and from the Nethinim, whom David and the heads gave for the service of the Levites, two hundred and twenty Nethinim, all of them defined by name.

and every one who cometh not in by the third day, according to the counsel of the heads and of the elders, all his substance is devoted, and himself separated from the assembly of the removal.

Let, we pray thee, our heads of all the assembly stand, and all who are in our cities, who have settled strange wives, do come in at the times appointed, and with them the elders of city and city, and its judges, till the turning back of the fury of the wrath of our God from us, for this thing.'

and they finish with all the men who have settled strange women unto the first day of the first month.

all these have taken strange women, and there are of them women -- who adopt sons.

and they say to me, 'Those left, who have been left of the captivity there in the province, are in great evil, and in reproach, and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burnt with fire.'

And they are Thy servants, and Thy people, whom Thou hast ransomed by Thy great power, and by Thy strong hand.

And it cometh to pass, when the Jews have come who are dwelling near them, that they say to us ten times from all the places whither ye return -- they are against us.

And the builders are each with his sword, girded on his loins, and building, and he who is blowing with a trumpet is beside me.

and there are none -- I and my brethren and my servants, the men of the guard who are after me -- there are none of us putting off our garments, each hath his vessel of water.

yea, there are who are saying, 'Our sons, and our daughters, we -- are many, and we receive corn, and eat, and live.'

And there are who are saying, 'Our fields, and our vineyards, and our houses, we are pledging, and we receive corn for the famine.'

And there are who are saying, 'We have borrowed money for the tribute of the king, on our fields, and our vineyards;

also, my lap I have shaken, and I say, 'Thus doth God shake out every man, who doth not perform this thing, from his house, and from his labour; yea, thus is he shaken out and empty;' and all the assembly say, 'Amen,' and praise Jehovah; and the people do according to this thing.

the former governors who are before me have made themselves heavy on the people, and take of them in bread and wine, besides in silver forty shekels; also, their servants have ruled over the people -- and I have not done so, because of the fear of God.

And I say, 'A man such as I -- doth he flee? and who as I, that doth go in unto the temple, and live? -- I do not go in.'

Be mindful, O my God, of Tobiah, and of Sanballat, according to these his works, and also, of Noadiah the prophetess, and of the rest of the prophets who have been making me afraid.

and it cometh to pass, when all our enemies have heard, and all the nations who are round about us see, that they fall greatly in their own eyes, and know that by our God hath this work been done.

who are coming in with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, Baanah. Number of the men of the people of Israel:

And of the priests: sons of Habaiah sons of Koz, sons of Barzillai, who hath taken from the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite a wife, and is called by their name.

And Nehemiah -- he is the Tirshatha -- saith (and Ezra the priest, the scribe, and the Levites who are instructing the people) to all the people, 'To-day is holy to Jehovah your God, do not mourn, nor weep:' for all the people are weeping at their hearing the words of the law.

And he saith to them, 'Go, eat fat things, and drink sweet things, and sent portions to him for whom nothing is prepared, for to-day is holy to our Lord, and be not grieved, for the joy of Jehovah is your strength.'

Thou art He, O Jehovah God, who didst fix on Abraham, and didst bring him out from Ur of the Chaldeans, and didst make his name Abraham,

'And they are disobedient, and rebel against Thee, and cast Thy law behind their back, and Thy prophets they have slain, who testified against them, to bring them back unto Thee, and they do great despisings,

and its increase it is multiplying to the kings whom Thou hast set over us in our sins; and over our bodies they are ruling, and over our cattle, according to their pleasure, and we are in great distress.

And for all this we are making a stedfast covenant, and are writing, and over him who is sealed are our heads, our Levites, our priests.'

And the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the Nethinim, and every one who hath been separated from the peoples of the lands unto the law of God, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, every knowing intelligent one,

and the peoples of the land who are bringing in the wares and any corn on the sabbath-day to sell, we receive not of them on the sabbath, and on a holy day, and we leave the seventh year, and usury on every hand.

and the firstlings of our sons, and of our cattle, as it is written in the law, and the firstlings of our herds and our flocks, to bring in to the house of our God, to the priests who are ministering in the house of our God.

and the people give a blessing to all the men who are offering themselves willingly to dwell in Jerusalem.

And these are heads of the province who have dwelt in Jerusalem, and in cities of Judah, they have dwelt each in his possession in their cities; Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the Nethinim, and the sons of the servants of Solomon.

all the sons of Perez who are dwelling in Jerusalem are four hundred sixty and eight, men of valour.

And these are the priests and the Levites who came up with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua; Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra,

And certain are appointed on that day over the chambers for treasures, for heave-offerings, for first-fruits, and for tithes, to gather into them out of the fields of the cities the portions of the law for priests, and for Levites, for the joy of Judah is over the priests, and over the Levites, who are standing up.

Also, in those days, I have seen the Jews who have settled women of Ashdod, of Ammon, of Moab.

And it cometh to pass, in the days of Ahasuerus -- he is Ahasuerus who is reigning from Hodu even unto Cush, seven and twenty and a hundred provinces --

And at the fulness of these days hath the king made to all the people who are found in Shushan the palace, from great even unto small, a banquet, seven days, in the court of the garden of the house of the king --

On the seventh day, as the heart of the king is glad with wine, he hath said to Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, and Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas, the seven eunuchs who are ministering in the presence of the king Ahasuerus,

and he who is near unto him is Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, Memucan, seven heads of Persia and Media seeing the face of the king, who are sitting first in the kingdom --

yea, this day do princesses of Persia and Media, who have heard the word of the queen, say so to all heads of the king, even according to the sufficiency of contempt and wrath.

If to the king it be good, there goeth forth a royal word from before him, and it is written with the laws of Persia and Media, and doth not pass away, that Vashti doth not come in before the king Ahasuerus, and her royalty doth the king give to her companion who is better than she;

and the young woman who is good in the eyes of the king doth reign instead of Vashti;' and the thing is good in the eyes of the king, and he doth so.

who had been removed from Jerusalem with the removal that was removed with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon removed --

and the young woman is good in his eyes, and she receiveth kindness before him, and he hasteneth her purifications and her portions -- to give to her, and the seven young women who are provided -- to give to her, from the house of the king, and he changeth her and her young women to a good place in the house of the women.

And in the drawing nigh of the turn of Esther -- daughter of Abihail, uncle of Mordecai, whom he had taken to him for a daughter -- to come in unto the king, she hath not sought a thing except that which Hegai eunuch of the king, keeper of the women, saith, and Esther is receiving grace in the eyes of all seeing her.

After these things hath the king Ahasuerus exalted Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and lifteth him up, and setteth his throne above all the heads who are with him,

and all servants of the king, who are in the gate of the king, are bowing and doing obeisance to Haman, for so hath the king commanded for him; and Mordecai doth not bow nor do obeisance.

And the servants of the king, who are in the gate of the king, say to Mordecai, 'Wherefore art thou transgressing the command of the king?'

and it is contemptible in his eyes to put forth a hand on Mordecai by himself, for they have declared to him the people of Mordecai, and Haman seeketh to destroy all the Jews who are in all the kingdom of Ahasuerus -- the people of Mordecai.

And scribes of the king are called, on the first month, on the thirteenth day of it, and it is written according to all that Haman hath commanded, unto lieutenants of the king, and unto the governors who are over province and province, and unto the heads of people and people, province and province, according to its writing, and people and people according to its tongue, in the name of the king Ahasuerus it hath been written and sealed with the signet of the king,

And Esther calleth to Hatach, of the eunuchs of the king, whom he hath stationed before her, and giveth him a charge for Mordecai, to know what this is, and wherefore this is.

All servants of the king, and people of the provinces of the king, do know that any man and woman, who cometh in unto the king, unto the inner court, who is not called -- one law of his is to put them to death, apart from him to whom the king holdeth out the golden sceptre, then he hath lived; and I -- I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days.'

but if thou keep entirely silent at this time, respite and deliverance remaineth to the Jews from another place, and thou and the house of thy fathers are destroyed; and who knoweth whether for a time like this thou hast come to the kingdom?'

Go, gather all the Jews who are found in Shushan, and fast for me, and do not eat nor drink three days, by night and by day; also I and my young women do fast likewise, and so I go in unto the king, that is not according to law, and when I have perished -- I have perished.'

and it is found written that Mordecai had declared concerning Bigthana and Teresh, two of the eunuchs of the king, of the keepers of the threshold, who sought to put forth a hand on king Ahasuerus.

And the king saith, 'Who is in the court?' -- and Haman hath come in to the outer court of the house of the king, to say to the king to hang Mordecai on the tree that he had prepared for him --

And Haman cometh in, and the king saith to him, 'What -- to do with the man in whose honour the king hath delighted?' And Haman saith in his heart, 'To whom doth the king delight to do honour more than myself?'

And the king saith to Haman, 'Haste, take the clothing and the horse, as thou hast spoken, and do so to Mordecai the Jew, who is sitting in the gate of the king; there doth not fall a thing of all that thou hast spoken.'

and Haman recounteth to Zeresh his wife, and to all his friends, all that hath met him, and his wise men say to him, and Zeresh his wife, 'If Mordecai is of the seed of the Jews, before whom thou hast begun to fall, thou art not able for him, but dost certainly fall before him.'

And the king Ahasuerus saith, yea, he saith to Esther the queen, 'Who is he -- this one? and where is this one? -- he whose heart hath filled him to do so?'

And Harbonah, one of the eunuchs, saith before the king, 'Also lo, the tree that Haman made for Mordecai, who spake good for the king, is standing in the house of Haman, in height fifty cubits;' and the king saith, 'Hang him upon it.'

and saith, 'If to the king it be good, and if I have found grace before him, and the thing hath been right before the king, and I be good in his eyes, let it be written to bring back the letters -- a device of Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite -- that he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all provinces of the king,

that the king hath given to the Jews who are in every city and city, to be assembled, and to stand for their life, to cut off, to slay, and to destroy the whole force of the people and province who are distressing them, infants and women, and their spoil to seize.

And Esther saith, 'If to the king it be good, let it be given also to-morrow, to the Jews who are in Shushan, to do according to the law of to-day; and the ten sons of Haman they hang on the tree.'

And the Jews who are in Shushan are assembled also on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, and they slay in Shushan three hundred men, and on the prey they have not put forth their hand.

And the rest of the Jews, who are in the provinces of the king, have been assembled, even to stand for their life, and to rest from their enemies, and to slay among those hating them five and seventy thousand, and on the prey they have not put forth their hand;

And the Jews who are in Shushan have been assembled, on the thirteenth day of it, and on the fourteenth of it, even to rest on the fifteenth of it, and to make it a day of banquet and of joy.

Therefore the Jews of the villages, who are dwelling in cities of the villages, are making the fourteenth day of the month of Adar -- joy and banquet, and a good day, and of sending portions one to another.

And Mordecai writeth these things, and sendeth letters unto all the Jews who are in all provinces of the king Ahasuerus, who are near and who are far off,

Let the cursers of day mark it, Who are ready to wake up Leviathan.

Who are waiting for death, and it is not, And they seek it above hid treasures.

Who are glad -- unto joy, They rejoice when they find a grave.

To a man whose way hath been hidden, And whom God doth shut up?

Hath one tried a word with thee? -- Thou art weary! And to keep in words who is able?

Remember, I pray thee, Who, being innocent, hath perished? And where have the upright been cut off?

Who is giving rain on the face of the land, And is sending waters on the out-places.

Consumed hath been a cloud, and it goeth, So he who is going down to Sheol cometh not up.

Wise in heart and strong in power -- Who hath hardened toward Him and is at peace?

Who is removing mountains, And they have not known, Who hath overturned them in His anger.

Who is shaking earth from its place, And its pillars move themselves.

Who is speaking to the sun, and it riseth not, And the stars He sealeth up.

Lo, He snatches away, who bringeth it back? Who saith unto Him, 'What dost Thou?'

Whom, though I were righteous, I answer not, For my judgment I make supplication.

If of power, lo, the Strong One; And if of judgment -- who doth convene me?

Earth hath been given Into the hand of the wicked one. The face of its judges he covereth, If not -- where, who is he?

If He pass on, and shut up, and assemble, Who then dost reverse it?

I also have a heart like you, I am not fallen more than you, And with whom is there not like these?

'Who hath not known in all these, That the hand of Jehovah hath done this?

Who is he that doth strive with me? For now I keep silent and gasp.

Who giveth a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.

Place, I pray Thee, my pledge with Thee; Who is he that striketh hand with me?

And where is now my hope? Yea, my hope, who doth behold it?

Who doth grant now, That my words may be written? Who doth grant that in a book they may be graven?

Whom I -- I see on my side, And mine eyes have beheld, and not a stranger, Consumed have been my reins in my bosom.

Who doth declare to his face his way? And for that which he hath done, Who doth give recompence to him?

Who have been cut down unexpectedly, A flood is poured out on their foundation.

And He is in one mind, And who doth turn Him back? And His soul hath desired -- and He doth it.

Drought -- also heat -- consume snow-waters, Sheol those who have sinned.

Treating evil the barren who beareth not, And to the widow he doth no good,

And if not now, who doth prove me a liar, And doth make of nothing my word?