and from the house of Gilgal, and out of the fields of Geba and Azmaveth (for the singers had built themselves villages all around Jerusalem.)

And that day they offered great sacrifices, and rejoiced. For God had made them rejoice with great joy. And the wives and the sons rejoiced, so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off.

And it happened when they had heard the Law, they separated all the mixed multitude from Israel.

and he had prepared for himself a large room where they had in days of old laid the food offering, the frankincense, and the vessels, and the tithes of the grain, the new wine, and the oil, which was commanded to be given to the Levites, and the singers, and the gatekeepers, and the offerings of the priests.

And I saw that the portions of the Levites had not been given to them; for the Levites and the singers, who did the work, had fled each one to his field.

And when these days had expired, the king made a feast to all the people who were present in Shushan the palace, both to great and small, for seven days in the court of the garden of the king's palace.

And the drinking was according to the law, no one compelling, for so the king had commanded every chief of his house that they should do according to every man's pleasure.

After these things, when the wrath of King Ahasuerus had calmed down, he remembered Vashti and what she had done, and what was decreed against her.

who had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captivity which had been carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away.

And he brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle's daughter. For she had neither father nor mother, and the young woman was fair and beautiful, whom Mordecai, when her father and mother were dead, took for his own daughter.

And it happened when the king's command and his order was heard, and when many young women had been gathered to Shushan the palace, into the hand of Hegai, Esther was also brought to the king's house, into the hand of Hegai, keeper of the women.

Esther had not revealed her people nor her kindred, for Mordecai had commanded her that she should not show it.

And when the turn of each young woman had come to go in to King Ahasuerus, after she had been purified twelve months, according to the law of the women (for so the days of their anointing were done, six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with sweet odors, and with the perfumes of the women).

And when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai who had taken her for his daughter, had come to go in to the king, she asked nothing but what was chosen by Hegai the king's officer, the keeper of the women. And Esther had favor in the sight of all who looked on her.

Esther had not yet revealed her kindred nor her people, as Mordecai had commanded her. For Esther obeyed the command of Mordecai as she did when she was brought up with him.

And all the king's servants in the king's gate bowed and worshiped Haman, for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai did not bow nor worship.

And it happened when they spoke daily to him, and when he did not listen to them, they told Haman, to see if Mordecai's matters would stand. For he had told them that he was a Jew.

And he scorned to lay hands only on Mordecai, for they had revealed to him the people of Mordecai. And Haman sought to destroy all the Jews throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, the people of Mordecai.

Then the king's scribes were called on the thirteenth day of the first month, and there was written according to all that Haman had commanded to the king's lieutenants, and to the governors who were over every province, and to the rulers of every people of every province, according to the writing of it, and to every people according to their language. It was written in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with the king's ring.

And Esther called for Hatach, one of the king's eunuchs whom he had appointed to attend on her, and gave him a command to Mordecai to know what it was and why it was.

And Mordecai told him of all that had happened to him, and of the sum of the silver which Haman had promised to pay to the king's treasuries for the Jews in order to destroy them.

And Mordecai passed over and did according to all that Esther had commanded him.

And the king said, Cause Haman to hurry so that he may do as Esther has said. And the king and Haman came to the banquet which Esther had prepared.

And Haman told them of the glory of his riches, and his many sons, and all to which the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the princes and servants of the king.

And Haman said, Yes, Esther the queen let no man but me come in with the king to the banquet that she had prepared. And also tomorrow I am invited to her banquet, with the king.

And it was found written that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's eunuchs, the keepers of the door who tried to lay a hand on King Ahasuerus.

And the king said, Who is in the court? And Haman had come into the outer court of the king's house to speak to the king to hang Mordecai on the wooden gallows which he had prepared for him.

And Haman told Zeresh his wife and all his friends every thing that had happened to him. Then his wise men and Zeresh his wife said to him, If Mordecai is of the seed of the Jews, before whom you have begun to fall, you shall not prevail against him but shall surely fall before him.

And while they were still talking with him, the king's eunuchs came. And they hurried to bring Haman to the banquet which Esther had prepared.

For we are sold, my people and I, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to perish. But if we had been sold for men-slaves and women-slaves, I would have held my tongue, although the enemy could not make up for the king's damage.

And the king returned out of the palace garden into the place of the banquet of wine. And Haman had fallen on the bed on which Esther was. And the king said, Will he also force the queen before me in the house? As the word went out of the king's mouth, they covered Haman's face.

And Harbonah, one of the eunuchs, said before the king, Also look! the wooden gallows fifty cubits high which Haman made for Mordecai, who had spoken good for the king, stands in the house of Haman. Then the king said, Hang him on it!

And they hanged Haman on the wooden gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. And the king's wrath lay down.

On that day King Ahasuerus gave the house of Haman, the Jews' enemy, to Esther the queen. And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told what he was to her.

And the king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.

And Esther spoke yet again before the king, and fell down at his feet, and begged him with tears to put away the evil of Haman the Agagite, and his plot which he had plotted against the Jews.

The Jews had light and gladness and joy and honor.

And in every province, and in every city where the king's command and his order came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a good day. And many of the people of the land became Jews, for the fear of the Jews fell on them.

And in the twelfth month, the month Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when the king's command and his order came to be done, in the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to have power over them; though it was turned around, so that the Jews had rule over the ones who hated them.

But the rest of the Jews in the king's provinces gathered themselves and stood for their lives, and had rest from their enemies, and killed seventy-five thousand of their foes. But they did not lay their hands on the spoil.

And the Jews undertook to do as they had begun, and as Mordecai had written to them

because Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them, and had cast Pur, the lot, to finish them and to destroy them.

But when Esther came before the king, he commanded by letters that his wicked plot which he had plotted against the Jews should return on his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the wooden gallows.

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

in order to confirm these days of Purim in their set times, according as Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen had ordered them, and as they had decreed for themselves and for their seed the matters of the fastings and of their cry.

And when they had gone around the day of feasting, Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts. So Job did always.

And Job's three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, and they each one came from his own place: Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. For they had met together to come to mourn with him and to comfort him.

or with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver;

They were ashamed because they had hoped; they came there and were ashamed.

If I had called and He had answered me, yet would I not believe that He had listened to my voice;

Why then have You brought me from the womb? Oh that I had given up the spirit, and no eye had seen me!

I should have been as though I had not been; I would have been carried from the womb to the grave.

For he pressed down and forsook the poor; he stole a house, but he had not built it.

But as for the mighty man, he had the earth, and the honored man lived in it.

In the dark they dig through houses which they had marked for themselves in the daytime; they do not know the light.

For I delivered the poor who cried for help, and the fatherless who had none to help him.

Also, what profit for me was the strength of their hands, for full vigor had perished from them?

if I rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because my hand had gotten much;

Oh that I had one to hear me! Behold my mark. Let the Almighty answer me, and my Accuser write an indictment.

And burned the anger of Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram. His wrath burned against Job, because he had justified himself rather than God.

Also his wrath was kindled against his three friends, because they had found no answer and had condemned Job.

And Elihu had waited beside Job with words, because they were older than he in days.

For you say, What will it benefit you? And, What good shall I have more than if I had sinned?

And it happened after Jehovah had spoken these words to Job, Jehovah said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against you and your two friends. For you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.

And Jehovah turned the captivity of Job when he prayed for his friends. Also Jehovah added to Job all that had been his, to double.

And came to him all his brothers, and all his sisters, and all those who had known him before. And they ate bread with him in his house, and consoled him and comforted him over all the evil that Jehovah had brought on him. Each one also gave him a piece of money, and each one a ring of gold.

And Jehovah blessed the latter days of Job more than the beginning. For he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses.

He also had seven sons and three daughters.

I would have fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of Jehovah in the land of the living.

When I remember these things, I pour out my soul on me; for I had gone with the multitude; I went with them to the house of God with the voice of joy and praise, a multitude keeping the feast.

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your loving-kindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.

And I, my foot had almost stumbled; my steps had nearly slipped.

And they forgot His works and His wonders which He had shown them.

though He had commanded the clouds from above, and had opened the doors of the heavens;

and had rained down manna on them to eat, and He gave them of the grain of the heavens.

how He had set His signs in Egypt, and His wonders in the fields of Zoan.

And He brought them within His own holy border, this mountain, which His right hand had bought.

Oh that My people had listened to Me, and Israel had walked in My ways!

For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than dwell in the tents of wickedness.

Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting You are God.

Unless Jehovah had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence.

He sent Moses His servant, and Aaron whom He had chosen.

Egypt was glad when they departed; for the fear of them had fallen on them.

They forgot God their Deliverer, who had done great things in Egypt;

And He said that He would destroy them, if Moses His chosen had not stood before Him in the breach, to turn away His wrath, so that He should not destroy them.

They had almost finished me on earth; but I did not forsake Your Commandments.

Unless Your Law had been my delight, I should then have perished in my affliction.

before He had made the earth, or the fields or the highest part of the dust of the world.

and, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face of it, and its stone wall was broken down.

Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done, and on the labor that I had labored to do; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit; and there is no profit under the sun.

Yes, I hated all my labor which I had done under the sun; that I must leave it to the man who shall be after me.

So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun. And behold the tears of the oppressed ones, and they had no comforter! And on the side of those who oppressed them there was power, but they had no comforter.

And so I saw the wicked buried, and they came and went from the holy place. And they were forgotten in the city, these things that they had done. This is also vanity.

But a little while after I passed from them, I found Him whom my soul loves. I held Him and would not let Him go, until I had brought Him into my mother's house, and into the room of her who conceived me.

I opened to my Beloved, but my Beloved had left. He passed on. My soul went out when He spoke; I sought Him, but I could not find Him. I called Him, but He did not answer me.

Solomon had a vineyard in Baal-hamon; he let out the vineyard to keepers; everyone for its fruit was to bring a thousand of silver.

Except Jehovah of Hosts had left us a very small remnant, we would be as Sodom; we would be like Gomorrah.

Above it stood the seraphs; each one had six wings; with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.

O Jehovah our God, lords besides You have had the rule over us; but by You only will we make mention of Your name.

O your perversity! Shall the former be counted as the potter's clay; for shall the work say of him who made it, He did not make me? Or shall the thing formed say to him who formed it, He had no understanding?