Even I and my servants have been taking interest for the money and the grain we have let them have. So now, let us give up this thing.

And shaking out the folds of my robe, I said, So may God send out from his house and his work every man who does not keep this agreement; even so let him be sent out and made as nothing. And all the meeting of the people said, So be it, and gave praise to the Lord. And the people did as they had said.

Sanballat and Geshem sent to me saying, Come, let us have a meeting in one of the little towns in the lowland of Ono. But their purpose was to do me evil.

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.

And I went to the house of Shemaiah, the son of Delaiah, the son of Mehetabel, who was shut up; and he said, Let us have a meeting in the house of God, inside the Temple, and let the doors be shut: for they will come to put you to death; truly, in the night they will come to put you to death.

And I said to them, Do not let the doors of Jerusalem be open till the sun is high; and while the watchmen are in their places, let the doors be shut and locked: and let the people of Jerusalem be put on watch, every one in his watch, opposite his house.

The children of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, seven hundred and twenty-one.

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.

Then Jeshua, and Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani took their places on the steps of the Levites, crying in a loud voice to the Lord their God.

And you went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night, to give them light on the way they were to go.

Even then, in your great mercy, you did not give them up in the waste land: the pillar of cloud still went before them by day, guiding them on their way, and the pillar of fire by night, to give them light, and make clear the way they were to go.

And now, our God, the great, the strong, the God who is to be feared, who keeps faith and mercy, let not all this trouble seem small to you, which has come on us, and on our kings and our rulers and on our priests and our prophets and our fathers and on all your people from the time of the kings of Assyria till this day.

Lod and Ono, the valley of expert workers.

And Maaseiah and Shemaiah and Eleazar and Uzzi and Jehohanan and Malchijah and Elam and Ezer. And the makers of melody made their voices loud, with Jezrahiah their overseer.

But all this time I was not at Jerusalem: for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes, king of Babylon, I went to the king; and after some days, I got the king to let me go,

Keep me in mind, O my God, in connection with this, and do not let the good which I have done for the house of my God and its worship go from your memory completely.

Are we then without protest to let you do all this great evil, sinning against our God by taking strange women for your wives?

And for a long time, even a hundred and eighty days, he let them see all the wealth and the glory of his kingdom and the great power and honour which were his.

That Vashti the queen was to come before him, crowned with her crown, and let the people and the captains see her: for she was very beautiful.

If it is pleasing to the king, let an order go out from him, and let it be recorded among the laws of the Persians and the Medes, so that it may never be changed, that Vashti is never again to come before King Ahasuerus; and let the king give her place to another who is better than she.

Then the servants who were waiting on the king said to him, Let search be made for some fair young virgins for the king:

Let the king give authority to certain men in all the divisions of his kingdom, to get together all the fair young virgins and send them to Shushan, the king's town, to the women's house, under the care of Hegai, the king's servant, the keeper of the women: and let the things needed for making them clean be given to them;

And let the girl who is pleasing to the king be queen in place of Vashti. And the king was pleased with this suggestion; and he did so.

Now when they had said this to him day after day and he gave no attention, they let Haman have news of it, to see if Mordecai's behaviour would be overlooked: for he had said to them that he was a Jew.

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.

If it is the king's pleasure, let a statement ordering their destruction be put in writing: and I will give to those responsible for the king's business, ten thousand talents of silver for the king's store-house.

Now when Mordecai saw what was done, pulling off his robe, he put on haircloth, with dust on his head, and went out into the middle of the town, crying out with a loud and bitter cry.

And he gave him the copy of the order which had been given out in Shushan for their destruction, ordering him to let Esther see it, and to make it clear to her; and to say to her that she was to go in to the king, requesting his mercy, and making prayer for her people.

Go, get together all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and go without food for me, taking no food or drink night or day for three days: and I and my women will do the same; and so I will go in to the king, which is against the law: and if death is to be my fate, then let it come.

And Esther in answer said, If it seems good to the king, let the king and Haman come today to the feast which I have made ready for him.

Then the king said, Let Haman come quickly, so that what Esther has said may be done. So the king and Haman came to the feast which Esther had made ready.

If I have the king's approval, and if it is the king's pleasure to give me my prayer and do my request, let the king and Haman come to the feast which I will make ready for them, and tomorrow I will do as the king has said.

And Haman said further, Truly, Esther the queen let no man but myself come in to the feast which she had made ready for the king; and tomorrow again I am to be her guest with the king.

Then his wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, Let a pillar, fifty cubits high, be made ready for hanging him, and in the morning get the king to give orders for the hanging of Mordecai: then you will be able to go to the feast with the king with a glad heart. And Haman was pleased with the suggestion, and he had the pillar made.

And the king's servants said to him, See, Haman is waiting in the outer room. And the king said, Let him come in.

Let them take the robes which the king generally puts on, and the horse on which the king goes, and the crown which is on his head:

And let the robes and the horse be given to one of the king's most noble captains, so that they may put them on the man whom the king has delight in honouring, and let him go on horseback through the streets of the town, with men crying out before him, So let it be done to the man whom the king has delight in honouring.

Then Haman took the robes and the horse, and dressing Mordecai in the robes, he made him go on horseback through the streets of the town, crying out before him, So let it be done to the man whom the king has delight in honouring.

Then Esther the queen, answering, said, If I have your approval, O king, and if it is the king's pleasure, let my life be given to me in answer to my prayer, and my people at my request:

And she said, If it is the king's pleasure and if I have his approval and this thing seems right to the king and I am pleasing to him, then let letters be sent giving orders against those which Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, sent out for the destruction of the Jews in all divisions of the kingdom:

And Mordecai went out from before the king, dressed in king-like robes of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold and clothing of purple and the best linen: and all the town of Shushan gave loud cries of joy.

And the Jews had light and joy and honour.

Then Esther said, If it is the king's pleasure, let authority be given to the Jews in Shushan to do tomorrow as has been done today, and let orders be given for the hanging of Haman's ten sons.

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.

Let destruction take the day of my birth, and the night on which it was said, A man child has come into the world.

That day--let it be dark; let not God take note of it from on high, and let not the light be shining on it;

Let the dark and the black night take it for themselves; let it be covered with a cloud; let the dark shades of day send fear on it.

That night--let the thick dark take it; let it not have joy among the days of the year; let it not come into the number of the months.

As for that night, let it have no fruit; let no voice of joy be sounded in it;

Let it be cursed by those who put a curse on the day; who are ready to make Leviathan awake.

Let its morning stars be dark; let it be looking for light, but may it not have any; let it not see the eyes of the dawn.

Or as a child dead at birth I might never have come into existence; like young children who have not seen the light.

Why does he give light to him who is in trouble, and life to the bitter in soul;

Though the noise of the lion and the sounding of his voice, may be loud, the teeth of the young lions are broken.

Truly, that man is happy who has training from the hand of God: so do not let your heart be shut to the teaching of the Ruler of all.

If only he would be pleased to put an end to me; and would let loose his hand, so that I might be cut off!

Now then, let your eyes be turned to me, for truly I will not say what is false to your face.

Let your minds be changed, and do not have an evil opinion of me; yes, be changed, for my righteousness is still in me.

When I go to my bed, I say, When will it be time to get up? but the night is long, and I am turning from side to side till morning light.

So I will not keep my mouth shut; I will let the words come from it in the pain of my spirit, my soul will make a bitter outcry.

And why do you not take away my sin, and let my wrongdoing be ended? for now I go down to the dust, and you will be searching for me with care, but I will be gone.

Who gives orders to the sun, and it does not give its light; and who keeps the stars from shining.

He would not let me take my breath, but I would be full of bitter grief.

If I say, I will put my grief out of mind, I will let my face be sad no longer and I will be bright;

You will not let me be clear of sin! why then do I take trouble for nothing?

Let him take away his rod from me and not send his fear on me:

My soul is tired of life; I will let my sad thoughts go free in words; my soul will make a bitter outcry.

Are not the days of my life small in number? Let your eyes be turned away from me, so that I may have a little pleasure,

A land of thick dark, without order, where the very light is dark.

If you put far away the evil of your hands, and let no wrongdoing have a place in your tent;

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.

They go feeling about in the dark without light, wandering without help like those overcome with wine.

Keep quiet, and let me say what is in my mind, whatever may come to me.

Take your hand far away from me; and let me not be overcome by fear of you.

Then at the sound of your voice I will give answer; or let me put forward my cause for you to give me an answer.

Let your eyes be turned away from him, and take your hand from him, so that he may have pleasure at the end of his day, like a servant working for payment.

Let him not put his hope in what is false, falling into error: for he will get deceit as his reward.

O earth, let not my blood be covered, and let my cry have no resting-place!

As for him who is false to his friend for a reward, light will be cut off from the eyes of his children.

They are changing night into day; they say, The light is near the dark.

For the light of the sinner is put out, and the flame of his fire is not shining.

The light is dark in his tent, and the light shining over him is put out.

He is sent away from the light into the dark; he is forced out of the world.

And with an iron pen and lead be cut into the rock for ever!

Though he takes care of it, and does not let it go, but keeps it still in his mouth;

Let him not see the rivers of oil, the streams of honey and milk.

Give attention with care to my words; and let this be your comfort.

Let me say what is in my mind, and after that, go on making sport of me.

How frequently is the light of the evil-doers put out, or does trouble come on them? how frequently does his wrath take them with cords?

You say, God keeps punishment stored up for his children. Let him send it on the man himself, so that he may have the punishment of it!

Let his eyes see his trouble, and let him be full of the wrath of the Ruler of all!

Your light is made dark so that you are unable to see, and you are covered by a mass of waters.

Be pleased to take teaching from his mouth, and let his words be stored up in your heart.

Your purposes will come about, and light will be shining on your ways.

They get mixed grain from the field, and they take away the late fruit from the vines of those who have wealth.

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

In the dark he makes holes in the walls of houses: in the daytime they are shutting themselves up, they have no knowledge of the light.

Is it possible for his armies to be numbered? and on whom is not his light shining?

By him a circle is marked out on the face of the waters, to the limits of the light and the dark.