"Now you, Ezra, in keeping with the wisdom of your God which you possess, appoint judges and court officials who can arbitrate cases on behalf of all the people who are in Trans-Euphrates who know the laws of your God. Those who do not know this law should be taught.

And I sent them with commandment unto Iddo the chief at the place Casiphia, and I told them what they should say unto Iddo, and to his brethren the Nethinims, at the place Casiphia, that they should bring unto us ministers for the house of our God.

Then I called for a fast there at the Ahava River so we could humble ourselves before our God and seek from him an appropriate way for us and our little ones to live, and how we should guard our personal wealth,

For we are bondmen, and our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, and hath inclined mercy unto us in the sight of the kings of Persia, that he should give us life, and promote the house of our God, and to set up the desolation thereof, and to give us a hedge in Judah and in Jerusalem.

Should we again break thy commandments, and join in affinity with the people of these abominations? wouldest not thou be angry with us till thou hadst consumed us, so that there should be no remnant nor escaping?

Then arose Ezra, and made the chief priests, the Levites, and all Israel, to swear that they should do according to this word. And they sware.

And they made proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem unto all the children of the captivity, that they should gather themselves together unto Jerusalem;

And that whosoever would not come within three days, according to the counsel of the princes and the elders, all his substance should be forfeited, and himself separated from the congregation of those that had been carried away.

When ye return unto me and keep my commandments and do them, though it should be that ye have been driven out unto the uttermost part of the heavens, from thence, will I gather them, and bring them into the place that I have chosen to make a habitation for my Name there.

And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?

And I said to the king, If it should please the king, and if thy servant hath found favor in thy sight, that thou wouldst send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers' sepulchers, that I may build it.

Moreover, I said to the king, If it should please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah:

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.

Now, Tobiah the Ammonite, was beside him, - so he said, Even that which they are building, if a fox should go up, he would break down their stone wall!

Now are our brethrens' bodies as our own bodies and their children as our children: else should we subdue our sons and daughters into bondage, and some of our daughters are subdued already, and no strength is there in our hands, and other men shall have our lands and vineyards."

And I said unto them, We after our ability have redeemed our brethren the Jews, that were sold unto the nations; and would ye even sell your brethren, and should they be sold unto us? Then held they their peace, and found never a word.

So I said, “What you are doing is not good. Should you not walk in the fear of our God to prevent the taunting by the [pagan] nations, our enemies?

Then said they, We will restore them, and will require nothing of them; so will we do as thou sayest. Then I called the priests, and took an oath of them, that they should do according to this promise.

And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?

And I said, Should such a man as I flee? and who is there, that, being as I am, would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in.

Therefore was he hired, that I should be afraid, and do so, and sin, and that they might have matter for an evil report, that they might reproach me.

And I said to them that the gates of Jerusalem should not be opened until the sun was hot, and that they should shut the doors and bar them while they stood by; and that there should be appointed watches of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, every one in his watch, and every one over against his house.

And the Tirshatha said unto them, that they should not eat of the most holy things, till there stood up a priest with Urim and Thummim.

Now when the seventh month drew nigh, and the children of Israel were in their cities, all the people gathered themselves together as one man upon the street before the Watergate, and said unto Ezra the scribe that he should fetch the book of the law of Moses, which the LORD commanded to Israel.

And on the next day were gathered together the chief fathers among all the people and the priests and Levites, unto Ezra the scribe, that he should teach them the words of the law.

And they found written in the law which the LORD had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths in the feast of the seventh month:

And that they should publish and proclaim in all their cities, and in Jerusalem, saying, Go forth unto the mount, and fetch olive branches, and pine branches, and myrtle branches, and palm branches, and branches of thick trees, to make booths, as it is written.

Moreover thou leddest them in the day by a cloudy pillar; and in the night by a pillar of fire, to give them light in the way wherein they should go.

And gavest them bread from heaven for their hunger, and broughtest forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and promisedst them that they should go in to possess the land which thou hadst sworn to give them.

Yet thou in thy manifold mercies forsookest them not in the wilderness: the pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day, to lead them in the way; neither the pillar of fire by night, to shew them light, and the way wherein they should go.

Their children also multipliedst thou as the stars of heaven, and broughtest them into the land, concerning which thou hadst promised to their fathers, that they should go in to possess it.

Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against thee, and cast thy law behind their backs, and slew thy prophets, which exhorted them so earnestly, that they should convert unto thee, and did great blasphemies.

and testified unto them, that they should turn again unto thy law. Notwithstanding, they were proud, and hearkened not unto thy commandments, but sinned in thy laws, which a man should do and live in them, and turned the shoulder away, and were stiff-necked, and would not hear.

and, if the peoples of the land should be bringing in wares, or any corn on the sabbath day, to sell, we would not buy of them on the sabbath, or on a holy day, - and that we would remit the seventh year, and the loan of every hand.

also that, the firstborn of our sons, and of our cattle, as it is written in the law, - and the firstlings of our herds and of our flocks, we would bring in unto the house of our God, unto the priests who should be in attendance in the house of our God;

And that we should bring the firstfruits of our dough, and our offerings, and the fruit of all manner of trees, of wine and of oil, unto the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God; and the tithes of our ground unto the Levites, that the same Levites might have the tithes in all the cities of our tillage.

And the priest the son of Aaron should be with the Levites, when the Levites should take the tithes, - and the Levites, should bring up the tithe of the tithe, unto the house of our God, into the chambers pertaining unto the treasure-house.

For, into the chambers, should the sons of Israel and the sons of Levi bring in the heave-offering of the corn, the new wine and the oil, since, there, are the utensils of the sanctuary, and the priests who are in attendance, and the doorkeepers, and the singers, - so would we not neglect the house of our God.

For it was the king's commandment concerning them, that a certain portion should be for the singers, due for every day.

At the same time were there men appointed over the treasure chests - wherein were the Heave offerings, the firstlings and the tithes - that they should gather them out of the fields about the cities, to distribute them unto the priests and Levites according to the law: for Judah was glad of the priests, and Levites,

On that day they read in the book of Moses in the audience of the people; and therein was found written, that the Ammonite and the Moabite should not come into the congregation of God for ever;

Because they met not the children of Israel with bread and with water, but hired Balaam against them, that he should curse them: howbeit our God turned the curse into a blessing.

Then I gave instructions that the storerooms should be purified, and I brought back the equipment of the temple of God, along with the grain offering and the incense.

And it came to pass, that when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the sabbath, I commanded that the gates should be shut, and charged that they should not be opened till after the sabbath: and some of my servants set I at the gates, that there should no burden be brought in on the sabbath day.

And I commanded the Levites that they should cleanse themselves, and that they should come and keep the gates, to sanctify the sabbath day. Remember me, O my God, concerning this also, and spare me according to the greatness of thy mercy.

And should we hearken to you to do all this great evil, to act unfaithfully to our God by marrying foreign wives?

And the drinking was according to the law; none did compel: for so the king had appointed to all the officers of his house, that they should do according to every man's pleasure.

The king asked, “According to the law, what should be done with Queen Vashti, since she refused to obey King Ahasuerus’s command that was delivered by the eunuchs?”

“If it meets the king’s approval, he should personally issue a royal decree. Let it be recorded in the laws of Persia and Media, so that it cannot be revoked: Vashti is not to enter King Ahasuerus’s presence, and her royal position is to be given to another woman who is more worthy than she.

For he sent letters into all the king's provinces, into every province according to the writing thereof, and to every people after their language, that every man should bear rule in his own house, and that it should be published according to the language of every people.

Esther had not shewed her people nor her kindred: for Mordecai had charged her that she should not shew it.

And Mordecai walked every day before the court of the women's house, to know how Esther did, and what should become of her.

And when the appointed time of every damsel came that she should come to the king Ahasuerus, after that she had been twelve months in the decking of the women - for their decking must have so much time, namely six months with Balm and Myrrh, and six months with good spices; so were the women beautified -

Now when the time came of Esther the daughter of Abihail, the uncle of Mordecai, which had received her as his own daughter, that she should come to the king, she desired nothing but what Hegei the king's chamberlain the keeper of the women, said. And Esther found favour in the sight of all them that looked upon her.

In the first month, that is the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of king Ahasuerus they cast Pur - that is, a lot - before Haman, on what day and what month this should be done: and it went out the twelfth month, that is the month Adar.

Letters were sent by the runners to all the king's provinces stating that they should destroy, kill, and annihilate all the Jews, from youth to elderly, both women and children, on a particular day, namely the thirteenth day of the twelfth month (that is, the month of Adar), and to loot and plunder their possessions.

The copy of the writing for a commandment to be given in every province was published unto all people, that they should be ready against that day.

So Esther's damsels and her chamberlains came and told it her. Then was the queen exceedingly astonished. And she sent raiment, that Mordecai should put them on and lay the sackcloth from him. But Mordecai would not take them.

Also he gave him the copy of the writing of the decree that was given at Shushan to destroy them, to shew it unto Esther, and to declare it unto her, and to charge her that she should go in unto the king, to make supplication unto him, and to make request before him for her people.

Haman's wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, "Have a gallows seventy-five feet high built, and in the morning tell the king that Mordecai should be hanged on it. Then go with the king to the banquet contented." It seemed like a good idea to Haman, so he had the gallows built.

Haman entered, and the king asked him, “What should be done for the man the king wants to honor?”

Haman thought to himself, “Who is it the king would want to honor more than me?”

That the king had granted unto the Jews who were in every city, to gather themselves together, and to stand for their life, to destroy, to slay and to cause to perish - all the force of the people and province who should distress them, their little ones and women, - and to take the spoil of them as a prey:

The copy of the writing for a commandment to be given in every province was published unto all people, and that the Jews should be ready against that day to avenge themselves on their enemies.

And, in the twelfth month, the same, is the month Adar, on the thirteenth day thereof, when the word of the king and his edict arrived to be put in execution, - on the day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to have power over them, though it, was changed, so that the Jews themselves should have power over them who hated them,

So the king commanded that it should be done so; and an edict was issued in Susa, and Haman’s ten sons were hanged.

To stablish this among them, that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, yearly,

As the days wherein the Jews rested from their enemies, and the month which was turned unto them from sorrow to joy, and from mourning into a good day: that they should make them days of feasting and joy, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor.

But when Esther came before the king, he commanded by letters that his wicked device, which he devised against the Jews, should return upon his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.

The Jews ordained, and took upon them, and upon their seed, and upon all such as joined themselves unto them, so as it should not fail, that they would keep these two days according to their writing, and according to their appointed time every year;

And that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city; and that these days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews, nor the memorial of them perish from their seed.

to establish these days of Purim [to be observed] at their appointed times, just as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had established for them, and as they had established for themselves and for their descendants with instructions regarding their times of fasting and their lamentations (expressions of needing help).

But he said to her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. We have also received good from God, and should we not receive evil? In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

because it shut not up the womb that bare me. For then should these sorrows have been hid from mine eyes.

Why did the knees prevent me? or why the breasts that I should suck?

For now should I have lain still and been quiet, I should have slept: then had I been at rest,

Or I should have been as a hidden untimely birth, as infants that never saw light.

That should be joy to the man whose way is hid, which God keepeth back from him.

Should anyone try to speak with you
when you are exhausted?
Yet who can keep from speaking?

For then should it be heavier than the sand of the sea.

Then should I yet have comfort; yea, I would harden myself in sorrow: let him not spare; for I have not concealed the words of the Holy One.

What is my strength, that I should hope? and what is mine end, that I should prolong my life?

To him that is afflicted pity should be shewed from his friend; but he forsaketh the fear of the Almighty.

“What is man that You [should] magnify him [and think him important]?
And that You are concerned about him?

“And that You examine him every morning
And try and test him every moment?

And why wilt thou not remove my transgression, and take away mine iniquity? For, now, in the dust, should I lie down, and thou shouldst seek me diligently, and I should not be.

Should, GOD, pervert justice? Or, the Almighty, pervert righteousness?

If thou wouldest live a pure and godly life; should he not wake up unto thee immediately, and give thee the beauty of righteousness again?

Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase.

If he should swallow him down from his place, and it lied upon it: I saw thee not

I know it is so of a truth: but how should man be just with God?

“If one should want to contend or dispute with Him,
He could not answer Him once in a thousand times.

"{If} he passes by me, {I would not see him}; and [if] he should move on, {I would not recognize him}.

How much less that, I, should answer him, should choose my words with him?

If I summon [him], and he should answer me, I do not believe that he will listen to my voice--

If I should justify myself, mine own mouth, would condemn me, - I blameless? then had it shewn me perverse.

I blameless? I should not know my own soul, I should despise my own life!

“I am accounted wicked and held guilty;
Why then should I labor in vain [to appear innocent]?

“If I should wash myself with snow
And cleanse my hands with lye,

Then, in a ditch, wouldst thou plunge me, and mine own clothes should abhor me:

For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, and we should come together in judgment.