And [as for] this house, which was exalted, all who pass by it will be appalled and will say, 'Why has Yahweh done thus to this land and to this house?'

And it happened [that] at the end of twenty years [in] which Solomon had built the house of Yahweh and his own house,

And Solomon brought up the daughter of Pharaoh from the city of David to the house that he had built for her, for he said, "My wife shall not dwell in the house of David, king of Israel, for those [places] to which the ark of Yahweh has come [are] holy.

And she said to the king, "The word which I heard in my land concerning your words and your wisdom [is] true,

"Your father made our yoke heavy. Now, therefore, lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, and we will serve you."

So now you yourselves are considering [that you are] strong before the kingdom of Yahweh [which is] in the hand the sons of David, since you yourselves are a great multitude and you have bull calves of gold that Jeroboam has made for idols.

Asa did that which [was] good and right in the eyes of Yahweh his God.

Then King Asa took all of Judah, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber with which Baasha had been building, and he built Geba and Mizpah with them.

And they buried him in his burial site, which had been cut out for him in the city of David. And they laid him on the bier which they had filled with all kinds of spices made [by] the perfumers as a fragment ointment. And they made a great fire in his honor.

Then Zedekiah the son of Kenaanah came near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said, "{Which way} did the Spirit of Yahweh come from me to speak to you?"

now behold, they are rewarding us by coming to dispossess us from your possession which you gave us as an inheritance.

Now the rest of the words of Jehoshaphat, [from] the first to the last, behold, they [are] written in the chronicles of Jehu the son of Hanani, which [are] recorded in the scroll of the kings of Israel.

And after all this Yahweh afflicted him in his bowels with an illness for [which there was] no cure.

And Joash the king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, "The thorn bush that [is] in Lebanon has sent to the cedar which [is] in Lebanon, saying, 'Give your daughter to my son as wife.' But a wild animal of the field that [was] in Lebanon passed by and trampled the thorn bush.

So Joash the king of Israel went up, and he and Amaziah the king of Judah {faced one another} at Beth-Shemesh, which belongs to Judah.

And Uzziah slept with his ancestors, and they buried him with his ancestors in the burial field which belonged to the kings, because, they said, "He [was] leprous." And Jotham his son reigned in his place.

And he did that which was right in the eyes of Yahweh, according to all that David his father had done.

Now, do not stiffen your neck as your fathers, but give a hand to Yahweh and come to his sanctuary, which he has consecrated forever, and serve Yahweh your God that his fierce anger may turn away from you.

And he built altars in the house of Yahweh, [of] which Yahweh had said, "In Jerusalem my name shall be forever."

And he placed the carved image of the idol that he had made in the house of God, [of] which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, "In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever.

And he removed the foreign gods and the carved image from the house of Yahweh and all the altars which he built on the mountain of the house of Yahweh and in Jerusalem, and he threw them outside the city.

And they came to Hilkiah the high priest and gave the money that was brought for the house of God, which the Levites, the guardians of the threshold, had gathered from the hand of Manasseh, Ephraim, and from the whole remnant of Israel, and from all Judah and Benjamin and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

They have dispensed the money which was found in the house of Yahweh and have put it into the hand of the overseers and those doing the work."

But to the king of Judah who sent you to seek Yahweh, thus shall you say to him: 'Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: [As for] the words which you heard,

And he said to the Levites who [were] teaching all Israel, who were sanctified to Yahweh, "Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, built. There is no [need] to carry it on [your] shoulders. Now serve Yahweh your God and his people Israel.

And there was no Passover like it kept in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet. And none of the kings of Israel kept a Passover like that which Josiah and the priests and the Levites, and all of Judah and Israel who were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, kept.

"Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia: 'Yahweh the God of heaven has given to me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has appointed me to build a house for him at Jerusalem, which [is] in Judah. Whoever [is] among you from all his people, may Yahweh his God go up with him.'"

"Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: Yahweh, the God of the heavens, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. And he himself has appointed me to build a house for him in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

Whoever among you [who is] from all of his people, may his God be with him and may he go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and may he build the house of Yahweh, the God of Israel. He is the God who [is] in Jerusalem.

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."

So the heads of the {families} for Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites--to all whose spirit God had stirred--[prepared] to go up and build the house of Yahweh which is in Jerusalem.

this is the copy of the letter which they sent to him: "To King Artaxerxes [from] your servants, the men of [the province] Beyond the River. And now,

They sent to him the report {in which was written as follows}: "To Darius the king, all peace.

And this is the answer they returned to us: 'We are servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are building the house that was built formerly many years ago, [which] a great king of Israel had built and finished.

Also, the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took away from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to the temple in Babylonia, King Cyrus removed them from the temple in Babylonia and they were given to Sheshbazzar, whom he appointed governor.

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."

This house was completed on the third day of the month of Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.

this Ezra went up from Babylonia. He was a scribe skilled in the law of Moses, which Yahweh the God of Israel gave. The king granted him all his requests, for the hand of Yahweh was upon him.

He came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king.

For you are sent from the king and his seven counselors to enquire about Judah and Jerusalem concerning the law of your God, which is in your hand.

which you commanded by the hand of your servants the prophets saying, 'The land that you are entering to possess is a land of impurity with the impurity of the peoples of the lands, with their detestable things which they have filled from end to end with their uncleanness.

But if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, even though all of your outcasts are at the furthest parts of heaven, I will gather them and bring them to the place which I have chosen to make my name dwell.'

Also, a letter to Asaph, keeper of the king's land reserve, that he should give me timber for laying the beams for the gates of the citadel of the house and for the walls of the city, and for the house which I will enter." And the king gave [permission] to me, according to the good hand of God on me.

They found written in the law, which Yahweh had commanded by the hand of Moses, that the {Israelites} should live in booths during the festival of the seventh month,

[are] helping their brothers, their nobles, and entering into a solemn oath to walk in the law of God which was given by the hand of Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all of the commandments of Yahweh our Lord and his judgments and regulations.

So all of Israel in the days of Zerubbabel and in the days of Nehemiah gave the daily food portions of the singers and gatekeepers. And they set apart [that which was for] the Levites, and the Levites set apart [that which was for] the descendants of Aaron.

Remember me, my God, concerning this, and do not wipe out my loyal acts which I have done in the house of my God and in his service.

In those days as King Ahasuerus was sitting on the throne of his kingdom, which [was] in the citadel of Susa,

So Hathach went out to Mordecai, to the public square of the city, which [was] in front of the gate of the king,

"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.

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 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 one day in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth [day] of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar.

In the twelfth month, that [is] the month of Adar, on the thirteenth day, on which the edict of the king arrived and his law was enacted, on the day in which the enemies of the Jews had hoped to gain power over them but was overturned, [and] the Jews gained power against their enemies,

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.

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?

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

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

"Call now, is there [anyone] answering you? And to which of [the] holy ones will you turn?

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

Should he argue in talk [that] is not profitable or [in] words with which he cannot do good?

what wise men have told, and they have not hidden [that which is] from their ancestors,

{he will dwell} [in] desolate cities, in houses that they should not inhabit, which are destined for rubble.

Indeed, [after] {a few years} have come, then I will go [the] way [from which] I will not return.

He is torn from his tent {in which he trusted}, and it brought him to the king of terrors.

For you say, 'Where is the nobleman's house, and where [are] {the tents in which the wicked dwell}?'

I want to know [the] words [with which] he would answer me, and I want to understand what he would say to me.

"I will teach you about God's hand; I will not conceal that [which is] with Shaddai.

His flesh is wasted away from sight, and his bones, [which] are invisible, are bared.

Remember that you should extol his work, [of] which people have sung.

which [the] clouds pour down; they shower abundantly on human beings.

He covers [his] hands [with] lightning, and he commands it the place at [which] to strike.

which I have reserved for [the] time of trouble, for [the] day of battle and war?

[to] which I have given [the] wilderness [as] its house and [the] salt flat [as] its dwelling place?

"Look, Behemoth, which I have made just as [I made] you; it eats grass like the ox.

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, [the] moon and [the] stars which you set in place--

He says in his heart, "I shall not be moved {throughout all generations}, [during] which [I will have] no trouble."

"Because of [the] oppression of [the] afflicted, because of [the] groaning of [the] poor, now I will rise up," Yahweh says. "I shall put [them] in [the] safety [for which] they long."

Yahweh [is] the portion [which is] my share and my cup. You hold my lot.

My lips will sing for joy when I sing praises to you, and my soul, which you have redeemed.

For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our ancestors to teach to their children,

And return to our neighbors sevenfold {upon them} their taunts [with] which they taunted you, O Lord.

[by] which your enemies taunt, O Yahweh, [by] which they taunt the steps of your anointed one.

This [is] the great and {wide} sea, in which [are] moving animals without number, living things small and great.

and served their idols, which became a snare to them.

May it be for him like a garment [in which] he wraps, and a belt {he continually wears}.

This [is] the gate of Yahweh, through [which the] righteous will enter.

Fulfill your word to your servant, which [is] to [bring about] a reverence for you.

And I will take delight in your commands, which I love.

And I will lift up my hands to your commands, which I love, and I will meditate on your statutes.

Remember [your] word to your servant, upon which you have caused me to hope.

[The] arrogant have dug pits for me, which [is] not according to your law.

Those who trust in Yahweh [are] like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, [but] abides forever.

[with] which a reaper cannot fill his hand, nor the binder of sheaves his {arms},

Let burning coals fall on them; let them be dropped into the fire, into bottomless pits [from which] they cannot rise.

Do not remove an ancient boundary marker which your ancestors made.

These are also proverbs of Solomon which officials of Hezekiah king of Judah copied:

[Like] {impure silver} which overlays an earthen vessel, [so are] smooth lips and an evil heart.

What does a person gain in all his toil with which he toils under the sun?