Now when the young women were being gathered again, Mordecai was sitting at the king's gate.

Now when Mordecai became aware of all that had been done, he tore his garments and put on sackcloth and ashes. He went out into the city, crying out in a loud and bitter voice.

"All the servants of the king and the people of the king's provinces know that there is only one law applicable to any man or woman who comes uninvited to the king in the inner court -- that person will be put to death, unless the king extends to him the gold scepter, permitting him to be spared. Now I have not been invited to come to the king for some thirty days!"

Now Haman went forth that day pleased and very much encouraged. But when Haman saw Mordecai at the king's gate, and he did not rise nor tremble in his presence, Haman was filled with rage toward Mordecai.

Then the king said, "Who is that in the courtyard?" Now Haman had come to the outer courtyard of the palace to suggest that the king hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had constructed for him.

In rage the king arose from the banquet of wine and withdrew to the palace garden. Meanwhile, Haman stood to beg Queen Esther for his life, for he realized that the king had now determined a catastrophic end for him.

On that same day King Ahasuerus gave the estate of Haman, that adversary of the Jews, to Queen Esther. Now Mordecai had come before the king, for Esther had revealed how he was related to her.

Now you write in the king's name whatever in your opinion is appropriate concerning the Jews and seal it with the king's signet ring. Any decree that is written in the king's name and sealed with the king's signet ring cannot be rescinded.

Now Mordecai went out from the king's presence in purple and white royal attire, with a large golden crown and a purple linen mantle. The city of Susa shouted with joy.

Now all the actions carried out under his authority and his great achievements, along with an exact statement concerning the greatness of Mordecai, whom the king promoted, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Media and Persia?

Now his sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one in turn, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and to drink with them.

Now the day came when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord -- and Satan also arrived among them.

Now the day came when Job's sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house,

For now I would be lying down and would be quiet, I would be asleep and then at peace

with kings and counselors of the earth who built for themselves places now desolate,

But now the same thing comes to you, and you are discouraged; it strikes you, and you are terrified.

Call to mind now: Who, being innocent, ever perished? And where were upright people ever destroyed?

"Now a word was secretly brought to me, and my ear caught a whisper of it.

"Call now! Is there anyone who will answer you? To which of the holy ones will you turn?

For now you have become like these streams that are no help; you see a terror, and are afraid.

"Now then, be good enough to look at me; and I will not lie to your face!

The eye of him who sees me now will see me no more; your eyes will look for me, but I will be gone.

And why do you not pardon my transgression, and take away my iniquity? For now I will lie down in the dust, and you will seek me diligently, but I will be gone."

if you become pure and upright, even now he will rouse himself for you, and will restore your righteous abode.

"For inquire now of the former generation, and pay attention to the findings of their ancestors;

"Your hands have shaped me and made me, but now you destroy me completely.

"But now, ask the animals and they will teach you, or the birds of the sky and they will tell you.

"Listen now to my argument, and be attentive to my lips' contentions.

See now, I have prepared my case; I know that I am right.

"Surely now you count my steps; then you would not mark my sin.

Surely now he has worn me out, you have devastated my entire household.

Even now my witness is in heaven; my advocate is on high.

"But turn, all of you, and come now! I will not find a wise man among you.

For you say, 'Where now is the nobleman's house, and where are the tents in which the wicked lived?'

"O that I could be as I was in the months now gone, in the days when God watched over me,

"But now they mock me, those who are younger than I, whose fathers I disdained too much to put with my sheep dogs.

"And now I have become their taunt song; I have become a byword among them.

"And now my soul pours itself out within me; days of suffering take hold of me.

Now Elihu had waited before speaking to Job, because the others were older than he was.

Now I was paying you close attention, yet there was no one proving Job wrong, not one of you was answering his statements!

"But now, O Job, listen to my words, and hear everything I have to say!

See now, I have opened my mouth; my tongue in my mouth has spoken.

Now in this, you are not right -- I answer you, for God is greater than a human being.

But now you are preoccupied with the judgment due the wicked, judgment and justice take hold of you.

But now, the sun cannot be looked at -- it is bright in the skies -- after a wind passed and swept the clouds away.

"Look now at Behemoth, which I made as I made you; it eats grass like the ox.

I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye has seen you.

So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. And my servant Job will intercede for you, and I will respect him, so that I do not deal with you according to your folly, because you have not spoken about me what is right, as my servant Job has."

So now, you kings, do what is wise; you rulers of the earth, submit to correction!

They attack me, now they surround me; they intend to throw me to the ground.

You rescue me from a hostile army; you make me a leader of nations; people over whom I had no authority are now my subjects.

Now I am sure that the Lord will deliver his chosen king; he will intervene for him from his holy heavenly temple, and display his mighty ability to deliver.

Now I will triumph over my enemies who surround me! I will offer sacrifices in his dwelling place and shout for joy! I will sing praises to the Lord!

So now my heart will sing to you and not be silent; O Lord my God, I will always give thanks to you.

I was once young, now I am old. I have never seen a godly man abandoned, or his children forced to search for food.

But now, O Lord, upon what am I relying? You are my only hope!

They say, 'An awful disease overwhelms him, and now that he is bed-ridden he will never recover.'

We heard about God's mighty deeds, now we have seen them, in the city of the Lord, the invincible Warrior, in the city of our God. God makes it permanently secure. (Selah)

When you did these things, I was silent, so you thought I was exactly like you. But now I will condemn you and state my case against you!

And now they are tearing down all its engravings with axes and crowbars.

May the Lord's name be praised now and forevermore!

But we will praise the Lord now and forevermore. Praise the Lord!

Then I will keep your law continually now and for all time.

Before I was afflicted I used to stray off, but now I keep your instructions.

The Lord will protect you in all you do, now and forevermore.

As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people, now and forevermore.

O Israel, hope in the Lord now and forevermore!

So now, children, listen to me; do not turn aside from the words I speak.

So now, sons, listen to me, and pay attention to the words I speak.

"So now, children, listen to me; blessed are those who keep my ways.

What exists now is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing truly new on earth.

I thought to myself, "Come now, I will try self-indulgent pleasure to see if it is worthwhile." But I found that it also is futile.

Whatever exists now has already been, and whatever will be has already been; for God will seek to do again what has occurred in the past.

How tragic that the once-faithful city has become a prostitute! She was once a center of justice, fairness resided in her, but now only murderers.

So now, residents of Jerusalem, people of Judah, you decide between me and my vineyard!

Now I will inform you what I am about to do to my vineyard: I will remove its hedge and turn it into pasture, I will break its wall and allow animals to graze there.

The gloom will be dispelled for those who were anxious. In earlier times he humiliated the land of Zebulun, and the land of Naphtali; but now he brings honor to the way of the sea, the region beyond the Jordan, and Galilee of the nations.

Now the Lord makes this announcement: "Within exactly three years Moab's splendor will disappear, along with all her many people; there will be just a few, insignificant survivors left."

At that time those who live on this coast will say, 'Look what has happened to our source of hope to whom we fled for help, expecting to be rescued from the king of Assyria! How can we escape now?'"

So now, do not mock, or your chains will become heavier! For I have heard a message about decreed destruction, from the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, against the entire land.

Now go, write it down on a tablet in their presence, inscribe it on a scroll, so that it might be preserved for a future time as an enduring witness.

"Now I will rise up," says the Lord. "Now I will exalt myself; now I will magnify myself.

He says, "Indeed, my sword has slaughtered heavenly powers. Look, it now descends on Edom, on the people I will annihilate in judgment."

Now make a deal with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, provided you can find enough riders for them.

Now, O Lord our God, rescue us from his power, so all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the Lord."

Certainly you must have heard! Long ago I worked it out, in ancient times I planned it, and now I am bringing it to pass. The plan is this: Fortified cities will crash into heaps of ruins.

Look, my earlier predictive oracles have come to pass; now I announce new events. Before they begin to occur, I reveal them to you."

Now, this is what the Lord says, the one who created you, O Jacob, and formed you, O Israel: "Don't be afraid, for I will protect you. I call you by name, you are mine.

"Look, I am about to do something new. Now it begins to happen! Do you not recognize it? Yes, I will make a road in the desert and paths in the wilderness.

"Now, listen, Jacob my servant, Israel whom I have chosen!"

So now, listen to this, O one who lives so lavishly, who lives securely, who says to herself, 'I am unique! No one can compare to me! I will never have to live as a widow; I will never lose my children.'

You have heard; now look at all the evidence! Will you not admit that what I say is true? From this point on I am announcing to you new events that are previously unrevealed and you do not know about.

Now they come into being, not in the past; before today you did not hear about them, so you could not say, 'Yes, I know about them.'

Approach me! Listen to this! From the very first I have not spoken in secret; when it happens, I am there." So now, the sovereign Lord has sent me, accompanied by his spirit.

So now the Lord says, the one who formed me from birth to be his servant -- he did this to restore Jacob to himself, so that Israel might be gathered to him; and I will be honored in the Lord's sight, for my God is my source of strength --

Yes, your land lies in ruins; it is desolate and devastated. But now you will be too small to hold your residents, and those who devoured you will be far away.

And now, what do we have here?" says the Lord. "Indeed my people have been carried away for nothing, those who rule over them taunt," says the Lord, "and my name is constantly slandered all day long.

his form was so marred he no longer looked human -- so now he will startle many nations. Kings will be shocked by his exaltation, for they will witness something unannounced to them, and they will understand something they had not heard about.

Now listen to what the Lord has to say, you descendants of Jacob, all you family groups from the nation of Israel.

Even now you say to me, 'You are my father! You have been my faithful companion ever since I was young.