Then she said, "Did I desire a son of my lord? Didn't I say, Do not deceive me?"

He called Gehazi, and said, "Call this Shunammite!" So he called her. When she had come in to him, he said, "Take up your son."

Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground; and she took up her son, and went out.

The Syrians had gone out in bands, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maiden; and she waited on Naaman's wife.

She said to her mistress, "I wish that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! Then he would heal him of his leprosy."

The king said to her, "What ails you?" She answered, "This woman said to me, 'Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.'

So we boiled my son, and ate him: and I said to her on the next day, 'Give your son, that we may eat him;' and she has hidden her son."

The woman arose, and did according to the word of the man of God. She went with her household, and lived in the land of the Philistines seven years.

It happened at the seven years' end, that the woman returned out of the land of the Philistines. Then she went forth to cry to the king for her house and for her land.

When the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed to her a certain officer, saying, "Restore all that was hers, and all the fruits of the field since the day that she left the land, even until now."

When Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her eyes, and attired her head, and looked out at the window.

As Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, "Do you come in peace, Zimri, you murderer of your master?"

When he was come in, he ate and drink; and he said, "See now to this cursed woman, and bury her; for she is a king's daughter."

Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal.

When Athaliah heard the noise of the guard [and of] the people, she came to the people into the house of Yahweh:

and she looked, and behold, the king stood by the pillar, as the tradition was, and the captains and the trumpets by the king; and all the people of the land rejoiced, and blew trumpets. Then Athaliah tore her clothes, and cried, "Treason! Treason!"

So they made way for her; and she went by the way of the horses' entry to the king's house. She was slain there.

Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; besides his sin with which he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh.

So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asaiah, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in the second quarter); and they talked with her.

She said to them, "Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: 'Tell the man who sent you to me,

and also for the innocent blood that he shed; for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood: and Yahweh would not pardon.

Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

The sons of Shem: Elam, and Asshur, and Arpachshad, and Lud, and Aram, and Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Meshech.

Shem, Arpachshad, Shelah,

The sons of Keturah, Abraham's concubine: she bore Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah. The sons of Jokshan: Sheba, and Dedan.

Afterward Hezron went in to the daughter of Machir the father of Gilead, whom he took [as wife] when he was sixty years old; and she bore him Segub.

Jerahmeel had another wife, whose name was Atarah; she was the mother of Onam.

The name of the wife of Abishur was Abihail; and she bore him Ahban, and Molid.

Sheshan gave his daughter to Jarha his servant as wife; and she bore him Attai.

She bore also Shaaph the father of Madmannah, Sheva the father of Machbena, and the father of Gibea; and the daughter of Caleb was Achsah.

The sons of Ezrah: Jether, and Mered, and Epher, and Jalon; and she bore Miriam, and Shammai, and Ishbah the father of Eshtemoa.

The sons of Manasseh: Asriel, whom his concubine the Aramitess bore: she bore Machir the father of Gilead:

Maacah the wife of Machir bore a son, and she named him Peresh; and the name of his brother was Sheresh; and his sons were Ulam and Rakem.

He went in to his wife, and she conceived, and bore a son, and he named him Beriah, because it went evil with his house.

It happened, as the ark of the covenant of Yahweh came to the city of David, that Michal the daughter of Saul looked out at the window, and saw king David dancing and playing; and she despised him in her heart.

But the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 'You have shed blood abundantly, and have made great wars. You shall not build a house to my name, because you have shed much blood on the earth in my sight.

But God said to me, 'You shall not build a house for my name, because you are a man of war, and have shed blood.'

When the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to prove Solomon with hard questions at Jerusalem, with a very great train, and camels that bore spices, and gold in abundance, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she talked with him of all that was in her heart.

She said to the king, "It was a true report that I heard in my own land of your acts, and of your wisdom.

She gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, and spices in great abundance, and precious stones: neither was there any such spice as the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon.

King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatever she asked, besides that which she had brought to the king. So she turned, and went to her own land, she and her servants.

and she bore him sons: Jeush, and Shemariah, and Zaham.

After her he took Maacah the daughter of Absalom; and she bore him Abijah, and Attai, and Ziza, and Shelomith.

Also Maacah, the mother of Asa the king, he removed from being queen, because she had made an abominable image for an Asherah; and Asa cut down her image, and made dust of it, and burnt it at the brook Kidron.

Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal seed of the house of Judah.

But Jehoshabeath, the daughter of the king, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him away from among the king's sons who were slain, and put him and his nurse in the bedroom. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of king Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest (for she was the sister of Ahaziah), hid him from Athaliah, so that she didn't kill him.

When Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, she came to the people into the house of Yahweh:

and she looked, and, behold, the king stood by his pillar at the entrance, and the captains and the trumpets by the king; and all the people of the land rejoiced, and blew trumpets; the singers also played musical instruments, and led the singing of praise. Then Athaliah tore her clothes, and said, "Treason! treason!"

So they made way for her. She went to the entrance of the horse gate to the king's house; and they killed her there.

So Hilkiah, and they whom the king [had commanded], went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tokhath, the son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe; (now she lived in Jerusalem in the second quarter;) and they spoke to her to that effect.

She said to them, "Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: 'Tell the man who sent you to me,

to bring Vashti the queen before the king with the royal crown, to show the people and the princes her beauty; for she was beautiful.

"What shall we do to the queen Vashti according to law, because she has not done the bidding of the King Ahasuerus by the eunuchs?"

For this deed of the queen will become known to all women, causing them to show contempt for their husbands, when it is reported, 'King Ahasuerus commanded Vashti the queen to be brought in before him, but she didn't come.'

"If it please the king, let a royal commandment go from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes, so that it cannot be altered, that Vashti may never again come before King Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal estate to another who is better than she.

After these things, when the wrath of King Ahasuerus was pacified, he remembered Vashti, and what she had done, and what was decreed against her.

He brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle's daughter; for she had neither father nor mother. The maiden was fair and beautiful; and when her father and mother were dead, Mordecai took her for his own daughter.

The maiden pleased him, and she obtained kindness from him. He quickly gave her cosmetics and her portions of food, and the seven choice maidens who were to be given her out of the king's house. He moved her and her maidens to the best place in the women's house.

Esther had not made known her people nor her relatives, because Mordecai had instructed her that she should not make it known.

The young woman then came to the king like this: whatever she desired was given her to go with her out of the women's house to the king's house.

In the evening she went, and on the next day she returned into the second women's house, to the custody of Shaashgaz, the king's eunuch, who kept the concubines. She came in to the king no more, unless the king delighted in her, and she was called by name.

Now when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her for his daughter, came to go in to the king, she required nothing but what Hegai the king's eunuch, the keeper of the women, advised. Esther obtained favor in the sight of all those who looked at her.

The king loved Esther more than all the women, and she obtained favor and kindness in his sight more than all the virgins; so that he set the royal crown on her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti.

Esther had not yet made known her relatives nor her people, as Mordecai had commanded her; for Esther obeyed Mordecai, like she did when she was brought up by him.

Esther's maidens and her eunuchs came and told her this, and the queen was exceedingly grieved. She sent clothing to Mordecai, to replace his sackcloth; but he didn't receive it.

When the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, she obtained favor in his sight; and the king held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. So Esther came near, and touched the top of the scepter.

Haman also said, "Yes, Esther the queen let no man come in with the king to the banquet that she had prepared but myself; and tomorrow I am also invited by her together with the king.

She said, "If it pleases the king, and if I have found favor in his sight, and the thing seem right to the king, and I am pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to reverse the letters devised by Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all the king's provinces.

For she leaves her eggs on the earth, warms them in the dust,

She deals harshly with her young ones, as if they were not hers. Though her labor is in vain, she is without fear,

When she lifts up herself on high, she scorns the horse and his rider.

She shall be led to the king in embroidered work. The virgins, her companions who follow her, shall be brought to you.

God is in her midst. She shall not be moved. God will help her at dawn.

"Kings of armies flee! They flee!" She who waits at home divides the spoil,

Their blood they have shed like water around Jerusalem. There was no one to bury them.

Yes, the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young, near your altars, Yahweh of Armies, my King, and my God.

They shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan. The land was polluted with blood.

for their feet run to evil. They hurry to shed blood.

Wisdom calls aloud in the street. She utters her voice in the public squares.

She calls at the head of noisy places. At the entrance of the city gates, she utters her words:

She is more precious than rubies. None of the things you can desire are to be compared to her.

She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her. Happy is everyone who retains her.

Don't forsake her, and she will preserve you. Love her, and she will keep you.

Esteem her, and she will exalt you. She will bring you to honor, when you embrace her.

She will give to your head a garland of grace. She will deliver a crown of splendor to you."

Take firm hold of instruction. Don't let her go. Keep her, for she is your life.

But in the end she is as bitter as wormwood, and as sharp as a two-edged sword.

She gives no thought to the way of life. Her ways are crooked, and she doesn't know it.

haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood;

She is loud and defiant. Her feet don't stay in her house.

Now she is in the streets, now in the squares, and lurking at every corner.

So she caught him, and kissed him. With an impudent face she said to him:

With persuasive words, she led him astray. With the flattering of her lips, she seduced him.

for she has thrown down many wounded. Yes, all her slain are a mighty army.

On the top of high places by the way, where the paths meet, she stands.

Beside the gates, at the entry of the city, at the entry doors, she cries aloud:

Wisdom has built her house. She has carved out her seven pillars.

She has prepared her meat. She has mixed her wine. She has also set her table.

She has sent out her maidens. She cries from the highest places of the city:

"Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!" As for him who is void of understanding, she says to him,