And then I told two Levites that they must purify themselves and come to guard the gates in order to consecrate the day of the Sabbath. Remember this also, my God, and take pity on me according to the greatness of your loyal love.

So I quarreled with them and cursed them and beat some of their men and pulled out their hair. I made them take an oath by God: "Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves.

Should we listen to you all and do this great evil, acting unfaithfully against our God by marrying foreign women?"

he gave a banquet in the third year of his reign for all his officials and servants. The army of Persia and Media and the nobles and officials of the provinces were in his presence

And when those days were completed, the king gave for all the people that were present at the citadel of Susa, both great and small, a banquet in the courtyard of the king's palace garden that lasted seven days.

There were curtains of finely woven linen and blue cloth tied with cords of fine white linen and purple cloth to silver curtain rings and pillars of alabaster, [and] couches of gold and silver on a paved floor of alabaster, precious stone, mother-of-pearl, and costly stones.

Drinks were served in goblets of gold and {goblets of different kinds}, and [there was] {plentiful royal wine according to the bounty of the king}.

There were no restrictions on the drinking, for the king had instructed every official of his palace to do as each one pleased.

and those next to him were Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, Memucan, the seven officials of Persia and Media who {had access to the king} and sat first in the kingdom--

And Memucan said before the king and the officials, "Not only has Queen Vashti done wrong to the king, but to all the officials and all of the people who [are] in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus.

who was deported from Jerusalem with the exiles who were deported with Jeconiah the king of Judah, whom King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had deported.

He was raising Hadassah, that [is] Esther, his uncle's daughter, for she did not have a father or a mother; the young woman [had] a beautiful figure and [was] very attractive. When her father and mother died, Mordecai had taken her as his daughter.

And it happened, at the proclaiming of the edict of the king and his law, when many young women were being gathered to the citadel of Susa {under Hegai's care}, Esther was taken to the {king's palace} {under the care of} Hegai who was in charge of the women.

Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus, to his {palace}, in the tenth month that is Tebeth in the seventh year of his reign.

When [the] virgins were gathered a second time, Mordecai [was] sitting at the gate of the king.

And the matter was investigated and found [to be so]; and the two of them were hanged on [the] gallows, and it was written in the scroll of the events of the days before the presence of the king.

After these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and he exalted him and set {his position} above all the officials who [were] with him.

And all of the king's servants who [were] at the gate of the king [were] kneeling and bowing down to Haman; for so the king had commanded concerning him, but Mordecai did not kneel and bow down.

And the king's servants who [were] at the gate of the king said to Mordecai, "Why [are] you transgressing the command of the king?"

But {he considered it beneath him} to lay hands on Mordecai only, for they told him of Mordecai's people, and Haman sought to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, who [were] in the kingdom of Ahasuerus.

In the first month, that [is], the month of Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasurus, he cast pur--that [is], the lot--before the presence of Haman {for the day and for the month}, until the twelfth month, that [is], the month of Adar.

And Haman said to King Ahasuerus, "There is a certain people scattered and separated among the peoples in all of the provinces of your kingdom; their laws [are] different from every [other] people, and they do not {observe} the laws of the king; it is not appropriate for the king to tolerate them.

And the king's secretaries were called in the first month on the thirteenth day, and [a decree] was issued, according to all that Haman commanded, to the satraps of the king and to the governors who [were] over all the provinces, and to [the] officials of all the people, to each province according to [its own] script and to all people according to their own language; [it was] written in the name of King Ahasuerus and [was] sealed with the king's ring.

Letters [were] sent by couriers to all the provinces of the king to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all the Jews, {both young and old}, women and children, on one day, the thirteenth day of the month, that [is] Adar, and to plunder their goods.

In every province [each] place where the king's edict and his law came, there [was] great mourning for the Jews with fasting, crying, wailing, [and] sackcloth; and ashes were spread out as a bed for them.

"All the king's servants and the people of the king's provinces know that [if] any man or woman who goes to the king to the inner courtyard, who is not called, he has one law, to be killed, except if the king extends to him the gold scepter so that he may live. I have not been called to come to the king {for thirty days}."

Then Mordecai told [them] to reply to Esther: "Do not think that your life will be saved [in] the palace of the king more than all the Jews.

For if indeed you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, and you and the family of your father will perish. Who knows? [Perhaps] you have come to a royal position for a time such as this."

"Go, gather all the Jews that are found in Susa and fast for me; do not eat or drink [for] three days, both night and day. I and my young girls will fast likewise, and then I will go to the king, which [is] not according to the law; if I perish, I perish.

And the king said to her, "What [is] it, Queen Esther? What [is] your request? It will be given to you--even half the kingdom."

And the king said to Esther {while they were drinking wine}, "What [is] your petition? It will be given to you. What [is] your request? Even half the kingdom, it will done.

And Haman went out on that day rejoicing and {feeling good}. But when Haman saw Mordecai at the gate of the king, and he did not rise or tremble before him, Haman was filled {with rage toward} Mordecai.

During that night the king's sleep escaped [him], and he gave orders to bring the {scroll of records and chronicles}, and they were read before the king.

As they [were] still speaking with him the king's eunuchs arrived and hurried to bring Haman to the banquet that Esther had prepared.

And the king again said to Esther, on the second day {while they were drinking}, "What [is] your petition, Queen Esther? It will be given to you. What [is] your request? It will be given [to you]--even half the kingdom."

Then Queen Esther answered, and she said, "If I have found favor in your eyes, O king, and if it is good to the king, let my life be given to me at my petition and my people at my request;

And King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, "Who [is] he, and where [is] he, who {gave himself the right to do this}?"

And the king returned from the palace garden to the {banquet hall}, [where] Haman [was] lying prostrate on the couch that Esther [was] on, and the king said, "Will he also molest the queen with me in the house?" As the words went from the king's mouth they covered Haman's face.

and she said, "If it is good to the king, and if I have found favor before him, and if the king is pleased with this matter, and {I have his approval}, let [an edict] be written to revoke the letters of the plans of Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews that [are] in all the provinces of the king.

And the secretaries of the king were summoned at that time, in the third month, which [is] in the month of Sivan on the twenty-third [day], and [an edict] was written according to all that Mordecai commanded, to the Jews and to the governors and satraps and officials of the provinces from India to Cush--one hundred and twenty-seven provinces--each province according to its own script and to every people in their own {language}, and to the Jews in their own script and language.

[In them] the king allowed the Jews who [were] in every city to assemble and {defend their lives}, to destroy and kill and annihilate any army of any people or province attacking them, including women and children, and to plunder their spoil,

In every province and city, wherever the king's edict and his law came, there was gladness and joy for the Jews, a banquet and a {holiday}, and many of the people from the country [were] posing as Jews because the fear of the Jews had fallen on them.

All the officials of the provinces, the satraps, governors, and {those who did the work of the king} [were] supporting the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai had fallen on them.

And the king said to Queen Esther, "In the citadel of Susa the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men and the ten sons of Haman. What have they done in the rest of the king's provinces? What [is] your petition? It will be granted to you. And what further [is] your request? It will be done."

Esther replied, "If it is good to the king, let tomorrow also be granted to the Jews who [are] in Susa to do according to the edict of today; and let them hang Haman's ten sons on the gallows."

And the king said to do so. And a decree was issued in Susa and Haman's ten sons were hanged.

And the Jews were gathered who [were] in Susa, and on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar and they killed in Susa three hundred men, but they did not {touch} the plunder.

The rest of the Jews who [were] in the king's provinces gathered and {defended their lives} and {found repose} from their enemies. And they killed seventy-five thousand of those that hated them, but they did not {touch} the plunder.

But the Jews who [were] in Susa gathered on the thirteenth and on the fourteenth day, and rested on the fifteenth day. And they made it a day of feasting and joy.

Mordecai wrote down these things and he sent letters to all the Jews who [were] in all [of] the provinces of King Ahasuerus, [both] near and far,

to impose on them to keep the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, and the fifteenth [day], {every year},

the Jews established and adopted [it] for themselves and for their offspring, and for all who joined them. They did not neglect {to observe} these two days every year as it was written and appointed to them.

These days [are] to be remembered and [are] to be kept in every generation, and in family, province, and city; and these days of Purim are not [to be] neglected among the Jews, and their memory shall not come to an end among their offspring.

All the work of his authority and his {powerful deeds}, and the full accounting of the greatness of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him, are they not written on the scroll of the {chronicles} of the kings of Media and Persia?

And seven sons and three daughters were born to him.

So Yahweh said to Satan, "From where have you come?" Then Satan answered Yahweh and said, "From roaming on the earth and from walking about in it."

But, on the other hand, stretch out your hand and touch {all that belongs to him} [and see] {whether} he will {curse} you to your face."

So Yahweh said to Satan, "Look, {all that belongs to him} is in your {power}. Only do not stretch out your hand {against} him." So Satan went out from Yahweh's {presence}.

And then [there] was one day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their firstborn brother's house.

And a messenger came to Job and said, "The oxen were plowing, and the female donkeys were feeding {beside them}.

While this one was still speaking, {another} came and said, "The Chaldeans formed three divisions, and they made a raid on the camels, and they carried them away, and they struck your servants {by the edge of the sword}, but I escaped, [even] I alone, to tell you."

At the time this one was speaking, {another} came and said, "Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their firstborn brother's house.

So Yahweh {asked} Satan, "From where have you come?" And Satan answered Yahweh and said, "From roaming on the earth and from walking about in it."

But stretch out your hand and touch his bones and his flesh, [and see] {whether} he will {curse} you to your face."

So Yahweh said to Satan, "{All right}, he [is] in your {power}. Only spare his life."

Then his wife said to him, "Are you still persisting in your blamelessness? {Curse} God and die."

Let darkness seize that night; let it not rejoice among [the] days of [the] year; let it not enter among [the] number of [the] months.

Let those who curse the day curse it, those who are skilled at rousing Leviathan.

or with high officials {who have gold}, who fill up their houses [with] silver.

Or [why] was I not hidden like a miscarriage, like infants [who] did not see [the] light?

There [the] wicked cease from troubling, and there [the] {weary} are at rest;

[the] prisoners are at ease together; they do not hear [the] oppressor's voice.

[The] small and [the] great [are] there, and [the] slave [is] free from his masters.

who rejoice {exceedingly}, [and] they are glad when they find [the] grave?

Your words have raised up [the one who] stumbles, and you have strengthened knees giving way.

But now it has come to you, and you are worn out; it touches you, and you are horrified.

[Is] not your fear [in God] your confidence? [Is not] your hope even the integrity of your ways?

"{Think} now, who has perished [who is] innocent? Or where [are] the upright destroyed?

[The] roar of [the] lion and [the] voice of a lion in its prime, and [the] teeth of [the] young lions are broken.

[The] lion is perishing without prey, and [the] lion's whelps are scattered.

"And a word came stealing to me, and my ear received [the] whisper from it.

'Can a human being be more righteous than God, or can a man be more pure than his Maker?

How much more dwellers in clay houses, whose foundation [is] in the dust? They are crushed like a moth.

{Between morning and evening} they are destroyed; without [anyone] regarding [it] they perish forever.

His children are far from deliverance, and they are crushed in the gate, and there is no deliverer--

to set [the] lowly on high, and [those] mourning are lifted to safety.

[He] is capturing [the] wise in their craftiness, and the schemes of the wily are rushed.

In famine he will redeem you from death, and in war from [the] {power of} [the] sword.

For your covenant [will be] with the stones of the field, and the wild animals of the field will be at peace with you.

And you shall know that your tent [is] safe, and you will inspect your fold, and you shall not be missing [anything].

And you shall know that your offspring [are] many, and your descendants like the vegetation of the earth.

for the arrows of Shaddai [are] in me; my spirit drinks their poison; the terrors of God are arrayed against me.

Does [the] wild ass bray over grass, or [the] ox bellow over its fodder?

Can tasteless [food] be eaten without salt, or is there taste in the white of a marshmallow plant?

{I refused} to touch [them]; they [are] like {food that will make me ill}.

Or [is] my strength [like] the strength of stones? Or [is] my flesh bronze?

My companions are treacherous like a torrent-bed; like a streambed of wadis they flow away,

which are growing dark because of ice upon them, it will pile up snow.

They are disappointed, because they trusted; they came {here} and they are confounded.

Is it because I have said, 'Give to me,' or, 'Offer a bribe for me from your wealth'?