In the presence of the king and the princes, Memucan said, “Queen Vashti has wronged not only the king but also all the princes and all the peoples who are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus.

Then the king’s attendants, who served him, said, “Let beautiful young virgins be sought for the king.

Then the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate said to Mordecai, “Why are you transgressing the king’s command?”

Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from those of all other people and they do not observe the king’s laws, so it is not in the king’s interest to let them remain.

The king said to Haman, “The silver is yours, and the people also, to do with them as you please.”

Then the king said to her, “What is troubling you, Queen Esther? And what is your request? Even to half of the kingdom it shall be given to you.”

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 the king said, “Bring Haman quickly that we may do as Esther desires.” So the king and Haman came to the banquet which Esther had prepared.

As they drank their wine at the banquet, the king said to Esther, “What is your petition, for it shall be granted to you. And what is your request? Even to half of the kingdom it shall be done.”

Haman also said, “Even Esther the queen let no one but me come with the king to the banquet which she had prepared; and tomorrow also I am invited by her with 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?”

Then Haman said to the king, “For the man whom the king desires to honor,

Then the king said to Haman, “Take quickly the robes and the horse as you have said, and do so for Mordecai the Jew, who is sitting at the king’s gate; do not fall short in anything of all that you have said.”

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.”

And the king said to Esther on the second day also as they drank their wine at the banquet, “What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to half of the kingdom it shall be done.”

Esther said, “A foe and an enemy is this wicked Haman!” Then Haman became terrified before the king and queen.

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.

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 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.

The king said to Queen Esther, “The Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men and the ten sons of Haman at the citadel in Susa. What then have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces! Now what is your petition? It shall even be granted you. And what is your further request? It shall also be done.”

Then said Esther, “If it pleases the king, let tomorrow also be granted to the Jews who are in Susa to do according to the edict of today; and let Haman’s ten sons be hanged on the gallows.”

When the days of feasting had completed their cycle, Job would send and consecrate them, rising up early in the morning and offering burnt offerings according to the number of them all; for Job said, “Perhaps my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” Thus Job did continually.

The Lord said to Satan, “From where do you come?” Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.”

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.”

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.

a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside 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,

He said,
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
And naked I shall return there.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.
Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.”

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.”

Satan answered the Lord and said, “Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life.

So the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your power, only spare his life.”

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

But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

And Job said,

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

“Have I said, ‘Give me something,’
Or, ‘Offer a bribe for me from your wealth,’

“For you have said, ‘My teaching is pure,
And I am innocent in your eyes.’

“They said to God, ‘Depart from us!’
And ‘What can the Almighty do to them?’

Then Job continued his discourse and said,

“And to man He said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom;
And to depart from evil is understanding.’”

And Job again took up his discourse and said,

“Have the men of my tent not said,
‘Who can find one who has not been satisfied with his meat’?

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.

Then Elihu continued and said,

“For Job has said, ‘I am righteous,
But God has taken away my right;

“For he has said, ‘It profits a man nothing
When he is pleased with God.’

“For has anyone said to God,
‘I have borne chastisement;
I will not offend anymore;

Then Elihu continued and said,

Then Elihu continued and said,

“Wait for me a little, and I will show you
That there is yet more to be said in God’s behalf.

“Who has appointed Him His way,
And who has said, ‘You have done wrong’?

Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said,

And I said, ‘Thus far you shall come, but no farther;
And here shall your proud waves stop’?

Then the Lord said to Job,

Then Job answered the Lord and said,

Then the Lord answered Job out of the storm and said,

Then Job answered the Lord and said,

It came about after the Lord had spoken these words to Job, that the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends, because you have not spoken of Me what is right as My servant Job has.

“I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord:
He said to Me, ‘You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You.

Why has the wicked spurned God?
He has said to himself, “You will not require it.”

Who have said, “With our tongue we will prevail;
Our lips are our own; who is lord over us?”

For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds;
There is no one who does good.

I said to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
I have no good besides You.”

When You said, “Seek My face,” my heart said to You,
“Your face, O Lord, I shall seek.”

Now as for me, I said in my prosperity,
“I will never be moved.”

As for me, I said in my alarm,
“I am cut off from before Your eyes”;
Nevertheless You heard the voice of my supplications
When I cried to You.

I acknowledged my sin to You,
And my iniquity I did not hide;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord”;
And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah.

They opened their mouth wide against me;
They said, “Aha, aha, our eyes have seen it!”

For I said, “May they not rejoice over me,
Who, when my foot slips, would magnify themselves against me.”

For the choir director, for Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.
I said, “I will guard my ways
That I may not sin with my tongue;
I will guard my mouth as with a muzzle
While the wicked are in my presence.”

Then I said, “Behold, I come;
In the scroll of the book it is written of me.

As for me, I said, “O Lord, be gracious to me;
Heal my soul, for I have sinned against You.”

For the choir director; according to Mahalath. A Maskil of David.
The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God,”
They are corrupt, and have committed abominable injustice;
There is no one who does good.

I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest.

The Lord said, “I will bring them back from Bashan.
I will bring them back from the depths of the sea;

If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
Behold, I would have betrayed the generation of Your children.

They said in their heart, “Let us completely subdue them.”
They have burned all the meeting places of God in the land.

“I said to the boastful, ‘Do not boast,’
And to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up the horn;

Then I said, “It is my grief,
That the right hand of the Most High has changed.”

Then they spoke against God;
They said, “Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?

I said, “You are gods,
And all of you are sons of the Most High.

They have said, “Come, and let us wipe them out as a nation,
That the name of Israel be remembered no more.”

Who said, “Let us possess for ourselves
The pastures of God.”

But of Zion it shall be said, “This one and that one were born in her”;
And the Most High Himself will establish her.

For I have said, “Lovingkindness will be built up forever;
In the heavens You will establish Your faithfulness.”

Once You spoke in vision to Your godly ones,
And said, “I have given help to one who is mighty;
I have exalted one chosen from the people.

They have said, “The Lord does not see,
Nor does the God of Jacob pay heed.”

“For forty years I loathed that generation,
And said they are a people who err in their heart,
And they do not know My ways.

Therefore He said that He would destroy them,
Had not Moses His chosen one stood in the breach before Him,
To turn away His wrath from destroying them.

I believed when I said,
“I am greatly afflicted.”

I said in my alarm,
“All men are liars.”

A Song of Ascents, of David.
I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord.”