And he gave them an account of the glories of his wealth, and the number of children he had, and the ways in which he had been honoured by the king, and how he had put him over the captains and servants of the king.

And Haman said further, Truly, Esther the queen let no man but myself come in to the feast which she had made ready for the king; and tomorrow again I am to be her guest with the king.

But all this is nothing to me while I see Mordecai the Jew seated by the king's doorway.

Then his wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, Let a pillar, fifty cubits high, be made ready for hanging him, and in the morning get the king to give orders for the hanging of Mordecai: then you will be able to go to the feast with the king with a glad heart. And Haman was pleased with the suggestion, and he had the pillar made.

It came out that it was recorded in the book how Mordecai had given word of the designs of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's servants, keepers of the door, by whom an attack on the king had been designed.

So Haman came in. And the king said to him, What is to be done to the man whom the king has delight in honouring? Then the thought came into Haman's mind, Whom, more than myself, would the king have pleasure in honouring?

And let the robes and the horse be given to one of the king's most noble captains, so that they may put them on the man whom the king has delight in honouring, and let him go on horseback through the streets of the town, with men crying out before him, So let it be done to the man whom the king has delight in honouring.

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 gave his wife Zeresh and all his friends an account of what had taken place. Then his wise men and his wife Zeresh said to him, If Mordecai, who is starting to get the better of you, is of the seed of the Jews, you will not be able to do anything against him, but you will certainly go down before him.

And the king said to Esther again on the second day, while they were drinking, What is your prayer, Queen Esther? for it will be given to you; and what is your request? for it will be done, even to the half of my kingdom.

Then Esther the queen, answering, said, If I have your approval, O king, and if it is the king's pleasure, let my life be given to me in answer to my prayer, and my people at my request:

For we are given up, I and my people, to destruction and death and to be cut off. If we had been taken as men-servants and women-servants for a price, I would have said nothing, for our trouble is little in comparison with the king's loss.

Then the king came back from the garden into the room where they had been drinking; and Haman was stretched out on the seat where Esther was. Then the king said, Is he taking the queen by force before my eyes in my house? And while the words were on the king's lips, they put a cloth over Haman's face.

Then Harbonah, one of the unsexed servants waiting before the king, said, See, the pillar fifty cubits high, which Haman made for Mordecai, who said a good word for the king, is still in its place in Haman's house. Then the king said, Put him to death by hanging him on it.

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

And she said, If it is the king's pleasure and if I have his approval and this thing seems right to the king and I am pleasing to him, then let letters be sent giving orders against those which Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, sent out for the destruction of the Jews in all divisions of the kingdom:

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.

So now send a letter about the Jews, writing whatever seems good to you, in the king's name, and stamping it with the king's ring: for a writing signed in the king's name and stamped with the king's ring may not be changed.

Then at that time, on the twenty-third day of the third month, which is the month Sivan, the king's scribes were sent for; and everything ordered by Mordecai was put in writing and sent to the Jews and the captains and the rulers and the chiefs of all the divisions of the kingdom from India to Ethiopia, a hundred and twenty-seven divisions, to every division in the writing commonly used there, and to every people in their language, and to the Jews in their writing and their language.

The letters were sent in the name of King Ahasuerus and stamped with his ring, and they were taken by men on horseback, going on the quick-running horses used for the king's business, the offspring of his best horses:

In these letters the king gave authority to the Jews in every town to come together and make a fight for their lives, and to send death and destruction on the power of any people in any part of the kingdom attacking them or their children or their women, and to take their goods from them by force,

A copy of the writing, to be made public as an order in every division of the kingdom, was given out to all the peoples, so that the Jews might be ready when that day came to give punishment to their haters.

So the men went out on the quick-running horses used on the king's business, wasting no time and forced on by the king's order; and the order was given out in Shushan, the king's town.

Now on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, when the time came for the king's order to be put into effect, on the very day when the haters of the Jews had been hoping to have rule over them; though the opposite had come about, and the Jews had rule over their haters;

And the king said to Esther the queen, The Jews have put five hundred men to death in Shushan, as well as the ten sons of Haman: what then have they done in the rest of the kingdom! Now what is your prayer? for it will be given to you; what other request have you? and it will be done.

Then Esther said, If it is the king's pleasure, let authority be given to the Jews in Shushan to do tomorrow as has been done today, and let orders be given for the hanging of Haman's ten sons.

And the king said that this was to be done, and the order was given out in Shushan, and the hanging of Haman's ten sons was effected.

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.

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.

The order given by Esther gave the force of law to the rules about the Purim; and it was recorded in the book.

For Mordecai the Jew was second only to King Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews and respected by the body of his countrymen; working for the good of his people, and saying words of peace to all his seed.

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.

But now, put out your hand against all he has, and he will be cursing you to your face.

And a man came to Job, and said, The oxen were ploughing, and the asses were taking their food by their side:

With nothing I came out of my mother's body, and with nothing I will go back there; the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; let the Lord's name be praised.

But now, if you only put your hand on his bone and his flesh, he will certainly be cursing you to your face.

And they took their seats on the earth by his side for seven days and seven nights: but no one said a word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great.

That day--let it be dark; let not God take note of it from on high, and let not the light be shining on it;

Let the dark and the black night take it for themselves; let it be covered with a cloud; let the dark shades of day send fear on it.

As for that night, let it have no fruit; let no voice of joy be sounded in it;

Let it be cursed by those who put a curse on the day; who are ready to make Leviathan awake.

Let its morning stars be dark; let it be looking for light, but may it not have any; let it not see the eyes of the dawn.

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

To a man whose way is veiled, and who is shut in by God?

If one says a word, will it be a weariness to you? but who is able to keep from saying what is in his mind?

He who was near to falling has been lifted up by your words, and you have given strength to bent knees.

But now it has come on you and it is a weariness to you; you are touched by it and your mind is troubled.

What I have seen is that those by whom trouble has been ploughed, and evil planted, get the same for themselves.

By the breath of God destruction takes them, and by the wind of his wrath they are cut off.

Though the noise of the lion and the sounding of his voice, may be loud, the teeth of the young lions are broken.

May a man be upright before God? or a man be clean before his Maker?

Their produce is taken by him who has no food, and their grain goes to the poor, and he who is in need of water gets it from their spring.

Truly, that man is happy who has training from the hand of God: so do not let your heart be shut to the teaching of the Ruler of all.

For you will be in agreement with the stones of the earth, and the beasts of the field will be at peace with you.

And you will be certain that your tent is at peace, and after looking over your property you will see that nothing is gone.

You will be certain that your seed will be great, and your offspring like the plants of the earth.

If only my passion might be measured, and put into the scales against my trouble!

For then its weight would be more than the sand of the seas: because of this my words have been uncontrolled.

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!

Have I strength to go on waiting, or have I any end to be looking forward to?

Or, Get me out of the power of my hater? or, Give money so that I may be free from the power of the cruel ones?

Give me teaching and I will be quiet; and make me see my error.

Now then, let your eyes be turned to me, for truly I will not say what is false to your face.

Let your minds be changed, and do not have an evil opinion of me; yes, be changed, for my righteousness is still in me.

When I go to my bed, I say, When will it be time to get up? but the night is long, and I am turning from side to side till morning light.

The eye of him who sees me will see me no longer: your eyes will be looking for me, but I will be gone.

I have no desire for life, I would not be living for ever! Keep away from me, for my days are as a breath.

How long will it be before your eyes are turned away from me, so that I may have a minute's breathing-space?

And why do you not take away my sin, and let my wrongdoing be ended? for now I go down to the dust, and you will be searching for me with care, but I will be gone.

How long will you say these things, and how long will the words of your mouth be like a strong wind?

If you are clean and upright; then he will certainly be moved to take up your cause, and will make clear your righteousness by building up your house again.

And though your start was small, your end will be very great.

Put the question now to the past generations, and give attention to what has been searched out by their fathers:

Truly, God will not give up him who is without sin, and will not take evil-doers by the hand.

The time will come when your mouth will be full of laughing, and cries of joy will come from your lips.

Your haters will be clothed with shame, and the tent of the sinner will not be seen again.

If a man was desiring to go to law with him, he would not be able to give him an answer to one out of a thousand questions.

By whose hand the heavens were stretched out, and who is walking on the waves of the sea:

Who does great things not to be searched out; yes, wonders without number.

If he puts out his hand to take, by whom may it be turned back? who may say to him, What are you doing?

God's wrath may not be turned back; the helpers of Rahab were bent down under him.

Even if my cause was good, I would not be able to give an answer; I would make request for grace from him who was against me.

If I had sent for him to be present, and he had come, I would have no faith that he would give ear to my voice.

For I would be crushed by his storm, my wounds would be increased without cause.

He would not let me take my breath, but I would be full of bitter grief.

The land is given into the power of the evil-doer; the faces of its judges are covered; if not by him, then who has done it?

If I say, I will put my grief out of mind, I will let my face be sad no longer and I will be bright;

I go in fear of all my pains; I am certain that I will not be free from sin in your eyes.

You will not let me be clear of sin! why then do I take trouble for nothing?

What profit is it to you to be cruel, to give up the work of your hands, looking kindly on the design of evil-doers?

Your hands made me, and I was formed by you, but then, changing your purpose, you gave me up to destruction.

By you I was clothed with skin and flesh, and joined together with bones and muscles.

That, if I was an evil-doer, the curse would come on me; and if I was upright, my head would not be lifted up, being full of shame and overcome with trouble.

Are not the days of my life small in number? Let your eyes be turned away from me, so that I may have a little pleasure,

Are all these words to go unanswered? and is a man seen to be right because he is full of talk?

Then truly your face will be lifted up, with no mark of sin, and you will be fixed in your place without fear:

And your life will be brighter than day; though it is dark, it will become like the morning.