All of the people went to eat, to drink, to send a share, and to have great joy because they understood the words that they had made known to them.

They found written in the law, which Yahweh had commanded by the hand of Moses, that the {Israelites} should live in booths during the festival of the seventh month,

and that they should proclaim and give voice in all of their cities in Jerusalem, saying, "Go out to the hill and bring olive tree branches, olive oil wood branches, myrtle shrub branches, palm tree branches, and other leafy tree branches to make booths, as it is written."

And he read from the scroll of the law of God day by day from the first day up to the last day. They celebrated the festival for seven days, and on the eighth day there was an assembly according to the rule.

They stood up in their place and read from the book of the law of Yahweh their God for a fourth part of the day, and for a fourth they were confessing and worshiping Yahweh their God.

You gave signs and wonders against Pharaoh, all of his servants, and all of the people of his land because you knew that they acted arrogantly against them. You made a name for yourself, as it is this day.

And you divided the sea before them, and they passed through the sea on dry ground, but their pursuers you threw into the depths like a stone into mighty waters.

You led them by day with a column of cloud and with a column of fire by night, to give them light on the way that they were to go.

"But they and our ancestors acted arrogantly and stiffened their neck and did not listen to your commandments.

They refused to listen and did not remember your wonders that you did among them. They stiffened their neck and in their rebellion {determined} to return to their slavery. But you are a God of forgiveness, gracious and compassionate, {slow to anger}, abundant in loyal love, so you did not abandon them.

Even when they made for themselves a molten idol of a calf and said, 'This is your God who brought you out from Egypt,' and committed great blasphemies.

But you in your many mercies did not abandon them in the desert. The column of cloud [that was] over them in the day did not cease to leave them on the way, and the column of fire by night [that] gave light to them on the way that they went.

Forty years you sustained them in the desert--they were not in need. Their clothing did not wear out and their feet did not swell.

And you gave them kingdoms and nations and allotted them a portion. They took into possession the land of Sihon king of Heshbon and the land of Og king of Bashan.

And they captured fortified cities and a fertile land and took possession of houses filled with every good thing: hewn cisterns, vineyards, olive groves, and many [fruit] trees. They ate and became full, and they became fat and took delight in your great goodness.

"But they rebelled and were rebellious against you and cast your law behind their back and killed your prophets, who had warned them to turn back to you, and they did great blasphemies.

Therefore you gave them into the hand of their enemy, and they brought trouble to them. Then in the time of their trouble they cried out to you, and you heard from the heavens, and according to your great compassions, you gave them saviors, and you saved them from the hand of their enemies.

But when they had rest they returned to doing evil before you, and you abandoned them in the hand of their enemies, and they ruled over them. Then they returned and cried out to you, and from the heavens you heard and many times rescued them according to your compassions.

You warned them so that they would return to your law. Yet they acted arrogantly and did not listen to your commandments but sinned against your judgments that a person must do so that they may live. They turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck and would not listen.

You were patient toward them for many years, and you have warned them by your spirit through the hand of your prophets, but they did not listen. So you gave them into the hand of the nations of the lands.

And in their kingdom and in the greatness you gave to them, and in the wide and fertile land that you gave before them, they did not serve you and did not turn from their evil deeds.

Its rich yield goes to the kings whom you have given over us because of our sins, and [they are] ruling over our dead bodies and our livestock at their pleasure. We are in great trouble.

Zanoah, Adullam and {their settlements}, Lachish and its fields, and Azekah and {its settlements}. So they camped from Beersheba up to [the] Valley [of] Hinnom.

At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites from all of their places in order to bring them to Jerusalem to do the dedication with joy, thanksgivings, song and cymbals, stringed instruments and lyres.

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.

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.

So all of Israel in the days of Zerubbabel and in the days of Nehemiah gave the daily food portions of the singers and gatekeepers. And they set apart [that which was for] the Levites, and the Levites set apart [that which was for] the descendants of Aaron.

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.

So it happened when they heard the law that they separated all of the foreign people from Israel.

prepared for [Tobiah] a large chamber where they had formerly put the grain offering, the frankincense, the [temple] objects, tithes of grain, wine, and oil commanded for the Levites, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the offerings of the priests.

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.

I appointed as treasurer over the storehouses Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, Pedaiah from the Levites, and as their hand Hanan son of Zaccur, son of Mattaniah, for they were considered faithful. [The responsibility given] to them was to distribute to their brothers.

So when it became dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I commanded that the doors be shut and said that they should not be opened until after the Sabbath. And I appointed some of my young men over the gates [to prevent] any {goods} being brought in on the day of the Sabbath.

But I warned them and said to them, "Why are you spending the night opposite the wall? If you do [it again], I will lay hands against you." From that time on they did not come on 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.

For this deed of the queen {will be known} to all the women, causing them {to look with contempt on their husbands}, as they will say, 'King Ahasuerus commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him but she did not come!'

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.

They spoke to him day after day, but he did not listen to them, and they informed Haman to see if {Mordecai's resolve would prevail}; for he had told them that he [was] a Jew.

But {he considered it beneath him} to lay hands on Mordecai only, for they told him of Mordecai's people, and Haman sought to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, who [were] in the kingdom of Ahasuerus.

And Haman said to King Ahasuerus, "There is a certain people scattered and separated among the peoples in all of the provinces of your kingdom; their laws [are] different from every [other] people, and they do not {observe} the laws of the king; it is not appropriate for the king to tolerate them.

And Esther's maids and her eunuchs came and they told her, and the queen was deeply distressed; she sent garments to clothe Mordecai so that he might remove his sackcloth--but he did not accept [them].

And they told Mordecai the words of Esther.

And the king said to Esther {while they were drinking wine}, "What [is] your petition? It will be given to you. What [is] your request? Even half the kingdom, it will done.

During that night the king's sleep escaped [him], and he gave orders to bring the {scroll of records and chronicles}, and they were read before the king.

As they [were] still speaking with him the king's eunuchs arrived and hurried to bring Haman to the banquet that Esther had prepared.

And the king again said to Esther, on the second day {while they were drinking}, "What [is] your petition, Queen Esther? It will be given to you. What [is] your request? It will be given [to you]--even half the kingdom."

And the king returned from the palace garden to the {banquet hall}, [where] Haman [was] lying prostrate on the couch that Esther [was] on, and the king said, "Will he also molest the queen with me in the house?" As the words went from the king's mouth they covered Haman's face.

And they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai, and the anger of the king was abated.

And King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, "Look, I have given Haman's house to Esther, and they have hanged him on the gallows because he {plotted against} the Jews.

The Jews struck down all their enemies with {the sword}, killing and destroying [them]; and they did as they pleased with those that hated them.

the ten sons of Haman, the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews; but they did not {touch} the plunder.

And the king said to Queen Esther, "In the citadel of Susa the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men and the ten sons of Haman. What have they done in the rest of the king's provinces? What [is] your petition? It will be granted to you. And what further [is] your request? It will be done."

And the Jews were gathered who [were] in Susa, and on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar and they killed in Susa three hundred men, but they did not {touch} the plunder.

The rest of the Jews who [were] in the king's provinces gathered and {defended their lives} and {found repose} from their enemies. And they killed seventy-five thousand of those that hated them, but they did not {touch} the plunder.

[This was] on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar. [They] rested on the fourteenth [day] and made it a day of feasting and joy.

But the Jews who [were] in Susa gathered on the thirteenth and on the fourteenth day, and rested on the fifteenth day. And they made it a day of feasting and joy.

And the Jews adopted what they had begun to do and what Mordecai had written to them.

But when it came {to the attention of} the king, he {gave orders in writing} [that] his evil plot that he had devised against the Jews should return on his head, and they hung him and his sons on the gallows.

Therefore they called these days Purim, because of the name Pur. Thus because of all the words of this letter, and of what they faced concerning this, and of what had happened to them,

the Jews established and adopted [it] for themselves and for their offspring, and for all who joined them. They did not neglect {to observe} these two days every year as it was written and appointed to them.

to establish these days of Purim at their appointed times, just as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had imposed, and just as they had imposed on themselves and their offspring regulations of the fast and their lament.

All the work of his authority and his {powerful deeds}, and the full accounting of the greatness of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him, are they not written on the scroll of the {chronicles} of the kings of Media and Persia?

And his sons used to go and hold a feast {at each other's house} on his day, and they would send, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and to drink with them.

Then the Sabeans {attacked}, and they took them, and they slew the servants {by the edge of the sword}. But I escaped, [even] I alone, to tell you."

While this one was still speaking, {another} came and said, "The Chaldeans formed three divisions, and they made a raid on the camels, and they carried them away, and they struck your servants {by the edge of the sword}, but I escaped, [even] I alone, to tell you."

And behold, a great wind came from across the desert, and it struck the four corners of the house {so that} it fell upon the young people, and they died. But I escaped, [even] I alone, to tell you."

Thus Job's three friends heard of this calamity that had come upon him. So each set out from his [own] place: Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite. And they met together to come to console him and to comfort him.

Thus they lifted up their eyes from afar, but they did not recognize him, so they raised their voice, and they wept, and each man tore his outer garment and threw dust on their heads {toward the sky}.

Then they sat with him on the ground [for] seven days and seven nights, but no one spoke a word to him because they saw that {his} suffering was very great.

[the] prisoners are at ease together; they do not hear [the] oppressor's voice.

who rejoice {exceedingly}, [and] they are glad when they find [the] grave?

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

How much more dwellers in clay houses, whose foundation [is] in the dust? They are crushed like a moth.

{Between morning and evening} they are destroyed; without [anyone] regarding [it] they perish forever.

[Is] not their tent cord pulled up within them? They die, but not in wisdom.'

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

But a human being is born to trouble, and {they soar aloft} [like] {sparks}.

In the daytime they meet [with] darkness, and they grope at noon as [in] the night.

{I refused} to touch [them]; they [are] like {food that will make me ill}.

My companions are treacherous like a torrent-bed; like a streambed of wadis they flow away,

In time they dry up, they disappear; when it [is] hot, they vanish from their place.

The paths of their way wind [around]; they go up into the wasteland, and they perish.

They are disappointed, because they trusted; they came {here} and they are confounded.

"My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and they come to an end {without hope}.

Will they themselves not teach you [and] {tell you} and {utter} words from their heart?

"[He is the one] who moves mountains, and they do not know [how], who overturns them in his anger.

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

They go by like papyrus skiffs, like an eagle swoops down on [its] prey.

"But ask [the] animals, and they will teach you, and the birds of the heaven, and they will tell you;

Look, [if] he withholds the water, then they dry up; and [if] he sends them out, then they overwhelm [the] land.

They grope [in] the dark {without} light, and he makes them stagger like a drunkard.

{so} a man lies down, and he does not arise. {Until the heavens are no more}, they will not awaken, and they will not be roused out of their sleep.

His children may [come to] honor, but he does not know [it]; or they may become lowly, but he does not realize it.

what wise men have told, and they have not hidden [that which is] from their ancestors,

Anguish and distress terrify him; they overpower him like a king ready for the battle.

{he will dwell} [in] desolate cities, in houses that they should not inhabit, which are destined for rubble.

[They] conceive trouble and bring forth mischief, and their womb prepares deceit."

They gaped at me with their mouth; they struck my cheeks with disgrace; they have massed themselves together against me.