Also we inform you, as regards all the priests and Levites, singers, doorkeepers, Nethinim, and ministers of this house of God, it shall not be lawful to impose tribute, tax, and toll upon them.

Blessed be Jehovah the God of our fathers, who has put such a thing as this in the king's heart, to beautify the house of Jehovah which is at Jerusalem;

And we fasted, and besought our God for this; and he was entreated of us.

And they delivered the king's edicts to the king's satraps, and to the governors on this side the river. And they furthered the people and the house of God.

for they have taken of their daughters for themselves and for their sons, and have mingled the holy seed with the peoples of the lands; and the hand of the princes and rulers has been chief in this unfaithfulness.

And when I heard this thing, I rent my mantle and my garment, and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard, and sat down overwhelmed.

Since the days of our fathers, we have been in great trespass to this day; and for our iniquities we, our kings, our priests, have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, and to captivity, and to spoil, and to confusion of face, as it is this day.

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

And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds and for our great trespass, seeing that thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and hast given us such deliverance as this,

Jehovah, God of Israel, thou art righteous; for we are a remnant that is escaped, as it is this day. Behold, we are before thee in our trespasses; for there is no standing before thee because of this.

And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel, of the sons of Elam, answered and said to Ezra, We have acted unfaithfully toward our God, and have taken foreign wives of the peoples of the land; yet now there is hope for Israel concerning this thing.

Arise, for this matter is incumbent on thee, and we will be with thee: be of good courage, and do it.

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

But the people are many, and it is a time of pouring rain, and it is not possible to stand without: neither is this a work for one day or two; for we are many that have transgressed in this thing.

Let now our princes, while this matter is going on, stand for all the congregation, and let all those that have taken foreign wives in our cities come at the appointed times, and with them the elders of every city, and the judges thereof, until the fierce anger of our God be turned from us.

Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahzeiah the son of Tikvah stood up against this; and Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite helped them.

Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, to hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee at this time, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, confessing the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father's house have sinned.

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 prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. Now I was the king's cupbearer.

And the king said to me, Why is thy face sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sadness of heart. And I was very sore afraid.

And Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobijah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it; and they mocked us and despised us, and said, What is this thing which ye do? will ye rebel against the king?

And next to them repaired Melatiah the Gibeonite, and Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon and of Mizpah, to the seat of the governor on this side the river.

I also, my brethren and my servants, we might exact usury of them, money and corn. I pray you, let us leave off this usury.

Restore, I pray you, to them this very day their fields, their vineyards, their olive-gardens, and their houses, also the hundredth part of the money, and of the corn, the wine and the oil, that ye have exacted of them.

And they said, We will restore them, and will require nothing of them; so will we do, as thou hast said. And I called the priests, and took an oath of them, that they should do according to this promise.

Also I shook my lap, and said, So God shake out every man from his house and from his earnings, that performeth not this promise: even thus be he shaken out and emptied! And all the congregation said, Amen! And they praised Jehovah. And the people did according to this promise.

Yea, also I applied myself to this work of the wall, and we bought no fields; and all my servants were gathered thither for the work.

And that which was prepared daily was one ox and six choice sheep; also fowls were prepared for me, and once in ten days all sorts of wine in abundance. Yet for all this I demanded not the bread of the governor; for the service was heavy upon this people.

Remember for me, my God, for good, all that I have done for this people.

And they sent to me four times after this sort; and I answered them in the same manner.

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

And I perceived, and behold, God had not sent him; for he pronounced this prophecy against me; and Tobijah and Sanballat had hired him.

And it came to pass that when all our enemies heard of it, all the nations that were about us were afraid and were much cast down in their own eyes, and they perceived that this work was wrought by our God.

And Nehemiah, that is, the Tirshatha, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites that explained to the people, said to all the people, This day is holy to Jehovah your God: mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept when they heard the words of the law.

And on the twenty-fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, and with sackclothes, and earth upon them.

and didst shew signs and wonders upon Pharaoh, and upon all his servants, and upon all the people of his land; for thou knewest that they dealt proudly against them, and thou didst make thee a name, as it is this day.

Yea, when they had made them a molten calf, and said, This is thy god that brought thee up out of Egypt! and they had wrought great provocation,

And now, our God, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who keepest covenant and loving-kindness, let not all the trouble seem little before thee, that hath come upon us, on our kings, on our princes, and on our priests, and on our prophets, and on our fathers, and on all thy people, since the days of the kings of Assyria unto this day.

Behold, we are servants this day, and the land that thou gavest unto our fathers to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof, behold, we are bondmen in it.

And because of all this we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, our Levites, and our priests are at the sealing.

And before this, Eliashib the priest, who had the oversight of the chambers of the house of our God, a kinsman of Tobijah,

Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and wipe not out my good deeds which I have done for the house of my God, and for the charges thereof!

And I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said to them, What evil thing is this which ye do, profaning the sabbath day?

Did not your fathers thus, and did not our God bring all this evil upon us and upon this city? And ye will bring more wrath against Israel by profaning the sabbath.

And I commanded the Levites that they should purify themselves, and that they should come and keep the gates, to hallow the sabbath day. Remember this also for me, my God, and spare me according to thy great loving-kindness!

And should we hearken to you to do all this great evil, to act unfaithfully to our God by marrying foreign wives?

And the princesses of Persia and Media who have heard of the queen's act, will say it this day to all the king's princes, and there will be contempt and anger enough.

For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there arise relief and deliverance to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall perish. And who knows whether thou art not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?

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

Yet all this is of no avail to me so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate.

And the king said, What honour and dignity has been done to Mordecai for this? And the king's servants that attended upon him said, Nothing has been done for him.

And Esther said, The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman. Then Haman was terrified before the king and the queen.

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

to establish this among them, that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, yearly,

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

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

There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and this man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God and abstained from evil.

And his substance was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she-asses, and very many servants; and this man was greater than all the children of the east.

In all this Job sinned not, nor ascribed anything unseemly to God.

But he said to her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. We have also received good from God, and should we not receive evil? In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

And three friends of Job heard of all this evil that was come upon him. And they came each one from his place: Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite; and they made an appointment together to come to condole with him and to comfort him.

After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed his day.

Behold this, we have searched it out, so it is; hear it, and know thou it for thyself.

Behold, this is the joy of his way, and out of the dust shall others grow.

And these things didst thou hide in thy heart; I know that this was with thee.

Who knoweth not in all these, that the hand of Jehovah hath wrought this?

Lo, mine eye hath seen all this, mine ear hath heard and understood it.

This also shall be my salvation, that a profane man shall not come before his face.

Upright men shall be astonished at this, and the innocent shall be stirred up against the ungodly;

And if after my skin this shall be destroyed, yet from out of my flesh shall I see +God;

Therefore do my thoughts give me an answer, and for this is my haste within me.

Knowest thou not this, that of old, since man was placed upon earth,

This is the portion of the wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed to him by God.

Hear attentively my speech, and let this replace your consolations.

This is the portion of the wicked man with God, and the heritage of the violent, which they receive from the Almighty: --

For this is an infamy; yea, it is an iniquity to be judged by the judges:

This also would be an iniquity for the judge, for I should have denied the God who is above.

Behold, I will answer thee in this, thou art not right; for +God is greater than man.

If now thou hast understanding, hear this: give ear to the voice of my words!

When he giveth quietness, who then will disturb? and when he hideth his face, who shall behold him? and this towards a nation, or towards a man alike;

Thinkest thou this to be right, that thou saidst, My righteousness is more than God's?

Take heed, turn not to iniquity; for this hast thou chosen rather than affliction.

Aye, my heart trembleth at this also, and leapeth up out of its place:

Hearken unto this, Job; stand still and discern the wondrous works of God.

Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?

And Job lived after this a hundred and forty years, and saw his sons, and his sons' sons, four generations.

I will declare the decree: Jehovah hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; I this day have begotten thee.

Jehovah my God, if I have done this, if there be iniquity in my hands;

Thou, Jehovah, wilt keep them, thou wilt preserve them from this generation for ever.

From men who are thy hand, O Jehovah, from men of this age: their portion is in this life, and their belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure; they have their fill of sons, and leave the rest of their substance to their children.

{To the chief Musician. A Psalm of David, the servant of Jehovah, who spoke to Jehovah the words of this song in the day that Jehovah had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies and out of the hand of Saul. And he said,} I will love thee, O Jehovah, my strength.

This is the generation of them that seek unto him, that seek thy face, O Jacob. Selah.

Who is this King of glory? Jehovah strong and mighty, Jehovah mighty in battle.

Who is he, this King of glory? Jehovah of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah.

If a host encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; if war rise against me, in this will I be confident.

For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee at a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they will not reach him.

This afflicted one called, and Jehovah heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.

By this I know that thou delightest in me, because mine enemy doth not triumph over me.

All this is come upon us; yet have we not forgotten thee, neither have we dealt falsely against thy covenant:

Would not God search this out? for he knoweth the secrets of the heart.

For this God is our God for ever and ever; he will be our guide until death.