And he also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God. But he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart against turning to LORD, the God of Israel.

And those who had escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon, and they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia,

Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth has LORD, the God of heaven, given me. And he has charged me to build a house for him in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all his people, LORD

Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth has LORD, the God of heaven, given me, and he has charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

Whoever there is among you of all his people, his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of LORD, the God of Israel (he is God), which is in Jerusalem.

And whoever is left, in any place where he sojourns, let the men of his place help him with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, besides the freewill-offering for the house of God which is in Jerusalem.

then they drew near to Zerubbabel, and to the heads of fathers, and said to them, Let us build with you, for we seek your God, as ye do, and we sacrifice to him since the days of Esar-haddon king of Assyria who brought us up here.

they sent a letter to him, in which was written thus: To Darius the king, all peace.

And he said to him, Take these vessels. Go put them in the temple that is in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be built in its place.

Also I have made a decree, that whoever shall alter this word, let a beam be pulled out from his house, and let him be lifted up and fastened thereon, and let his house be made a dunghill for this.

this Ezra went up from Babylon. And he was a skilled scribe in the law of Moses, which LORD, the God of Israel, had given. And the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of LORD his God upon him.

For upon the first [day] of the first month he began to go up from Babylon, and on the first [day] of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him.

And thou, Ezra, according to the wisdom of thy God, that is in thy hand, appoint magistrates and judges, who may judge all the people who are beyond the River, all such as know the laws of thy God, and teach ye him who does not kno

And whoever will not do the law of thy God, and the law of the king, let judgment be executed upon him with all diligence, whether it be to death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment.

of the sons of Shecaniah, of the sons of Parosh, Zechariah, and with him were reckoned by genealogy of the males a hundred and fifty;

of the sons of Pahath-moab, Eliehoenai the son of Zerahiah, and with him two hundred males;

of the sons of Shecaniah, the son of Jahaziel, and with him three hundred males;

and of the sons of Adin, Ebed the son of Jonathan, and with him fifty males;

and of the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah, and with him seventy males;

and of the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah the son of Michael, and with him eighty males;

of the sons of Joab, Obadiah the son of Jehiel, and with him two hundred and eighteen males;

and of the sons of Shelomith, the son of Josiphiah, and with him a hundred and sixty males;

and of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah the son of Bebai, and with him twenty-eight males;

and of the sons of Azgad, Johanan the son of Hakkatan, and with him a hundred and ten males;

and Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, his brothers and their sons, twenty,

Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek of him a straight way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance.

For I was ashamed to ask of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way, because we had spoken to the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all those who seek him, for good, but his power an

And on the fourth day the silver and the gold and the vessels were weighed in the house of our God into the hand of Meremoth the son of Uriah the priest, and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas, and with them was Jozabad the s

Now while Ezra prayed and made confession, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, there was gathered together to him out of Israel a very great assembly of men and women and children, for the people wept very muc

and said, I beseech thee, O LORD, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and loving kindness with those who love him and keep his commandments:

O LORD, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who delight to fear thy name, and, I pray thee, prosper thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight

Now I was cupbearer to the king. And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, when wine was before him, that I took up the wine, and gave it to the king. Now I had not [formerly] been sad in

And the king said to me (the queen also sitting by him), For how long shall thy journey be? And when will thou return? So it pleased the king to send me, and I set him a time.

And next to him the men of Jericho built. And next to them Zaccur the son of Imri built.

Next to him Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, goldsmiths, repaired. And next to him Hananiah one of the perfumers repaired. And they fortified Jerusalem even to the broad wall.

And next to them Jedaiah the son of Harumaph, repaired opposite his house. And next to him Hattush the son of Hashabneiah repaired.

And next to him Shallum the son of Hallohesh, the ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, repaired, he and his daughters.

After him Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, the ruler of half the district of Beth-zur, repaired to the place opposite the sepulchers of David, and to the pool that was made, and to the house of the mighty men.

After him the Levites, Rehum the son of Bani, repaired. Next to him Hashabiah, the ruler of half the district of Keilah, repaired for his district.

After him their brothers, Bavvai the son of Henadad, the ruler of half the district of Keilah, repaired.

And next to him Ezer the son of Jeshua, the ruler of Mizpah, repaired another portion opposite the ascent to the armory at the turning [of the wall].

After him Baruch the son of Zabbai earnestly repaired another portion, from the turning [of the wall] to the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest.

After him Meremoth the son of Uriah the son of Hakkoz repaired another portion, from the door of the house of Eliashib even to the end of the house of Eliashib.

And after him the priests, the men of the Plain, repaired.

After him Binnui the son of Henadad repaired another portion, from the house of Azariah to the turning [of the wall], and to the corner.

Palal the son of Uzai [repaired] opposite the turning [of the wall], and the tower that stands out from the upper house of the king, which is by the court of the guard. After him Pedaiah the son of Parosh [repaired].

After him the Tekoites repaired another portion, opposite the great tower that stands out, and to the wall of Ophel.

After them Zadok the son of Immer repaired opposite his own house. And after him Shemaiah the son of Shecaniah, the keeper of the east gate, repaired.

After him Hananiah the son of Shelemiah, and Hanun the sixth son of Zalaph, repaired another portion. After him Meshullam the son of Berechiah repaired opposite his chamber.

After him Malchijah one of the goldsmiths to the house of the Nethinim, and of the merchants, repaired opposite the gate of Hammiphkad, and to the ascent of the corner.

Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, Even that which they are building, if a fox goes up he shall break down their stone wall.

Then I sent to him, saying, There are no such things done as thou say, but thou imagine them out of thine own heart.

And I discerned, and, lo, God had not sent him, but he pronounced this prophecy against me, and Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.

For there were many in Judah sworn to him because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah the son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had taken the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah to wife.

Also they spoke of his good deeds before me, and reported my words to him. [And] Tobiah sent letters to put me in fear.

And Ezra the scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpose. And beside him stood Mattithiah, and Shema, and Anaiah, and Uriah, and Hilkiah, and Maaseiah, on his right hand, and on his left hand, Pedaiah, a

Then he said to them, Go your way, eat fat things, and drink sweet things, and send portions to him for whom nothing is prepared. For this day is holy to our LORD; neither be ye grieved, for the joy of LORD is your strength.

Thou are LORD, the God who chose Abram, and brought him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gave him the name of Abraham,

and found his heart faithful before thee, and made a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Jebusite, and the Girgashite, to give it to his seed, and have performed

And after him Gabbai, Sallai, nine hundred twenty-eight.

had prepared for him a great chamber, where formerly they laid the meal-offerings, the frankincense, and the vessels, and the tithes of the grain, the new wine, and the oil, which were given by commandment to the Levites, and the s

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

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

And one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite. Therefore I chased him from me.

in the third year of his reign, he made a feast to all his rulers and his servants, the power of Persia and Media, the ranking men and rulers of the provinces, being before him

But the queen Vashti refused to come at the king's commandment by the chamberlains. Therefore the king was very angry, and his fury burned in him.

and next to him were Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven rulers of Persia and Media who saw the king's face, and sat first in the kingdom),

For this deed of the queen will come abroad to all women, to make their husbands contemptible in their eyes when it shall be reported, King Ahasuerus commanded Vashti the queen to be brought in before him, but she did not come.

If it please the king, let there go forth a royal commandment from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes, that it be not altered, that Vashti come no more before king Ahasuerus, and let the king gi

Then the king's servants who ministered to him said, Let there be fair young virgins sought for the king.

And the maiden pleased him, and she obtained kindness from him. And he quickly gave her things for purification, with her portions, and the seven maidens who were suitable to be given her out of the king's house. And he removed her

Esther had not yet made known her kindred nor her people, as Mordecai had charged her. For Esther did the commandment of Mordecai, as when she was brought up with him.

After these things king Ahasuerus promoted Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat above all the rulers that were with him.

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

Now it came to pass, when they spoke daily to him, and he did not hearken to them, that they told Haman, to see whether Mordecai's matters would stand, for he had told them that he was a Jew.

And when Haman saw that Mordecai did not bow down, nor did him reverence, then Haman was full of wrath.

But he disdained 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 throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even the people of Mordecai

And Esther's maidens and her chamberlains came and told it to her. And the queen was exceedingly grieved. And she sent raiment to clothe Mordecai, and to take his sackcloth from off him, but he did not receive it.

Then Esther called for Hathach, one of the king's chamberlains whom he had appointed to attend upon her, and charged him to go to Mordecai, to know what this was, and why it was.

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

Also he gave him the copy of the writing of the decree that was given out in Shushan to destroy them, to show it to Esther, and to declare it to her, and to charge her that she should go in to the king to make supplication to him,

Then Esther spoke to Hathach, and gave him a message to Mordecai [saying,]

All the king's servants, and the people of the king's provinces, know, that whoever, whether man or woman, shall come to the king into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law for him, that he be put to death, except th

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

And Esther said, If it seems good to the king, let the king and Haman come this day to the banquet that I have prepared for him.

Then Haman went forth that day joyful and glad of heart. But when Haman saw Mordecai in the king's gate, that he did not stand up nor move for him, he was filled with wrath against Mordecai.

And Haman recounted to them the glory of his riches, and the multitude of his sons, and all the things in which the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the rulers and servants of the king.

Then Zeresh his wife and all his friends said to him, Let a gallows be made fifty cubits high, and in the morning speak thou to the king that Mordecai may be hanged on it. Then go thou in merrily with the king to the banquet. And t

And the king said, What honor and dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this? Then the king's servants who ministered to him said, There is nothing done for him.

And the king said, Who is in the court? Now Haman came 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.

And the king's servants said to him, Behold, Haman stands in the court. And the king said, Let him come in.

So Haman came in. And the king said to him, What shall be done to the man whom the king delights to honor? Now Haman said in his heart, To whom would the king delight to do honor more than to myself?

And let the apparel and the horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king's most noble rulers, that they may array the man therewith whom the king delights to honor, and cause him to ride on horseback through the street of the

Then Haman took the apparel and the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, and caused him to ride through the street of the city, and proclaimed before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor.

And Haman recounted to Zeresh his wife and all his friends everything that had befallen him. Then his wise men and Zeresh his wife said to him, If Mordecai, before whom thou have begun to fall, be of the seed of the Jews, thou shal

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

And the king arose in his wrath from the banquet of wine [and went] into the palace garden. And Haman stood up to make request for his life to Esther the queen, for he saw that there was evil determined against him by the king.

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 that he had devised against the Jews.

Then the king Ahasuerus said to Esther the queen and to Mordecai the Jew, Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and him they have hanged upon the gallows, because he laid his hand upon the Jews.

And all the acts of his power and of his might, and the full account of the greatness of Mordecai, to what the king advanced him, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia?