Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not to yourself that you shall escape in the king's house, more than all the Jews.

For if you altogether hold your peace at this time, then shall relief and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but you and your father's house shall be destroyed: and who knows whether you are come to the kingdom for such a time as this?

Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.

So Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that Esther had commanded him.

Now it came to pass on the third day, that Esther put on her royal apparel, and stood in the inner court of the king's house, opposite the king's house: and the king sat upon his royal throne in the royal house, opposite the entrance of the house.

And it was so, when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, that she obtained favor in his sight: and the king held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. So Esther drew near, and touched the top of the scepter.

Then the king said, Cause Haman to make haste, that he may do as Esther has said. So the king and Haman came to the banquet that Esther had prepared.

Then went Haman forth that day joyful and with a glad heart: but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king's gate, that he stood not up, nor trembled before him, he was full of indignation against Mordecai.

Yet all this avails me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate.

And it was found written, that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's eunuchs, the keepers of the door, who sought to lay hand on king Ahasuerus.

And the king said, What honor and dignity has been bestowed upon Mordecai for this? Then said the king's servants that ministered unto him, There is nothing done for him.

And the king said, Who is in the court? Now Haman had come into the outer court of the king's house, to ask the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him.

And the king's servants said unto him, Behold, Haman stands in the court. And the king said, Let him come in.

So Haman came in. And the king said unto him, What shall be done unto the man whom the king delights to honor? Now Haman thought in his heart, To whom would the king delight to do honor more than to myself?

And let the robes and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king's most noble princes, that they may array the man with whom the king delights to honor, and bring him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaim before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor.

Then the king said to Haman, Make haste, and take the robes and the horse, as you have said, and do even so to Mordecai the Jew, that sits at the king's gate: let nothing fail of all that you have spoken.

And Mordecai came again to the king's gate. But Haman hastened to his house mourning, and having his head covered.

And while they were yet talking with him, the king's eunuchs came, and hastened to bring Haman unto the banquet that Esther had prepared.

So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen.

For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I would have held my tongue, although the enemy could never compensate for the king's loss.

Then the king Ahasuerus answered and said unto Esther the queen, Who is he, and where is he, that dares presume in his heart to do so?

And the king arising from the banquet of wine in his wrath went into the palace garden: and Haman stood up to make request for his life to Esther the queen; for he saw that there was evil determined against him by the king.

Then the king returned out of the palace garden into the place of the banquet of wine; and Haman was fallen upon the bed on which Esther was. Then said the king, Will he force the queen also before me in the house? As the word went out of the king's mouth, they covered Haman's face.

So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king's wrath abated.

Then the king held out the golden scepter toward Esther. So Esther arose, and stood before the king,

And said, If it please the king, and if I have found favor in his sight, and the thing seems right before 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:

For how can I endure to see the evil that shall come unto my people? or how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?

Write you also for the Jews, as it pleases you, in the king's name, and seal it with the king's ring: for the writing which is written in the king's name, and sealed with the king's ring, may no man reverse.

Then were the king's scribes called at that time in the third month, that is, the month Sivan, on the three and twentieth day thereof; and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded unto the Jews, and to the satraps, and the governors and princes of the provinces which are from India unto Ethiopia, a hundred twenty and seven provinces, unto every province according to its own writing, and unto every people according to their language, and to the Jews according to their writing, and according to their language.

And he wrote in king Ahasuerus' name, and sealed it with the king's ring, and sent letters by couriers on horseback, and riding on royal horses bred from swift horses:

The copy of the writing for a command to be given in every province was published unto all people, so that the Jews should be ready against that day to avenge themselves on their enemies.

So the couriers that rode upon royal horses went out, being hastened and pressed on by the king's command. And the decree was given at Shushan the palace.

And in every province, and in every city, wherever the king's command and his decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a good day. And many of the people of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews fell upon them.

Now in the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when the king's command and his decree drew near to be executed, in the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to have power over them, (though it was turned to the contrary, that the Jews had rule over them that hated them;)

For Mordecai was great in the king's house, and his fame went out throughout all the provinces: for this man Mordecai grew greater and greater.

And the king said unto Esther the queen, The Jews have slain and destroyed five hundred men in Shushan the citadel, and the ten sons of Haman; what have they done in the rest of the king's provinces? now what is your petition? and it shall be granted you: or what is your request further? and it shall be done.

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

And the king commanded it so to be done: and the decree was given at Shushan; and they hanged Haman's ten sons.

But the other Jews that were in the king's provinces gathered themselves together, and defended their lives, and had rest from their enemies, and killed of their foes seventy and five thousand, but they laid not their hands on the spoil,

The Jews ordained, and took upon themselves, and upon their descendants, and upon all such as joined themselves unto them, so that it should not fail, that they would keep these two days according to what was written, and according to their appointed time every year;

And king Ahasuerus imposed tribute upon the land, and upon the coastlands of the sea.

His possessions also were seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred female donkeys, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east.

And it was so, when the days of their feasting were finished, 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 cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually.

And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he has is in your power; only upon himself put not forth your hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.

And there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house:

While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house:

And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there: the LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.

So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his foot unto the crown of his head.

Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came every one from his own place; Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite: for they had made an appointment together to come to mourn with him and to comfort him.

So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spoke a word unto him: for they saw that his grief was very great.

Let the stars of its twilight be dark; let it look for light, but have none; neither let it see the dawning of the day:

Because it shut not up the doors of my mother's womb, nor hid sorrow from my eyes.

Or as a hidden untimely birth, I had not been; as infants who never saw light.

Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.

The old lion perishes for lack of prey, and the strong lion's whelps are scattered abroad.

He frustrates the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their plans.

So the poor has hope, and injustice shuts her mouth.

Lo this, we have searched it out, so it is; hear it, and know you it for your good.

For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea: therefore my words are swallowed up.

For now you are nothing; you see my terror, and are afraid.

Did I say, Bring unto me? or, Give a reward for me of your substance?

Or, Deliver me from the enemy's hand? or, Redeem me from the hand of the mighty?

So am I made to possess months of vanity, and wearisome nights are appointed to me.

When I lie down, I say, When shall I arise, and the night be gone? and I am full of tossings to and fro unto the dawning of the day.

My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and are spent without hope.

O remember that my life is a breath: my eye shall no more see good.

The eye of him that has seen me shall see me no more: your eyes are upon me, and I am not.

As the cloud is consumed and vanishes away: so he that goes down to the grave shall come up no more.

Am I a sea, or a sea monster, that you set a watch over me?

When I say, My bed shall comfort me, my couch shall ease my complaint;

So that my soul chooses strangling, and death rather than my life.

I have sinned; what shall I do unto you, O you preserver of men? why have you set me as a mark against you, so that I am a burden to myself?

So are the paths of all that forget God; and the hypocrite's hope shall perish:

Whose confidence shall be cut off, and whose trust shall be a spider's web.

I know it is so of a truth: but how should man be just before God?

Who alone spreads out the heavens, and treads upon the waves of the sea.

Lo, he goes by me, and I see him not: he passes on also, but I perceive him not.

Behold, he takes away, who can hinder him? who will say unto him, What do you?

If I justify myself, my own mouth shall condemn me: if I say, I am blameless, it shall also prove me perverse.

Now my days are swifter than a runner: they flee away, they see no good.

If I say, I will forget my complaint, I will leave off my heaviness, and comfort myself:

If I wash myself with snow water, and make my hands ever so clean;

Then would I speak, and not fear him; but it is not so with me.

I will say unto God, Do not condemn me; show me why you contend with me.

Have you eyes of flesh? or see you as man sees?

Are your days as the days of man? are your years as man's days,

If I am wicked, woe unto me; and if I am righteous, yet can I not lift up my head. I am full of disgrace; therefore see my affliction;

The measure of it is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea.

For a vain man will be wise, when a man is born a wild donkey's colt.

Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach you: and the fish of the sea shall declare unto you.

Is it good that he should search you out? or as one man mocks another, do you so mock him?

As the waters fail from the sea, and the river decays and dries up:

So man lies down, and rises not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.

My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and you sew up my iniquity.

I also could speak as you do: if your soul were in my soul's place, I could heap up words against you, and shake my head at you.

And where is now my hope? as for my hope, who shall see it?

And though after my skin is thus destroyed, yet in my flesh shall I see God:

Whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another; though my heart be consumed within me.

But you should say, Why persecute we him, seeing the root of the matter is found in me?

Yet he shall perish forever like his own refuse: they who have seen him shall say, Where is he?