Then Hezekiah answered and said, "Now {you have consecrated yourselves} to Yahweh. Come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the house of Yahweh!" And the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and all [who were] willing in heart [brought] burnt offerings.

And Azariah the chief priest of the house of Zadok answered him, saying, "Since the offerings began to be brought to the house of Yahweh, [we have] eaten and been satisfied, and have much to spare, for Yahweh has blessed his people. Now [see] this abundant remainder!"

Do you not know what I have done, I and my ancestors, to all the peoples of the lands? Were the gods of the nations of all the lands at all able to save their land from my hand?

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 I will {never} remove the foot of Israel from upon the land that I appointed to your ancestors, if only you will take care to do all that I have commanded them, all the law, the regulations, and the judgments by the hand of Moses."

And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, "I have found a scroll of the law in the house of Yahweh!" Then Hilkiah gave the scroll to Shaphan.

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."

"Go! Seek Yahweh on my behalf and on behalf of those remaining in Israel and Judah concerning the words of the scroll that was found, for the anger of Yahweh that [was] poured out on us [is] great, because our ancestors have not kept the word of Yahweh, to do all that is written in this scroll."

because they have abandoned me and burned incense to other gods so as to provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands. And my wrath will be poured out on this place and it will not be quenched.'

because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before God when you heard his words against this place and against its inhabitants and you humbled yourself before me and tore your garments and wept before me, now I also have heard,' {declares} Yahweh.

And Jeremiah uttered a lament for Josiah, and all the male and female singers have spoken in their laments about Josiah to this day. And they made them a requirement in Israel, and behold, they are written in the laments.

And they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of the {families}, and they said to them, "Let us build with you. Like you, we seek your God and have been sacrificing [to him] from the days of Esarhaddon the king of Assyria who brought us up here.

be it known to the king that the Jews who have come up from near you to us have gone to Jerusalem. They are building the rebellious and wicked city. They are finishing the wall and repairing the foundation.

so that it may be investigated in the book of records of your ancestors. You will find in the book of records and learn that this city is a rebellious city, hurtful to kings and provinces, and they have rebelled in its midst from ancient times. Because of that this city was destroyed.

We make known to the king that if this city is built and the walls are finished, you will have nothing in [the province] Beyond the River."

Mighty kings have ruled over Jerusalem, [governing] all [the province] Beyond the River, to whom tribute, duty, and tax has been given.

Also, bring the silver and gold that the king and his advisors have freely offered to the God of Israel whose dwelling is in Jerusalem,

After finishing these things the officials approached me saying, "The people of Israel, the priests, and the Levites have not separated from the people of the lands with their detestable things, and from the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites.

For they have taken from their daughters for themselves and their sons. So the holy seed has mixed itself with the peoples of the lands, and the hand of the officials and prefects were foremost in this sin.

and said, "My God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift my face to you, my God. For our sins have risen above our heads and our guilt has grown up to the heavens.

From the days of our ancestors until this day we have been in great guilt, and because of our sins we ourselves, our kings, and our priests have been handed into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plunder, and to utter shame, as it is this day.

"And now our God what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken your commandments,

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.

After all that has come upon us for our evil practices and for our great guilt--you, our God, have held back less than our guilt [deserved] and you have given us a remainder such as this.

Yahweh, God of Israel, you are righteous, for we have been left this day as a remnant. Here we are before you in our guilt, for none can stand before you because of this."

Shecaniah son of Jehiel, of the sons of Elam, answered and said to Ezra, "We ourselves have broken faith with our God and have married foreign women from the peoples of the land, and even now there is hope for Israel in spite of this.

Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, "You have broke faith and married foreign women, increasing the guilt of Israel.

Please let our leaders stand for the whole assembly, and let all that are in our cities who have married foreign women come at set times, and with them the elders of and judges of each city, until the fierce wrath of our God because of this matter is averted from us."

They replied to me, "The survivors in the province who have survived the captivity are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned in the fire."

Please, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer of your servant that I am praying before you by day and by night for your servants, the {Israelites}, and confessing the sins of the {Israelites} that we have sinned against you. I and my father's house have sinned.

We have certainly offended you and have not kept the commands, regulations, and judgments that you have commanded your servant Moses.

Please, remember the word that you have commanded to your servant Moses, saying, 'If you act unfaithfully I will scatter you all among the nations.

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.'

They are your servants and your people whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand.

Do not cover their guilt, and do not let their sin be blotted out from before you. They have {provoked the builders to anger}.

There were also those saying, "We have pledged our fields and our vineyards and our houses so that we can get grain in the famine."

And there were those who were saying, "We have borrowed money on our fields and our vineyards for the tax of the king.

and I said to them: "We ourselves have bought back our brothers the Jews who were sold to the nations as we were able. But now you yourselves have sold your brothers so they may be sold to us!" They were silent and could not find a word [to say].

Please restore to them this day their fields, their vineyards, their olive groves, their houses, and the interest on the money, the grain, the grape juice, and the olive oil that you have been taking from them."

Remember me for good, my God, all that I have done for this people.

You have also set up prophets to proclaim in Jerusalem concerning you, saying, '[There is] a king in Judah.' And now it will be proclaimed to the king according to these words. Now, come and we will plan together."

So I sent to him saying, "None of these words you have spoken has happened. You are indeed saying [things] created in your own mind"--

For this reason he was hired: to frighten [me] so that I would act and sin, so that they would have a bad report so they could taunt me.

All of the people went to eat, to drink, to send a share, and to have great joy because they understood the words that they had made known to them.

"You alone are Yahweh. You alone have made the heavens, the heavens of the heavens, and all of their army, the earth and all that is in it, the waters and all that is in them. You give life to all of them, and the army of the heavens worship you.

You found his heart faithful before you and made a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite and the Girgashite--to give [it] to his seed. And you have kept your word because you are righteous.

You gave them bread from heaven for their starvation, and you caused water to go out from a rock for their thirst. You told them to go in order to take into possession the land that you have sworn by your hand to give to them.

You were patient toward them for many years, and you have warned them by your spirit through the hand of your prophets, but they did not listen. So you gave them into the hand of the nations of the lands.

You are righteous in everything that has come on us, for you dealt faithfully, and we have acted wickedly.

Behold, we are slaves to this day, and the land that you have given to our ancestors to eat its fruits and [enjoy] its goodness--behold, we are slaves in it!

Its rich yield goes to the kings whom you have given over us because of our sins, and [they are] ruling over our dead bodies and our livestock at their pleasure. We are in great trouble.

And we have cast lots for the contributions of the wood offering of the priests, the Levites, and the people to bring [it] to the house of our God, by our fathers' houses, at designated times, year by year, to burn on the altar of Yahweh our God--as it is written in the law.

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.

He was raising Hadassah, that [is] Esther, his uncle's daughter, for she did not have a father or a mother; the young woman [had] a beautiful figure and [was] very attractive. When her father and mother died, Mordecai had taken her as his daughter.

"All the king's servants and the people of the king's provinces know that [if] any man or woman who goes to the king to the inner courtyard, who is not called, he has one law, to be killed, except if the king extends to him the gold scepter so that he may live. I have not been called to come to the king {for thirty days}."

For if indeed you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, and you and the family of your father will perish. Who knows? [Perhaps] you have come to a royal position for a time such as this."

And Esther said, "If it is good to the king, let the king and Haman come today to the banquet that I have prepared for him."

If I have found favor in the eyes of the king, and if it is good to the king to grant my petition and fulfill my request, let the king and Haman come to the banquet that I will prepare for them tomorrow, and I will do according to the word of the king.

Then the king said to Haman, "Quickly, take the clothing and the horse, just as you have said, and do so to Mordecai the Jew who sits at the gate of the king; you must not leave out anything from what you have said."

And Haman told Zeresh his wife and all his friends all that had happened to him. And his advisers and Zeresh his wife said to him, "If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, [is] {from the descendants of the Jews}, you will not prevail against him, but will certainly fall before him."

Then Queen Esther answered, and she said, "If I have found favor in your eyes, O king, and if it is good to the king, let my life be given to me at my petition and my people at my request;

I and my people have been sold to be destroyed and killed, to be annihilated. If we had been sold as male and female slaves I would have kept quiet, because this is not a need sufficient to trouble the king."

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 King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, "Look, I have given Haman's house to Esther, and they have hanged him on the gallows because he {plotted against} the Jews.

And the king said to Queen Esther, "In the citadel of Susa the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men and the ten sons of Haman. What have they done in the rest of the king's provinces? What [is] your petition? It will be granted to you. And what further [is] your request? It will be done."

{Then when} the days of the feast had run their course, {Job would send}, and he would sanctify them. Thus he would arise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings [according to] the number of all of them, because Job thought, "Perhaps my children have sinned and {cursed} God in their heart." This is what Job used to do {all the time}.

So Yahweh said to Satan, "From where have you come?" Then Satan answered Yahweh and said, "From roaming on the earth and from walking about in it."

So Yahweh said to 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."

Have you not put a fence around him and his household and around {all that belongs to him} {on every side}? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his livestock has increased in the land.

So Yahweh {asked} Satan, "From where have you come?" And Satan answered Yahweh and said, "From roaming on the earth and from walking about in it."

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."

or with high officials {who have gold}, who fill up their houses [with] silver.

I am not at ease, and I am not at peace, and I do not have rest, thus turmoil has come."

Look, you have instructed many, and you have strengthened weak hands.

Your words have raised up [the one who] stumbles, and you have strengthened knees giving way.

[Just] as I have seen, plowers of mischief and sowers of trouble will reap it.

I have seen a fool taking root, but suddenly I cursed his dwelling.

"Look, we have searched this out--it [is] true; hear it and know [it] {yourself}."

for then it would be heavier than the sand of the seas; therefore my words have been rash,

But it will still be my consolation, and I would recoil in {unrelenting} pain, for I have not denied [the] words of [the] Holy One.

"For now you have become {such}; you see terrors, and you fear.

Is it because I have said, 'Give to me,' or, 'Offer a bribe for me from your wealth'?

Teach me, and I myself will be silent; and make me understand how I have gone astray.

"Does not {a human being have hard service} on earth? And [are not] his days like the days of a laborer?

When I lie down, I say, 'When shall I rise?' But [the] night is long, and I have my fill of tossing until dawn.

[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?

"Indeed, please inquire of former generations, and consider {what their ancestors have found},

If he destroys him from his place, then it deceives him, [saying], 'I have never seen you.'

{Do you have eyes of flesh}? Or {do you see as human beings see}?

You have granted me life and loyal love, and your care has preserved my spirit.

So why did you bring me forth from the womb? I should have passed away, {and no eye should have seen me}.

I should have been as though I had not been; I should have been brought from [the] womb to the grave.

And you will have confidence because there is hope; and you will be well protected--{you will sleep in safety}.

{I also have insight} like you; I am not more inferior than you. And {who does not know things like these}?

{Those at ease have contempt} for [the] thought of {disaster}, [but it is] ready for those unstable of foot.

"{Let me have silence}, and I myself will speak, and let come over me whatever [may].

Please look, I have prepared [my] case; I know that I myself will be vindicated.

If his days [are] determined, the number of his months [is] with you; you have appointed his boundaries, and he cannot cross [them].

Have you listened in God's confidential discussion? And do you limit wisdom to yourself?

"I will show you, listen to me; and what I have seen, I will tell--