The chiefs of the people: Parosh, Pahathmoab, Elam, Zattu, Bani,

for the show bread, and for the continual meal offering, and for the continual burnt offering, for the Sabbaths, for the new moons, for the set feasts, and for the holy things, and for the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God.

All Israel in the days of Zerubbabel, and in the days of Nehemiah, gave the portions of the singers and the gatekeepers, as every day required: and they set apart that which was for the Levites; and the Levites set apart that which was for the sons of Aaron.

Then I contended with the rulers, and said, "Why is God's house forsaken?" I gathered them together, and set them in their place.

Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said to them, "What evil thing is this that you do, and profane the Sabbath day?

It came to pass that, when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the Sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be shut, and commanded that they should not be opened until after the Sabbath. I set some of my servants over the gates, that no burden should be brought in on the Sabbath day.

Then I testified against them, and said to them, "Why do you stay around the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you." From that time on, they did not come on the Sabbath.

that in those days, when the King Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the palace,

Then the king said to the wise men, who knew the times, (for it was the king's custom to consult those who knew law and judgment;

and the next to him were Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven officials of Persia and Media, who saw the king's face, and sat first in the kingdom),

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

Each young woman's turn came to go in to King Ahasuerus after her purification for twelve months (for so were the days of their purification accomplished, six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with sweet fragrances and with preparations for beautifying women).

Now when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her for his daughter, came to go in to the king, she required nothing but what Hegai the king's eunuch, the keeper of the women, advised. Esther obtained favor in the sight of all those who looked at her.

The king loved Esther more than all the women, and she obtained favor and kindness in his sight more than all the virgins; so that he set the royal crown on her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti.

After these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat above all the officials who were with him.

Then the king's servants, who were in the king's gate, said to Mordecai, "Why do you disobey the king's commandment?"

Haman said to King Ahasuerus, "There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom, and their laws are different than other people's. They do not keep the king's laws. Therefore it is not for the king's profit to allow them to remain.

The king said to Haman, "The silver is given to you, the people also, to do with them as it seems good to you."

The couriers went forth in haste by the king's commandment, and the decree was given out in the citadel of Susa. The king and Haman sat down to drink; but the city of Shushan was perplexed.

Now it happened on the third day that Esther put on her royal clothing, and stood in the inner court of the king's house, next to the king's house. The king sat on his royal throne in the royal house, next to the entrance of the house.

When the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, she obtained favor in his sight; and the king held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. So Esther came near, and touched the top of the scepter.

Esther said, "If it seems good to the king, let the king and Haman come today to the banquet that I have prepared for him."

Then the king said, "Bring Haman quickly, so that it may be done as Esther has said." So the king and Haman came to the banquet that Esther had prepared.

The king said to Esther at the banquet of wine, "What is your petition? It shall be granted you. What is your request? Even to the half of the kingdom it shall be performed."

Then Esther answered and said, "My petition and my request is this.

If I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it please the king to grant my petition and to perform my request, let the king and Haman come to the banquet that I will prepare for them, and I will do tomorrow as the king has said."

Haman also said, "Yes, Esther the queen let no man come in with the king to the banquet that she had prepared but myself; and tomorrow I am also invited by her together with the king.

Then Zeresh his wife and all his friends said to him, "Let a gallows be made fifty cubits high, and in the morning speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on it. Then go in merrily with the king to the banquet." This pleased Haman, so he had the gallows made.

The king said, "What honor and dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?" Then the king's servants who attended him said, "Nothing has been done for him."

The king said, "Who is in the court?" Now Haman had come into the outer court of the king's house, to speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him.

The king's servants said to him, "Behold, Haman stands in the court." The king said, "Let him come in."

So Haman came in. The king said to him, "What shall be done to the man whom the king delights to honor?" Now Haman said in his heart, "Who would the king delight to honor more than myself?"

Haman said to the king, "For the man whom the king delights to honor,

let royal clothing be brought which the king uses to wear, and the horse that the king rides on, and on the head of which a crown royal is set.

Then the king said to Haman, "Hurry and take the clothing and the horse, as you have said, and do this for Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king's gate. Let nothing fail of all that you have spoken."

Haman recounted to Zeresh his wife and all his friends everything that had happened to him. Then his wise men and Zeresh his wife said to him, "If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish descent, you will not prevail against him, but you will surely fall before him."

The king said again to Esther on the second day at the banquet of wine, "What is your petition, queen Esther? It shall be granted you. What is your request? Even to the half of the kingdom it shall be performed."

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

Then King Ahasuerus said to Esther the queen, "Who is he, and where is he who dared presume in his heart to do so?"

Esther said, "An adversary and an enemy, even this wicked Haman." Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen.

Then the king returned out of the palace garden into the place of the banquet of wine; and Haman had fallen on the couch where Esther was. Then the king said, "Will he even assault the queen in front of me in the house?" As the word went out of the king's mouth, they covered Haman's face.

Then Harbonah, one of the eunuchs who were with the king said, "Behold, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman has made for Mordecai, who spoke good for the king, is standing at Haman's house." The king said, "Hang him on it."

The king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.

She said, "If it pleases the king, and if I have found favor in his sight, and the thing seem right to 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.

Then King Ahasuerus said to Esther the queen and to Mordecai the Jew, "See, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and him they have hanged on the gallows, because he laid his hand on the Jews.

The king said to Esther the queen, "The Jews have slain and destroyed five hundred men in the citadel of Susa, including the ten sons of Haman; what then have they done in the rest of the king's provinces. Now what is your petition? It shall be granted you. What is your further request? It shall be done."

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

and that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city; and that these days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews, nor the memory of them perish from their seed.

It was so, when the days of their feasting had run their course, 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 renounced God in their hearts." Job did so continually.

The LORD said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, "From going back and forth in the earth, and from walking up and down in it."

The LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant, Job? For there is none like him in the earth, a blameless and an upright man, one who fears God, and turns away from evil."

Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, "Does Job fear God for nothing?

Haven't you made a hedge around him, and around his house, and around all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.

The LORD said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your power. Only on himself do not put forth your hand." So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.

that there came a messenger to Job, and said, "The oxen were plowing, and the donkeys feeding beside them,

While he was still speaking, there also came another, and said, "The fire of God has fallen from the sky, and has burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you."

While he was still speaking, there came also another, and said, "The Chaldeans made three bands, and swept down on the camels, and have taken them away, yes, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you."

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

He said, "Naked I came 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."

The LORD said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Satan answered the LORD, and said, "From going back and forth in the earth, and from walking up and down in it."

The LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? For there is none like him in the earth, a blameless and an upright man, one who fears God, and turns away from evil. He still maintains his integrity, although you incited me against him, to ruin him without cause."

Satan answered the LORD, and said, "Skin for skin. Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life.

The LORD said to Satan, "Behold, he is in your hand. Only spare his life."

He took for himself a potsherd to scrape himself with, and he sat among the ashes.

Then his wife said to him, "Do you still maintain your integrity? Renounce God, and die."

But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. What? Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

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

"Let the day perish in which I was born, the night which said, 'There is a boy conceived.'

You shall know also that your seed shall be great, Your offspring as the grass of the earth.

For the arrows of Shaddai are within me. My spirit drinks up their poison. The terrors of God set themselves in array against me.

What is man, that you should magnify him, that you should set your mind on him,

If I have sinned, what do I do to you, you watcher of men? Why have you set me as a mark for you, so that I am a burden to myself?

If I say, 'I will forget my complaint, I will put off my sad face, and cheer up;'

"If you set your heart aright, stretch out your hands toward him.

See now, I have set my cause in order. I know that I am righteous.

You also put my feet in the stocks, and mark all my paths. You set a bound to the soles of my feet,

"Oh that you would hide me in Sheol, that you would keep me secret, until your wrath is past, that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me.

Behold, he puts no trust in his holy ones. Yes, the heavens are not clean in his sight;

I was at ease, and he broke me apart. Yes, he has taken me by the neck, and dashed me to pieces. He has also set me up for his target.

If I have said to corruption, 'You are my father;' to the worm, 'My mother,' and 'my sister;'

Why are we counted as animals, which have become unclean in your sight?

Terrors shall make him afraid on every side, and shall chase him at his heels.

His strength shall be famished. Calamity shall be ready at his side.

He has walled up my way so that I can't pass, and has set darkness in my paths.

He has broken me down on every side, and I am gone. My hope he has plucked up like a tree.

Those who dwell in my house, and my maids, count me for a stranger. I am a foreigner in their sight.

Whom I, even I, shall see on my side. My eyes shall see, and not as a stranger. "My heart is consumed within me.

"Though wickedness is sweet in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue,

Their child is established with them in their sight, their offspring before their eyes.

The clods of the valley shall be sweet to him. All men shall draw after him, as there were innumerable before him.

who said to God, 'Depart from us;' and, 'What can Shaddai do for us?'

Oh that I knew where I might find him. That I might come even to his seat.

I would set my cause in order before him, and fill my mouth with arguments.

Behold, even the moon has no brightness, and the stars are not pure in his sight;

Job again took up his parable, and said,

To man he said, 'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom. To depart from evil is understanding.'"

Job again took up his parable, and said,

when I went forth to the city gate, when I prepared my seat in the street.

Then I said, 'I shall die in my own house, I shall number my days as the sand.

I chose out their way, and sat as chief. I lived as a king in the army, as one who comforts the mourners.