and that who ever would not come within three days, according to the advice of the rulers and the elders, all he owned would be lost, and he himself separated from the congregation of the exiles.

And the sons of the captivity did so. And Ezra the priest, with certain heads of the fathers, after the house of their fathers, and all of them by names, were separated. And they sat down in the first day of the tenth month to examine the matter.

And they made an end with all the men who had taken strange women by the first day of the first month.

All these had taken strange women. And many of them had women by whom they had sons.

let Your ear now be open, and Your eyes open, so that You may hear the prayer of Your servant, which I pray before You now, day and night, for the sons of Israel Your servants, and confessing the sins of the sons of Israel which we have sinned against You. Both I and my father's house have sinned.

And these are Your servants and Your people whom You have redeemed by Your great power and by Your strong hand.

O Jehovah, I pray You, let now Your ear be open to the prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your servants who desire to fear Your name. And I pray You, bless Your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. (For I was the king's cupbearer.)

And I said to the king, Let the king live forever. Why should not my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' tombs, lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire?

And the king said to me (the queen also sitting by him), For how long shall your journey be? And when will you return? So it pleased the king to send me, and I set him a time.

And I said to the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors Beyond the River, so that they may let me pass through until I come to Judah,

And I went out by night by the Valley Gate, even before the Jackal Fountain, and to the Dung Gate, and looked at the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down, and its gates which were burned with fire.

And I went up in the night by the brook and looked at the wall, and turned back, and entered by the Valley Gate, and returned.

And I said to them, You see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem is wasted, and the gates of it are burned with fire. Come and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, so that we may no more be a reproach.

And the Old Gate was repaired by Jehoiada the son of Paseah, and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah. They laid its beams and set up its doors and its locks and its bars.

But the Dung Gate was repaired by Malchiah the son of Rechab, the ruler of part of Beth-haccerem. He built it and set up its doors, its locks, and its bars.

And the Fountain Gate was repaired by Shallum the son of Colhozeh, the ruler of part of Mizpah. He built it and covered it, and set up its doors, its locks, and its bars, and the wall of the Pool of Shelah by the King's Garden, and to the stairs that go down from the City of David.

After him Benjamin and Hashub repaired across from their house. After him Azariah the son of Maaseiah the son of Ananiah repaired by his house.

Palal the son of Uzai repaired across from the corner, and the tower which lies out from the king's high house, by the court of the prison. After him Pedaiah the son of Parosh repaired.

And do not cover their iniquity, and do not let their sin be blotted out from before You. For they have provoked You to anger before the builders.

And it happened when the Jews who lived near them came in, they said to us ten times, From all places where you shall turn to us, they will be against us.

And I looked and rose up, and said to the nobles and to the rulers and to the rest of the people, Do not be afraid of them. Remember Jehovah, who is great and terrible, and fight for your brothers, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.

For of the builders, each one had his sword tied by his side, and built. And he who sounded the trumpet was beside me.

Also at the same time I said to the people, Let everyone with his servant stay inside Jerusalem, so that in the night they may be a guard to us, and labor in the day.

Some also said, We have mortgaged our lands, vineyards, and houses. Let us buy grain because of the famine.

Yet now our flesh is like the flesh of our brothers, our sons like their sons. And, lo, we bring our sons and our daughters into bondage, to be slaves, and some of our daughters are brought into bondage. And there is no power for our hand, for other men have our lands and vineyards.

And I said to them, According to our ability we have redeemed our brothers, the Jews who were sold to the nations. And will you even sell your brothers? Or shall they be sold to us? And they were silent and did not find an answer.

Also I shook my lap and said, So let God shake out every man from his house, and from his labor, who does not keep this promise, even may he be shaken out this way and emptied. And all the congregation said, amen, and praised Jehovah. And the people did according to this promise.

And from the time that I was chosen to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year even to the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes the king, twelve years, I and my brothers have not eaten the bread of the governor.

And I also kept on in the work of this wall. Nor did we buy any land. And all my servants gathered there to the work.

It is reported among the nations, and Gashmu says it, that you and the Jews are thinking of rebelling, for this reason you build the wall, so that you may be their king, according to these words.

And you have also set up prophets to preach about you at Jerusalem, saying, There is a king in Judah. And now it shall be reported to the king according to these words. And now come and let us talk it over together.

For they all were alarmers of us, saying, Their hands shall be weakened from the work so that it may not be done. And now, O God, make my hands strong.

Therefore he was hired that I should be afraid, and do so, and I should sin, and be for them an evil name, with which they might reproach me.

And it happened when all our enemies heard, and all the nations around us saw, they were very much lowered in their own eyes. For they saw that this work was done by our God.

And I said to them, Do not let the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot. And while they stand by, let them shut and bar the doors. And set guards from the people of Jerusalem, each one in his watch, and each one to be across from his house.

And my God put into my heart to gather together the nobles, and the rulers, and the people, so that they might be counted by genealogy. And I found a register of the genealogy of those who came up at the first. And I found written in it:

These sought their register among those who were reckoned by genealogy, but it was not found. Therefore they were put out, as defiled from the priesthood.

Then he said to them, Go eat the fat and drink the sweet, and send portions to him for whom nothing is prepared. For this day is holy to our LORD. And do not be sorry, for the joy of Jehovah is your strength.

And the Levites quieted all the people, saying, Be quiet, for the day is holy. And do not be grieved.

And they found written in the Law which Jehovah had commanded by Moses, that the sons of Israel should dwell in booths in the feast of the seventh month,

Also day by day, from the first day until the last day, he read in the Book of the Law of God. And they kept the feast seven days, and on the eighth was an assembly, according to the Law.

And the Levites, Jeshua, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, Stand up and bless Jehovah your God forever and ever. And blessed be Your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.

And You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and heard their cry by the Red Sea,

And You led them in the day by a cloudy pillar, and in the night by a pillar of fire, to give them light in the way in which they should go.

And You made known to them Your holy sabbath, and commanded them commandments, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses Your servant.

yet You in Your great mercies did not forsake them in the wilderness. The pillar of the cloud did not depart from them by day to lead them in the way, nor the pillar of fire by night, to show them light and the way in which they should go.

And many years You had patience with them, and testified against them by Your Spirit, by Your prophets, but they would not give ear. And You gave them into the hand of the people of the lands.

were holding fast to their brothers, their honored ones. And they entered into a curse and into an oath, to walk in God's Law which was given by Moses the servant of God, and to be careful to do all the commandments of Jehovah our Lord, and His judgments and His statutes.

And if the people of the land should bring goods or any food on the Sabbath day to sell it, that we would not buy it from them on the Sabbath or on the holy day, and that we would leave the seventh year, and the interest of every debt.

And we cast the lots among the priests, and the Levites, and the people, for the wood offering, to bring into the house of our God, according to the houses of our fathers, at times appointed year by year, to burn upon the altar of Jehovah our God, as it is written in the Law

and to bring the firstfruits of our ground, and the firstfruits of all fruit of all trees, year by year, to the house of Jehovah;

And the priest, the son of Aaron, shall be with the Levites, when the Levites take tithes, and the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes to the house of our God, to the rooms, into the treasure house.

For it was the king's commandment concerning them that a certain portion should be for the singers, due for every day.

And the chief of the Levites were Hashabiah, Sherebiah; and Jeshua the son of Kadmiel, with their brothers next to them, to praise and to give thanks, according to the command of David the man of God, watch by watch.

And at the Fountain Gate, across from them, they went up by the stairs of the city of David, at the going up of the wall, above the house of David, even to the Water Gate eastward.

and he had prepared for himself a large room where they had in days of old laid the food offering, the frankincense, and the vessels, and the tithes of the grain, the new wine, and the oil, which was commanded to be given to the Levites, and the singers, and the gatekeepers, and the offerings of the priests.

Did not your fathers do this, and did not our God bring all this evil upon us and upon this city? Yet you bring more wrath upon Israel by defiling the Sabbath.

And it happened when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the Sabbath, I commanded that the gates should be shut, and commanded that they should not be opened until after the Sabbath. And I set some of my servants at the gates, so that there should be no burden brought in on the Sabbath day.

And I contended with them, and cursed them, and struck certain of them, and plucked off their hair. And I made them swear by the name of God, saying, You shall not give your daughters to their sons, or take their daughters to your sons, or for yourselves.

Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? Yet among many nations there was no king like him, who was beloved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel. But women from other lands caused even him to sin.

But the Queen Vashti refused to come at the king's command by his eunuchs. And the king was very angry, and his anger burned within him.

What shall we do with Queen Vashti according to law, because she has not done the command of the King Ahasuerus by the eunuchs?

For the matter of the queen shall go out to all women, so that their husbands shall be despised in their eyes, and it shall be reported that King Ahasuerus commanded to bring Vashti the queen in before him, but she did not come.

And this day the princesses of Persia and Media shall say the same to all the king's princes who have heard of the deed of the queen. And there will be contempt and strife.

If it please the king, let there be a royal command from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes, so that it may not be changed, that Vashti come no more before King Ahasuerus. And let the king give her royal state to another who is better than she is.

And when the king's decree which he shall make shall be published throughout all his empire (for it is great), all the wives shall give their husbands honor, both the great and small.

And the king's servants who served him said, Let beautiful young virgins be sought for the king.

And let the king choose officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, so that they may gather together all the beautiful young virgins to Shushan the palace, to the house of the women, to the hand of Hegai the king's eunuch, keeper of the women. And let their ointments be given.

And let the young woman who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti. And the thing pleased the king, and he did so.

And the young woman pleased him, and she received kindness from him. And he quickly gave to her purifiers and her portion. And seven young women who were fit to be given her, out of the king's house. And he moved her and her servant women to the best place in the house of the women.

She went in the evening, and on the next day she returned to the second house of the women, into the hand of Shaashgaz, the king's officer who kept the concubines. She did not come in to the king any more, unless the king delighted in her, and she was called by name.

And when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai who had taken her for his daughter, had come to go in to the king, she asked nothing but what was chosen by Hegai the king's officer, the keeper of the women. And Esther had favor in the sight of all who looked on her.

And all the king's servants in the king's gate bowed and worshiped Haman, for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai did not bow nor worship.

And when Haman saw that Mordecai did not bow nor worship him, then Haman was full of wrath.

If it pleases the king, let it be written that they may be destroyed. And I will pay ten thousand talents of silver to the hands of those who have charge of the business, to bring it into the king's treasuries.

And the letters were sent by postal riders into all the king's provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, on the thirteenth of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to take what they owned for a prize.

The copy of the writing, for a command to be given in every province, was published to all people, to be ready for that day.

The posts went out, being hurried by the king's command, and the decree was given in Shushan the palace. And the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city Shushan was perplexed.

And Mordecai told him of all that had happened to him, and of the sum of the silver which Haman had promised to pay to the king's treasuries for the Jews in order to destroy them.

For if you are completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance shall arise to the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house shall be destroyed. And who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for a time like this?

And the king said to her, What do you desire, Queen Esther? And what is your wish? It shall be given to you even to half of the kingdom.

And the king said to Esther at the banquet of wine, What is your petition that it shall be granted to you? And what is your request? It shall be performed even to half of the kingdom.

And Zeresh his wife and all his friends said to him, Make a wooden gallows, fifty cubits high and tomorrow speak to the king that Mordecai may be hanged on it. Then go in merrily with the king to the banquet. And the thing pleased Haman, and he caused the wooden gallows to be made.

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

let the royal clothing be brought, which the king wears, and the horse that the king rides on, and the royal crown which is set on his head.

And let this clothing and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king's most noble princes so that they may dress the man whom the king delights to honor, and bring him on horseback through the streets of the city, and proclaim before him, This is what shall be done to the man whom the king delights to honor.

And Haman took the clothing and the horse and dressed Mordecai, and brought him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaimed before him, This is what shall be done to the man whom the king delights to honor!

And the king said again to Esther on the second day of the banquet of wine, What is your petition, Queen Esther, that it may be granted you? And what is your request? And it shall be performed, even to the half of the kingdom.

And Esther the queen answered and said, If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request.

For we are sold, my people and I, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to perish. But if we had been sold for men-slaves and women-slaves, I would have held my tongue, although the enemy could not make up for the king's damage.

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

and said, If it please the king, and if I have found favor in his sight, and if the thing is right before the king, and if I am pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to bring back the documents (a sly plan by Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite) which he wrote to destroy the Jews in all the king's provinces.

And he wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed it with the king's ring. And he sent letters by riders on horseback, riders on royal steeds, stallions, even sons of mares.

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

The runners, riders on stallions, royal steeds, went out, being hurried and pressed on by the king's command. And the order was given at Shushan the palace.

And in the twelfth month, the month Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when the king's command and his order came to be done, in the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to have power over them; though it was turned around, so that the Jews had rule over the ones who hated them.

And the king said to Esther the queen, The Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men in Shushan the palace, and the ten sons of Haman. What have they done in the rest of the king's provinces? And what is your petition, that it may be granted you? Or what further request do you have? And it shall be done.

Then Esther said, If it pleases the king, let it be granted to the Jews in Shushan to do tomorrow also according to this day's decree, and let Haman's ten sons be hanged on the wooden gallows.

And the king commanded it to be done. And the order was given at Shushan, and they hanged Haman's ten sons.

But when Esther came before the king, he commanded by letters that his wicked plot which he had plotted against the Jews should return on his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the wooden gallows.