And they have gathered together the money that was found in the house of the LORD, and have delivered it into the hand of the overseers, and to the hand of the workmen.

Go, inquire of the LORD for me, and for them that are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found: for great is the wrath of the LORD that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD, to do according to all that is written in this book.

Thus says the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the curses that are written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah:

Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be poured out upon this place, and shall not be quenched.

And as for the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, so shall you say unto him, Thus says the LORD God of Israel concerning the words which you have heard;

Because your heart was tender, and you did humble yourself before God, when you heard his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbled yourself before me, and did tear your clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard you also, says the LORD.

But he sent ambassadors to him, saying, What have I to do with you, you king of Judah? I come not against you this day, but against the house with which I am at war: for God commanded me to make haste: cease from meddling with God, who is with me, that he destroys you not.

But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of the fathers' houses of Israel, said unto them, You have nothing to do with us to build a house unto our God; but we ourselves together will build unto the LORD God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.

Be it known unto the king, that the Jews who came up from you to us have come unto Jerusalem, building the rebellious and wicked city, and are finishing its walls, and repairing the foundations.

Now because we receive support from the king's palace, and it was not proper for us to see the king's dishonor, therefore have we sent and informed the king;

That search may be made in the book of the records of your fathers: so shall you find in the book of the records, and know that this city is a rebellious city, and harmful unto kings and provinces, and that they have incited sedition within the city from of old: for which cause was this city destroyed.

We inform the king that, if this city is built again, and its walls finished, by this means you shall have no dominion on this side of the river.

And I commanded, and search has been made, and it is found that this city from of old has made insurrection against kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been made in it.

There have been mighty kings also over Jerusalem, who have ruled over all countries beyond the river; and toll, tribute, and custom, was paid unto them.

And that which they have need of, both young bullocks, and rams, and lambs, for the burnt offerings of the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the requirement of the priests who are at Jerusalem, let it be given them day by day without fail:

Also I have made a decree, that whosoever shall alter this word, let timber be pulled down from his house, and being set up, let him be impaled thereon; and let his house be made a pile of rubble because of this.

And the God that has caused his name to dwell there destroy all kings and people, that shall put their hand to alter it and to destroy this house of God which is at Jerusalem. I Darius have made a decree; let it be done diligently.

And to carry the silver and gold, which the king and his counselors have freely offered unto the God of Israel, whose habitation is in Jerusalem,

And whatsoever more shall be needful for the house of your God, which you shall have occasion to provide, provide it out of the king's treasure house.

Now when these things were done, the leaders came to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the people of the lands, in regard to their abominations, even of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.

For they have taken of their daughters as wives for themselves, and for their sons: so that the holy race has mixed itself with the people of those lands: yea, the hand of the leaders and rulers has been foremost in this trespass.

And said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to you, my God: for our iniquities have risen higher than our head, and our trespass has grown up unto the heavens.

Since the days of our fathers have we been in a great trespass unto this day; and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to plunder, and to humiliation, as it is this day.

And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? for we have forsaken your commandments,

Which you have commanded by your servants the prophets, saying, The land, unto which you go to possess it, is an unclean land with the filthiness of the people of the lands, with their abominations, which have filled it from one end to another with their uncleanness.

And Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered and said unto Ezra, We have trespassed against our God, and have married foreign wives of the people of the land: yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing.

And Ezra the priest stood up, and said unto them, You have transgressed, and have taken foreign wives, to increase the trespass of Israel.

But the people are many, and it is a time of heavy rain, and we are not able to stand outside, neither is this a work of one day or two: for we are many that have transgressed in this thing.

Let now our rulers of all the congregation stand, and let all them who have taken foreign wives in our cities come at appointed times, and with them the elders of every city, and the judges thereof, until the fierce wrath of our God for this matter is turned from us.

Let your ear now be attentive, and your eyes open, that you may hear the prayer of your servant, which I pray before you now, day and night, for the children of Israel your servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against you: both I and my father's house have sinned.

We have dealt very corruptly against you, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the ordinances, which you commanded your servant Moses.

But if you turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though some of you were cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from there, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there.

Now these are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power, and by your strong hand.

Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but you have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.

And cover not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted out from before you: for they have provoked you to anger before the builders.

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

There were also those that said, We have borrowed money for the king's tax, and that upon our lands and vineyards.

Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children: and, lo, we bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants, and some of our daughters are brought unto bondage already: neither is it in our power to redeem them; for other men have our lands and vineyards.

And I said unto them, We after our ability have redeemed our brethren the Jews, who were sold unto the nations; and will you even sell your brethren? or shall they be sold unto us? Then held they their peace, and found nothing to answer.

Moreover from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year even unto the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that is, twelve years, I and my brethren have not eaten the food allowance of the governor.

Think upon me, my God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people.

And you have also appointed prophets to proclaim concerning you at Jerusalem, saying, There is a king in Judah: and now shall it be reported to the king according to these words. Come now therefore, and let us take counsel together.

Therefore was he hired, that I should be afraid, and do so, and sin, and that they might have matter for an evil report, that they might reproach me.

My God, think you upon Tobiah and Sanballat according to these their works, and on the prophetess Noadiah, and the rest of the prophets, that would have put me in fear.

You, even you, are LORD alone; you have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and you preserve them all; and the host of heaven worships you.

And found his heart faithful before you, and made a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Jebusites, and the Girgashites, to give it, I say, to his descendants, and have performed your words; for you are righteous:

Yet you are just in all that is brought upon us; for you have done right, but we have done wickedly:

Neither have our kings, our princes, our priests, nor our fathers, kept your law, nor hearkened unto your commandments and your testimonies, with which you did testify against them.

For they have not served you in their kingdom, or in your great goodness that you gave them, or in the large and rich land which you gave before them, neither turned they from their wicked works.

And it yields much increase unto the kings whom you have 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 that we should bring the firstfruits of our dough, and our offerings, and the fruit of all manner of trees, of wine and of oil, unto the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God; and the tithes of our ground unto the Levites, that the same Levites might have the tithes in all the cities of our work.

Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and wipe not out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God, and for its service.

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

Likewise shall the ladies of Persia and Media say this day unto all the king's princes, who have heard of the deed of the queen. Thus shall there arise too much contempt and wrath.

If it please the king, let it be written that they may be destroyed: and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver to the hands of those that have the charge of the business, to bring it into the king's treasuries.

All the king's servants, and the people of the king's provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the king into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law of his to put him to death, except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden scepter, that he may live: but I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days.

And Esther answered, If it seem good unto the king, let the king and Haman come this day unto the banquet that I have prepared for him.

If I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it please the king to grant my petition, and to perform my request, let the king and Haman come to the banquet that I shall prepare for them, and I will do tomorrow as the king has said.

Then the king said to Haman, Make haste, and take the robes and the horse, as you have said, and do even so to Mordecai the Jew, that sits at the king's gate: let nothing fail of all that you have spoken.

And Haman told Zeresh his wife and all his friends everything that had befallen him. Then said his wise men and Zeresh his wife unto him, If Mordecai be of the descendants of the Jews, before whom you have begun to fall, you shall not prevail against him, but shall surely fall before him.

Then Esther the queen answered and said, If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request:

For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I would have held my tongue, although the enemy could never compensate for the king's loss.

And said, If it please the king, and if I have found favor in his sight, and the thing seems right before the king, and I am pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to reverse the letters devised by Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all the king's provinces:

Then 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.

Now in the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when the king's command and his decree drew near to be executed, in the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to have power over them, (though it was turned to the contrary, that the Jews had rule over them that hated them;)

And the king said unto Esther the queen, The Jews have slain and destroyed five hundred men in Shushan the citadel, and the ten sons of Haman; what have they done in the rest of the king's provinces? now what is your petition? and it shall be granted you: or what is your request further? and it shall be done.

And it was so, when the days of their feasting were finished, that 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. Thus did Job continually.

And the LORD said unto Satan, Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a blameless and an upright man, one that fears God, and turns away from evil?

Have not you made a hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he has on every side? you have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions are increased in the land.

And the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away; yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone am escaped to tell you.

While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell upon the camels, and have carried them away, yea, and slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone am escaped to tell you.

And the LORD said unto Satan, Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a blameless and an upright man, one that fears God, and turns away from evil? and still he holds fast his integrity, although you moved me against him, to destroy him without cause.

Let the stars of its twilight be dark; let it look for light, but have none; neither let it see the dawning of the day:

For now should I have lain still and been quiet, I should have slept: then would I have been at rest,

Behold, you have instructed many, and you have strengthened the weak hands.

Your words have upheld him that was falling, and you have strengthened the feeble knees.

Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.

I have seen the foolish taking root: but suddenly I cursed his habitation.

Lo this, we have searched it out, so it is; hear it, and know you it for your good.

Oh that I might have my request; and that God would grant me the thing that I long for!

Then should I still have comfort; yea, I would exult myself in sorrow: let him not spare; for I have not concealed the words of the Holy One.

My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook, and as the stream of brooks that pass away;

Teach me, and I will hold my tongue: and cause me to understand how I have erred.

I have sinned; what shall I do unto you, O you preserver of men? why have you set me as a mark against you, so that I am a burden to myself?

If your children have sinned against him, and he has cast them away for their transgression;

If he is destroyed from his place, then it will deny him, saying, I have not seen you.

Have you eyes of flesh? or see you as man sees?

Your hands have made me and fashioned me together totally; yet you do destroy me.

Remember, I beseech you, that you have made me as the clay; and will you bring me into dust again?

Have you not poured me out as milk, and curdled me like cheese?

You have clothed me with skin and flesh, and have knit me together with bones and sinews.

You have granted me life and favor, and your care has preserved my spirit.

And these things have you hid in your heart: I know that this is with you.

Why then have you brought me forth out of the womb? Oh that I had died, and no eye had seen me!

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

For you have said, My doctrine is pure, and I am clean in your eyes.

But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you: yea, who knows not such things as these?

Behold now, I have prepared my case; I know that I shall be justified.

Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with you, you have appointed his bounds that he cannot pass;

You shall call, and I will answer you: you will have a desire to the work of your hands.