and that we will not give our daughters [as wives] to the peoples of the land or take their daughters for our sons.

As for the peoples of the land who bring merchandise or any grain on the Sabbath day to sell, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or on a holy day; and we will give up raising crops during the seventh year [leaving the land uncultivated], and forgive every debt.

For the Israelites and the sons of Levi shall bring the offering of the grain, the new wine, and the oil to the chambers; the utensils of the sanctuary, the priests who are ministering, the gatekeepers, and the singers are there. In this manner, we will not neglect the house of our God.

because they did not meet the Israelites with bread and water, but hired Balaam against them to curse them. Yet our God turned the curse into a blessing.

But during all this time I was not at Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes [Persian] king of Babylon I went to the king. Then after some time I asked for a leave [of absence] from the king,

I also discovered that the portions due the Levites had not been given to them, so that the Levites and the singers who did the work had gone away, each one back to his own field.

O my God, remember me concerning this and do not wipe out my loyal deeds and kindnesses which I have done for the house of my God and for its services.

Did your fathers (ancestors) not do the same, and did our God not bring all this trouble on us and on this city? Yet you are adding to the wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath.”

Now when it began to get dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath [began], I commanded that the doors be shut and not be opened until after the Sabbath. Then I stationed some of my servants at the gates so that no load [of merchandise] would enter [Jerusalem] on the Sabbath day.

As for their children, half spoke in the language of Ashdod, and none of them knew how to speak [Hebrew] the language of Judah, but only the language of his own people.

So I contended with them and cursed them and struck some of them and pulled out their hair, and made them swear by God, saying, “You shall not give your daughters [in marriage] to their sons, nor take [any of] their daughters for your sons or for yourselves.

Did not Solomon king of Israel sin [greatly against God] regarding these things? Yet among the many nations there was no king like him. He was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel; nevertheless the foreign women caused even him to sin [by turning to other gods and so, judged by God, he lost his kingdom].

[He said,] “According to the law, what is to be done with Queen Vashti because she did not obey the command of King Ahasuerus which was conveyed by the eunuchs?”

And Memucan answered in the presence of the king and the officials, “Vashti the queen has not only wronged the king but [also] all the officials (royal representatives) and all the peoples who are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus.

For the queen’s conduct will become known to all women, causing them to look on their husbands with contempt (disrespect), since they will say, ‘King Ahasuerus commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him, but she did not come.’

If it pleases the king, let a royal command be issued by him and let it be written in the laws of the Persians and Medes so that it cannot be repealed or modified, that Vashti is no longer to come before King Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal position to another who is better and more worthy than she.

Esther did not reveal [the Jewish background of] her people or her family, for Mordecai had instructed her not to do so.

Esther had not revealed her family or her people [that is, her Jewish background], just as Mordecai had instructed her; for Esther did what Mordecai told her just as when she was under his care.

All the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate [in royal service] bowed down and honored and paid homage to Haman; for this is what the king had commanded in regard to him. But Mordecai [a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin] neither bowed down nor paid homage [to him].

When Haman saw that Mordecai neither bowed down nor paid homage to him, he was furious.

Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered [abroad] and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from those of all other people, and they do not observe the king’s laws. Therefore it is not in the king’s interest to [tolerate them and] let them stay here.

When Esther’s maids and her eunuchs came and told her [what had happened], the queen was seized by great fear. She sent garments to clothe Mordecai so that he would remove his sackcloth, but he did not accept them.

“All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that for any man or woman who comes to the king to the inner court without being summoned, he has but one law, that he is to be put to death, unless the king holds out to him the golden scepter so that he may live. And as for me, I have not been summoned to come to the king for these [last] thirty days.”

Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not imagine that you in the king’s palace can escape any more than all the Jews.

“Go, gather all the Jews that are present in Susa, and observe a fast for me; do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids also will fast in the same way. Then I will go in to [see] the king [without being summoned], which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish.”

Haman also said, “Even Queen Esther let no one but me come with the king to the banquet she had prepared; and tomorrow also I am invited by her [together] with the king.

On that night the king could not sleep; so he ordered that the book of records and memorable deeds, the chronicles, be brought, and they were read before the king.

for we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, killed and wiped out of existence. Now if we had only been sold as slaves, men and women, I would have remained silent, for our hardship would not be sufficient to burden the king [by even mentioning it].”

the ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Jews’ enemy; but they did not lay their hands on the plunder.

The Jews who were in Susa also gathered together on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar and killed three hundred men in Susa, but they did not lay their hands on the plunder.

Now the rest of the Jews who were in the king’s provinces assembled, to defend their lives and rid themselves of their enemies, and kill 75,000 of those who hated them; but they did not lay their hands on the plunder.

And all the accomplishments of his authority and strength, and the full account of the greatness of Mordecai to which the king had raised him, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Media and Persia?

Have You not put a hedge [of protection] around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands [and conferred prosperity and happiness upon him], and his possessions have increased in the land.

Then the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that Job has is in your power, only do not put your hand on the man himself.” So Satan departed from the presence of the Lord.

Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God.

But he said to her, “You speak as one of the [spiritually] foolish women speaks [ignorant and oblivious to God’s will]. Shall we indeed accept [only] good from God and not [also] accept adversity and disaster?” In [spite of] all this Job did not sin with [words from] his lips.

“Let the day on which I was born perish,
And the night which announced: ‘There is a man-child conceived.’

“May that day be darkness;
Let God above not care about it,
Nor light shine on it.

“As for that night, let darkness seize it;
Let it not rejoice among the days of the year;
Let it not be counted in the number of the months.

“Behold, let that night be barren [and empty];
Let no joyful voice enter it.

Because it did not shut the doors of my mother’s womb,
Nor hide trouble from my eyes.

“Why did I not die at birth,
Come forth from the womb and expire?

“Or like a miscarriage which is hidden and put away, I would not exist,
Like infants who never saw light.

“There the prisoners rest together;
They do not hear the taskmaster’s voice.

Who wait for death, but it does not come,
And dig (search) for death more [diligently] than for hidden treasures,

“I am not at ease, nor am I quiet,
And I am not at rest, and yet trouble still comes [upon me].”

“Is not your fear of God your confidence,
And [is not] the integrity and uprightness of your ways your hope?

“Amid disquieting thoughts from the visions of the night,
When deep sleep falls on men,

“The spirit stood still, but I could not discern its appearance;
A form was before my eyes;
There was silence, and then I heard a voice, saying:

‘Is not their tent-cord drawn up within them [so that the tent collapses]?
Do they not die, and yet without [acquiring] wisdom?’

“For affliction does not come forth from the dust,
Nor does trouble spring forth from the ground.

“In the daytime they meet in darkness,
And at noon they grope as in the night.

“Behold, how happy and fortunate is the man whom God reproves,
So do not despise or reject the discipline of the Almighty [subjecting you to trial and suffering].

“Then I would still have consolation,
And I would jump for joy amid unsparing pain,
That I have not denied or hidden the words of the Holy One.

“Is it that I have no help within myself,
And that success and wisdom have been driven from me?

“Now please look at me,
And see if I lie to your face [for you know that I would not].

“Is not man forced to labor on earth?
And are not his days like the days of a hired man?

“When I lie down I say,
‘When shall I arise [and the night be gone]?’
But the night continues,
And I am continually tossing until the dawning of day.

“Therefore I will not restrain my mouth;
I will speak in the anguish of my spirit,
I will complain in the bitterness of my soul [O Lord].

“I waste away and loathe my life; I will not live forever.
Let me alone, for my days are but a breath [futile and without substance].

“Will You never turn Your gaze away from me [it plagues me],
Nor let me alone until I swallow my spittle?

“Why then do You not pardon my transgression
And take away my sin and guilt?
For now I will lie down in the dust;
And You will seek me [diligently], but I will not be.”

“Will they (the fathers) not teach you and tell you,
And utter words from their hearts [the deepest part of their nature]?

“While it is still green (in flower) and not cut down,
Yet it withers before any other plant [when without water].

“He trusts in his house, but it does not stand;
He holds tightly to it, but it does not endure.

“It is God who removes the mountains, and they do not know it,
When He overturns them in His anger;

Who commands the sun, and it does not shine;
Who seals up the stars [from view];

“Behold, He passes by me, and I do not see Him;
He moves past me, but I do not perceive Him.

“God will not turn back His anger;
The [proud] helpers of Rahab [the arrogant monster of the sea] bow under Him.

For though I were righteous, I could not answer.
I must appeal for mercy to my Opponent and Judge.

“If I called and He answered me,
I could not believe that He was listening to my voice.

“He will not allow me to catch my breath,
But fills and saturates me with bitterness.

“[Though] I am blameless,
I do not care about myself;
I despise my life.

“It is all one; therefore I say,
‘He destroys [both] the blameless and the wicked.’

“The earth is given into the hands of the wicked;
He covers the faces of its judges [so that they are blind to justice].
If it is not He, then who is it [that is responsible for all this injustice]?

I am afraid of all my pains and worries [yet to come];
I know that You will not acquit me and leave me unpunished.

“For God is not a [mere] man, as I am, that I may answer Him,
That we may go to court and judgment together.

“Let Him take His rod away from me,
And let not the dread and fear of Him terrify me.

“Then I would speak [my defense] and not fear Him;
But I am not like that in myself.

“I will say to God, ‘Do not condemn me [and declare me guilty]!
Show me why You contend and argue and struggle with me.

‘Although You know that I am not guilty or wicked,
Yet there is no one who can rescue me from Your hand.

‘Have You not poured me out like milk
And curdled me like cheese?

‘[You have] clothed me with skin and flesh,
And knit me together with bones and sinews.

‘If I sin, then You would take note and observe me,
And You would not acquit me of my guilt.

‘If I am wicked, woe to me [for judgment comes]!
And if I am righteous, I dare not lift up my head.
For I am sated and filled with disgrace and the sight of my misery.

‘I should have been as though I had not existed;
[I should have been] carried from the womb to the grave.’

“Would He not let my few days alone,
Withdraw from me that I may have a little cheer

Before I go—and I shall not return—
To the land of darkness and the deep shadow [of death],

“Shall a multitude of words not be answered?
And should a talkative man [making such a long-winded defense] be acquitted?

“For He recognizes and knows false and worthless men,
And He sees wickedness, will He not consider it?

If sin is in your hand, put it far away [from you],
And do not let wrongdoing dwell in your tents;

Then, indeed, you could lift up your face [to Him] without moral defect,
And you would be firmly established and secure and not fear.

“But the eyes of the wicked will fail,
And they will not escape [the justice of God];
And their hope is to breathe their last [and die].”

“But I have intelligence and understanding as well as you;
I am not inferior to you.
Who does not know such things as these [of God’s wisdom and might]?

“Now ask the animals, and let them teach you [that God does not deal with His creatures according to their character];
And ask the birds of the air, and let them tell you;

“Who among all these does not recognize [in all these things that good and evil are randomly scattered throughout nature and human life]
That the hand of the Lord has done this,

“Does the ear not put words to the test,
Just as the palate tastes its food [distinguishing between the desirable and the undesirable]?

“What you know I also know;
I am not inferior to you.

“Will not His majesty terrify you,
And will not the dread of Him fall upon you?

“This also will be my salvation,
For a godless man may not come before Him.