Hear, our God, for we are despised, and turn their reproach upon their own head, and give them for a prey in a land of captivity!

But we built the wall; and all the wall was joined together to the half thereof; for the people had a mind to work.

And it came to pass that when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had defeated their counsel, we returned all of us to the wall, every one to his work.

And the builders had every one his sword girded by his side, and built. And he that sounded the trumpet was by me.

And neither I, nor my brethren, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard that followed me, none of us put off our garments: every one had his weapon on his right side.

And there were that said, We have had to pledge our fields, and our vineyards, and our houses, that we might procure corn in the dearth.

But the former governors that were before me had been chargeable to the people, and had taken of them bread and wine, besides forty shekels of silver: even their servants bore rule over the people. But I did not so, because of the fear of God.

And it came to pass when Sanballat, and Tobijah, and Geshem the Arabian, and the rest of our enemies, heard that I had built the wall, and that there was no breach left in it (though at that time I had not set up the doors in the gates),

And I came to the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, the son of Mehetabeel, who had shut himself up. And he said, Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us shut the doors of the temple; for they are coming to kill thee; even in the night are they coming to kill thee.

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

For there were many in Judah sworn to him; for he was a son-in-law of Shechaniah the son of Arah; and his son Johanan had taken the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah.

And it came to pass when the wall was built, and I had set up the doors, that the doorkeepers and the singers and the Levites were appointed.

And I said to them that the gates of Jerusalem should not be opened until the sun was hot, and that they should shut the doors and bar them while they stood by; and that there should be appointed watches of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, every one in his watch, and every one over against his house.

And my God put into my heart to gather together the nobles, and the rulers, and the people, for registration by genealogy. And I found a genealogical register of those that had come up at the first, and I found written in it:

These are the children of the province that went up out of the captivity of those that had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away, and who came again to Jerusalem and to Judah, every one to his city;

besides their servants and their maids, of whom there were seven thousand three hundred and thirty-seven; and they had two hundred and forty-five singing-men and singing-women.

all the people gathered together as one man to the open place that was before the water-gate; and they spoke to Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which Jehovah had commanded Israel.

And Ezra the scribe stood upon a high stage of wood, which they had made for the purpose. And beside him stood Mattithiah, and Shema, and Anaiah, and Urijah, and Hilkijah, and Maaseiah on his right hand; and on his left hand, Pedaiah, and Mishael, and Malchijah, and Hashum, and Hashbaddana, Zechariah, Meshullam.

And all the people went their way, to eat and to drink, and to send portions, and to make great rejoicing. For they had understood the words that were declared to them.

And they found written in the law which Jehovah had commanded through Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths in the feast of the seventh month,

And all the congregation of them that had come back from the captivity made booths, and dwelt in the booths. For since the days of Jeshua the son of Nun until that day had not the children of Israel done so. And there was very great gladness.

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,

But when they had rest, they did evil again before thee; and thou didst leave them in the hand of their enemies, and they had dominion over them; and again they cried unto thee, and thou heardest them from the heavens, and many times didst thou deliver them, according to thy mercies.

And at the head of those that sealed were Nehemiah the Tirshatha, the son of Hachaliah, and Zedekiah.

And the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the doorkeepers, the singers, the Nethinim, and all they that had separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the law of God, their wives, their sons and their daughters, every one having knowledge and having understanding,

joined with their brethren, their nobles, and entered into a curse and into an oath, to walk in the law of God, which had been given by Moses the servant of God, and to keep and do all the commandments of Jehovah our Lord, and his ordinances and his statutes;

also from Beth-Gilgal, and out of the fields of Geba and Azmaveth; for the singers had built themselves hamlets round about Jerusalem.

And that day they offered great sacrifices, and rejoiced: for God had made them rejoice with great joy; and also the women and the children rejoiced. And the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off.

because they had not met the children of Israel with bread and with water, and had hired Balaam against them, to curse them; but our God turned the curse into blessing.

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

had prepared for him a great chamber, where formerly they laid the oblations, the frankincense, and the vessels, and the tithes of the corn, the new wine and the oil, which was commanded for the Levites and the singers and the doorkeepers, and the heave-offerings of the priests.

And I came to Jerusalem, and observed the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobijah, in preparing him a chamber in the courts of the house of God.

And I perceived that the portions of the Levites had not been given, and that the Levites and the singers that did the work had fled every one to his field.

In those days also I saw Jews that had married wives of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab.

And the drinking was, according to commandment, without constraint; for so the king had appointed to all the magnates of his house, that they should do according to every man's pleasure.

After these things, when the fury of king Ahasuerus was appeased, he remembered Vashti, and what she had done, and what was decreed against her.

who had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captives who had been carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away.

And he brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle's daughter; for she had neither father nor mother and the maiden was fair and beautiful and when her father and mother were dead, Mordecai took her for his own daughter.

Esther had not made known her people nor her birth; for Mordecai had charged her that she should not make it known.

And when every maiden's turn came to go in to king Ahasuerus after that she had been treated for twelve months, according to the manner of the women (for so were the days of their purification accomplished six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with spices, and with things for the purifying of the women,

And when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her for his daughter, came to go in to the king, she required nothing but what Hegai the king's chamberlain, keeper of the women, appointed. And Esther obtained grace in the sight of all them that saw her.

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

(Esther, as Mordecai had charged her, had not yet made known her birth nor her people; for Esther did what Mordecai told her, like as when she was brought up with him.)

And all the king's servants that were in the king's gate bowed and did Haman reverence, for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence.

And it came to pass as they spoke daily to him, and he hearkened not to them, that they informed Haman, to see whether Mordecai's matters would stand; for he had told them that he was a Jew.

But he scorned to lay hands on Mordecai alone; for they had made known to him the people of Mordecai; therefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that were in all the kingdom of Ahasuerus the people of Mordecai.

Then Esther called for Hatach, one of the king's chamberlains, whom he had appointed to wait upon her, and gave him a commandment to Mordecai, to know what it was, and why it was.

And Mordecai told him of all that had happened to him, and of the sum of money that Haman had promised to pay to the king's treasuries for the Jews, to destroy them.

And he gave him a copy of the writing of the decree that had been given at Shushan to destroy them, to shew it to Esther, and to declare it to her, and to charge her that she should go in unto the king, to make supplication to him, and to make request before him, for her people.

And Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that Esther had commanded him.

And the king said, Hasten Haman, that it may be done as Esther has said. And the king and Haman came to the banquet that Esther had prepared.

And Haman told them of the glory of his riches, and the multitude of his children, and all wherein the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the princes and servants of the king.

And Haman said, Yea, Esther the queen let no man come in with the king to the banquet that she had prepared but myself; and to-morrow also I am invited to her with the king.

And it was found written, that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's chamberlains, keepers of the threshold, who had sought to lay hand on king Ahasuerus.

And the king said, Who is in the court? Now Haman had come into the outward court of the king's house, to speak to the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him.

let the royal apparel be brought with which the king arrays himself, and the horse that the king rides upon, and on the head of which the royal crown is set;

And Mordecai came again to the king's gate. But Haman hasted to his house, mourning and having his head covered.

And Haman recounted to Zeresh his wife and to all his friends all that had befallen him. Then said his wise men and Zeresh his wife to him, If Mordecai be of the seed of the Jews, before whom thou hast begun to fall, thou shalt not prevail against him, but wilt certainly fall before him.

While they were yet talking with him, the king's chamberlains came, and hasted to bring Haman to the banquet that Esther had prepared.

for we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I had held my tongue, although the adversary could not compensate the king's damage.

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

On that day did king Ahasuerus give the house of Haman the Jews' oppressor to Esther the queen. And Mordecai came before the king; for Esther had told what he was to her.

And the king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.

And Esther spoke yet again before the king, and fell down at his feet, and besought him with tears to put away the mischief of Haman the Agagite, and his device which he had devised against the Jews.

The Jews had light, and joy, and gladness, and honour.

And in every province, and in every city, wherever the king's commandment and his decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a good day. And many among the peoples of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews had fallen upon them.

And in the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar, on the thirteenth day thereof, when the king's commandment and his decree drew near to be put in execution, in the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to have power over them (but it was turned to the contrary, that the Jews had power over them that hated them),

the Jews gathered themselves together in their cities throughout the provinces of king Ahasuerus, to lay hand on such as sought their hurt. And no man could withstand them; for the fear of them had fallen upon all the peoples.

And all the princes of the provinces, and the satraps, and the governors and officers of the king, helped the Jews; for the fear of Mordecai had fallen upon them.

And the other Jews that were in the king's provinces gathered themselves together, and stood for their life, and had rest from their enemies; and they slew of them that hated them seventy-five thousand (but they laid not their hand on the prey),

And the Jews undertook to do as they had begun, and as Mordecai had written to them.

For Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the oppressor of all the Jews, had devised against the Jews to destroy them, and had cast Pur, that is, the lot, to consume them and to destroy them;

and when Esther came before the king, he commanded by letters that his wicked device, which he had devised against the Jews, should return upon his own head; and they hanged him and his sons on the gallows.

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,

to confirm these days of Purim in their fixed times, according as Mordecai the Jew and queen Esther had enjoined them, and as they had decreed for themselves and for their seed, as to the matters of the fastings and their cry.

And Job rose up, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down on the ground, and worshipped;

Because it shut not up the doors of the womb that bore me, and hid not trouble from mine eyes.

For now should I have lain down and been quiet; I should have slept: then had I been at rest,

Or with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver;

Or as a hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants that have not seen the light.

I was not in safety, neither had I quietness, neither was I at rest, and trouble came.

At the time they diminish, they are dried up; when heat affecteth them, they vanish from their place:

They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame, and the tent of the wicked be no more.

He is wise in heart and mighty in strength: who hath hardened himself against him, and had peace?

If I had called, and he had answered me, I would not believe that he hearkened to my voice, --

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

If I were wicked, woe unto me! and righteous, I will not lift up my head, being so full of shame, and beholding mine affliction; --

And wherefore didst thou bring me forth out of the womb? I had expired, and no eye had seen me.

I should be as though I had not been; I should have been carried from the womb to the grave.

Only do not two things unto me; then will I not hide myself from thee.

Wherefore dost thou hide thy face, and countest me for thine enemy?

Oh that thou wouldest hide me in Sheol, that thou wouldest keep me secret until thine anger be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me, --

I also could speak as ye: if your soul were in my soul's stead, I could join together words against you, and shake my head at you;

He hath stripped me of my glory, and taken the crown from my head.

Though his height mount up to the heavens, and his head reach unto the clouds,

Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth and he hide it under his tongue,

But the powerful man, he had the land; and the man of high rank dwelt in it.

Is not +God in the height of the heavens? And behold the summit of the stars: how exalted are they!

Would he plead against me with his great power? Nay; but he would give heed unto me.

They turn the needy out of the way: the afflicted of the land all hide themselves.