Then Darius the king made a decree, and search was made in the house of the archives where the treasures were laid up in Babylon.

Then Tattenai, the governor beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and their companions, because of what Darius the king had sent, did accordingly with all diligence.

Then I sent for Eliezer, for Ariel, for Shemaiah, and for Elnathan, and for Jarib, and for Elnathan, and for Nathan, and for Zechariah, and for Meshullam, chief men, also for Joiarib, and for Elnathan, who were teachers.

Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek of him a straight way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance.

Then I set apart twelve of the chiefs of the priests, even Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brothers with them,

Then we departed from the river Ahava on the twelfth [day] of the first month, to go to Jerusalem. And the hand of our God was upon us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and the ambushment by the way.

Then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel were assembled to me, because of the trespass of those of the captivity, and I sat confounded until the evening oblation.

And after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great guilt, seeing that thou our God have punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and have given us such a remnant,

Then Ezra arose, and made the chiefs of the priests, the Levites, and all Israel, to swear that they would do according to this word. So they swore.

Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God, and went into the chamber of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib. And [when] he came there, he ate no bread, nor drank water, for he mourned because of the trespass of those of the captivit

Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered themselves together to Jerusalem within the three days. It was the ninth month, on the twentieth [day] of the month, and all the people sat in the broad place before the house of God,

Then all the assembly answered and said with a loud voice, As thou have said concerning us, so must we do.

Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou may hearken to the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee at this time, day and night, for the sons of Israel thy servants while I confess the sins of the sons

O LORD, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who delight to fear thy name, and, I pray thee, prosper thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight

And the king said to me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou are not sick? This is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very much afraid.

Then the king said to me, For what do thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven.

Then I came to the governors beyond the River, and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent with me captains of the army and horsemen.

Then I went on to the fountain gate and to the king's pool, but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass.

Then I went up in the night by the brook, and viewed the wall. And I turned back, and entered by the valley gate, and so returned.

Then I said to them, Ye see the evil condition that we are in, how Jerusalem lays waste, and the gates of it are burned with fire. Come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem that we be no more a reproach.

Then I answered them, and said to them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us. Therefore we his servants will arise and build, but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.

Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brothers the priests, and they built the sheep gate. They sanctified it, and set up the doors of it, even to the tower of Hammeah they sanctified it, to the tower of Hananel.

But it came to pass that, when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem went forward, [and] that the breaches began to be stopped, then they

Then there arose a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brothers the Jews.

Then I consulted with myself, and contended with the ranking men and the rulers, and said to them, Ye exact usury, everyone of his brother. And I held a great assembly against them.

And I said to them, According to our ability we have redeemed our brothers the Jews, who were sold to the nations, and would ye even sell your brothers, and should they be sold to us? Then they were silent, and found not a word.

Then they said, We will restore them, and will require nothing of them, so will we do, even as thou say. Then I called the priests, and took an oath from them that they would do according to this promise.

Then Sanballat sent his servant to me in like manner the fifth time with an open letter in his hand

Then I sent to him, saying, There are no such things done as thou say, but thou imagine them out of thine own heart.

Then he said to them, Go your way, eat fat things, and drink sweet things, and send portions to him for whom nothing is prepared. For this day is holy to our LORD; neither be ye grieved, for the joy of LORD is your strength.

Then Jeshua, and Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, [and] Chenani, stood up upon the stairs of the Levites, and cried with a loud voice to LORD their God.

Then the Levites, Jeshua, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, [and] Pethahiah, said, Stand up and bless LORD your God from everlasting to everlasting. And blessed be thy glorious name, which is exalted abo

and testified against them, that thou might bring them again to thy law. Yet they dealt proudly, and did not hearken to thy commandments, but sinned against thine ordinances (which if a man does, he shall live in them), and withdre

Then I brought up the rulers of Judah upon the wall, and appointed two great companies that gave thanks and went in procession, [one went] on the right hand upon the wall toward the dung gate,

Then I commanded, and they cleansed the chambers. And there I brought again the vessels of the house of God, with the meal-offerings and the frankincense.

Then I contended with the rulers, and said, Why is the house of God forsaken? And I gathered them together, and set them in their place.

Then all Judah brought the tithe of the grain and the new wine and the oil to the treasuries.

Then I contended with the ranking men of Judah, and said to them, What evil thing is this that ye do, and profane the Sabbath day?

Then I testified against them, and said to them, Why do ye lodge around the wall? If ye do so again, I will lay hands on you. From that time forth they came no more on the Sabbath.

Shall we then hearken to you to do all this great evil, to trespass against our God in marrying foreign women?

Then the king said to the wise men who knew the times (for so was the king's manner toward all who knew law and judgment,

Then the king's servants who ministered to him said, Let there be fair young virgins sought for the king.

then the maiden came to the king in this way: Whatever she desired was given her to go with her out of the house of the women to the king's house.

And the king loved Esther above all the women. And she obtained favor and kindness in his sight more than all the virgins, so that he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti.

Then the king made a great feast to all his rulers and his servants, even Esther's feast, and he made a release to the provinces, and gave gifts according to the bounty of the king.

And when the virgins were gathered together the second time, then Mordecai was sitting in the king's gate.

Then the king's servants, who were in the king's gate, said to Mordecai, Why do thou transgress the king's commandment?

And when Haman saw that Mordecai did not bow down, nor did him reverence, then Haman was full of wrath.

Then the king's scribes were called in the first month, on the thirteenth day of it. And there was written according to all that Haman commanded to the king's satraps, and to the governors who were over every province, and to the r

Then Esther called for Hathach, one of the king's chamberlains whom he had appointed to attend upon her, and charged him to go to Mordecai, to know what this was, and why it was.

Then Esther spoke to Hathach, and gave him a message to Mordecai [saying,]

Then Mordecai bade them return answer to Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shall escape in the king's house more than all the Jews.

For if thou altogether keep quiet at this time, then relief and deliverance will arise to the Jews from another place, but thou and thy father's house will perish. And who knows whether thou have not come to the kingdom for such a

Then Esther bade them return answer to Mordecai,

Then the king said to her, What will thou, queen Esther? And what is thy request? It shall be given thee even to the half of the kingdom.

Then the king said, Cause Haman to make haste that it may be done as Esther has said. So the king and Haman came to the banquet that Esther had prepared.

Then Esther answered, and said, My petition and my request is,

Then Haman went forth that day joyful and glad of heart. But when Haman saw Mordecai in the king's gate, that he did not stand up nor move for him, he was filled with wrath against Mordecai.

Then Zeresh his wife and all his friends said to him, Let a gallows be made fifty cubits high, and in the morning speak thou to the king that Mordecai may be hanged on it. Then go thou in merrily with the king to the banquet. And t

And the king said, What honor and dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this? Then the king's servants who ministered to him said, There is nothing done for him.

So Haman came in. And the king said to him, What shall be done to the man whom the king delights to honor? Now Haman said in his heart, To whom would the king delight to do honor more than to myself?

Then the king said to Haman, Make haste, and take the apparel and the horse, as thou have said, and do even so to Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king's gate. Let nothing fail of all that thou have spoken.

Then Haman took the apparel and the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, and caused him to ride through the street of the city, and proclaimed before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor.

And Haman recounted to Zeresh his wife and all his friends everything that had befallen him. Then his wise men and Zeresh his wife said to him, If Mordecai, before whom thou have begun to fall, be of the seed of the Jews, thou shal

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

Then king Ahasuerus spoke and said to Esther the queen, Who is he, and where is he, who dares presume in his heart to do so?

And Esther said, An adversary and an enemy, even this wicked Haman. Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen.

Then the king returned out of the palace garden into the place of the banquet of wine, and Haman was fallen upon the couch on which Esther was. Then the king said, Will he even force the queen before me in the house? As the word we

Then Harbonah, one of the chamberlains who were before the king said, Behold also, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman has made for Mordecai, who spoke good for the king, stands in the house of Haman. And the king said, Hang

So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king's wrath was pacified.

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

Then the king Ahasuerus said to 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.

Then the king's scribes were called at that time, in the third month Sivan, on the twenty-third [day] of it. And it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded to the Jews, and to the satraps, and the governors and rulers

And the king said to Esther the queen, The Jews have slain and destroyed five hundred men in Shushan the palace, and the ten sons of Haman. What then have they done in the rest of the king's provinces! Now what is thy petition? And

Then Esther said, If it please the king, let it be granted to the Jews who are in Shushan to do tomorrow also according to this day's decree, and let Haman's ten sons be hanged upon the gallows.

Then Esther the queen, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew, wrote with all authority to confirm this second letter of Purim.

And LORD said to Satan, From where do thou come? Then Satan answered LORD, and said, From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.

Then Satan answered LORD, and said, Does Job fear God for nothing?

Then Job arose, and tore his robe, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped.

Then his wife said to him, Do thou still hold fast thine integrity? Renounce God, and die.

For now I should have lain down and been quiet. I should have slept. Then I would have been at rest

who long for death, but it comes not, and dig for it more than for hid treasures,

Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered, and said,

Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up.

Shall mortal man be more just than God? Shall a man be more pure than his maker?

Thou shall know also that thy seed shall be great, and thine offspring as the grass of the earth.

Then Job answered and said,

For now it would be heavier than the sand of the seas. Therefore my words have been rash.

My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and are spent without hope.

The eye of him who sees me shall behold me no more. Thine eyes shall be upon me, but I shall not be.

Then thou scare me with dreams, and terrify me through visions,

so that my soul chooses strangling and death rather than [these] my bones.

Then Bildad the Shuhite answered, and said,

If he is destroyed from his place, then it shall deny him, [saying], I have not seen thee.

Then Job answered and said,

The earth is given into the hand of the wicked. He covers the faces of the judges of it. If not [he], who then is it?

Now my days are swifter than a runner. They flee away. They see no good,

I shall be condemned. Why then do I labor in vain?

Then I would speak, and not be afraid of him, for I am not so in myself.

If I sin, then thou mark me. And thou will not acquit me from my iniquity.