“Its abundant produce is for the kings
Whom You have set over us because of our sins;
They also rule over our bodies
And over our cattle as they please,
So we are in great distress.

Remember me for this, O my God, and do not blot out my loyal deeds which I have performed for the house of my God and its services.

And I commanded the Levites that they should purify themselves and come as gatekeepers to sanctify the sabbath day. For this also remember me, O my God, and have compassion on me according to the greatness of Your lovingkindness.

Do we then hear about you that you have committed all this great evil by acting unfaithfully against our God by marrying foreign women?”

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

This day the ladies of Persia and Media who have heard of the queen’s conduct will speak in the same way to all the king’s princes, and there will be plenty of contempt and anger.

“All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that for any man or woman who comes to the king to the inner court who is not summoned, he has but one law, that he be put to death, unless the king holds out to him the golden scepter so that he may live. And I have not been summoned to come to the king for these thirty days.”

For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?”

Esther said, “If it pleases the king, may the king and Haman come this day to the banquet that I have prepared for him.”

if I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and do what I request, may the king and Haman come to the banquet which I will prepare for them, and tomorrow I will do as the king says.”

Then Zeresh his wife and all his friends said to him, “Have a gallows fifty cubits high made and in the morning ask the king to have Mordecai hanged on it; then go joyfully with the king to the banquet.” And the advice pleased Haman, so he had the gallows made.

Then the king said to Haman, “Take quickly the robes and the horse as you have said, and do so for Mordecai the Jew, who is sitting at the king’s gate; do not fall short in anything of all that you have said.”

Haman recounted to Zeresh his wife and all his friends everything that had happened to him. Then his wise men and Zeresh his wife said to him, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish origin, you will not overcome him, but will surely fall before him.”

Then Queen Esther replied, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me as my petition, and my people as my request;

for we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed and to be annihilated. Now if we had only been sold as slaves, men and women, I would have remained silent, for the trouble would not be commensurate with the annoyance to the king.”

Then she said, “If it pleases the king and if I have found favor before him and the matter seems proper to the king and I am pleasing in his sight, let it be written to revoke 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.

So King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Behold, I have given the house of Haman to Esther, and him they have hanged on the gallows because he had stretched out his hands against the Jews.

The king said to Queen Esther, “The Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men and the ten sons of Haman at the citadel in Susa. What then have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces! Now what is your petition? It shall even be granted you. And what is your further request? It shall also be done.”

When the days of feasting had completed their cycle, Job would send and consecrate them, rising up early in the morning and offering burnt offerings according to the number of them all; for Job said, “Perhaps my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” Thus Job did continually.

The Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.”

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

and the Sabeans attacked and took them. They also slew the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”

While he was still speaking, another also came and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”

While he was still speaking, another also came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three bands and made a raid on the camels and took them and slew the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”

and behold, a great wind came from across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people and they died, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”

The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.”

The Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man fearing God and turning away from evil. And he still holds fast his integrity, although you incited Me against him to ruin him without cause.”

“Let the stars of its twilight be darkened;
Let it wait for light but have none,
And let it not see the breaking dawn;

“For now I would have lain down and been quiet;
I would have slept then, I would have been at rest,

“Behold you have admonished many,
And you have strengthened weak hands.

“Your words have helped the tottering to stand,
And you have strengthened feeble knees.

“According to what I have seen, those who plow iniquity
And those who sow trouble harvest it.

“I have seen the foolish taking root,
And I cursed his abode immediately.

“Behold this; we have investigated it, and so it is.
Hear it, and know for yourself.”

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

“But it is still my consolation,
And I rejoice in unsparing pain,
That I have not denied the words of the Holy One.

“My brothers have acted deceitfully like a wadi,
Like the torrents of wadis which vanish,

“Indeed, you have now become such,
You see a terror and are afraid.

“Have I said, ‘Give me something,’
Or, ‘Offer a bribe for me from your wealth,’

“Teach me, and I will be silent;
And show me how I have erred.

“Have I sinned? What have I done to You,
O watcher of men?
Why have You set me as Your target,
So that I am a burden to myself?

“For though I were right, I could not answer;
I would have to implore the mercy of my judge.

‘Have You eyes of flesh?
Or do You see as a man sees?

‘Remember now, that You have made me as clay;
And would You turn me into dust again?

‘You have granted me life and lovingkindness;
And Your care has preserved my spirit.

‘Yet these things You have concealed in Your heart;
I know that this is within You:

‘Why then have You brought me out of the womb?
Would that I had died and no eye had seen me!

‘I should have been as though I had not been,
Carried from womb to tomb.’

“Would He not let my few days alone?
Withdraw from me that I may have a little cheer

“For you have said, ‘My teaching is pure,
And I am innocent in your eyes.’

“For you would forget your trouble,
As waters that have passed by, you would remember it.

“But I have intelligence as well as you;
I am not inferior to you.
And who does not know such things as these?

“Behold now, I have prepared my case;
I know that I will be vindicated.

“Since his days are determined,
The number of his months is with You;
And his limits You have set so that he cannot pass.

“I will tell you, listen to me;
And what I have seen I will also declare;

What wise men have told,
And have not concealed from their fathers,

“I have heard many such things;
Sorry comforters are you all.

“But now He has exhausted me;
You have laid waste all my company.

“You have shriveled me up,
It has become a witness;
And my leanness rises up against me,
It testifies to my face.

“They have gaped at me with their mouth,
They have slapped me on the cheek with contempt;
They have massed themselves against me.

“I have sewed sackcloth over my skin
And thrust my horn in the dust.

“For You have kept their heart from understanding,
Therefore You will not exalt them.

“These ten times you have insulted me;
You are not ashamed to wrong me.

“Even if I have truly erred,
My error lodges with me.

“My relatives have failed,
And my intimate friends have forgotten me.

“I call to my servant, but he does not answer;
I have to implore him with my mouth.

“All my associates abhor me,
And those I love have turned against me.

“My bone clings to my skin and my flesh,
And I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth.

He perishes forever like his refuse;
Those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’

“Bear with me that I may speak;
Then after I have spoken, you may mock.

“Have you not asked wayfaring men,
And do you not recognize their witness?

“For you have taken pledges of your brothers without cause,
And stripped men naked.

“To the weary you have given no water to drink,
And from the hungry you have withheld bread.

“You have sent widows away empty,
And the strength of the orphans has been crushed.

“Will you keep to the ancient path
Which wicked men have trod,

“My foot has held fast to His path;
I have kept His way and not turned aside.

“I have not departed from the command of His lips;
I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.

“They spend the night naked, without clothing,
And have no covering against the cold.

“Others have been with those who rebel against the light;
They do not want to know its ways
Nor abide in its paths.

“Drought and heat consume the snow waters,
So does Sheol those who have sinned.

“What a help you are to the weak!
How you have saved the arm without strength!

“What counsel you have given to one without wisdom!
What helpful insight you have abundantly provided!

“To whom have you uttered words?
And whose spirit was expressed through you?

“Behold, all of you have seen it;
Why then do you act foolishly?

“The proud beasts have not trodden it,
Nor has the fierce lion passed over it.

“Abaddon and Death say,
‘With our ears we have heard a report of it.’

“And now I have become their taunt,
I have even become a byword to them.

“Because He has loosed His bowstring and afflicted me,
They have cast off the bridle before me.

“And now my soul is poured out within me;
Days of affliction have seized me.

“He has cast me into the mire,
And I have become like dust and ashes.

“You have become cruel to me;
With the might of Your hand You persecute me.

“Have I not wept for the one whose life is hard?
Was not my soul grieved for the needy?

“I have become a brother to jackals
And a companion of ostriches.

“I have made a covenant with my eyes;
How then could I gaze at a virgin?

“If I have walked with falsehood,
And my foot has hastened after deceit,

“If my heart has been enticed by a woman,
Or I have lurked at my neighbor’s doorway,

“If I have despised the claim of my male or female slaves
When they filed a complaint against me,

“If I have kept the poor from their desire,
Or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

Or have eaten my morsel alone,
And the orphan has not shared it

If I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing,
Or that the needy had no covering,