Thus Joash the king didn't remember the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but killed his son. When he died, he said, "May Yahweh look at it, and repay it."

Amaziah said to the man of God, "But what shall we do for the hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel?" The man of God answered, "Yahweh is able to give you much more than this."

Therefore the anger of Yahweh was kindled against Amaziah, and he sent to him a prophet, who said to him, "Why have you sought after the gods of the people, which have not delivered their own people out of your hand?"

It happened, as he talked with him, that [the king] said to him, "Have we made you one of the king's counselors? Stop! Why should you be struck down?" Then the prophet stopped, and said, "I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this, and have not listened to my counsel."

and they resisted Uzziah the king, and said to him, "It isn't for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to Yahweh, but for the priests the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Go out of the sanctuary; for you have trespassed; neither shall it be for your honor from Yahweh God."

So Uzziah slept with his fathers; and they buried him with his fathers in the field of burial which belonged to the kings; for they said, "He is a leper." Jotham his son reigned in his place.

But a prophet of Yahweh was there, whose name was Oded: and he went out to meet the army that came to Samaria, and said to them, "Behold, because Yahweh, the God of your fathers, was angry with Judah, he has delivered them into your hand, and you have slain them in a rage which has reached up to heaven.

and said to them, "You shall not bring in the captives here: for you purpose that which will bring on us a trespass against Yahweh, to add to our sins and to our trespass; for our trespass is great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel."

For he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus, which struck him; and he said, "Because the gods of the kings of Syria helped them, so I will sacrifice to them, that they may help me." But they were the ruin of him, and of all Israel.

and said to them, "Listen to me, you Levites! Now sanctify yourselves, and sanctify the house of Yahweh, the God of your fathers, and carry out the filthiness out of the holy place.

Then they went in to Hezekiah the king within [the palace], and said, "We have cleansed all the house of Yahweh, and the altar of burnt offering, with all its vessels, and the table of show bread, with all its vessels.

Azariah the chief priest, of the house of Zadok, answered him and said, "Since people began to bring the offerings into the house of Yahweh, we have eaten and had enough, and have left plenty: for Yahweh has blessed his people; and that which is left is this great store."

He built altars in the house of Yahweh, of which Yahweh said, "My name shall be in Jerusalem forever."

He set the engraved image of the idol, which he had made, in the house of God, of which God said to David and to Solomon his son, "In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name forever:

She said to them, "Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: 'Tell the man who sent you to me,

He said to the Levites who taught all Israel, who were holy to Yahweh, "Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David king of Israel built. There shall no more be a burden on your shoulders. Now serve Yahweh your God, and his people Israel.

The archers shot at king Josiah; and the king said to his servants, "Take me away, because I am seriously wounded!"

The governor said to them, that they should not eat of the most holy things, until there stood up a priest with Urim and with Thummim.

then they drew near to Zerubbabel, and to the heads of fathers' [houses], and said to them, "Let us build with you; for we seek your God, as you do; and we sacrifice to him since the days of Esar Haddon king of Assyria, who brought us up here."

But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of fathers' [houses] of Israel, said to them, "You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God; but we ourselves together will build to Yahweh, the God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us."

At the same time came to them Tattenai, the governor beyond the River, and Shetharbozenai, and their companions, and said thus to them, "Who gave you a decree to build this house, and to finish this wall?"

Then we asked those elders, and said to them thus, "Who gave you a decree to build this house, and to finish this wall?"

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.'

I said to them, "You are holy to Yahweh, and the vessels are holy; and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering to Yahweh, the God of your fathers.

and I said, "My God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to you, my God; for our iniquities have increased over our head, and our guiltiness has grown up to the heavens.

Ezra the priest stood up, and said to them, "You have trespassed, and have married foreign women, to increase the guilt of Israel.

Then all the assembly answered with a loud voice, "As you have said concerning us, so must we do.

They said to me, "The remnant who are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and its gates are burned with fire."

and said, "I beg you, Yahweh, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and loving kindness with those who love him and keep his commandments:

The king said to me, "Why is your face sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing else but sorrow of heart." Then I was very much afraid.

I said to the king, "Let the king live forever! Why shouldn't my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' tombs, lies waste, and its gates have been consumed with fire?"

Then the king said to me, "For what do you make request?" So I prayed to the God of heaven.

I said to the king, "If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you would send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers' tombs, that I may build it."

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

Moreover I said to the king, "If it pleases the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the River, that they may let me pass through until I come to Judah;

Then I said to them, "You see the evil case that we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire. Come, let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we won't be disgraced."

I told them of the hand of my God which was good on me, as also of the king's words that he had spoken to me. They said, "Let's rise up and build." So they strengthened their hands for the good work.

But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they ridiculed us, and despised us, and said, "What is this thing that you are doing? Will you rebel against the king?"

Then answered I them, and said to them, "The God of heaven will prosper us. Therefore we, his servants, will arise and build; but you have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem."

He spoke before his brothers and the army of Samaria, and said, "What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, since they are burned?"

Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, "What they are building, if a fox climbed up it, he would break down their stone wall."

Judah said, "The strength of the bearers of burdens is fading, and there is much rubbish; so that we are not able to build the wall."

Our adversaries said, "They shall not know, neither see, until we come into the midst of them, and kill them, and cause the work to cease."

It happened that when the Jews who lived by them came, they said to us ten times from all places, "Wherever you turn, they will attack us."

I looked, and rose up, and said to the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, "Don't be afraid of them! Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses."

I said to the nobles, and to the rulers and to the rest of the people, "The work is great and large, and we are separated on the wall, one far from another.

Likewise at the same time said I to the people, "Let everyone with his servant lodge within Jerusalem, that in the night they may be a guard to us, and may labor in the day."

For there were that said, "We, our sons and our daughters, are many. Let us get grain, that we may eat and live."

Some also there were that said, "We are mortgaging our fields, and our vineyards, and our houses. Let us get grain, because of the famine."

There were also some who said, "We have borrowed money for the king's tribute using our fields and our vineyards as collateral.

Then I consulted with myself, and contended with the nobles and the rulers, and said to them, "You exact usury, everyone of his brother." I held a great assembly against them.

I said to them, "We, after our ability, have redeemed our brothers the Jews that were sold to the nations; and would you even sell your brothers, and should they be sold to us?" Then they held their peace, and found never a word.

Also I said, "The thing that you do is not good. Ought you not to walk in the fear of our God, because of the reproach of the nations our enemies?

Then they said, "We will restore them, and will require nothing of them; so will we do, even as you say." Then I called the priests, and took an oath of them, that they would do according to this promise.

Also I shook out my lap, and said, "So may God shake out every man from his house, and from his labor, that doesn't perform this promise; even thus be he shaken out, and emptied." All the assembly said, "Amen," and praised Yahweh. The people did according to this promise.

I went to the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah the son of Mehetabel, who was shut in at his home; 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 will come to kill you; yes, in the night will they come to kill you."

I said, "Should such a man as I flee? Who is there that, being such as I, would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in."

I said to them, "Don't let the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot; and while they stand guard, let them shut the doors, and you bar them: and appoint watches of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, everyone in his watch, with everyone near his house."

The governor said to them, that they should not eat of the most holy things, until there stood up a priest with Urim and Thummim.

Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites who taught the people, said to all the people, "This day is holy to Yahweh your God. Don't mourn, nor weep." For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law.

Then he said to them, "Go your way. Eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to him for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Don't be grieved; for the joy of Yahweh is your strength."

Then the Levites, Jeshua, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, [and] Pethahiah, said, "Stand up and bless Yahweh your God from everlasting to everlasting! Bessed be your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise!

Yes, when they had made them a molten calf, and said, 'This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,' and had committed awful blasphemies;

You also multiplied their children as the stars of the sky, and brought them into the land concerning which you said to their fathers, that they should go in to possess it.

Then I contended with the rulers, and said, "Why is the house of God forsaken?" I gathered them together, and set them in their place.

Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said to them, "What evil thing is this that you do, and profane the Sabbath day?

Then I testified against them, and said to them, "Why do you stay around the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you." From that time on, they didn't come on the Sabbath.

Then the king said to the wise men, who knew the times, (for it was the king's custom to consult those who knew law and judgment;

Then the king's servants who served him said, "Let beautiful young virgins be sought for the king.

Then the king's servants, who were in the king's gate, said to Mordecai, "Why do you disobey the king's commandment?"

Haman said to King Ahasuerus, "There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom, and their laws are different than other people's. They don't keep the king's laws. Therefore it is not for the king's profit to allow them to remain.

The king said to Haman, "The silver is given to you, the people also, to do with them as it seems good to you."

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

Then the king said, "Bring Haman quickly, so that it may be done as Esther has said." So the king and Haman came to the banquet that Esther had prepared.

The king said to Esther at the banquet of wine, "What is your petition? It shall be granted you. What is your request? Even to the half of the kingdom it shall be performed."

Then Esther answered and said, "My petition and my request is this.

If I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it please the king to grant my petition and to perform my request, let the king and Haman come to the banquet that I will prepare for them, and I will do tomorrow as the king has said."

Haman also said, "Yes, Esther the queen let no man come in with the king to the banquet that she had prepared but myself; and tomorrow I am also invited by her together with 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 to the king about hanging Mordecai on it. Then go in merrily with the king to the banquet." This pleased Haman, so he had the gallows made.

The king said, "What honor and dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?" Then the king's servants who attended him said, "Nothing has been done for him."

The king said, "Who is in the court?" Now Haman had come into the outer court of the king's house, to speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him.

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

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

Haman said to the king, "For the man whom the king delights to honor,

Then the king said to Haman, "Hurry and take the clothing and the horse, as you have said, and do this for Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king's gate. Let nothing fail of all that you have spoken."

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 descent, you will not prevail against him, but you will surely fall before him."

The king said again to Esther on the second day at the banquet of wine, "What is your petition, queen Esther? It shall be granted you. What is your request? Even to the half of the kingdom it shall be performed."

Then King Ahasuerus said to Esther the queen, "Who is he, and where is he who dared presume in his heart to do so?"

Esther said, "An adversary and an enemy, even this wicked Haman!" Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen.

Then the king returned out of the palace garden into the place of the banquet of wine; and Haman had fallen on the couch where Esther was. Then the king said, "Will he even assault the queen in front of me in the house?" As the word went out of the king's mouth, they covered Haman's face.

Then Harbonah, one of the eunuchs who were with the king said, "Behold, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman has made for Mordecai, who spoke good for the king, is standing at Haman's house." The king said, "Hang him on it!"

She said, "If it pleases the king, and if I have found favor in his sight, and the thing seem right to the king, and I am pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to reverse 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.

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

The king said to Esther the queen, "The Jews have slain and destroyed five hundred men in the citadel of Susa, including the ten sons of Haman; what then have they done in the rest of the king's provinces! Now what is your petition? It shall be granted you. What is your further request? It shall be done."

Then Esther said, "If it pleases the king, let it be granted to the Jews who are in Shushan to do tomorrow also according to this day's decree, and let Haman's ten sons be hanged on the gallows."

It was so, when the days of their feasting had run their course, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, "It may be that my sons have sinned, and renounced God in their hearts." Job did so continually.

Yahweh said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Then Satan answered Yahweh, and said, "From going back and forth in the earth, and from walking up and down in it."

Yahweh said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant, Job? For there is none like him in the earth, a blameless and an upright man, one who fears God, and turns away from evil."

Then Satan answered Yahweh, and said, "Does Job fear God for nothing?

Yahweh said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your power. Only on himself don't put forth your hand." So Satan went forth from the presence of Yahweh.