And one of the children of Jehoiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, had made a contract with Sanballat the Horonite: but I chased him from me.

So I made them clean from all strange people, and had regular watches fixed for the priests and for the Levites, everyone in his work;

In the third year of his reign, he made a feast unto all his princes and his servants; the power of Persia and Media, the nobles and princes of the provinces, being before him:

And when these days were expired, the king made a feast unto all the people that were present in Shushan the palace, both unto great and small, seven days, in the court of the garden of the king's palace;

The furnishings included linen and purple curtains hung by cords of the finest linen and purple wool on silver rings, alabaster columns, gold and silver couches displayed on a floor made of valuable stones of alabaster, mother-of-pearl, and mineral stone.

Also Vashti the queen made a feast for the women in the royal house which belonged to king Ahasuerus.

to fetch the queen Vashti with the crown regal, that he might show the people and princes her fairness: for she was beautiful.

And the next unto him was Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven princes of Persia and Media, which saw the king's face, and which sat the first in the kingdom;)

Likewise shall the ladies of Persia and Media say this day unto all the king's princes, which have heard of the deed of the queen. Thus shall there arise too much contempt and wrath.

If to the king it be good, there goeth forth a royal word from before him, and it is written with the laws of Persia and Media, and doth not pass away, that Vashti doth not come in before the king Ahasuerus, and her royalty doth the king give to her companion who is better than she;

So when the king’s great decree is proclaimed throughout his [extensive] kingdom, all women will give honor to their husbands, from the great to the insignificant.”

After these things, when the king's feelings were calmer, the thought of Vashti and what she had done and the order he had made against her, came back to his mind.

The king’s personal attendants suggested, “Let a search be made for beautiful young women for the king.

Who had been taken away from Jerusalem among those who had been made prisoner with Jeconiah, king of Judah, when Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had taken him away.

And he brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle's daughter: for she had neither father nor mother, and the maid was fair and beautiful; whom Mordecai, when her father and mother were dead, took for his own daughter.

So when the order made by the king was publicly given out, and a number of girls had been placed in the care of Hegai in the king's house in Shushan, Esther was taken into the king's house and put in the care of Hegai, the keeper of the women.

And the maiden pleased him, and she obtained kindness of him; and he speedily gave her her things for purification, with such things as belonged to her, and seven maidens, which were meet to be given her, out of the king's house: and he preferred her and her maids unto the best place of the house of the women.

Esther had not made known her people nor her kindred; for Mordecai had charged her that she should not make it known.

And day after day Mordecai used to walk back and forth in front of the court of the harem in order to learn how Esther was doing and what might happen to her.

Now when every maid's turn was come to go in to king Ahasuerus, after that she had been twelve months, according to the manner of the women, (for so were the days of their purifications accomplished, to wit, six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with sweet odours, and with other things for the purifying of the women;)

then, indeed, the maiden came in unto the king, - whatsoever she might mention, was given her, to go with her, out of the house of the women up to the house of the king:

Now when the time came for Esther, the daughter of Abihail, his father's brother, whom Mordecai had taken as his daughter, to go in to the king, she made request for nothing but what Hegai, the king's servant and keeper of the women, had given her. And Esther was looked on kindly by all who saw her.

And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained grace and favour in his sight more than all the virgins; so that he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti.

Then the king made a great feast unto all his princes and his servants, even Esther's feast; and he made a release to the provinces, and gave gifts, according to the state of the king.

Esther had not yet made known her kindred nor her people; as Mordecai had charged her: for Esther did the commandment of Mordecai, like as when she was brought up with him.

And when inquisition was made of the matter, it was found out; therefore they were both hanged on a tree: and it was written in the book of the chronicles before the king.

And when they spake this daily unto him and he followed them not, they told Haman, that they might see whether Mordecai's matters would endure: for he had told them that he was a Jew.

But he thought scorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone; for they had made known to him the people of Mordecai: wherefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even the people of Mordecai.

That the decree might be given in every province, a copy of the writing was published to all peoples, that they should be ready against that day.

The runners went out quickly by the king's order, and a public statement was made in Shushan: and the king and Haman took wine together: but the town of Shushan was troubled.

And came even before the king's gate: for none might enter into the king's gate clothed with sackcloth.

And Esther's maids and her eunuchs came and they told her, and the queen was deeply distressed; she sent garments to clothe Mordecai so that he might remove his sackcloth--but he did not accept [them].

Then Esther called Hathach, one of the king's chamberlains which stood before her, and gave him a commandment to Mordecai, that he might know what it were, and wherefore he did so.

and Mordecai declareth to him all that hath met him, and the explanation of the money that Haman said to weigh to the treasuries of the king for the Jews, to destroy them,

Mordecai also gave him a copy of the text of the decree which had been issued in Susa for the Jews destruction, so that he might show Esther and explain it to her, and order her to go in to the king to seek his favor and plead with him for [the lives of] her people.

"All the king's servants, and the people of the king's provinces, know, that whoever, whether man or woman, comes to the king into the inner court without being called, there is one law for him, that he be put to death, except those to whom the king might hold out the golden scepter, that he may live. I have not been called to come in to the king these thirty days."

When the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, she met with his approval. The king extended to Esther the gold scepter that was in his hand, and Esther approached and touched the end of the scepter.

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;'

and the king saith, 'Haste ye Haman -- to do the word of Esther;' and the king cometh in, and Haman, unto the banquet that Esther hath made.

and Haman recounteth to them the glory of his wealth, and the abundance of his sons, and all that with which the king made him great, and with which he lifted him up above the heads and servants of the king.

And Haman saith, 'Yea, Esther the queen brought none in with the king, unto the feast that she made, except myself, and also for to-morrow I am called to her, with the king,

Then said Zeresh his wife and all his friends unto him, Let a gallows be made of fifty cubits high, and to morrow speak thou unto the king that Mordecai may be hanged thereon: then go thou in merrily with the king unto the banquet. And the thing pleased Haman; and he caused the gallows to be made.

Then the king said, Who is in the outer room? Now Haman had come into the outer room to get the king's authority for the hanging of Mordecai on the pillar which he had made ready for him.

Then Haman took the robes and the horse, and dressing Mordecai in the robes, he made him go on horseback through the streets of the town, crying out before him, So let it be done to the man whom the king has delight in honouring.

and Haman recounteth to Zeresh his wife, and to all his friends, all that hath met him, and his wise men say to him, and Zeresh his wife, 'If Mordecai is of the seed of the Jews, before whom thou hast begun to fall, thou art not able for him, but dost certainly fall before him.'

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.

Queen Esther replied, "If I have met with your approval, O king, and if the king is so inclined, grant me my life as my request, and my people as my petition.

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 Harbonah, one of the chamberlains, said before the king, Behold also, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman had made for Mordecai, who had spoken good for the king, standeth in the house of Haman. Then the king said, Hang him thereon.

So Haman was put to death by hanging him on the pillar he had made for Mordecai. Then the king's wrath became less.

That day the king gave all the family of Haman, the hater of the Jews, to Esther the queen. And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had made clear what he was to her.

Then Esther again came before the king, falling down at his feet, and made request to him with weeping, that he would put a stop to the evil purposes of Haman the Agagite and the designs which he had made against the Jews.

She said, "If the king is so inclined and if I have met with his approval and if the matter is agreeable to the king and if I am attractive to him, let an edict be written rescinding those recorded intentions of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, which he wrote in order to destroy the Jews who are throughout all the king's provinces.

Then King Ahasuerus said to Esther the queen and to Mordecai the Jew, See now, I have given Esther the family of Haman, and he has come to his death by hanging, because he made an attack on the Jews.

stating that the king granted the Jews that were in every city to gather themselves together, and to stand for their life, to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish, all the power of the people and province that might assault them, their little ones and women, and to take the spoil of them for a prey,

That the decree might be given in every province, a copy of the writing was published to all the peoples, and that the Jews should be ready against that day to avenge themselves on their enemies.

And the posts that rode upon the Mules made haste with all speed, according to the king's word: and the commandment was devised in the castle of Susa.

Mordecai left the king's presence in royal robes of blue and white, wearing a large golden crown and a purple robe made of fine linen; and the city of Susa shouted with joy.

On the thirteenth day of the month Adar; and on the fourteenth day of the same rested they, and made it a day of feasting and gladness.

But the Jews that were at Shushan assembled together on the thirteenth day thereof, and on the fourteenth thereof; and on the fifteenth day of the same they rested, and made it a day of feasting and gladness.

Therefore the Jews of the villages, that dwelt in the unwalled towns, made the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of gladness and feasting, and a good day, and of sending portions one to another.

So the Jewish people made a tradition out of what they had begun to do and of what Mordecai had written to them,

Because Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the hater of all the Jews, had made designs for their destruction, attempting to get a decision by Pur (that is, chance) with a view to putting an end to them and cutting them off;

But when the business was put before the king, he gave orders by letters that the evil design which he had made against the Jews was to be turned against himself; and that he and his sons were to be put to death by hanging.

The Jews made a rule and gave an undertaking, causing their seed and all those who were joined to them to do the same, so that it might be in force for ever, that they would keep those two days, as ordered in the letter, at the fixed time every year;

And that those days were to be kept in memory through every generation and every family, in every division of the kingdom and every town, that there might never be a time when these days of Purim would not be kept among the Jews, or when the memory of them would go from the minds of their seed.

And Esther the queen, daughter of Abihail, writeth, and Mordecai the Jew, with all might, to establish this second letter of Purim,

Giving the force of law to these days of Purim at their fixed times, as they had been ordered by Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen, and in keeping with the rules they had made for themselves and their seed, in connection with their time of going without food and their cry for help.

And all the acts of his power and of his might, and the declaration of the greatness of Mordecai, whereunto the king advanced him, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia?

And his sons went and made a feast in the house of each one on his day; and they sent and invited their three sisters to eat and to drink with them.

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.

Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.

While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell upon the camels, and have carried them away, yea, and slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.

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.

Job made answer and said,

Let darkness and deep gloom reclaim it; let clouds settle down on it; let blackness in mid-day terrify it.

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

Why did the knees meet me? and wherefore the breasts, that I should suck?

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

Or as a child dead at birth I might never have come into existence; like young children who have not seen the light.

To a man whose way is hidden, God has made a hedge about him.

And Eliphaz the Temanite made answer and said,

Truly, you have been a helper to others, and you have made feeble hands strong;

Thy words have upholden him that was falling, And thou hast made firm the feeble knees.

Fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones to shake.

A spirit glided past me and made the hair on my skin to bristle.

They meet with darkness in the daytime, and grope in the noonday as in the night.

For, with the stones of the field, shall be thy covenant, and, the wild beast of the field, hath been made thy friend;

See, we have made search with care, and it is so; it has come to our ears; see that you take note of it for yourself.

And Job made answer and said,

“Oh, that my grief could actually be weighed
And placed in the balances together with my tragedy [to see if my grief is the grief of a coward]!

The things that my soul refused to touch are as my sorrowful meat.

Oh that I might have my request; and that God would grant me the thing that I long for!

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!

So might it still be my comfort, And I might exult in the anguish he would not spare, - That I had not concealed the sayings of the Holy One.

What power have I to endure? Or, what is mine end, that my soul might be patient?

“Is my strength and endurance that of stones,
Or is my flesh made of bronze?

For him that is fainting kindness is meet from his friend; or he forsaketh the fear of the Almighty.

Which darken by reason of the cold, over them, is a covering made by the snow:

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