They put to death Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha,

On that day the number of those who had been put to death in the town of Shushan was given to the king.

And the king said to Esther the queen, The Jews have put five hundred men to death in Shushan, as well as the ten sons of Haman: what then have they done in the rest of the kingdom! Now what is your prayer? for it will be given to you; what other request have you? and it will be done.

Then Esther said, If it is the king's pleasure, let authority be given to the Jews in Shushan to do tomorrow as has been done today, and let orders be given for the hanging of Haman's ten sons.

And the king said that this was to be done, and the order was given out in Shushan, and the hanging of Haman's ten sons was effected.

For the Jews who were in Shushan came together again on the fourteenth day of the month Adar and put to death three hundred men in Shushan; but they put not a hand on their goods.

And the other Jews in every division of the kingdom came together, fighting for their lives, and got salvation from their haters and put seventy-five thousand of them to death; but they did not put a hand on their goods.

This they did on the thirteenth day of the month Adar; and on the fourteenth day of the same month they took their rest, and made it a day of feasting and joy.

But the Jews in Shushan came together on the thirteenth and on the fourteenth day of the month; and on the fifteenth day they took their rest, and made it a day of feasting and joy.

So the Jews of the country places living in unwalled towns make the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of feasting and joy and a good day, a day for sending offerings one to another.

And Mordecai sent letters to all the Jews in every division of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, near and far,

Ordering them to keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar and the fifteenth day of the same month, every year,

As days on which the Jews had rest from their haters, and the month which for them was turned from sorrow to joy, and from weeping to a good day: and that they were to keep them as days of feasting and joy, of sending offerings to one another and good things to the poor.

And the Jews gave their word to go on as they had been doing and as Mordecai had given them orders in writing;

Because Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the hater of all the Jews, had made designs for their destruction, attempting to get a decision by Pur (that is, chance) with a view to putting an end to them and cutting them off;

But when the business was put before the king, he gave orders by letters that the evil design which he had made against the Jews was to be turned against himself; and that he and his sons were to be put to death by hanging.

So these days were named Purim, after the name of Pur. And so, because of the words of this letter, and of what they had seen in connection with this business, and what had come to them,

The Jews made a rule and gave an undertaking, causing their seed and all those who were joined to them to do the same, so that it might be in force for ever, that they would keep those two days, as ordered in the letter, at the fixed time every year;

And that those days were to be kept in memory through every generation and every family, in every division of the kingdom and every town, that there might never be a time when these days of Purim would not be kept among the Jews, or when the memory of them would go from the minds of their seed.

Then Esther the queen, daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew, sent a second letter giving the force of their authority to the order about the Purim.

And he sent letters to all the Jews in the hundred and twenty-seven divisions of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, with true words of peace,

Giving the force of law to these days of Purim at their fixed times, as they had been ordered by Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen, and in keeping with the rules they had made for themselves and their seed, in connection with their time of going without food and their cry for help.

The order given by Esther gave the force of law to the rules about the Purim; and it was recorded in the book.

For Mordecai the Jew was second only to King Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews and respected by the body of his countrymen; working for the good of his people, and saying words of peace to all his seed.

His sons regularly went to one another's houses, and every one on his day gave a feast: and at these times they sent for their three sisters to take part in their feasts with them.

And there was a day when the sons of the gods came together before the Lord, and the Satan came with them.

And the Lord said to the Satan, Where do you come from? And the Satan said in answer, From wandering this way and that on the earth, and walking about on it.

And the Lord said to the Satan, Have you taken note of my servant Job, for there is no one like him on the earth, a man without sin and upright, fearing God and keeping himself far from evil?

And the Satan said in answer to the Lord, Is it for nothing that Job is a god-fearing man?

But now, put out your hand against all he has, and he will be cursing you to your face.

And the Lord said to the Satan, See, I give all he has into your hands, only do not put a finger on the man himself. And the Satan went out from before the Lord.

And there was a day when his sons and daughters were feasting in the house of their oldest brother,

And a man came to Job, and said, The oxen were ploughing, and the asses were taking their food by their side:

And the men of Sheba came against them and took them away, putting the young men to the sword, and I was the only one who got away safe to give you the news.

And this one was still talking when another came, and said, The fire of God came down from heaven, burning up the sheep and the goats and the young men completely, and I was the only one who got away safe to give you the news.

And this one was still talking when another came, and said, The Chaldaeans made themselves into three bands, and came down on the camels and took them away, putting the young men to the sword, and I was the only one who got away safe to give you the news.

When a great wind came rushing from the waste land against the four sides of the house, and it came down on the young men, and they are dead; and I was the only one who got away safe to give you the news.

Then Job got up, and after parting his clothing and cutting off his hair, he went down on his face to the earth, and gave worship, and said,

And there was a day when the sons of the gods came together before the Lord, and the Satan came with them.

And the Lord said to the Satan, Where do you come from? And the Satan said in answer, From wandering this way and that on the earth, and walking about on it.

And the Lord said to the Satan, Have you taken note of my servant Job, for there is no one like him on the earth, a man without sin and upright, fearing God and keeping himself far from evil? and he still keeps his righteousness, though you have been moving me to send destruction on him without cause.

And the Satan said in answer to the Lord, Skin for skin, all a man has he will give for his life.

But now, if you only put your hand on his bone and his flesh, he will certainly be cursing you to your face.

And the Lord said to the Satan, See, he is in your hands, only do not take his life.

And the Satan went out from before the Lord, and sent on Job an evil disease covering his skin from his feet to the top of his head.

And his wife said to him, Are you still keeping your righteousness? Say a curse against God, and put an end to yourself.

And he said to her, You are talking like one of the foolish women. If we take the good God sends us, are we not to take the evil when it comes? In all this Job kept his lips from sin.

And Job's three friends had word of all this evil which had come on him. And they came every one from his place, Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. So they came together to a meeting-place, in order that they might go and make clear to Job their grief for him, and give him comfort.

And lifting up their eyes when they were still far off, it did not seem that the man they saw was Job because of the change in him. And they gave way to bitter weeping, with signs of grief, and put dust on their heads.

And they took their seats on the earth by his side for seven days and seven nights: but no one said a word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great.

Then, opening his mouth, and cursing the day of his birth,

Let destruction take the day of my birth, and the night on which it was said, A man child has come into the world.

That day--let it be dark; let not God take note of it from on high, and let not the light be shining on it;

Let the dark and the black night take it for themselves; let it be covered with a cloud; let the dark shades of day send fear on it.

Let it be cursed by those who put a curse on the day; who are ready to make Leviathan awake.

For then I might have gone to my rest in quiet, and in sleep have been in peace,

There the passions of the evil are over, and those whose strength has come to an end have rest.

There the prisoners are at peace together; the voice of the overseer comes not again to their ears.

Why does he give light to him who is in trouble, and life to the bitter in soul;

To those whose desire is for death, but it comes not; who are searching for it more than for secret wealth;

Who are glad with great joy, and full of delight when they come to their last resting-place;

To a man whose way is veiled, and who is shut in by God?

If one says a word, will it be a weariness to you? but who is able to keep from saying what is in his mind?

Truly, you have been a helper to others, and you have made feeble hands strong;

He who was near to falling has been lifted up by your words, and you have given strength to bent knees.

But now it has come on you and it is a weariness to you; you are touched by it and your mind is troubled.

Have you ever seen destruction come to an upright man? or when were the god-fearing ever cut off?

The old lion comes to his end for need of food, and the young of the she-lion go wandering in all directions.

A word was given to me secretly, and the low sound of it came to my ears.

Something was present before me, but I was not able to see it clearly; there was a form before my eyes: a quiet voice came to my ears, saying:

Between morning and evening they are completely broken; they come to an end for ever, and no one takes note.

If their tent-cord is pulled up, do they not come to an end, and without wisdom?

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 is the cause of death to the foolish, and he who has no wisdom comes to his end through passion.

Their produce is taken by him who has no food, and their grain goes to the poor, and he who is in need of water gets it from their spring.

But as for me, I would make my prayer to God, and I would put my cause before him:

Who makes the designs of the wise go wrong, so that they are unable to give effect to their purposes.

Truly, that man is happy who has training from the hand of God: so do not let your heart be shut to the teaching of the Ruler of all.

You will come to your last resting-place in full strength, as the grain is taken up to the crushing-floor in its time.

See, we have made search with care, and it is so; it has come to our ears; see that you take note of it for yourself.

If only I might have an answer to my prayer, and God would give me my desire!

If only he would be pleased to put an end to me; and would let loose his hand, so that I might be cut off!

So I would still have comfort, and I would have joy in the pains of death, for I have not been false to the words of the Holy One.

Have I strength to go on waiting, or have I any end to be looking forward to?

My friends have been false like a stream, like streams in the valleys which come to an end:

Under the burning sun they are cut off, and come to nothing because of the heat.

The camel-trains go out of their way; they go up into the waste and come to destruction.

They were put to shame because of their hope; they came and their hope was gone.

So have you now become to me; you see my sad condition and are in fear.

My words may seem wrong to you, but the words of him who has no hope are for the wind.

Truly, you are such as would give up the child of a dead man to his creditors, and would make a profit out of your friend.

Now then, let your eyes be turned to me, for truly I will not say what is false to your face.

Let your minds be changed, and do not have an evil opinion of me; yes, be changed, for my righteousness is still in me.

Is there evil in my tongue? is not the cause of my trouble clear to me?

So I have for my heritage months of pain to no purpose, and nights of weariness are given to me.

When I go to my bed, I say, When will it be time to get up? but the night is long, and I am turning from side to side till morning light.

My days go quicker than the cloth-worker's thread, and come to an end without hope.

A cloud comes to an end and is gone; so he who goes down into the underworld comes not up again.

He will not come back to his house, and his place will have no more knowledge of him.

Then you send dreams to me, and visions of fear;