and say, 'Thus says the king: "Put this one into the prison house, and let him eat {a meager ration of bread and water} until I return in peace." '"

So now, let the fear of Yahweh be upon you all. {Be careful what you do}, for there is neither wickedness nor {showing partiality} and taking bribes with Yahweh our God."

Let no one enter into the house of Yahweh except the priests and the ministering Levites. They themselves may enter, for they [are] holy, but all the people shall keep the requirements of Yahweh.

But a man of God came to him, saying, "O king, do not let the army of Israel go with you, for Yahweh is not with Israel, all the Ephraimites.

Then Amaziah king of Judah took counsel, and he sent to Joash the son of Jehoahaz the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, "Come, {let us face one another}.

So they let the decree stand, {to make a proclamation} throughout all Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, to come to make a Passover feast to Yahweh the God of Israel.

So now, do not let Hezekiah deceive you. Do not let him urge you according to this. Do not put trust in him, for no god of any nation and kingdom has been able to save his people from my hand and from the hand of my ancestors. Surely then your God will not save you from my hand!'"

and prayed to him. And God responded to him and heard his plea and let him return to Jerusalem to his kingdom. And Manasseh knew that Yahweh was God.

And let every survivor, from wherever he {resides} be assisted by the men of that place with silver and gold, with possessions and domestic animals, and with the freewill offering for the house of God which is in Jerusalem."

Cyrus the king of Persia let them go out by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and he counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah.

And they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of the {families}, and they said to them, "Let us build with you. Like you, we seek your God and have been sacrificing [to him] from the days of Esarhaddon the king of Assyria who brought us up here.

He said to him, 'Take these vessels. Go put them in the temple in Jerusalem and let the house of God be built on its site.'

And now, if it seems good for the king, let it be investigated in the house of the treasury of the king in Babylonia [to see] if a decree was issued forth from King Cyrus to build this house of God in Jerusalem. And let the king send to us his desire on this matter."

In the first year of King Cyrus, he issued forth a decree concerning the house of God in Jerusalem. Let the house be built, the place where sacrifices are offered and let its foundations be raised. Its height [shall be] sixty cubits and its width sixty cubits,

with three layers of great stones and a layer of timber. Let the new expenses be paid from the house of the king.

Also, let the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylonia, be returned and brought to the temple in Jerusalem to its place. Put them in the house of God."

Leave this work of the house of God alone. Let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house of God on its site.

Whatever may be needed--{young bulls}, young rams, sheep for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, and oil for the priests in Jerusalem--let it be given to them day by day with no negligence,

Furthermore, I issue forth a decree that if any person violates this decree, let a beam be pulled out from his house and let him be impaled on it. And let his house be made a pile of rubble on [account of] this.

May the God who has set his name there overthrow any king or people who sets his hand to alter [or] to destroy this house of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, issue forth a decree. Let it be done with diligence."

"I, even I, King Artaxerxes, issue forth a decree to all the treasurers who are in [the province] Beyond the River. Whatever the priest Ezra, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, may ask of you, let it be done with diligence,

All that is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be done with diligence for the house of the God of heaven, otherwise wrath will come on the kingdom of the king and his sons.

All who do not obey the law of your God and the law of the king, let judgment be executed on him with diligence, whether for death or for banishment or for confiscation of goods and for imprisonment."

So now let us make a covenant with our God to send away all of these women and their offspring, according to the advice of my lord and those who tremble at the commandment of our God. Let it be done according to the law.

Please let our leaders stand for the whole assembly, and let all that are in our cities who have married foreign women come at set times, and with them the elders of and judges of each city, until the fierce wrath of our God because of this matter is averted from us."

Please, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer of your servant that I am praying before you by day and by night for your servants, the {Israelites}, and confessing the sins of the {Israelites} that we have sinned against you. I and my father's house have sinned.

O Lord, please let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight to revere in your name. Please, let your servant be successful this day and give him compassion before this man." I was cupbearer for the king.

Then I said to the king, "If it is good for the king, let letters be given to me for the governors [in the province] Beyond the River, that they may let me pass until I come to Judah.

I told them of the good hand of my God that was upon me and surely the words of the king that were spoken to me. And they said, "Let us arise and build!" And they strengthened their hands for [this] good work.

Then I answered and said to them, "The God of the heavens himself will let us succeed, and we his servants shall arise and build. But for you there is no share, right, or memorial in Jerusalem."

Do not cover their guilt, and do not let their sin be blotted out from before you. They have {provoked the builders to anger}.

At the time I also said to the people, "Let each man and his servant spend the night inside Jerusalem, so that they will be a guard for us in the night and work in the day."

Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, "Come and let us meet together in [one of] the villages in the plain of Ono." But they planned to do evil to me.

Now I went into the house of Shemaiah son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was confined [at home], and he said, "Let us meet in the house of God, inside the temple, and let us close the doors of the temple; for they are coming to kill you--during the night they are coming to kill you."

I said to them, "Do not open the gates of Jerusalem until the sun is hot. While they are standing guard let them shut and fasten the doors. And appoint guards from the inhabitants of Jerusalem, one at his post and another opposite his house."

{If it pleases} the king, let {a royal edict} go out from him, and let it be written among the laws of Persia and Media so that it will not be altered, that Vashti cannot come before King Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal position to her neighbor who [is] better than she.

And let the king's decree that he will make be proclaimed in all his kingdom, because it [is] vast and all the women will honor their husbands, great and small."

And the king's servants attending him said, "Let them seek attractive young virgins for the king.

Let the king appoint chief officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, and let them gather every attractive young virgin to the {harem} in the citadel of Susa {under the care of} Hegai, the king's eunuch, who is in charge of the women; and let him give [them] their beauty treatment.

And let the young woman {who is pleasing} in the king's eyes become queen in place of Vashti. The thing was good in the king's eyes, and he acted accordingly.

If it pleases the king, let a [decree] be issued to destroy them, and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver to those who do the job, to bring to the treasury of the king."

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

If I have found favor in the eyes of the king, and if it is good to the king to grant my petition and fulfill my request, let the king and Haman come to the banquet that I will prepare for them tomorrow, and I will do according to the word of the king.

{And Haman added}, "Esther the Queen did not let [just anyone] come to the banquet that she prepared with the king except me, and I am also invited tomorrow to her [banquet] with the king.

And Zeresh his wife and all of his friends said to him, "Let them make a gallows fifty cubits high, and in the morning tell the king, "Let them hang Mordecai on it; then go with the king to the banquet happily." The advice pleased Haman, so he had the gallows made.

And the king's servants said to him, "Look! Haman [is] standing in the courtyard." And the king said, "Let him come."

let them bring {royal clothing} with which the king has clothed himself, and a horse that the king has ridden, and on whose head a royal head-dress has been given.

And let the clothing and the horse be given {to the man} by the officials of the king's nobles; let them cloth the man whom the king wishes to honor, and let him ride on his horse through the public square of the city, and let them proclaim before him, 'Thus, it will be done for the man whom the king wishes to honor.'"

So Haman took the clothing and the horse, and he clothed Mordecai and let him ride through the public square of the city; and he proclaimed before him, "Thus, it is done to the man whom the king wishes to honor."

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 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.

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."

Then he said, "Naked I came out from my mother's womb, and naked I will return there. Yahweh gives, and Yahweh takes. Let Yahweh's name be blessed."

"Let [the] day perish on which I was born, and the night that said, 'A man-child is conceived.'

Let that day become darkness; may God not seek it from above, nor may daylight shine on it.

Let darkness and deep shadow claim it; let clouds settle on it; let them terrify it [with the] blackness of day.

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.

Look, let that night become barren; let a joyful song not enter it.

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

Let the stars of its dawn be dark; let it hope for light but there be none, and let it not see [the] eyelids of dawn

that God would decide that he would crush me, [that] he would let loose his hand and {kill me}.

Please turn, let no injustice happen; indeed, turn, {my righteousness is still intact}.

May he remove his rod from me, and let his dread not terrify me;

I will say to God, 'You should not condemn me; let me know why you contend [against] me.

[Are] not my days few? Let him leave [me] alone; let him turn from me, and let me rejoice a little.

if iniquity [is] in your hand, put it far away, and you must not let wickedness reside in your tents--

"{Let me have silence}, and I myself will speak, and let come over me whatever [may].

"Listen carefully [to] my words, and [let] my exposition [be] in your ears.

withdraw your hand from me, and let not your dread terrify me.

Then call, and I myself will answer; or let me speak, then reply to me.

Look away from him, and let him desist until he enjoys his days like a laborer.

that you turn your spirit against God, and you let [such] words go out of your mouth?

Let him not trust in emptiness--he will be deceiving himself-- for worthlessness will be his recompense.

"O earth, you should not cover my blood, and let there be no place for my cry for help.

Indeed, you have closed their mind from understanding; therefore, you will not let [them] triumph.

If indeed you must magnify yourselves against me, and you must let my disgrace argue against me,

[though] he spares it and does not let it go [and] holds it back in the midst of his palate,

Because he has not known satisfaction in his stomach, {he lets nothing escape that he desires}.

{When his stomach fills up}, [God] will send {his burning anger} upon him, and he will let [it] rain down upon him as his food.

"Listen carefully to my words, and let this be your consolation.

'God stores up his iniquity for his children'? [Then] let him repay [it] to him that he may know.

Let his eyes see his decay, and let him drink from the wrath of Shaddai,

I hold fast to my righteousness, and I will not let it go; my heart will not blame [any] of my days.

"Let my enemy be like [the] wicked and my opponent like [the] unrighteous,

let him weigh me in [the] balance of justice, and let God know my blamelessness.

let me sow, and let another eat, and let my crops be rooted out.

let my wife grind for another, and let other [men] kneel over her,

[then] let my shoulder blade fall from [my] shoulder, and let my arm be broken from its socket.

{O that} {I had} someone hearing me! Here is my signature; let Shaddai answer me! {As for} [the] written communication [that] {my adversary} has written,

let thorns grow in place of wheat and noxious weeds in place of barley." The words of Job are ended.

I thought, 'Let days speak, and let many years teach wisdom.'

Therefore I say, 'Listen to me; let me also declare my knowledge myself.'

So do not say, 'We have found wisdom; let God refute him, not a man.'

Let me speak {that I may find relief}; let me open my lips, and let me answer.

{Please let me not show partiality to anyone}, and let me not show flattery to human beings,

Let us choose justice for ourselves; let us determine among ourselves what [is] good--

Indeed, he will repay [according to] a human being's deeds, and according to a man's way he will let [it] happen [to] him.

Yes, [it is] wrath, so that it will not incite you into mockery; and do not let [the] ransom's greatness turn you aside.

He lets it loose under all the heavens, and his lightning to the earth's corners.

Whether as {correction} or for his land, or as loyal love, he lets it happen.