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

His sons regularly went to one another's houses, and every one on his day gave a feast: and at these times they sent for their three sisters to take part in their feasts 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.

And the Lord said to the Satan, Where do you come from? And the Satan said in answer, From wandering this way and that on the earth, and walking about on it.

And the Satan said in answer to the Lord, Is it for nothing that Job is a god-fearing man?

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

And the Lord said to the Satan, See, I give all he has into your hands, only do not put a finger on the man himself. And the Satan went out from before the Lord.

When a great wind came rushing from the waste land against the four sides of the house, and it came down on the young men, and they are dead; and I was the only one who got away safe to give you the news.

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.

And the Lord said to the Satan, Where do you come from? And the Satan said in answer, From wandering this way and that on the earth, and walking about on it.

And the Satan went out from before the Lord, and sent on Job an evil disease covering his skin from his feet to the top of his head.

And he took a broken bit of a pot, and, seated in the dust, was rubbing himself with the sharp edge of it.

And he said to her, You are talking like one of the foolish women. If we take the good God sends us, are we not to take the evil when it comes? In all this Job kept his lips from sin.

And lifting up their eyes when they were still far off, it did not seem that the man they saw was Job because of the change in him. And they gave way to bitter weeping, with signs of grief, and put dust on their heads.

Let destruction take the day of my birth, and the night on which it was said, A man child has come into the world.

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.

That night--let the thick dark take it; let it not have joy among the days of the year; let it not come into the number of the months.

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.

Why did death not take me when I came out of my mother's body, why did I not, when I came out, give up my last breath?

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

There the prisoners are at peace together; the voice of the overseer comes not again to their ears.

To those whose desire is for death, but it comes not; who are searching for it more than for secret wealth;

For I have a fear and it comes on me, and my heart is greatly troubled.

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?

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.

A word was given to me secretly, and the low sound of it came to my ears.

Something was present before me, but I was not able to see it clearly; there was a form before my eyes: a quiet voice came to my ears, saying:

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.

For evil does not come out of the dust, or trouble out of the earth;

In the daytime it becomes dark for them, and in the sunlight they go feeling about as if it was night.

He will keep you safe from the evil tongue; and you will have no fear of wasting when it comes.

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.

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.

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

Does the ass of the fields give out his voice when he has grass? or does the ox make sounds over his food?

The camel-trains go out of their way; they go up into the waste and come to destruction.

Did I say, Give me something? or, Make a payment for me out of your wealth?

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?

How pleasing are upright words! but what force is there in your arguments?

Truly, you are such as would give up the child of a dead man to his creditors, and would make a profit out of your friend.

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

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.

So I will not keep my mouth shut; I will let the words come from it in the pain of my spirit, my soul will make a bitter outcry.

What is man, that you have made him great, and that your attention is fixed on him,

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

If I have done wrong, what have I done to you, O keeper of men? why have you made me a mark for your blows, so that I am a weariness to myself?

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

Will the river-plant come up in its pride without wet earth? will the grass get tall without water?

When it is still green, without being cut down, it becomes dry and dead before any other plant.

He is looking to his family for support, but it is not there; he puts his hope in it, but it comes to nothing.

He is full of strength before the sun, and his branches go out over his garden.

If he is taken away from his place, then it will say, I have not seen you.

Such is the joy of his way, and out of the dust another comes up to take his place.

Truly, I see that it is so: and how is it possible for a man to get his right before God?

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.

He is wise in heart and great in strength: who ever made his face hard against him, and any good came of it?

It is he who takes away the mountains without their knowledge, overturning them in his wrath:

Who is moving the earth out of its place, so that its pillars are shaking:

Who gives orders to the sun, and it does not give its light; and who keeps the stars from shining.

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?

If it is a question of strength, he says, Here I am! and if it is a question of a cause at law, he says, Who will give me a fixed day?

I have done no wrong; I give no thought to what becomes of me; I have no desire for life.

It is all the same to me; so I say, He puts an end to the sinner and to him who has done no wrong together.

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;

Then I would say what is in my mind without fear of him; for there is no cause of fear in myself.

I will say to God, Do not put me down as a sinner; make clear to me what you have against me.

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?

Though you see that I am not an evil-doer; and there is no one who is able to take a man out of your hands?

O keep in mind that you made me out of earth; and will you send me back again to dust?

Was I not drained out like milk, becoming hard like cheese?

That, if I did wrong, you would take note of it, and would not make me clear from sin:

And that if there was cause for pride, you would go after me like a lion; and again put out your wonders against me:

Why then did you make me come out of my mother's body? It would have been better for me to have taken my last breath, and for no eye to have seen me,

They are higher than heaven; what is there for you to do? deeper than the underworld, and outside your knowledge;

For in his eyes men are as nothing; he sees evil and takes note of it.

But if you put your heart right, stretching out your hands to him;

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

It seems that I am to be as one who is a cause of laughing to his neighbour, one who makes his prayer to God and is answered! the upright man who has done no wrong is to be made sport of!

But put now a question to the beasts, and get teaching from them; or to the birds of the heaven, and they will make it clear to you;

Or to the things which go flat on the earth, and they will give you wisdom; and the fishes of the sea will give you news of it.

Truly, there is no building up of what is pulled down by him; when a man is shut up by him, no one may let him loose.

Truly, he keeps back the waters and they are dry; he sends them out and the earth is overturned.

Uncovering deep things out of the dark, and making the deep shade bright;

Increasing nations, and sending destruction on them; making wide the lands of peoples, and then giving them up.

Truly, my eye has seen all this, word of it has come to my ear, and I have knowledge of it.

If only you would keep quiet, it would be a sign of wisdom!

Will you say in God's name what is not right, and put false words into his mouth?

Will it be good for you to be searched out by him, or have you the thought that he may be guided into error like a man?

Keep quiet, and let me say what is in my mind, whatever may come to me.

Give ear with care to my words, and keep what I say in your minds.

Then at the sound of your voice I will give answer; or let me put forward my cause for you to give me an answer.