Now prior to this, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, being related to Tobiah,

But during all this time I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I had gone to the king. After some time, however, I asked leave from the king,

It was very displeasing to me, so I threw all of Tobiah’s household goods out of the room.

In charge of the storehouses I appointed Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah of the Levites, and in addition to them was Hanan the son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah; for they were considered reliable, and it was their task to distribute to their kinsmen.

As for their children, half spoke in the language of Ashdod, and none of them was able to speak the language of Judah, but the language of his own people.

Did not Solomon king of Israel sin regarding these things? Yet among the many nations there was no king like him, and he was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel; nevertheless the foreign women caused even him to sin.

Even one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was a son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite, so I drove him away from me.

in those days as King Ahasuerus sat on his royal throne which was at the citadel in Susa,

Drinks were served in golden vessels of various kinds, and the royal wine was plentiful according to the king’s bounty.

The drinking was done according to the law, there was no compulsion, for so the king had given orders to each official of his household that he should do according to the desires of each person.

On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar and Carkas, the seven eunuchs who served in the presence of King Ahasuerus,

to bring Queen Vashti before the king with her royal crown in order to display her beauty to the people and the princes, for she was beautiful.

Then the king said to the wise men who understood the times—for it was the custom of the king so to speak before all who knew law and justice

Now there was at the citadel in Susa a Jew whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite,

He was bringing up Hadassah, that is Esther, his uncle’s daughter, for she had no father or mother. Now the young lady was beautiful of form and face, and when her father and her mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter.

So it came about when the command and decree of the king were heard and many young ladies were gathered to the citadel of Susa into the custody of Hegai, that Esther was taken to the king’s palace into the custody of Hegai, who was in charge of the women.

Every day Mordecai walked back and forth in front of the court of the harem to learn how Esther was and how she fared.

the young lady would go in to the king in this way: anything that she desired was given her to take with her from the harem to the king’s palace.

In the evening she would go in and in the morning she would return to the second harem, to the custody of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the concubines. She would not again go in to the king unless the king delighted in her and she was summoned by name.

Now when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai who had taken her as his daughter, came to go in to the king, she did not request anything except what Hegai, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the women, advised. And Esther found favor in the eyes of all who saw her.

So Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus to his royal palace in the tenth month which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.

When the virgins were gathered together the second time, then Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate.

In those days, while Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king’s officials from those who guarded the door, became angry and sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus.

Now when the plot was investigated and found to be so, they were both hanged on a gallows; and it was written in the Book of the Chronicles in the king’s presence.

Now it was when they had spoken daily to him and he would not listen to them, that they told Haman to see whether Mordecai’s reason would stand; for he had told them that he was a Jew.

When Haman saw that Mordecai neither bowed down nor paid homage to him, Haman was filled with rage.

In the first month, which is the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, Pur, that is the lot, was cast before Haman from day to day and from month to month, until the twelfth month, that is the month Adar.

Then the king’s scribes were summoned on the thirteenth day of the first month, and it was written just as Haman commanded to the king’s satraps, to the governors who were over each province and to the princes of each people, each province according to its script, each people according to its language, being written in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with the king’s signet ring.

A copy of the edict to be issued as law in every province was published to all the peoples so that they should be ready for this day.

The couriers went out impelled by the king’s command while the decree was issued at the citadel in Susa; and while the king and Haman sat down to drink, the city of Susa was in confusion.

He went as far as the king’s gate, for no one was to enter the king’s gate clothed in sackcloth.

In each and every province where the command and decree of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and wailing; and many lay on sackcloth and ashes.

Then Esther summoned Hathach from the king’s eunuchs, whom the king had appointed to attend her, and ordered him to go to Mordecai to learn what this was and why it was.

Now it came about on the third day that Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king’s palace in front of the king’s rooms, and the king was sitting on his royal throne in the throne room, opposite the entrance to the palace.

When the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, she obtained favor in his sight; and the king extended to Esther the golden scepter which was in his hand. So Esther came near and touched the top of the scepter.

Then Haman went out that day glad and pleased of heart; but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king’s gate and that he did not stand up or tremble before him, Haman was filled with anger against Mordecai.

It was found written what Mordecai had reported concerning Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs who were doorkeepers, that they had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus.

Now when the king returned from the palace garden into the place where they were drinking wine, Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was. Then the king said, “Will he even assault the queen with me in the house?” As the word went out of the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face.

On that day King Ahasuerus gave the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews, to Queen Esther; and Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had disclosed what he was to her.

So the king’s scribes were called at that time in the third month (that is, the month Sivan), on the twenty-third day; and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded to the Jews, the satraps, the governors and the princes of the provinces which extended from India to Ethiopia, 127 provinces, to every province according to its script, and to every people according to their language as well as to the Jews according to their script and their language.

A copy of the edict to be issued as law in each and every province was published to all the peoples, so that the Jews would be ready for this day to avenge themselves on their enemies.

The couriers, hastened and impelled by the king’s command, went out, riding on the royal steeds; and the decree was given out at the citadel in Susa.

For the Jews there was light and gladness and joy and honor.

In each and every province and in each and every city, wherever the king’s commandment and his decree arrived, there was gladness and joy for the Jews, a feast and a holiday. And many among the peoples of the land became Jews, for the dread of the Jews had fallen on them.

Now in the twelfth month (that is, the month Adar), on the thirteenth day when the king’s command and edict were about to be executed, on the day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain the mastery over them, it was turned to the contrary so that the Jews themselves gained the mastery over those who hated them.

Indeed, Mordecai was great in the king’s house, and his fame spread throughout all the provinces; for the man Mordecai became greater and greater.

On that day the number of those who were killed at the citadel in Susa was reported to the king.

So the king commanded that it should be done so; and an edict was issued in Susa, and Haman’s ten sons were hanged.

This was done on the thirteenth day of the month Adar, and on the fourteenth day they rested and made it a day of feasting and rejoicing.

because on those days the Jews rid themselves of their enemies, and it was a month which was turned for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and rejoicing and sending portions of food to one another and gifts to the poor.

The command of Esther established these customs for Purim, and it was written in the book.

For Mordecai the Jew was second only to King Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews and in favor with his many kinsmen, one who sought the good of his people and one who spoke for the welfare of his whole nation.

There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and that man was blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil.

His possessions also were 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and very many servants; and that man was the greatest of all the men of the east.

Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them.

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.”

While he was still speaking, another also came and said, “Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house,

Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the Lord.

And he took a potsherd to scrape himself while he was sitting among the ashes.

Then they sat down on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights with no one speaking a word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great.

“Let the day perish on which I was to be born,
And the night which said, ‘A boy is conceived.’

“Now a word was brought to me stealthily,
And my ear received a whisper of it.

“It stood still, but I could not discern its appearance;
A form was before my eyes;
There was silence, then I heard a voice:

“Though your beginning was insignificant,
Yet your end will increase greatly.

“If I called and He answered me,
I could not believe that He was listening to my voice.

“If I should wash myself with snow
And cleanse my hands with lye,

Water wears away stones,
Its torrents wash away the dust of the earth;
So You destroy man’s hope.

To whom alone the land was given,
And no alien passed among them.

“I was at ease, but He shattered me,
And He has grasped me by the neck and shaken me to pieces;
He has also set me up as His target.

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

As I was in the prime of my days,
When the friendship of God was over my tent;

When the Almighty was yet with me,
And my children were around me;

The voice of the nobles was hushed,
And their tongue stuck to their palate.

“I put on righteousness, and it clothed me;
My justice was like a robe and a turban.

“I was eyes to the blind
And feet to the lame.

“I was a father to the needy,
And I investigated the case which I did not know.

“Indeed, what good was the strength of their hands to me?
Vigor had perished from them.

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

If I have gloated because my wealth was great,
And because my hand had secured so much;

Then these three men ceased answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.

And when Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of the three men his anger burned.

So Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite spoke out and said,
“I am young in years and you are old;
Therefore I was shy and afraid to tell you what I think.

“I even paid close attention to you;
Indeed, there was no one who refuted Job,
Not one of you who answered his words.

“Then indeed, He enticed you from the mouth of distress,
Instead of it, a broad place with no constraint;
And that which was set on your table was full of fatness.

I was crying to the Lord with my voice,
And He answered me from His holy mountain. Selah.

If I have rewarded evil to my friend,
Or have plundered him who without cause was my adversary,

Then the earth shook and quaked;
And the foundations of the mountains were trembling
And were shaken, because He was angry.

They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
But the Lord was my stay.

I was also blameless with Him,
And I kept myself from my iniquity.

They cried for help, but there was none to save,
Even to the Lord, but He did not answer them.

Upon You I was cast from birth;
You have been my God from my mother’s womb.

I shall wash my hands in innocence,
And I will go about Your altar, O Lord,

O Lord, by Your favor You have made my mountain to stand strong;
You hid Your face, I was dismayed.

For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me;
My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. Selah.

For He spoke, and it was done;
He commanded, and it stood fast.

But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth;
I humbled my soul with fasting,
And my prayer kept returning to my bosom.

Then he passed away, and lo, he was no more;
I sought for him, but he could not be found.

I was mute and silent,
I refrained even from good,
And my sorrow grew worse.

My heart was hot within me,
While I was musing the fire burned;
Then I spoke with my tongue: