All of this happened on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar. They then rested on the fourteenth day and made it a day for banqueting and happiness.

But the Jews who were in Susa assembled on the thirteenth and fourteenth days, and rested on the fifteenth, making it a day for banqueting and happiness.

This is why the Jews who are in the rural country -- those who live in rural cities -- set aside the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a holiday for happiness, banqueting, holiday, and sending gifts to one another.

to establish for them, that they should continue to observe the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day thereof, - always year by year;

as the day that the Jews {found relief} from their enemies, and the month which changed for them from sorrow to joy, and from a mourning ceremony to a {festive day}; to make them days of feasting and joy, and giving gifts to each other and to the poor.

For Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the oppressor of all the Jews, had devised against the Jews to destroy them, and had cast Pur, that is, the lot, to consume them and to destroy them;

Therefore they called these days Purim after the name of Pur. Therefore for all the words of this letter, and of that which they had seen concerning this matter, and which had come unto them,

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.

Letters containing wishes for peace and stability were sent to all the Jewish people, to the 127 provinces of Ahasuerus' kingdom,

To confirm these days of Purim in their times appointed, according as Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen had enjoined them, and as they had decreed for themselves and for their descendants, concerning the matters of the fastings and their lamentations.

The command of Esther established these customs for Purim, and it was written in the book.

As for all the work of his power and authority, and the great worship of Mordecai, which the king gave him, behold, it is written in the Chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia.

For Mordecai the Jew was next unto king Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and accepted by the multitude of his brethren, seeking the welfare of his people, and speaking peace to all his countrymen.

And his sons went and feasted in their houses, every one on his day; and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them.

And it was so, when the days of their feasting were finished, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually.

Yahweh said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant, Job? For there is none like him in the earth, a blameless and an upright man, one who fears God, and turns away from evil."

Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Does Job fear God for nothing?

Hast not Thou made a hedge for him, and for his house, and for all that he hath -- round about?

Throughout all this Job did not sin or blame God for anything.

So Yahweh {asked} Satan, "Have you {considered} my servant Job? Indeed, there is no one like him on the earth--a blameless man and upright and God-fearing and turning away from evil. And still he persists in his blamelessness {even though} you incited me against him to destroy him for nothing."

And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man has will he give for his life.

{So} he took for himself a potsherd with which to scrape himself, and he sat in the midst of the ashes.

Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came every one from his own place; Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite: for they had made an appointment together to come to mourn with him and to comfort him.

So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spoke a word unto him: for they saw that his grief was very great.

That day let it be darkness, let not +God care for it from above, neither let light shine upon it:

Let darkness and the shadow of death claim it for their own. Let a cloud dwell on it. Let all that makes black the day terrify it.

As for that night, let darkness seize upon it; let it not rejoice 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 the stars of its twilight be dark; let it look for light, but have none; neither let it see the dawning of the day:

For that night did not shut
the doors of my mother’s womb,
and hide sorrow from my eyes.

Why did the knees receive me,
and why were there breasts for me to nurse?

For now should I have lain still and been quiet, I should have slept: then would I have been at rest,

With kings and counselors of the earth, who built desolate places for themselves;

or princes who amassed gold for themselves, and who kept filling their houses with silver.

Who long for death, but it comes not; and dig for it more than for hidden treasures;

and search for it more than for treasure. Which also would be exceedingly glad, and rejoice if they found their grave.

For my sighing comes before I eat, and my groanings are poured out like the waters.

For the thing which I greatly feared has come upon me, and that which I was afraid of has come unto me.

I cannot relax or be still;
I have no rest, for trouble comes.

So far as I have seen, They who plow for iniquity and sow misery, reap the same:

The old lion perishes for lack of prey, and the strong lion's whelps are scattered abroad.

It stood still, but I could not discern its form: an image was before my eyes, there was silence, and I heard a voice, saying,

From morning to evening are they smitten: without any heeding it, they perish for ever.

Give now a cry for help; is there anyone who will give you an answer? and to which of the holy ones will you make your prayer?

For wrath kills the foolish man, and envy slays the simple one.

“I have seen the foolish taking root [and outwardly prospering],
But I cursed his dwelling immediately [for his destruction was certain].

Now his children have no safe place, and they are crushed before the judges, for no one takes up their cause.

Whose harvest the hungry eateth up, and taketh even out of the thorns; and the snare gapeth for his substance.

For affliction comes not forth from the dust, neither does trouble spring out of the ground;

For man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upwards.

But as for me I will seek unto God, and unto God commit my cause;

He frustrates the plans of the crafty; so that what they work for never succeeds.

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

So there is hope for the powerless, and wickedness shuts its mouth.

For he bruises, and binds up: he wounds, and his hands make whole.

“He will rescue you from six troubles;
Even in seven, evil will not touch you.

In destruction and dearth thou shalt be merry, and shalt not be afraid for the beasts of the earth:

For you shall be in covenant with the stones of the field: and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you.

Yea, thou shalt know that thy dwelling place shall be in rest: thou shalt behold thy substance, and be no more punished for sin.

Lo this, we have searched it out, so it is; hear it, and know you it for your good.

For then should it be heavier than the sand of the sea.

For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea: therefore my words are swallowed up.

For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poison thereof drinks up my spirit: the terrors of God do set themselves in array against me.

The things that sometime I might not away withal, are now my meat for very sorrow.

Oh that I might have my request; and that God would grant me the thing that I long for!

Then should I still have comfort; yea, I would exult myself in sorrow: let him not spare; for I have not concealed the words of the Holy One.

For what my strength that I shall wait and what my end, that I shall prolong my soul?

Since I cannot help myself,
the hope for success has been banished from me.

"Loyal love [should come] for the afflicted [from] his friend, even if he forsakes the fear of Shaddai.

for the paths that they go in are crooked: they haste after vain things, and shall perish.

The caravans of Tema looked, the travelers of Sheba waited for them.

Confounded are they that put any confidence in them: For when they came to obtain the things that they looked for, they were brought to confusion.

For now you are nothing; you see my terror, and are afraid.

Did I say, Bring unto me? or, Give a reward for me of your substance?

"Teach me and I, for my part, will be silent; explain to me how I have been mistaken.

Do ye imagine to reprove words? The speeches of one that is desperate are indeed for the wind.

Yea, you overwhelm the fatherless, and you dig a pit for your friend.

Now therefore be content, look upon me; for it is evident unto you if I lie.

Relent, let there be no falsehood; reconsider, for my righteousness is intact!

Has not man his ordered time of trouble on the earth? and are not his days like the days of a servant working for payment?

As a servant earnestly desires the shadow, and as a hireling looks for the reward of his work:

Truly I've been allotted months of emptiness; nights of trouble have been appointed for me.

When I laid me down to sleep, I said, 'O when shall I rise?' Again, I longed sore for the night. Thus am I full of sorrow, till it be dark.

The eye of anyone who looks on me
will no longer see me.
Your eyes will look for me, but I will be gone.

For if thou fasten thine eyes upon me, I come to naught like as a cloud is consumed and vanisheth away. Even so, he that goeth down to hell, cometh no more up,

For I've said, "My bed will comfort me; my couch will ease my burdens while I complain.'

I loathe it; I would not live always: let me alone; for my days are vanity.

And thou wilt review him for the mornings, and thou wilt try him for the moments.

[If] I have sinned, what have I done to you, watcher of humanity? Why have you made me as a target for yourself, so that I have become a burden to myself?

And why do you not pardon my transgression, and take away my iniquity? for now shall I sleep in the dust; and you shall seek me in the morning, but I shall not be.

If your children have sinned against him, and he has cast them away for their transgression;

If you yourself would seek God, then you would plead to Shaddai for grace.

If you were pure and upright; surely now he would awake for you, and make the habitation of your righteousness prosperous.

For inquire, I pray you, of the former age, and prepare yourself to the findings of their fathers:

(For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days upon earth are a shadow:)

While they are still beginning to flower and not ripe for cutting, they can wither away faster than any grass!

His confidence shall be destroyed, for he trusteth in a spider's web.

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

His roots are wrapped about the stone heap, and looks for a place in the stones.

Lo, thus is it with him that rejoiceth in his own doings: and as for others, they grow out of the earth.