At the Fountain Gate opposite them they went up the steps of the city of David, at the assent to the wall, over the house of David, and up to the Water Gate to the east.

and over the Gate of Ephraim, at the Old Gate, at the Fish Gate, the Tower of Hananel and the Tower of the Hundred, and [to] the Sheep Gate. And they [stopped and] stood at the Gate of the Guard.

So the two choirs stood in the house of God, and I and half of the prefects with me;

They offered on that day great sacrifices and rejoiced because God brought great joy to them. And the women and children also rejoiced. The joy of Jerusalem was heard from afar.

They kept the responsibility of their God and the responsibility of cleansing, and the singers and gatekeepers, according to the command of David and his son Solomon.

For in the days of David and Asaph from ancient times there was the head of the singers and a song of praise and thanksgiving to God.

On that day the book of Moses was read in the hearing of the people and it was found written in it that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever come into the assembly of God

because they did not come to meet the {Israelites} with bread and water, but hired Balaam against them in order to curse them--but our God changed the curse into a blessing.

Before this, Eliashib the priest who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God--the one related to Tobiah--

So I came to Jerusalem. And I came to learn of the wrong that Eliashib had done for Tobiah by making him a room in the courtyard of the house of God.

And I spoke [in order], and they cleansed the chambers. Then I returned the objects of the house of God--the grain offering and the frankincense.

So I quarreled with the prefects, and I said, "Why is the house of God forsaken?" And I gathered them and set them at their station.

Remember me, my God, concerning this, and do not wipe out my loyal acts which I have done in the house of my God and in his service.

Did not your ancestors do this also, and our God brought on us all of this disaster and on this city [too]? Now you are adding fierce wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath!"

And then I told two Levites that they must purify themselves and come to guard the gates in order to consecrate the day of the Sabbath. Remember this also, my God, and take pity on me according to the greatness of your loyal love.

So I quarreled with them and cursed them and beat some of their men and pulled out their hair. I made them take an oath by God: "Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves.

Did not King Solomon of Israel sin in this way? And among the many nations there was no king like him, and he was beloved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel. Yet the foreign women made even him sin.

Should we listen to you all and do this great evil, acting unfaithfully against our God by marrying foreign women?"

Remember them, my God, because of their defilements of the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites.

a contribution of the wood offering at appointed times, and for the first fruits. Remember me, my God, for good.

And let the young woman {who is pleasing} in the king's eyes become queen in place of Vashti. The thing was good in the king's eyes, and he acted accordingly.

When [the] virgins were gathered a second time, Mordecai [was] sitting at the gate of the king.

In those days Mordecai [was] sitting at the gate of the king. Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's eunuchs from the keepers of the threshold, became angry and they conspired {to assassinate} King Ahasuerus.

And all of the king's servants who [were] at the gate of the king [were] kneeling and bowing down to Haman; for so the king had commanded concerning him, but Mordecai did not kneel and bow down.

And the king's servants who [were] at the gate of the king said to Mordecai, "Why [are] you transgressing the command of the king?"

he went up to the entrance of the gate of the king, for he could not go to the gate of the king in sackcloth.

So Hathach went out to Mordecai, to the public square of the city, which [was] in front of the gate of the king,

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

If I have found favor in the eyes of the king, and if it is good to the king to grant my petition and fulfill my request, let the king and Haman come to the banquet that I will prepare for them tomorrow, and I will do according to the word of the king.

And Haman went out on that day rejoicing and {feeling good}. But when Haman saw Mordecai at the gate of the king, and he did not rise or tremble before him, Haman was filled {with rage toward} Mordecai.

But all this {fails to satisfy me} {when} I see Mordecai the Jew setting at the gate of the king."

Then the king said to Haman, "Quickly, take the clothing and the horse, just as you have said, and do so to Mordecai the Jew who sits at the gate of the king; you must not leave out anything from what you have said."

Then Mordecai returned to the gate of the king, and Haman rushed to his house mournful and with his head covered.

Then Queen Esther answered, and she said, "If I have found favor in your eyes, O king, and if it is good to the king, let my life be given to me at my petition and my people at my request;

I and my people have been sold to be destroyed and killed, to be annihilated. If we had been sold as male and female slaves I would have kept quiet, because this is not a need sufficient to trouble the king."

And Habrona, one of the eunuchs in the presence of the king, said, "Look, the same gallows that Haman had prepared for Mordecai who spoke good [for the sake] of the king stands at Haman's house, fifty cubits high." And the king said, "Hang him on it."

and she said, "If it is good to the king, and if I have found favor before him, and if the king is pleased with this matter, and {I have his approval}, let [an edict] be written to revoke the letters of the plans of Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews that [are] in all the provinces of the king.

Esther replied, "If it is good to the king, let tomorrow also be granted to the Jews who [are] in Susa to do according to the edict of today; and let them hang Haman's ten sons on the gallows."

For Mordecai the Jew [was] second-in-command to King Ahasuerus. [He was] great for the Jews and popular with many of his brothers, for he sought good for his people, {interceding for the welfare of all his descendants}.

[There] was a man in the land of Uz whose name [was] Job. That man was blameless and upright and God-fearing and turning away from evil.

{Then when} the days of the feast had run their course, {Job would send}, and he would sanctify them. Thus he would arise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings [according to] the number of all of them, because Job thought, "Perhaps my children have sinned and {cursed} God in their heart." This is what Job used to do {all the time}.

And it happened {one day} {that} the sons of God came to present themselves before Yahweh, and Satan also came into their midst.

So Yahweh said to Satan, "Have you {considered} my servant Job? Indeed, there is no one like him on the earth--a blameless man and upright and God-fearing and turning away from evil."

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

While this one was still speaking, {another} came and said, "The fire of God fell from the heavens, and it blazed up against the sheep and goats and against the servants, and it consumed them. But I escaped, [even] I alone, to tell you."

In all this, Job did not sin and did not {charge God with wrongdoing}.

{And then} one day the sons of God came to present themselves before Yahweh, and Satan also came into their midst to present himself before Yahweh.

So Yahweh {asked} Satan, "Have you {considered} my servant Job? Indeed, there is no one like him on the earth--a blameless man and upright and God-fearing and turning away from evil. And still he persists in his blamelessness {even though} you incited me against him to destroy him for nothing."

Then his wife said to him, "Are you still persisting in your blamelessness? {Curse} God and die."

So he said to her, "You speak like one of the foolish women speaks. Indeed, should we receive the good from God, but not receive the evil?" In all this, Job did not sin with his lips.

Let that day become darkness; may God not seek it from above, nor may daylight shine on it.

[Why does he give light] to a man whose way is hidden, and God has fenced him in [all] around?

[Is] not your fear [in God] your confidence? [Is not] your hope even the integrity of your ways?

By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of his anger they come to an end.

'Can a human being be more righteous than God, or can a man be more pure than his Maker?

His children are far from deliverance, and they are crushed in the gate, and there is no deliverer--

"But I myself will seek God, and to God I would commit my cause.

"Look, happy [is the] human being whom God reproves; and you must not despise the discipline of Shaddai,

for the arrows of Shaddai [are] in me; my spirit drinks their poison; the terrors of God are arrayed against me.

"{O that} my request may come, and [that] God may grant my hope,

that God would decide that he would crush me, [that] he would let loose his hand and {kill me}.

Remember that my life [is] a breath; my eye will not return to see good.

Does God pervert justice, {or} Shaddai pervert righteousness?

If you yourself would seek God, then you would plead to Shaddai for grace.

So [are] the paths of all who forget God; and [the] hope of [the] godless will perish,

whose confidence is cut off and {whose trust} [is] a spider's house.

"Look, God will not reject [the] blameless, and he will not uphold the hand of evildoers.

"Truly I know that [it is] so, but how can a human being be just before God?

God will not turn back his anger; beneath him the helpers of Rahab bow.

"And my days are swifter than a runner; they flee away; they do not see good.

I will say to God, 'You should not condemn me; let me know why you contend [against] me.

Is it good for you that you oppress, that you despise the labor of your hands, and you smile over the schemes of [the] wicked?

But, {O that} God might speak, and [that] he would open his lips to you,

and [that] he would tell you [the] secrets of wisdom, for {insight has many sides}. And know that God {on your behalf} has forgotten {some of} your guilt.

"Can you find [out] the essence of God, or can you find [out] {the ultimate limits} of Shaddai?

But {an empty-headed person} will get understanding when a wild donkey's colt is born [as] a human being.

I am a laughingstock to my friends: '[He] calls on God, and he answers him.' A righteous, blameless man [is] a laughingstock.

[The] tents of [the] destroyers are at peace, and [there is] security for those who provoke God, [for those] whom God brings into his hand.

But I would speak to Shaddai, and I desire to argue with God.

"Will you speak falsely for God? And will you speak deceitfully for him?

{Will you show partiality for him}? Or do you want to plead God's case?

"Indeed, there is hope for a tree: if it is cut down, then it will sprout again, and its new shoots will not cease;

Should he argue in talk [that] is not profitable or [in] words with which he cannot do good?

"{What is worse}, you yourself are doing away with fear, and you are lessening meditation {before} God.

Have you listened in God's confidential discussion? And do you limit wisdom to yourself?

"Are the consolations of God too small for you, a word [spoken] gently with you?

that you turn your spirit against God, and you let [such] words go out of your mouth?

Because he stretched out his hand against God, and he was arrogant to Shaddai;

God delivers me to an evil one, and he casts me into the hands of [the] wicked.

My friends scorn me; my eye pours out tears to God,

and it argues for a mortal with God, and [as] {a human} for his friend.

Surely these [are] the dwellings of [the] godless, and this [is] the dwelling place of him [who] knows not God."

know then that God has wronged me and has surrounded me [with] his net.

"Pity me, pity me, you my friends, for God's hand has touched me.

Why do you pursue me like God? And are not satisfied with my flesh?

And after my skin has been thus destroyed, but from my flesh I will see God,

He swallows riches, but he vomits them [up]; God drives them out from his stomach.

{When his stomach fills up}, [God] will send {his burning anger} upon him, and he will let [it] rain down upon him as his food.

This [is] a wicked human being's portion from God and the inheritance of his decree from God."

Their houses [are] safe without fear, and the rod of God [is] not upon them.