The king loved Esther more than all the women, and she found favor and kindness with him more than all the virgins, so that he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.

After these events King Ahasuerus promoted Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him and established his authority over all the princes who were with him.

All the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman; for so the king had commanded concerning him. But Mordecai neither bowed down nor paid homage.

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.

But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone, for they had told him who the people of Mordecai were; therefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, who were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus.

Then Esther’s maidens and her eunuchs came and told her, and the queen writhed in great anguish. And she sent garments to clothe Mordecai that he might remove his sackcloth from him, but he did not accept them.

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.

Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, and the exact amount of money that Haman had promised to pay to the king’s treasuries for the destruction of the Jews.

He also gave him a copy of the text of the edict which had been issued in Susa for their destruction, that he might show Esther and inform her, and to order her to go in to the king to implore his favor and to plead with him for her people.

Then Esther spoke to Hathach and ordered him to reply to Mordecai:

“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.”

So Mordecai went away and did just as Esther had commanded him.

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

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.

Then Haman recounted to them the glory of his riches, and the number of his sons, and every instance where the king had magnified him and how he had promoted him above the princes and servants of the king.

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.

The king said, “What honor or dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?” Then the king’s servants who attended him said, “Nothing has been done for him.”

So the king said, “Who is in the court?” Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the king’s palace in order to speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on the gallows which he had prepared for him.

The king’s servants said to him, “Behold, Haman is standing in the court.” And the king said, “Let him come in.”

So Haman came in and the king said to him, “What is to be done for the man whom the king desires to honor?” And Haman said to himself, “Whom would the king desire to honor more than me?”

and let the robe and the horse be handed over to one of the king’s most noble princes and let them array the man whom the king desires to honor and lead him on horseback through the city square, and proclaim before him, ‘Thus it shall be done to the man whom the king desires to honor.’”

So Haman took the robe and the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, and led him on horseback through the city square, and proclaimed before him, “Thus it shall be done to the man whom the king desires to honor.”

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.”

While they were still talking with him, the king’s eunuchs arrived and hastily brought Haman to the banquet which Esther had prepared.

The king arose in his anger from drinking wine and went into the palace garden; but Haman stayed to beg for his life from Queen Esther, for he saw that harm had been determined against him by the king.

Then Harbonah, one of the eunuchs who were before the king said, “Behold indeed, the gallows standing at Haman’s house fifty cubits high, which Haman made for Mordecai who spoke good on behalf of the king!” And the king said, “Hang him on it.”

Then Esther spoke again to the king, fell at his feet, wept and implored him to avert the evil scheme of Haman the Agagite and his plot which he had devised against the Jews.

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.

And all the accomplishments of his authority and strength, and the full account of the greatness of Mordecai to which the king advanced him, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Media and Persia?

Seven sons and three daughters were born to him.

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.

Then the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him.” So Satan departed from the presence of the Lord.

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.”

Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!”

Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this adversity that had come upon him, they came each one from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite; and they made an appointment together to come to sympathize with him and comfort him.

When they lifted up their eyes at a distance and did not recognize him, they raised their voices and wept. And each of them tore his robe and they threw dust over their heads toward the sky.

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.

“Why is light given to him who suffers,
And life to the bitter of soul,

“The eye of him who sees me will behold me no longer;
Your eyes will be on me, but I will not be.

“He will not return again to his house,
Nor will his place know him anymore.

“What is man that You magnify him,
And that You are concerned about him,

That You examine him every morning
And try him every moment?

“If your sons sinned against Him,
Then He delivered them into the power of their transgression.

“If he is removed from his place,
Then it will deny him, saying, ‘I never saw you.’

“If one wished to dispute with Him,
He could not answer Him once in a thousand times.

“Wise in heart and mighty in strength,
Who has defied Him without harm?

“Were He to pass by me, I would not see Him;
Were He to move past me, I would not perceive Him.

“Were He to snatch away, who could restrain Him?
Who could say to Him, ‘What are You doing?’

“God will not turn back His anger;
Beneath Him crouch the helpers of Rahab.

“How then can I answer Him,
And choose my words before Him?

“If it is a matter of power, behold, He is the strong one!
And if it is a matter of justice, who can summon Him?

“For He is not a man as I am that I may answer Him,
That we may go to court together.

“Let Him remove His rod from me,
And let not dread of Him terrify me.

“Then I would speak and not fear Him;
But I am not like that in myself.

“If He passes by or shuts up,
Or calls an assembly, who can restrain Him?

“If you would direct your heart right
And spread out your hand to Him,

“I am a joke to my friends,
The one who called on God and He answered him;
The just and blameless man is a joke.

“With Him are wisdom and might;
To Him belong counsel and understanding.

“With Him are strength and sound wisdom,
The misled and the misleader belong to Him.

“Will you speak what is unjust for God,
And speak what is deceitful for Him?

“Will you show partiality for Him?
Will you contend for God?

“Will it be well when He examines you?
Or will you deceive Him as one deceives a man?

“Will not His majesty terrify you,
And the dread of Him fall on you?

“Though He slay me,
I will hope in Him.
Nevertheless I will argue my ways before Him.

“You also open Your eyes on him
And bring him into judgment with Yourself.

“Turn Your gaze from him that he may rest,
Until he fulfills his day like a hired man.

“You forever overpower him and he departs;
You change his appearance and send him away.

“But his body pains him,
And he mourns only for himself.”

“Sounds of terror are in his ears;
While at peace the destroyer comes upon him.

“Distress and anguish terrify him,
They overpower him like a king ready for the attack,

“He rushes headlong at Him
With his massive shield.

“Let him not trust in emptiness, deceiving himself;
For emptiness will be his reward.

“The light in his tent is darkened,
And his lamp goes out above him.

“His vigorous stride is shortened,
And his own scheme brings him down.

“A snare seizes him by the heel,
And a trap snaps shut on him.

“A noose for him is hidden in the ground,
And a trap for him on the path.

“All around terrors frighten him,
And harry him at every step.

“He is torn from the security of his tent,
And they march him before the king of terrors.

“Memory of him perishes from the earth,
And he has no name abroad.

“Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked,
And this is the place of him who does not know God.”

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

“If you say, ‘How shall we persecute him?’
And ‘What pretext for a case against him can we find?’

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

“He flies away like a dream, and they cannot find him;
Even like a vision of the night he is chased away.

“The eye which saw him sees him no longer,
And his place no longer beholds him.

“His bones are full of his youthful vigor,
But it lies down with him in the dust.

Yet his food in his stomach is changed
To the venom of cobras within him.

“He sucks the poison of cobras;
The viper’s tongue slays him.

“Because he knew no quiet within him,
He does not retain anything he desires.

“Nothing remains for him to devour,
Therefore his prosperity does not endure.

“In the fullness of his plenty he will be cramped;
The hand of everyone who suffers will come against him.

“When he fills his belly,
God will send His fierce anger on him
And will rain it on him while he is eating.

“He may flee from the iron weapon,
But the bronze bow will pierce him.

“It is drawn forth and comes out of his back,
Even the glittering point from his gall.
Terrors come upon him,

Complete darkness is held in reserve for his treasures,
And unfanned fire will devour him;
It will consume the survivor in his tent.

“The heavens will reveal his iniquity,
And the earth will rise up against him.

“This is the wicked man’s portion from God,
Even the heritage decreed to him by God.”