and from the house of Gilgal, and from fields of Geba and Azmaveth, for villages have the singers built for themselves round about Jerusalem;

and by the gate of the fountain and over-against them, they have gone up by the steps of the city of David, at the going up of the wall beyond the house of David, and unto the water-gate eastward.

and from beyond the gate of Ephraim, and by the old-gate, and by the fish-gate, and the tower of Hananeel, and the tower of Meah, and unto the sheep-gate -- and they have stood at the prison-gate.

and they sacrifice on that day great sacrifices and rejoice, for God hath made them rejoice with great joy, and also, the women and the children have rejoiced, and the joy of Jerusalem is heard -- unto a distance.

because they have not come before the sons of Israel with bread and with water, and hire against them Balaam to revile them, and our God turneth the reviling into a blessing.

And during all this I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty and second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon did I come unto the king, and at the end of days I have asked of the king,

And I know that the portions of the Levites have not been given, and they flee each to his field -- the Levites and the singers, doing the work.

and all Judah have brought in the tithe of the corn, and of the new wine, and of the oil, to the treasuries.

And I appoint treasurers over the treasuries, Shelemiah the priest, and Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah of the Levites; and by their hand is Hanan son of Zaccur, son of Mattaniah, for stedfast they have been reckoned, and on them it is to give a portion to their brethren.

Be mindful of me, O my God, for this, and do not blot out my kind acts that I have done, for the house of my God, and for its charges.

In those days I have seen in Judah those treading wine-vats on sabbath, and bringing in the sheaves, and lading on the asses, and also, wine, grapes, and figs, and every burden, yea, they are bringing in to Jerusalem on the sabbath-day, and I testify in the day of their selling provision.

And the Tyrians have dwelt in it, bringing in fish, and every ware, and selling on sabbath to the sons of Judah and in Jerusalem.

And it cometh to pass, when the gates of Jerusalem have been dark before the sabbath, that I speak, and the doors are shut, and I say, that they do not open them till after the sabbath; and of my servants I have stationed at the gates; there doth not come in a burden on the sabbath-day.

and I testify against them, and say unto them, 'Wherefore are ye lodging over-against the wall? if ye repeat it, a hand I put forth upon you;' from that time they have not come in on the sabbath.

And I say to the Levites, that they be cleansed, and, coming in, keeping the gates, to sanctify the sabbath-day. Also, this, remember for me, O my God, and have pity on me, according to the abundance of Thy kindness.

Also, in those days, I have seen the Jews who have settled women of Ashdod, of Ammon, of Moab.

And I have cleansed them from every stranger, and appoint charges to priests and to Levites, each in his work,

yea, this day do princesses of Persia and Media, who have heard the word of the queen, say so to all heads of the king, even according to the sufficiency of contempt and wrath.

and it is contemptible in his eyes to put forth a hand on Mordecai by himself, for they have declared to him the people of Mordecai, and Haman seeketh to destroy all the Jews who are in all the kingdom of Ahasuerus -- the people of Mordecai.

The runners have gone forth, hastened by the word of the king, and the law hath been given in Shushan the palace, and the king and Haman have sat down to drink, and the city Shushan is perplexed.

And in every province and province, the place where the word of the king, even his law, is coming, a great mourning have the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and lamenting: sackcloth and ashes are spread for many.

All servants of the king, and people of the provinces of the king, do know that any man and woman, who cometh in unto the king, unto the inner court, who is not called -- one law of his is to put them to death, apart from him to whom the king holdeth out the golden sceptre, then he hath lived; and I -- I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days.'

Go, gather all the Jews who are found in Shushan, and fast for me, and do not eat nor drink three days, by night and by day; also I and my young women do fast likewise, and so I go in unto the king, that is not according to law, and when I have perished -- I have perished.'

And Esther saith, 'If unto the king it be good, the king doth come in, and Haman, to-day, unto the banquet that I have made for him;'

if I have found grace in the eyes of the king, and if unto the king it be good, to give my petition, and to perform my request, the king doth come, and Haman, unto the banquet that I make for them, and to-morrow I do according to the word of the king.'

and to give the clothing and the horse into the hand of a man of the heads of the king, the chiefs, and they have clothed the man in whose honour the king hath delighted, and caused him to ride on the horse in a broad place of the city, and called before him: Thus it is done to the man in whose honour the king hath delighted.'

They are yet speaking with him, and eunuchs of the king have come, and haste to bring in Haman unto the banquet that Esther hath made.

And Esther the queen answereth and saith, 'If I have found grace in thine eyes, O king, and if to the king it be good, let my life be given to me at my petition, and my people at my request;

for we have been sold, I and my people, to cut off, to slay, and to destroy; and if for men-servants and for maid-servants we had been sold I had kept silent -- but the adversity is not equal to the loss of the king.'

And the king hath turned back out of the garden of the house unto the house of the banquet of wine, and Haman is falling on the couch on which Esther is, and the king saith, 'Also to subdue the queen with me in the house?' the word hath gone out from the mouth of the king, and the face of Haman they have covered.

and saith, 'If to the king it be good, and if I have found grace before him, and the thing hath been right before the king, and I be good in his eyes, let it be written to bring back the letters -- a device of Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite -- that he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all provinces of the king,

for how do I endure when I have looked on the evil that doth find my people? and how do I endure when I have looked on the destruction of my kindred?'

And the king Ahasuerus saith to Esther the queen, and to Mordecai the Jew, 'Lo, the house of Haman I have given to Esther, and him they have hanged on the tree, because that he put forth his hand on the Jews,

The runners, riding on the dromedary, and the mules, have gone out, hastened and pressed by the word of the king, and the law hath been given in Shushan the palace.

the Jews have been assembled in their cities, in all provinces of the king Ahasuerus, to put forth a hand on those seeking their evil, and no man hath stood in their presence, for their fear hath fallen on all the peoples.

and in Shushan the palace have the Jews slain and destroyed five hundred men;

ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, adversary of the Jews, they have slain, and on the prey they have not put forth their hand.

and the king saith to Esther the queen, 'In Shushan the palace have the Jews slain and destroyed five hundred men, and the ten sons of Haman; in the rest of the provinces of the king what have they done? and what is thy petition? and it is given to thee; and what thy request again? and it is done.'

And the king saith -- 'to be done so;' and a law is given in Shushan, and the ten sons of Haman they have hanged.

And the Jews who are in Shushan are assembled also on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, and they slay in Shushan three hundred men, and on the prey they have not put forth their hand.

And the rest of the Jews, who are in the provinces of the king, have been assembled, even to stand for their life, and to rest from their enemies, and to slay among those hating them five and seventy thousand, and on the prey they have not put forth their hand;

And the Jews who are in Shushan have been assembled, on the thirteenth day of it, and on the fourteenth of it, even to rest on the fifteenth of it, and to make it a day of banquet and of joy.

as days on which the Jews have rested from their enemies, and the month that hath been turned to them from sorrow to joy, and from mourning to a good day, to make them days of banquet and of joy, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the needy.

And the Jews have received that which they had begun to do, and that which Mordecai hath written unto them,

and in her coming in before the king, he said with the letter, 'Let his evil device that he devised against the Jews turn back upon his own head,' and they have hanged him and his sons on the tree,

therefore they have called these days Purim -- by the name of the lot -- therefore, because of all the words of this letter, and what they have seen concerning this, and what hath come unto them,

the Jews have established and received upon them, and upon their seed, and upon all those joined unto them, and it doth not pass away, to be keeping these two days according to their writing, and according to their season, in every year and year;

And his sons have gone and made a banquet -- the house of each in his day -- and have sent and called to their three sisters to eat and to drink with them;

and it cometh to pass, when they have gone round the days of the banquet, that Job doth send and sanctify them, and hath risen early in the morning, and caused to ascend burnt-offerings -- the number of them all -- for Job said, 'Perhaps my sons have sinned, yet blessed God in their heart.' Thus doth Job all the days.

And a messenger hath come in unto Job and saith, 'The oxen have been plowing, and the she-asses feeding by their sides,

and Sheba doth fall, and take them, and the young men they have smitten by the mouth of the sword, and I am escaped -- only I alone -- to declare it to thee.'

While this one is speaking another also hath come and saith, 'Chaldeans made three heads, and rush on the camels, and take them, and the young men they have smitten by the mouth of the sword, and I am escaped -- only I alone -- to declare it to thee.'

and they lift up their eyes from afar and have not discerned him, and they lift up their voice and weep, and rend each his robe, and sprinkle dust on their heads -- heavenward.

And they sit with him on the earth seven days and seven nights, and there is none speaking unto him a word when they have seen that the pain hath been very great.

Why from the womb do I not die? From the belly I have come forth and gasp!

Wherefore have knees been before me? And what are breasts, that I suck?

For now, I have lain down, and am quiet, I have slept -- then there is rest to me,

Or with princes -- they have gold, They are filling their houses with silver.

(Or as a hidden abortion I am not, As infants -- they have not seen light.)

There the wicked have ceased troubling, And there rest do the wearied in power.

Together prisoners have been at ease, They have not heard the voice of an exactor,

Remember, I pray thee, Who, being innocent, hath perished? And where have the upright been cut off?

As I have seen -- ploughers of iniquity, And sowers of misery, reap it!

The roaring of a lion, And the voice of a fierce lion, And teeth of young lions have been broken.

I -- I have seen the perverse taking root, And I mark his habitation straightway,

To set the low on a high place, And the mourners have been high in safety.

For now, than the sands of the sea it is heavier, Therefore my words have been rash.

And yet it is my comfort, (And I exult in pain -- He doth not spare,) That I have not hidden The sayings of the Holy One.

My brethren have deceived as a brook, As a stream of brooks they pass away.

By the time they are warm they have been cut off, By its being hot they have been Extinguished from their place.

They were ashamed that one hath trusted, They have come unto it and are confounded.

Surely now ye have become the same! Ye see a downfall, and are afraid.

Shew me, and I -- I keep silent, And what I have erred, let me understand.

How powerful have been upright sayings, And what doth reproof from you reprove?

So I have been caused to inherit months of vanity, And nights of misery they numbered to me.

If I lay down then I said, 'When do I rise!' And evening hath been measured, And I have been full of tossings till dawn.

I have wasted away -- not to the age do I live. Cease from me, for my days are vanity.

I have sinned, what do I to Thee, O watcher of man? Why hast Thou set me for a mark to Thee, And I am for a burden to myself -- and what?

If thy sons have sinned before Him, And He doth send them away, By the hand of their transgression,

If one doth destroy him from his place, Then it hath feigned concerning him, I have not seen thee!

Truly I have known that it is so, And what -- is man righteous with God?

Who is removing mountains, And they have not known, Who hath overturned them in His anger.

God doth not turn back His anger, Under Him bowed have proud helpers.

My days have been swifter than a runner, They have fled, they have not seen good,

They have passed on with ships of reed, As an eagle darteth on food.

I have been afraid of all my griefs, I have known that Thou dost not acquit me.

If I have washed myself with snow-water, And purified with soap my hands,

Then in corruption Thou dost dip me, And my garments have abominated me.

Thy hands have taken pains about me, And they make me together round about, And Thou swallowest me up!

And these Thou hast laid up in Thy heart, I have known that this is with Thee.

If I have done wickedly -- woe to me, And righteously -- I lift not up my head, Full of shame -- then see my affliction,

And thou sayest, 'Pure is my discourse, And clean I have been in Thine eyes.'

And thou hast rested, And none is causing trembling, And many have entreated thy face;

I also have a heart like you, I am not fallen more than you, And with whom is there not like these?

At peace are the tents of spoilers, And those provoking God have confidence, He into whose hand God hath brought.

According to your knowledge I have known -- also I. I am not fallen more than you.

Lo, I pray you, I have set in order the cause, I have known that I am righteous.

How many iniquities and sins have I? My transgression and my sin let me know.

Waters have gone away from a sea, And a river becometh waste and dry.

Stones have waters worn away, Their outpourings wash away the dust of earth, And the hope of man Thou hast destroyed.