Even I and my servants have been taking interest for the money and the grain we have let them have. So now, let us give up this thing.

And shaking out the folds of my robe, I said, So may God send out from his house and his work every man who does not keep this agreement; even so let him be sent out and made as nothing. And all the meeting of the people said, So be it, and gave praise to the Lord. And the people did as they had said.

Now from the time when I was made ruler of the people in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year till the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes the king, for twelve years, I and my servants have never taken the food which was the right of the ruler.

But earlier rulers who were before me made the people responsible for their upkeep, and took from them bread and wine at the rate of forty shekels of silver; and even their servants were lords over the people: but I did not do so, because of the fear of God.

And I kept on with the work of this wall, and we got no land for ourselves: and all my servants were helping with the work.

And more than this, a hundred and fifty of the Jews and the rulers were guests at my table, in addition to those who came to us from the nations round about us.

Keep in mind, O my God, for my good, all I have done for this people.

Sanballat and Geshem sent to me saying, Come, let us have a meeting in one of the little towns in the lowland of Ono. But their purpose was to do me evil.

And I sent men to them saying, I am doing a great work, so that it is not possible for me to come down: is the work to be stopped while I go away from it and come down to you?

And four times they sent to me in this way, and I sent them the same answer.

Then Sanballat sent his servant to me a fifth time with an open letter in his hand;

For they were hoping to put fear in us, saying, Their hands will become feeble and give up the work so that it may not get done. But now, O God, make my hands strong.

And I said, Am I the sort of man to go in flight? what man, in my position, would go into the Temple to keep himself safe? I will not go in.

Then it became clear to me that God had not sent him: he had given this word of a prophet against me himself: and Tobiah and Sanballat had given him money to do so.

For this reason they had given him money, in order that I might be overcome by fear and do what he said and do wrong, and so they would have reason to say evil about me and put shame on me.

Keep in mind, O my God, Tobiah and Sanballat and what they did, and Noadiah, the woman prophet, and the rest of the prophets whose purpose was to put fear into me.

And they said much before me of the good he had done, and gave him accounts of my words. And Tobiah sent letters with the purpose of causing me fear.

I made my brother Hanani, and Hananiah, the ruler of the tower, responsible for the government of Jerusalem: for he was a man of good faith, fearing God more than most.

And my God put it into my heart to get together the rulers and the chiefs and the people so that they might be listed by families. And I came across a record of the names of those who came up at the first, and in it I saw these words:

And his brothers, Shemaiah, and Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel and Judah, Hanani, with the music-instruments of David, the man of God; and Ezra the scribe was at their head;

So the two bands of those who gave praise took up their positions in the house of God, and I and half of the chiefs with me:

But all this time I was not at Jerusalem: for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes, king of Babylon, I went to the king; and after some days, I got the king to let me go,

And I came to Jerusalem; and it was clear to me what evil Eliashib had done for Tobiah, in making ready for him a room in the buildings of the house of God.

And it was evil in my eyes: so I had all Tobiah's things put out of the room.

Keep me in mind, O my God, in connection with this, and do not let the good which I have done for the house of my God and its worship go from your memory completely.

And so, when the streets of Jerusalem were getting dark before the Sabbath, I gave orders for the doors to be shut and not to be open again till after the Sabbath: and I put some of my servants by the door so that nothing might be taken in on the Sabbath day.

And I gave the Levites orders to make themselves clean and come and keep the doors and make the Sabbath holy. Keep this in mind to my credit, O my God, and have mercy on me, for great is your mercy.

And one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib, the chief priest, was son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite: so I sent him away from me.

Keep them in mind, O my God, because they have put shame on the priests' name and on the agreement of the priests and the Levites.

And for the wood offering, at fixed times, and for the first fruits. Keep me in mind, O my God, for good.

If it is pleasing to the king, let an order go out from him, and let it be recorded among the laws of the Persians and the Medes, so that it may never be changed, that Vashti is never again to come before King Ahasuerus; and let the king give her place to another who is better than she.

It is common knowledge among all the king's servants and the people of every part of the kingdom, that if anyone, man or woman, comes to the king in his inner room without being sent for, there is only one law for him, that he is to be put to death; only those to whom the king's rod of gold is stretched out may keep their lives: but I have not been sent for to come before the king these thirty days.

Go, get together all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and go without food for me, taking no food or drink night or day for three days: and I and my women will do the same; and so I will go in to the king, which is against the law: and if death is to be my fate, then let it come.

Then the king said, What is your desire, Queen Esther, and what is your request? I will give it to you, even to the half of my kingdom.

Then the king said, Let Haman come quickly, so that what Esther has said may be done. So the king and Haman came to the feast which Esther had made ready.

And while they were drinking wine the king said to Esther, What is your prayer? for it will be given to you and what is your request? for it will be done, even to the half of my kingdom.

Then Esther said in answer, My prayer and my request is this:

If I have the king's approval, and if it is the king's pleasure to give me my prayer and do my request, let the king and Haman come to the feast which I will make ready for them, and tomorrow I will do as the king has said.

But all this is nothing to me while I see Mordecai the Jew seated by the king's doorway.

And let the robes and the horse be given to one of the king's most noble captains, so that they may put them on the man whom the king has delight in honouring, and let him go on horseback through the streets of the town, with men crying out before him, So let it be done to the man whom the king has delight in honouring.

And the king said to Esther again on the second day, while they were drinking, What is your prayer, Queen Esther? for it will be given to you; and what is your request? for it will be done, even to the half of my kingdom.

Then Esther the queen, answering, said, If I have your approval, O king, and if it is the king's pleasure, let my life be given to me in answer to my prayer, and my people at my request:

For we are given up, I and my people, to destruction and death and to be cut off. If we had been taken as men-servants and women-servants for a price, I would have said nothing, for our trouble is little in comparison with the king's loss.

Then the king came back from the garden into the room where they had been drinking; and Haman was stretched out on the seat where Esther was. Then the king said, Is he taking the queen by force before my eyes in my house? And while the words were on the king's lips, they put a cloth over Haman's face.

For how is it possible for me to see the evil which is to overtake my nation? how may I see the destruction of my people?

So now send a letter about the Jews, writing whatever seems good to you, in the king's name, and stamping it with the king's ring: for a writing signed in the king's name and stamped with the king's ring may not be changed.

And at the end of their days of feasting, Job sent and made them clean, getting up early in the morning and offering burned offerings for them all. For, Job said, It may be that my sons have done wrong and said evil of God in their hearts. And Job did this whenever the feasts came round.

And the Lord said to the Satan, Have you taken note of my servant Job, for there is no one like him on the earth, a man without sin and upright, fearing God and keeping himself far from evil?

With nothing I came out of my mother's body, and with nothing I will go back there; the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; let the Lord's name be praised.

And the Lord said to the Satan, Have you taken note of my servant Job, for there is no one like him on the earth, a man without sin and upright, fearing God and keeping himself far from evil? and he still keeps his righteousness, though you have been moving me to send destruction on him without cause.

Let destruction take the day of my birth, and the night on which it was said, A man child has come into the world.

Let its morning stars be dark; let it be looking for light, but may it not have any; let it not see the eyes of the dawn.

Because it did not keep the doors of my mother's body shut, so that trouble might be veiled from my eyes.

Why did death not take me when I came out of my mother's body, why did I not, when I came out, give up my last breath?

Why did the knees take me, or why the breasts that they might give me milk?

For then I might have gone to my rest in quiet, and in sleep have been in peace,

In place of my food I have grief, and cries of sorrow come from me like water.

For I have a fear and it comes on me, and my heart is greatly troubled.

I have no peace, no quiet, and no rest; nothing but pain comes on me.

Though the noise of the lion and the sounding of his voice, may be loud, the teeth of the young lions are broken.

A word was given to me secretly, and the low sound of it came to my ears.

Fear came on me and shaking, and my bones were full of trouble;

And a breath was moving over my face; the hair of my flesh became stiff:

Something was present before me, but I was not able to see it clearly; there was a form before my eyes: a quiet voice came to my ears, saying:

May a man be upright before God? or a man be clean before his Maker?

But as for me, I would make my prayer to God, and I would put my cause before him:

If only my passion might be measured, and put into the scales against my trouble!

For then its weight would be more than the sand of the seas: because of this my words have been uncontrolled.

For the arrows of the Ruler of all are present with me, and their poison goes deep into my spirit: his army of fears is put in order against me.

My soul has no desire for such things, they are as disease in my food.

If only I might have an answer to my prayer, and God would give me my desire!

If only he would be pleased to put an end to me; and would let loose his hand, so that I might be cut off!

Is my strength the strength of stones, or is my flesh brass?

I have no help in myself, and wisdom is completely gone from me.

My friends have been false like a stream, like streams in the valleys which come to an end:

So have you now become to me; you see my sad condition and are in fear.

Did I say, Give me something? or, Make a payment for me out of your wealth?

Or, Get me out of the power of my hater? or, Give money so that I may be free from the power of the cruel ones?

Give me teaching and I will be quiet; and make me see my error.

My words may seem wrong to you, but the words of him who has no hope are for the wind.

Now then, let your eyes be turned to me, for truly I will not say what is false to your face.

Let your minds be changed, and do not have an evil opinion of me; yes, be changed, for my righteousness is still in me.

Is there evil in my tongue? is not the cause of my trouble clear to me?

So I have for my heritage months of pain to no purpose, and nights of weariness are given to me.

When I go to my bed, I say, When will it be time to get up? but the night is long, and I am turning from side to side till morning light.

My flesh is covered with worms and dust; my skin gets hard and then is cracked again.

My days go quicker than the cloth-worker's thread, and come to an end without hope.

O, keep in mind that my life is wind: my eye will never again see good.

The eye of him who sees me will see me no longer: your eyes will be looking for me, but I will be gone.

So I will not keep my mouth shut; I will let the words come from it in the pain of my spirit, my soul will make a bitter outcry.

Am I a sea, or a sea-beast, that you put a watch over me?

When I say, In my bed I will have comfort, there I will get rest from my disease;

Then you send dreams to me, and visions of fear;

So that a hard death seems better to my soul than my pains.

I have no desire for life, I would not be living for ever! Keep away from me, for my days are as a breath.

How long will it be before your eyes are turned away from me, so that I may have a minute's breathing-space?

If I have done wrong, what have I done to you, O keeper of men? why have you made me a mark for your blows, so that I am a weariness to myself?

And why do you not take away my sin, and let my wrongdoing be ended? for now I go down to the dust, and you will be searching for me with care, but I will be gone.

See, he goes past me and I see him not: he goes on before, but I have no knowledge of him.

If he puts out his hand to take, by whom may it be turned back? who may say to him, What are you doing?