not the cause of my trouble clear to me?

When I say, In my bed I will have comfort, there I will get rest from my disease;

He is looking to his family for support, but it is not there; he puts his hope in it, but it comes to nothing.

There is no one to give a decision between us, who might have control over us.

Then I would say what is in my mind without fear of him; for there is no cause of fear in myself.

Though you see that I am not an evil-doer; and there is no one who is able to take a man out of your hands?

And that if there was cause for pride, you would go after me like a lion; and again put out your wonders against me:

They are higher than heaven; what is there for you to do? deeper than the underworld, and outside your knowledge;

And you will be safe because there is hope; after looking round, you will take your rest in quiet;

In the thought of him who is in comfort there is no respect for one who is in trouble; such is the fate of those whose feet are slipping.

There is wealth in the tents of those who make destruction, and those by whom God is moved to wrath are safe; even those whose god is their strength.

With him there is wisdom and strength; power and knowledge are his.

Truly, there is no building up of what is pulled down by him; when a man is shut up by him, no one may let him loose.

He takes away the wisdom of the rulers of the earth, and sends them wandering in a waste where there is no way.

For there is hope of a tree; if it is cut down, it will come to life again, and its branches will not come to an end.

What knowledge have you which we have not? is there anything in your mind which is not in ours?

Be pleased, now, to be responsible for me to yourself; for there is no other who will put his hand in mine.

His memory is gone from the earth, and in the open country there is no knowledge of his name.

He has no offspring or family among his people, and in his living-place there is no one of his name.

Truly, I make an outcry against the violent man, but there is no answer: I give a cry for help, but no one takes up my cause.

Be in fear of the sword, for the sword is the punishment for such things, so that you may be certain that there is a judge.

There is no peace for him in his wealth, and no salvation for him in those things in which he took delight.

His buckets are full of milk, and there is no loss of strength in his bones.

The earth of the valley covering his bones is sweet to him, and all men come after him, as there were unnumbered before him.

Why then do you give me comfort with words in which there is no profit, when you see that there is nothing in your answers but deceit?

Is not your evil-doing great? and there is no end to your sins.

There an upright man might put his cause before him; and I would be free for ever from my judge.

See, I go forward, but he is not there; and back, but I do not see him;

I am looking for him on the left hand, but there is no sign of him; and turning to the right, I am not able to see him.

But his purpose is fixed and there is no changing it; and he gives effect to the desire of his soul.

Then there are those who are haters of the light, who have no knowledge of its ways, and do not go in them.

Truly, there is no deceit in my lips, and my tongue does not say what is false.

He goes to rest full of wealth, but does so for the last time: on opening his eyes, he sees it there no longer.

Truly there is a mine for silver, and a place where gold is washed out.

There is no need to say anything about coral or crystal; and the value of wisdom is greater than that of pearls.

The flesh is gone from my bones, and they give me no rest; there is no end to my pains.

And when Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of the three men, he was very angry.

I am clean, without sin; I am washed, and there is no evil in me:

Pain is sent on him as a punishment, while he is on his bed; there is no end to the trouble in his bones;

If now there may be an angel sent to him, one of the thousands which there are to be between him and God, and to make clear to man what is right for him;

There is no dark place, and no thick cloud, in which the workers of evil may take cover.

There they are crying out because of the pride of the evil-doers, but he gives them no answer.

There is no searching out of the Ruler of all: his strength and his judging are great; he is full of righteousness, doing no wrong.

To give water to the land where there is waste and destruction, and to make the dry land green with young grass?

From there he is watching for food; his eye sees it far off.

His young have blood for their drink, and where the dead bodies are, there is he to be seen.

Who ever went against me, and got the better of me? There is no one under heaven!

On earth there is not another like him, who is made without fear.

And there were no women so beautiful as the daughters of Job in all the earth: and their father gave them a heritage among their brothers.

For this cause there will be no mercy for sinners when they are judged, and the evil-doers will have no place among the upright,

Let there be fear in your hearts, and do no sin; have bitter feelings on your bed, but make no sound. (Selah.)

There are numbers who say, Who will do us any good? the light of his face has gone from us.

For you are not a God who takes pleasure in wrongdoing; there is no evil with you.

For in death there is no memory of you; in the underworld who will give you praise?

So that he may not come rushing on my soul like a lion, wounding it, while there is no one to be my saviour.

The evil-doer in his pride says, God will not make a search. All his thoughts are, There is no God.

Let the arm of the sinner and the evil-doer be broken; go on searching for his sin till there is no more.

Send help, Lord, for mercy has come to an end; there is no more faith among the children of men.

The foolish man has said in his heart, God will not do anything. They are unclean, they have done evil works; there is not one who does good.

The Lord was looking down from heaven on the children of men, to see if there were any who had wisdom, searching after God.

They have all gone out of the way together; they are unclean, there is not one who does good, no, not one.