6:1Now when word was given to Sanballat and Tobiah and to Geshem the Arabian and to the rest of our haters, that I had done the building of the wall and that there were no more broken places in it (though even then I had not put up the doors in the doorways); 6:2Sanballat and Geshem sent to me saying, Come, let us have a meeting in one of the little towns in the lowland of Ono. But their purpose was to do me evil. 6:3And I sent men to them saying, I am doing a great work, so that it is not possible for me to come down: is the work to be stopped while I go away from it and come down to you? 6:4And four times they sent to me in this way, and I sent them the same answer. 6:5Then Sanballat sent his servant to me a fifth time with an open letter in his hand; 6:6And in it these words were recorded: It is said among the nations, and Geshem says so, that you and the Jews are hoping to make yourselves free from the king's authority; and that this is why you are building the wall: and they say that it is your purpose to be their king; 6:7And that you have prophets preaching about you in Jerusalem, and saying, There is a king in Judah: now an account of these things will be sent to the king. So come now, and let us have a discussion. 6:8Then I sent to him, saying, No such things as you say are being done, they are only a fiction you have made up yourself. 6:9For they were hoping to put fear in us, saying, Their hands will become feeble and give up the work so that it may not get done. But now, O God, make my hands strong. 6:10And I went to the house of Shemaiah, the son of Delaiah, the son of Mehetabel, who was shut up; and he said, Let us have a meeting in the house of God, inside the Temple, and let the doors be shut: for they will come to put you to death; truly, in the night they will come to put you to death. 6:11And I said, Am I the sort of man to go in flight? what man, in my position, would go into the Temple to keep himself safe? I will not go in. 6:12Then it became clear to me that God had not sent him: he had given this word of a prophet against me himself: and Tobiah and Sanballat had given him money to do so. 6:13For this reason they had given him money, in order that I might be overcome by fear and do what he said and do wrong, and so they would have reason to say evil about me and put shame on me. 6:14Keep in mind, O my God, Tobiah and Sanballat and what they did, and Noadiah, the woman prophet, and the rest of the prophets whose purpose was to put fear into me. 6:15So the wall was complete on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days. 6:16And when our haters had news of this, all the nations round about us were full of fear and were greatly shamed, for they saw that this work had been done by our God. 6:17And further, in those days the chiefs of Judah sent a number of letters to Tobiah, and his letters came to them. 6:18For in Judah there were a number of people who had made an agreement by oath with him, because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah, the son of Arah; and his son Jehohanan had taken as his wife the daughter of Meshullam, the son of Berechiah. 6:19And they said much before me of the good he had done, and gave him accounts of my words. And Tobiah sent letters with the purpose of causing me fear.
7:1Now when the building of the wall was complete and I had put up the doors, and the door-keepers and the music-makers and the Levites had been given their places, 7:2I made my brother Hanani, and Hananiah, the ruler of the tower, responsible for the government of Jerusalem: for he was a man of good faith, fearing God more than most. 7:3And I said to them, Do not let the doors of Jerusalem be open till the sun is high; and while the watchmen are in their places, let the doors be shut and locked: and let the people of Jerusalem be put on watch, every one in his watch, opposite his house. 7:4Now the town was wide and great: but the people in it were only a small number, and the houses had not been put up. 7:5And my God put it into my heart to get together the rulers and the chiefs and the people so that they might be listed by families. And I came across a record of the names of those who came up at the first, and in it I saw these words: 7:6These are the people of the divisions of the kingdom, among those who had been made prisoners by Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and taken away by him, who went back to Jerusalem and Judah, every one to his town; 7:7Who came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, Baanah. The number of the men of the people of Israel: 7:8The children of Parosh, two thousand, one hundred and seventy-two. 7:9The children of Shephatiah, three hundred and seventy-two. 7:10The children of Arah, six hundred and fifty-two. 7:11The children of Pahath-moab, of the children of Jeshua and Joab, two thousand, eight hundred and eighteen. 7:12The children of Elam, a thousand, two hundred and fifty-four. 7:13The children of Zattu, eight hundred and forty-five. 7:14The children of Zaccai, seven hundred and sixty. 7:15The children of Binnui, six hundred and forty-eight. 7:16The children of Bebai, six hundred and twenty-eight. 7:17The children of Azgad, two thousand, three hundred and twenty-two. 7:18The children of Adonikam, six hundred and sixty-seven. 7:19The children of Bigvai, two thousand and sixty-seven. 7:20The children of Adin, six hundred and fifty-five. 7:21The children of Ater, of Hezekiah, ninety-eight. 7:22The children of Hashum, three hundred and twenty-eight. 7:23The children of Bezai, three hundred and twenty-four. 7:24The children of Hariph, a hundred and twelve. 7:25The children of Gibeon, ninety-five. 7:26The men of Beth-lehem and Netophah, a hundred and eighty-eight. 7:27The men of Anathoth, a hundred and twenty-eight. 7:28The men of Beth-azmaveth, forty-two. 7:29The men of Kiriath-jearim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, seven hundred and forty-three. 7:30The men of Ramah and Geba, six hundred and twenty-one. 7:31The men of Michmas, a hundred and twenty-two. 7:32The men of Beth-el and Ai, a hundred and twenty-three. 7:33The men of the other Nebo, fifty-two. 7:34The children of the other Elam, a thousand, two hundred and fifty-four. 7:35The children of Harim, three hundred and twenty. 7:36The children of Jericho, three hundred and forty-five. 7:37The children of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, seven hundred and twenty-one. 7:38The children of Senaah, three thousand, nine hundred and thirty. 7:39The priests: the children of Jedaiah, of the family of Jeshua, nine hundred and seventy-three. 7:40The children of Immer, a thousand and fifty-two. 7:41The children of Pashhur, a thousand, two hundred and forty-seven. 7:42The children of Harim, a thousand and seventeen. 7:43The Levites: the children of Jeshua, of Kadmiel, of the children of Hodevah, seventy-four. 7:44The music-makers: the children of Asaph, a hundred and forty-eight. 7:45The door-keepers: the children of Shallum, the children of Ater, the children of Talmon, the children of Akkub, the children of Hatita, the children of Shobai, a hundred and thirty-eight. 7:46The Nethinim: the children of Ziha, the children of Hasupha, the children of Tabbaoth, 7:47The children of Keros, the children of Sia, the children of Padon, 7:48The children of Lebana, the children of Hagaba, the children of Salmai, 7:49The children of Hanan, the children of Giddel, the children of Gahar, 7:50The children of Reaiah, the children of Rezin, the children of Nekoda, 7:51The children of Gazzam, the children of Uzza, the children of Paseah, 7:52The children of Besai, the children of Meunim, the children of Nephushesim, 7:53The children of Bakbuk, the children of Hakupha, the children of Harhur, 7:54The children of Bazlith, the children of Mehida, the children of Harsha, 7:55The children of Barkos, the children of Sisera, the children of Temah, 7:56The children of Neziah, the children of Hatipha. 7:57The children of Solomon's servants: the children of Sotai, the children of Sophereth, the children of Perida, 7:58The children of Jaala, the children of Darkon, the children of Giddel, 7:59The children of Shephatiah, the children of Hattil, the children of Pochereth-hazzebaim, the children of Amon. 7:60All the Nethinim and the children of Solomon's servants were three hundred and ninety-two. 7:61All these were the people who went up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addon, and Immer; but because they had no knowledge of their fathers' families or offspring, it was not certain if they were Israelites: 7:62The children of Delaiah, the children of Tobiah, the children of Nekoda, six hundred and forty-two. 7:63And of the priests: the children of Hobaiah, the children of Hakkoz, the children of Barzillai, who was married to one of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, and took their name. 7:64They made search for their record among the lists of families, but their names were nowhere to be seen, so they were looked on as unclean and no longer priests. 7:65And the Tirshatha said that they were not to have the most holy things for their food, till a priest came to give decision by the Urim and Thummim. 7:66The number of all the people together was forty-two thousand, three hundred and sixty; 7:67As well as their men-servants and their women-servants, of whom there were seven thousand, three hundred and thirty-seven; and they had two hundred and forty-five men and women to make music. 7:68They had seven hundred and thirty-six horses, two hundred and forty-five transport beasts; 7:69Four hundred and thirty-five camels, six thousand, seven hundred and twenty asses. 7:70And some of the heads of families gave money for the work. The Tirshatha gave into the store a thousand darics of gold, fifty basins, five hundred and thirty priests' robes. 7:71And some of the heads of families gave into the store for the work twenty thousand darics of gold, and two thousand, two hundred pounds of silver. 7:72And that which the rest of the people gave was twenty thousand darics of gold, and two thousand pounds of silver, and sixty-seven priests' robes. 7:73So the priests and the Levites and the door-keepers and the music-makers and some of the people and the Nethinim, and all Israel, were living in their towns.
8:1And when the seventh month came, the children of Israel were in their towns. And all the people came together like one man into the wide place in front of the water-doorway; and they made a request to Ezra the scribe that he would put before them the book of the law of Moses which the Lord had given to Israel. 8:2And Ezra the priest put the law before the meeting of the people, before the men and women and all those who were able to take it in, on the first day of the seventh month. 8:3He was reading it in the wide place in front of the water-doorway, from early morning till the middle of the day, in the hearing of all those men and women whose minds were able to take it in; and the ears of all the people were open to the book of the law. 8:4And Ezra the scribe took his place on a tower of wood which they had made for the purpose; and by his side were placed Mattithiah and Shema and Anaiah and Uriah and Hilkiah and Maaseiah on the right; and on the left, Pedaiah and Mishael and Malchijah and Hashum and Hashbaddanah, Zechariah and Meshullam. 8:5And Ezra took the book, opening it before the eyes of all the people (for he was higher than the people); and when it was open, all the people got to their feet: 8:6And Ezra gave praise to the Lord, the great God. And all the people in answer said, So be it, so be it; lifting up their hands; and with bent heads they gave worship to the Lord, going down on their faces to the earth. 8:7And Jeshua and Bani and Sherebiah and Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites made the law clear to the people: and the people kept in their places. 8:8And they gave out the words of the book the law of God, clearly, and gave the sense of it, so that their minds were able to take it in. 8:9And Nehemiah, who was the Tirshatha, and Ezra, the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were the teachers of the people, said to all the people, This day is holy to the Lord your God; let there be no sorrow or weeping; for all the people were weeping on hearing the words of the law. 8:10Then he said to them, Go away now, and take the fat for your food and the sweet for your drink, and send some to him for whom nothing is made ready: for this day is holy to our Lord: and let there be no grief in your hearts; for the joy of the Lord is your strong place. 8:11So the Levites made all the people quiet, saying, Be quiet, for the day is holy; and do not give way to grief. 8:12And all the people went away to take food and drink, and to send food to others, and to be glad, because the words which were said to them had been made clear. 8:13And on the second day the heads of families of all the people and the priests and the Levites came together to Ezra the scribe, to give attention to the words of the law. 8:14And they saw that it was recorded in the law that the Lord had given orders by Moses, that the children of Israel were to have tents for their living-places in the feast of the seventh month: 8:15And that they were to give out an order, and make it public in all their towns and in Jerusalem, saying, Go out to the mountain and get olive branches and branches of field olives and of myrtle, and palm branches and branches of thick trees, to make tents, as it says in the book. 8:16And the people went out and got them and made themselves tents, every one on the roof of his house, and in the open spaces and in the open squares of the house of God, and in the wide place of the water-doorway, and the wide place of the doorway of Ephraim. 8:17All the people who had been prisoners and had come back, made tents and were living in them: for from the time of Jeshua, the son of Nun, till that day, the children of Israel had not done so. And there was very great joy. 8:18And day by day, from the first day till the last, he was reading from the book of the law of God. And they kept the feast for seven days: and on the eighth day there was a holy meeting, as it is ordered in the law.
9:1Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the children of Israel came together, taking no food and putting haircloth and dust on their bodies. 9:2And the seed of Israel made themselves separate from all the men of other nations, publicly requesting forgiveness for their sins and the wrongdoing of their fathers. 9:3And for a fourth part of the day, upright in their places, they were reading from the book of the law of their God; and for a fourth part of the day they were requesting forgiveness and worshipping the Lord their God. 9:4Then Jeshua, and Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani took their places on the steps of the Levites, crying in a loud voice to the Lord their God. 9:5Then the Levites, Jeshua, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah said, Get up and give praise to the Lord your God for ever and ever. Praise be to your great name which is lifted up high over all blessing and praise. 9:6You are the Lord, even you only; you have made heaven, the heaven of heavens with all their armies, the earth and all things in it, the seas and everything in them; and you keep them from destruction: and the armies of heaven are your worshippers. 9:7You are the Lord, the God, who took Abram and made him yours, guiding him from Ur of the Chaldees, and gave him the name of Abraham; 9:8You saw that his heart was true to you, and made an agreement with him to give the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Jebusite and the Girgashite, even to give it to his seed, and you have done what you said; for righteousness is yours: 9:9And you saw the trouble of our fathers in Egypt, and their cry came to your ears by the Red Sea; 9:10And you did signs and wonders on Pharaoh and all his servants and all the people of his land; for you saw how cruel they were to them. So you got yourself a name as it is today. 9:11By you the sea was parted before them, so that they went through the sea on dry land; and those who went after them went down into the deep, like a stone into great waters. 9:12And you went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night, to give them light on the way they were to go. 9:13And you came down on Mount Sinai, and your voice came to them from heaven, giving them right decisions and true laws, good rules and orders: 9:14And you gave them word of your holy Sabbath, and gave them orders and rules and a law, by the hand of Moses your servant: 9:15And you gave them bread from heaven when they were in need, and made water come out of the rock for their drink, and gave them orders to go in and take for their heritage the land which your hand had been lifted up to give them. 9:16But they and our fathers, in their pride, made their necks stiff, and gave no attention to your orders, 9:17And would not do them, and gave no thought to the wonders you had done among them; but made their necks stiff, and turning away from you, made a captain over themselves to take them back to their prison in Egypt: but you are a God of forgiveness, full of grace and pity, slow to wrath and great in mercy, and you did not give them up. 9:18Even when they had made for themselves an ox of metal, and said, This is your God who took you up out of Egypt, and had done so much to make you angry; 9:19Even then, in your great mercy, you did not give them up in the waste land: the pillar of cloud still went before them by day, guiding them on their way, and the pillar of fire by night, to give them light, and make clear the way they were to go. 9:20And you gave your good spirit to be their teacher, and did not keep back your manna from their mouths, and gave them water when they had need of it. 9:21Truly, for forty years you were their support in the waste land, and they were in need of nothing; their clothing did not get old or their feet become tired. 9:22And you gave them kingdoms and peoples, making distribution to them in every part of the land: so they took for their heritage the land of Sihon, even the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og, king of Bashan. 9:23And you made their children as great in number as the stars of heaven, and took them into the land, of which you had said to their fathers that they were to go in and take it for themselves. 9:24So the children went in and took the land, and you overcame before them the people of the land, the Canaanites, and gave them up into their hands, with their kings and the people of the land, so that they might do with them whatever it was their pleasure to do. 9:25And they took walled towns and a fat land, and became the owners of houses full of all good things, water-holes cut in the rock, vine-gardens and olive-gardens and a wealth of fruit-trees: so they had food enough and became fat, and had joy in the good you gave them. 9:26But they were hard-hearted, and went against your authority, turning their backs on your law, and putting to death your prophets, who gave witness against them with the purpose of turning them back again to you, and they did much to make you angry. 9:27And so you gave them up into the hands of their haters who were cruel to them: and in the time of their trouble, when they made their prayer to you, you gave ear to them from heaven; and in your great mercy gave them saviours, who made them free from the hands of their haters. 9:28But when they had rest, they did evil again before you: so you gave them into the hands of their haters, who had rule over them: but when they came back and made their prayer to you, you gave ear to them from heaven; again and again, in your mercy, you gave them salvation; 9:29And gave witness against them so that you might make them come back again to your law: but their hearts were lifted up, and they gave no attention to your orders and went against your decisions (which, if a man keeps them, will be life to him), and turning their backs on you, made their necks stiff and did not give ear. 9:30Year after year you put up with them, and gave witness against them by your spirit through your prophets: still they did not give ear: and so you gave them up into the hands of the peoples of the lands. 9:31Even then, in your great mercy, you did not put an end to them completely, or give them up; for you are a God of grace and mercy. 9:32And now, our God, the great, the strong, the God who is to be feared, who keeps faith and mercy, let not all this trouble seem small to you, which has come on us, and on our kings and our rulers and on our priests and our prophets and our fathers and on all your people from the time of the kings of Assyria till this day. 9:33But still, you have been in the right in everything which has come on us; you have been true to us, but we have done evil: 9:34And our kings, our rulers, our priests, and our fathers have not kept your law or given attention to your orders and your witness, with which you gave witness against them. 9:35For they have not been your servants in their kingdom, and in all the good things you gave them, and in the great and fat land you gave them, and they have not been turned away from their evil-doing. 9:36Now, today, we are servants, and as for the land which you gave to our fathers, so that the produce of it and the good might be theirs, see, we are servants in it: 9:37And it gives much increase to the kings whom you have put over us because of our sins: and they have power over our bodies and over our cattle at their pleasure, and we are in great trouble. 9:38And because of all this we are making an agreement in good faith, and putting it in writing; and our rulers, our Levites, and our priests are putting their names to it.
10:1Now those who put down their names were Nehemiah the Tirshatha, the son of Hacaliah, and Zedekiah, 10:2Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah, 10:3Pashhur, Amariah, Malchijah, 10:4Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch, 10:5Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah, 10:6Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch, 10:7Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin, 10:8Maaziah, Bilgai, Shemaiah; these were the priests. 10:9And the Levites: by name, Jeshua, the son of Azaniah, Binnui, of the sons of Henadad, Kadmiel, 10:10And their brothers, Shebaniah, Hodiah, Kelita, Pelaiah, Hanan, 10:11Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah, 10:12Zaccur, Sherebiah, Shebaniah, 10:13Hodiah, Bani, Beninu. 10:14The chiefs of the people: Parosh, Pahath-moab, Elam, Zattu, Bani, 10:15Bunni, Azgad, Bebai, 10:16Adonijah, Bigvai, Adin, 10:17Ater, Hezekiah, Azzur, 10:18Hodiah, Hashum, Bezai, 10:19Hariph, Anathoth, Nobai, 10:20Magpiash, Meshullam, Hezir, 10:21Meshezabel, Zadok, Jaddua, 10:22Pelatiah, Hanan, Anaiah, 10:23Hoshea, Hananiah, Hasshub, 10:24Hallohesh, Pilha, Shobek, 10:25Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah, 10:26And Ahiah, Hanan, Anan, 10:27Malluch, Harim, Baanah. 10:28And the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the door-keepers, the music-makers, the Nethinim, and all those who had made themselves separate from the peoples of the lands, to keep the law of God, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, everyone who had knowledge and wisdom; 10:29They were united with their brothers, their rulers, and put themselves under a curse and an oath, to keep their steps in the way of God's law, which was given by Moses, the servant of God, and to keep and do all the orders of the Lord, our Lord, and his decisions and his rules; 10:30And that we would not give our daughters to the peoples of the lands, or take their daughters for our sons; 10:31And if the peoples of the lands come to do trade in goods or food on the Sabbath day, that we would do no trade with them on the Sabbath or on a holy day: and that in the seventh year we would take no payment from any debtor. 10:32And we made rules for ourselves, taxing ourselves a third of a shekel every year for the upkeep of the house of our God; 10:33For the holy bread, and for the regular meal offering and the regular burned offering on the Sabbaths and at the new moon and the fixed feasts, and for the sin-offerings to take away the sin of Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God. 10:34And we, the priests and the Levites and the people, made selection, by the decision of the Lord, of those who were to take the wood offering into the house of God, by families at the regular times, year by year, to be burned on the altar of the Lord our God, as it is recorded in the law; 10:35And to take the first-fruits of our land, and the first-fruits of every sort of tree, year by year, into the house of the Lord; 10:36As well as the first of our sons and of our cattle, as it is recorded in the law, and the first lambs of our herds and of our flocks, which are to be taken to the house of our God, to the priests who are servants in the house of our God: 10:37And that we would take the first of our rough meal, and our lifted offerings, and the fruit of every sort of tree, and wine and oil, to the priests, to the rooms of the house of our God; and the tenth of the produce of our land to the Levites; for they, the Levites, take a tenth in all the towns of our ploughed land. 10:38And the priest, the son of Aaron, is to be with the Levites, when the Levites take the tenths: and the Levites are to take a tenth of the tenths into the house of our God, to the rooms, into the store-house; 10:39For the children of Israel and the children of Levi are to take the lifted offering of the grain and wine and oil into the rooms where the vessels of the holy place are, together with the priests and the door-keepers and the makers of music: and we will not give up caring for the house of our God.
11:1And the rulers of the people were living in Jerusalem: the rest of the people made selection, by the decision of chance, of one out of every ten to be living in Jerusalem, the holy town; the other nine to go to the other towns. 11:2And the people gave a blessing to all the men who were freely offering to take up their places in Jerusalem. 11:3Now these are the chiefs of the divisions of the country who were living in Jerusalem: but in the towns of Judah everyone was living on his heritage in the towns, that is, Israel, the priests, the Levites, the Nethinim, and the children of Solomon's servants. 11:4And in Jerusalem there were living certain of the children of Judah and of Benjamin. Of the children of Judah: Athaiah, the son of Uzziah, the son of Zechariah, the son of Amariah, the son of Shephatiah, the son of Mahalalel, of the children of Perez; 11:5And Maaseiah, the son of Baruch, the son of Col-hozeh, the son of Hazaiah, the son of Adaiah, the son of Joiarib, the son of Zechariah, the son of the Shilonite. 11:6All the sons of Perez living in Jerusalem were four hundred and sixty-eight men of good position. 11:7And these are the sons of Benjamin: Sallu, the son of Meshullam, the son of Joed, the son of Pedaiah, the son of Kolaiah, the son of Maaseiah, the son of Ithiel, the son of Jeshaiah. 11:8And after him Gabbai, Sallai, nine hundred and twenty-eight. 11:9And Joel, the son of Zichri, was their overseer; and Judah, the son of Hassenuah, was second over the town. 11:10Of the priests: Jedaiah, the son of Joiarib, Jachin, 11:11Seraiah, the son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, the ruler of the house of God, 11:12And their brothers who did the work of the house, eight hundred and twenty-two; and Adaiah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Pelaliah, the son of Amzi, the son of Zechariah, the son of Pashhur, the son of Malchijah, 11:13And his brothers, heads of families, two hundred and forty-two; and Amashsai, the son of Azarel, the son of Ahzai, the son of Meshillemoth, the son of Immer, 11:14And their brothers, men of war, a hundred and twenty-eight; and their overseer was Zabdiel, the son of Haggedolim. 11:15And of the Levites: Shemaiah, the son of Hasshub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Bunni, 11:16And Shabbethai and Jozabad, of the chiefs of the Levites, who were responsible for the outside business of the house of God; 11:17And Mattaniah, the son of Mica, the son of Zabdi, the son of Asaph, who had to give the first note of the song of praise in prayer, and Bakbukiah, the second among his brothers, and Abda, the son of Shammua, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun. 11:18All the Levites in the holy town were two hundred and eighty-four. 11:19In addition the door-keepers, Akkub, Talmon, and their brothers who kept watch at the doors, were a hundred and seventy-two. 11:20And the rest of Israel, of the priests, the Levites, were in all the towns of Judah, every one in his heritage. 11:21But the Nethinim were living in the Ophel; and Ziha and Gishpa were over the Nethinim. 11:22And the overseer of the Levites at Jerusalem was Uzzi, the son of Bani, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Mica, of the sons of Asaph, the music-makers, who was over the business of the house of God. 11:23For there was an order from the king about them and a regular amount for the music-makers, for their needs day by day. 11:24And Pethahiah, the son of Meshezabel, of the sons of Zerah, the son of Judah, was the king's servant in everything to do with the people. 11:25And for the daughter-towns with their fields, some of the men of Judah were living in Kiriath-arba and its daughter-towns, and in Dibon and its daughter-towns, and in Jekabzeel and its daughter-towns, 11:26And in Jeshua, and in Moladah, and Beth-pelet, 11:27And in Hazar-shual, and in Beer-sheba and its daughter-towns, 11:28And in Ziklag, and in Meconah and its daughter-towns, 11:29And in En-rimmon, and in Zorah, and in Jarmuth, 11:30Zanoah, Adullam and their daughter-towns, Lachish and its fields, Azekah and its daughter-towns. So they were living from Beer-sheba to the valley of Hinnom. 11:31And the children of Benjamin were living from Geba, at Michmash and Aija, and at Beth-el and its daughter-towns, 11:32At Anathoth, Nob, Ananiah, 11:33Hazor, Ramah, Gittaim, 11:34Hadid, Zeboim, Neballat, 11:35Lod and Ono, the valley of expert workers. 11:36And of the Levites, certain divisions in Judah were joined to Benjamin.
12:1Now these are the priests and the Levites who went up with Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra, 12:2Amariah, Malluch, Hattush, 12:3Shecaniah, Rehum, Meremoth, 12:4Iddo, Ginnethoi, Abijah, 12:5Mijamin, Maadiah, Bilgah, 12:6Shemaiah, and Joiarib, Jedaiah, 12:7Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, Jedaiah. These were the chiefs of the priests and of their brothers in the days of Jeshua. 12:8And the Levites: Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah, who was over the music-makers, he and his brothers. 12:9And Bakbukiah and Unno, their brothers, were opposite them in their watches. 12:10And Jeshua was the father of Joiakim, and Joiakim was the father of Eliashib, and Eliashib was the father of Joiada, 12:11And Joiada was the father of Jonathan, and Jonathan was the father of Jaddua. 12:12And in the days of Joiakim there were priests, heads of families: of Seraiah, Meraiah; of Jeremiah, Hananiah; 12:13Of Ezra, Meshullam; of Amariah, Jehohanan; 12:14Of Malluchi, Jonathan; of Shebaniah, Joseph; 12:15Of Harim, Adna; of Meraioth, Helkai; 12:16Of Iddo, Zechariah; of Ginnethon, Meshullam; 12:17Of Abijah, Zichri; of Miniamin, of Moadiah, Piltai; 12:18Of Bilgah, Shammua; of Shemaiah, Jehonathan; 12:19And of Joiarib, Mattenai; of Jedaiah, Uzzi; 12:20Of Sallai, Kallai; of Amok, Eber; 12:21Of Hilkiah, Hashabiah; of Jedaiah, Nethanel. 12:22The Levites in the days of Eliashib, Joiada, and Johanan, and Jaddua, were listed as heads of families; and the priests, when Darius the Persian was king. 12:23The sons of Levi, heads of families, were recorded in the book of the histories, even till the days of Johanan, the son of Eliashib. 12:24And the chiefs of the Levites: Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua, the son of Kadmiel, with their brothers opposite them, to give blessing and praise as ordered by David, the man of God, watch against watch. 12:25Mattaniah, and Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, Akkub, were door-keepers keeping the watch at the store-houses of the doors. 12:26These were in the days of Joiakim, the son of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and in the days of Nehemiah the ruler and of Ezra the priest, the scribe. 12:27And when the time came for the wall of Jerusalem to be made holy, they sent for the Levites out of all their places to come to Jerusalem, to keep the feast with joy, and with praise and melody, with brass and corded instruments of music. 12:28And the sons of the music-makers came together from the lowland round about Jerusalem and from the daughter-towns of the Netophathites, 12:29And from Beth-gilgal and from the fields of Geba and Azmaveth: for the music-makers had made daughter-towns for themselves round about Jerusalem. 12:30And the priests and the Levites made themselves clean; and they made the people clean, and the doorways and the wall. 12:31Then I made the rulers of Judah come up on the wall, and I put in position two great bands of them who gave praise, walking in ordered lines; one went to the right on the wall, in the direction of the doorway where the waste was put; 12:32And after them went Hoshaiah and half of the rulers of Judah, 12:33And Azariah, Ezra, and Meshullam, 12:34Judah and Benjamin and Shemaiah and Jeremiah, 12:35And certain of the priests' sons with wind instruments; Zechariah, the son of Jonathan, the son of Shemaiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Micaiah, the son of Zaccur, the son of Asaph, 12:36And his brothers, Shemaiah, and Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel and Judah, Hanani, with the music-instruments of David, the man of God; and Ezra the scribe was at their head; 12:37And by the doorway of the fountain and straight in front of them, they went up by the steps of the town of David, at the slope up of the wall, over the house of David, as far as the water-doorway to the east. 12:38And the other band of those who gave praise went to the left, and I went after them with half the people, on the wall, over the tower of the ovens, as far as the wide wall; 12:39And over the doorway of Ephraim and by the old door and the fish door and the tower of Hananel and the tower of Hammeah, as far as the sheep door: and at the doorway of the watchmen they came to a stop. 12:40So the two bands of those who gave praise took up their positions in the house of God, and I and half of the chiefs with me: 12:41And the priests; Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah, with wind instruments; 12:42And Maaseiah and Shemaiah and Eleazar and Uzzi and Jehohanan and Malchijah and Elam and Ezer. And the makers of melody made their voices loud, with Jezrahiah their overseer. 12:43And on that day they made great offerings and were glad; for God had made them glad with great joy; and the women and the children were glad with them: so that the joy of Jerusalem came to the ears of those who were far off. 12:44And on that day certain men were put over the rooms where the things which had been given were stored, for the lifted offerings and the first-fruits and the tenths, and to take into them the amounts, from the fields of every town, fixed by the law for the priests and the Levites: for Judah was glad on account of the priests and the Levites who were in their places. 12:45And they kept the watch of their God, and were responsible for making things clean, and so did the music-makers and the door-keepers, as it was ordered by David and Solomon his son. 12:46For in the days of David and Asaph in the past, there was a master of the music, and songs of blessing and praise to God. 12:47And all Israel in the days of Zerubbabel and in the days of Nehemiah gave what was needed by the music-makers and the door-keepers day by day: and they made the offerings holy for the Levites; and the Levites did the same for the sons of Aaron.
13:1On that day there was a reading from the book of Moses in the hearing of the people; and they saw that it said in the book that no Ammonite or Moabite might ever come into the meeting of God; 13:2Because they did not give the children of Israel bread and water when they came to them, but got Balaam to put a curse on them: though the curse was turned into a blessing by our God. 13:3So after hearing the law, they took out of Israel all the mixed people. 13:4Now before this, Eliashib the priest, who had been placed over the rooms of the house of our God, being a friend of Tobiah, 13:5Had made ready for him a great room, where at one time they kept the meal offerings, the perfume, and the vessels and the tenths of the grain and wine and oil which were given by order to the Levites and the music-makers and the door-keepers, and the lifted offerings for the priests. 13:6But all this time I was not at Jerusalem: for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes, king of Babylon, I went to the king; and after some days, I got the king to let me go, 13:7And I came to Jerusalem; and it was clear to me what evil Eliashib had done for Tobiah, in making ready for him a room in the buildings of the house of God. 13:8And it was evil in my eyes: so I had all Tobiah's things put out of the room. 13:9Then I gave orders, and they made the rooms clean: and I put back in them the vessels of the house of God, with the meal offerings and the perfume. 13:10And I saw that the Levites had not been given what was needed for their support; so that the Levites and the music-makers, who did the work, had gone away, everyone to his field. 13:11Then I made protests to the chiefs, and said, Why has the house of God been given up? And I got them together and put them in their places. 13:12Then all Judah came with the tenth part of the grain and wine and oil and put it into the store-houses. 13:13And I made controllers over the store-houses, Shelemiah the priest and Zadok the scribe, and of the Levites, Pedaiah: and with them was Hanan, the son of Zaccur the son of Mattaniah: they were taken to be true men and their business was the distribution of these things to their brothers. 13:14Keep me in mind, O my God, in connection with this, and do not let the good which I have done for the house of my God and its worship go from your memory completely. 13:15In those days, I saw in Judah some who were crushing grapes on the Sabbath, and getting in grain and putting it on asses; as well as wine and grapes and figs and all sorts of goods which they took into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day: and I gave witness against them on the day when they were marketing food. 13:16And there were men of Tyre there, who came with fish and all sorts of goods, trading with the children of Judah and in Jerusalem on the Sabbath. 13:17Then I made protests to the chiefs of Judah, and said to them, What is this evil which you are doing, not keeping the Sabbath day holy? 13:18Did not your fathers do the same, and did not our God send all this evil on us and on this town? but you are causing more wrath to come on Israel by not keeping the Sabbath holy. 13:19And so, when the streets of Jerusalem were getting dark before the Sabbath, I gave orders for the doors to be shut and not to be open again till after the Sabbath: and I put some of my servants by the door so that nothing might be taken in on the Sabbath day. 13:20So the traders in all sorts of goods took their night's rest outside Jerusalem once or twice. 13:21Then I gave witness against them and said, Why are you waiting all night by the wall? if you do so again I will have you taken prisoners. From that time they did not come again on the Sabbath. 13:22And I gave the Levites orders to make themselves clean and come and keep the doors and make the Sabbath holy. Keep this in mind to my credit, O my God, and have mercy on me, for great is your mercy. 13:23And in those days I saw the Jews who were married to women of Ashdod and Ammon and Moab: 13:24And their children were talking half in the language of Ashdod; they had no knowledge of the Jews' language, but made use of the language of the two peoples. 13:25And I took up the cause against them, cursing them and giving blows to some of them and pulling out their hair; and I made them take an oath by God, saying, You are not to give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves. 13:26Was it not in these things that Solomon, king of Israel, did wrong? among a number of nations there was no king like him, and he was dear to his God, and God made him king over all Israel: but even he was made to do evil by strange women. 13:27Are we then without protest to let you do all this great evil, sinning against our God by taking strange women for your wives? 13:28And one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib, the chief priest, was son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite: so I sent him away from me. 13:29Keep them in mind, O my God, because they have put shame on the priests' name and on the agreement of the priests and the Levites. 13:30So I made them clean from all strange people, and had regular watches fixed for the priests and for the Levites, everyone in his work; 13:31And for the wood offering, at fixed times, and for the first fruits. Keep me in mind, O my God, for good.
Esther
1:1Now it came about in the days of Ahasuerus, (that Ahasuerus who was ruler of a hundred and twenty-seven divisions of the kingdom, from India as far as Ethiopia:) 1:2That in those days, when King Ahasuerus was ruling in Shushan, his strong town, 1:3In the third year of his rule he gave a feast to all his captains and his servants; and the captains of the army of Persia and Media, the great men and the rulers of the divisions of his kingdom, were present before him; 1:4And for a long time, even a hundred and eighty days, he let them see all the wealth and the glory of his kingdom and the great power and honour which were his. 1:5And at the end of that time, the king gave a feast for all the people who were present in Shushan, the king's town, small as well as great, for seven days, in the outer square of the garden of the king's house. 1:6There were fair hangings of white and green and blue, fixed with cords of purple and the best linen to silver rings and pillars of polished stone: the seats were of gold and silver on a floor of red and white and yellow and black stone. 1:7And they gave them drink in gold vessels, every vessel being different, and wine of the kingdom, freely given by the king. 1:8And the drinking was in keeping with the law; no one was forced: for the king had given orders to all the chief servants of his house to do as was pleasing to every man. 1:9And Vashti the queen gave a feast for the women in the house of King Ahasuerus. 1:10On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was glad with wine, he gave orders to Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, and Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas, the seven unsexed servants who were waiting before Ahasuerus the king, 1:11That Vashti the queen was to come before him, crowned with her crown, and let the people and the captains see her: for she was very beautiful. 1:12But when the servants gave her the king's order, Vashti the queen said she would not come: then the king was very angry, and his heart was burning with wrath. 1:13And the king said to the wise men, who had knowledge of the times, (for this was the king's way with all who were expert in law and in the giving of decisions: 1:14And second only to him were Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven rulers of Persia and Media, who were friends of the king, and had the first places in the kingdom:) 1:15What is to be done by law to Vashti the queen, because she has not done what King Ahasuerus, by his servants, gave her orders to do? 1:16And before the king and the captains, Memucan gave his answer: Vashti the queen has done wrong, not only to the king, but to all the captains and to all the peoples in all the divisions of the kingdom of King Ahasuerus; 1:17For news of what the queen has done will come to the ears of all women, and they will no longer give respect to their husbands when it is said to them, King Ahasuerus gave orders for Vashti the queen to come before him and she came not. 1:18And the wives of the captains of Persia and Media, hearing what the queen has done, will say the same to all the king's captains. So there will be much shame and wrath. 1:19If it is pleasing to the king, let an order go out from him, and let it be recorded among the laws of the Persians and the Medes, so that it may never be changed, that Vashti is never again to come before King Ahasuerus; and let the king give her place to another who is better than she. 1:20And when this order, given by the king, is made public through all his kingdom (for it is great), all the wives will give honour to their husbands, great as well as small. 1:21And this suggestion seemed good to the king and the captains; and the king did as Memucan said; 1:22And sent letters to all the divisions of the kingdom, to every division in the writing commonly used there, and to every people in the language which was theirs, saying that every man was to be the ruler in his house, and that this order was to be given out in the language of his people.
2:1After these things, when the king's feelings were calmer, the thought of Vashti and what she had done and the order he had made against her, came back to his mind. 2:2Then the servants who were waiting on the king said to him, Let search be made for some fair young virgins for the king: 2:3Let the king give authority to certain men in all the divisions of his kingdom, to get together all the fair young virgins and send them to Shushan, the king's town, to the women's house, under the care of Hegai, the king's servant, the keeper of the women: and let the things needed for making them clean be given to them; 2:4And let the girl who is pleasing to the king be queen in place of Vashti. And the king was pleased with this suggestion; and he did so. 2:5Now there was a certain Jew in Shushan named Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite; 2:6Who had been taken away from Jerusalem among those who had been made prisoner with Jeconiah, king of Judah, when Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had taken him away. 2:7And he had been a father to Hadassah, that is Esther, the daughter of his father's brother: for she had no father or mother, and she was very beautiful; and when her father and mother were dead, Mordecai took her for his daughter. 2:8So when the order made by the king was publicly given out, and a number of girls had been placed in the care of Hegai in the king's house in Shushan, Esther was taken into the king's house and put in the care of Hegai, the keeper of the women. 2:9And he was pleased with the girl and was kind to her; and he quickly gave her what was needed for making her clean, and the things which were hers by right, and seven servant-girls who were to be hers from the king's house: and he had her and her servant-girls moved to the best place in the women's part of the house. 2:10Esther had not said what family or people she came from, for Mordecai had given her orders not to do so. 2:11And every day Mordecai took his walk before the square of the women's house, to see how Esther was and what would be done to her. 2:12Now every girl, when her turn came, had to go in to King Ahasuerus, after undergoing, for a space of twelve months, what was ordered by the law for the women (for this was the time necessary for making them clean, that is, six months with oil of myrrh and six months with sweet perfumes and such things as are needed for making women clean): 2:13And in this way the girl went in to the king; whatever she had a desire for was given to her to take with her from the women's house into the house of the king. 2:14In the evening she went, and on the day after she came back to the second house of the women, into the keeping of Shaashgaz, one of the king's unsexed servants who had the care of the king's wives: only if the king had delight in her and sent for her by name did she go in to him again. 2:15Now when the time came for Esther, the daughter of Abihail, his father's brother, whom Mordecai had taken as his daughter, to go in to the king, she made request for nothing but what Hegai, the king's servant and keeper of the women, had given her. And Esther was looked on kindly by all who saw her. 2:16So Esther was taken in to King Ahasuerus in his house in the tenth month, which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his rule. 2:17And Esther was more pleasing to the king than all the women, and to his eyes she was fairer and more full of grace than all the other virgins: so he put his crown on her head and made her queen in place of Vashti. 2:18Then the king gave a great feast for all his captains and his servants, even Esther's feast; and he gave orders through all the divisions of his kingdom for a day of rest from work, and gave wealth from his store. 2:19And when the virgins came together in the second house of the women, Mordecai took his seat in the doorway of the king's house. 2:20Esther had still said nothing of her family or her people, as Mordecai had given her orders; for Esther did what Mordecai said, as when she was living with him. 2:21In those days, while Mordecai was seated at the king's doorway, two of the king's servants, Bigthan and Teresh, keepers of the door, being angry, were looking for a chance to make an attack on King Ahasuerus. 2:22And Mordecai, having knowledge of their purpose, sent word of it to Esther the queen; and Esther gave the news to the king in Mordecai's name. 2:23And when the thing had been looked into, it was seen to be true, and the two of them were put to death by hanging on a tree: and it was put down in the records before the king.
3:1After these things, by the order of the king, Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, was lifted up and given a position of honour and a higher place than all the other captains who were with him. 3:2And all the king's servants who were in the king's house went down to the earth before Haman and gave him honour: for so the king had given orders. But Mordecai did not go down before him or give him honour. 3:3Then the king's servants who were in the king's house said to Mordecai, Why do you go against the king's order? 3:4Now when they had said this to him day after day and he gave no attention, they let Haman have news of it, to see if Mordecai's behaviour would be overlooked: for he had said to them that he was a Jew. 3:5And when Haman saw that Mordecai did not go down before him and give him honour, Haman was full of wrath. 3:6But it was not enough for him to make an attack on Mordecai only; for they had made clear to him who Mordecai's people were; so Haman made it his purpose to put an end to all the Jews, even Mordecai's people, through all the kingdom of Ahasuerus. 3:7In the first month, the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, from day to day and from month to month they went on looking for a sign given by Pur (that is chance) before Haman, till the sign came out for the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month Adar. 3:8And Haman said to King Ahasuerus, There is a certain nation living here and there in small groups among the people in all the divisions of your kingdom; their laws are different from those of any other nation, and they do not keep the king's laws: for this reason it is not right for the king to let them be. 3:9If it is the king's pleasure, let a statement ordering their destruction be put in writing: and I will give to those responsible for the king's business, ten thousand talents of silver for the king's store-house. 3:10And the king took his ring from his hand and gave it to Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the hater of the Jews. 3:11And the king said to Haman, The money is yours, and the people, to do with them whatever seems right to you. 3:12Then on the thirteenth day of the first month, the king's scribes were sent for, and they put in writing Haman's orders to all the king's captains and the rulers of every division of his kingdom and the chiefs of every people: for every division of the kingdom in the writing commonly used there, and to every people in the language which was theirs; it was signed in the name of King Ahasuerus and stamped with the king's ring. 3:13And letters were sent by the runners into every division of the kingdom ordering the death and destruction of all Jews, young and old, little children and women, on the same day, even the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month Adar, and the taking of all their goods by force. 3:14A copy of the writing, to be made public in every part of the kingdom, was sent out to all the peoples, so that they might be ready when that day came. 3:15The runners went out quickly by the king's order, and a public statement was made in Shushan: and the king and Haman took wine together: but the town of Shushan was troubled.
4:1Now when Mordecai saw what was done, pulling off his robe, he put on haircloth, with dust on his head, and went out into the middle of the town, crying out with a loud and bitter cry. 4:2And he came even before the king's doorway; for no one might come inside the king's door clothed in haircloth. 4:3And in every part of the kingdom, wherever the king's word and his order came, there was great sorrow among the Jews, and weeping and crying and going without food; and numbers of them were stretched on the earth covered with dust and haircloth. 4:4And Esther's women and her servants came and gave her word of it. Then great was the grief of the queen: and she sent robes for Mordecai, so that his clothing of haircloth might be taken off; but he would not have them. 4:5Then Esther sent for Hathach, one of the king's unsexed servants whom he had given her for waiting on her, and she gave him orders to go to Mordecai and see what this was and why it was. 4:6So Hathach went out and saw Mordecai in the open square of the town before the king's doorway. 4:7And Mordecai gave him an account of what had taken place, and of the amount of money which Haman had said he would put into the king's store for the destruction of the Jews. 4:8And he gave him the copy of the order which had been given out in Shushan for their destruction, ordering him to let Esther see it, and to make it clear to her; and to say to her that she was to go in to the king, requesting his mercy, and making prayer for her people. 4:9And Hathach came back and gave Esther an account of what Mordecai had said. 4:10Then Esther sent Hathach to say to Mordecai: 4:11It is common knowledge among all the king's servants and the people of every part of the kingdom, that if anyone, man or woman, comes to the king in his inner room without being sent for, there is only one law for him, that he is to be put to death; only those to whom the king's rod of gold is stretched out may keep their lives: but I have not been sent for to come before the king these thirty days. 4:12And they said these words to Mordecai. 4:13Then Mordecai sent this answer back to Esther: Do not have the idea that you in the king's house will be safe from the fate of all the Jews. 4:14If at this time you say nothing, then help and salvation will come to the Jews from some other place, but you and your father's family will come to destruction: and who is to say that you have not come to the kingdom even for such a time as this? 4:15Then Esther sent them back to Mordecai with this answer: 4:16Go, get together all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and go without food for me, taking no food or drink night or day for three days: and I and my women will do the same; and so I will go in to the king, which is against the law: and if death is to be my fate, then let it come. 4:17So Mordecai went away and did everything as Esther had said.
5:1Now on the third day, Esther put on her queen's robes, and took her place in the inner room of the king's house, facing the king's house: and the king was seated on his high seat in the king's house, facing the doorway of the house. 5:2And when the king saw Esther the queen waiting in the inner room, looking kindly on her he put out the rod of gold in his hand to her. So Esther came near and put her fingers on the top of the rod. 5:3Then the king said, What is your desire, Queen Esther, and what is your request? I will give it to you, even to the half of my kingdom. 5:4And Esther in answer said, If it seems good to the king, let the king and Haman come today to the feast which I have made ready for him. 5:5Then the king said, Let Haman come quickly, so that what Esther has said may be done. So the king and Haman came to the feast which Esther had made ready. 5:6And while they were drinking wine the king said to Esther, What is your prayer? for it will be given to you and what is your request? for it will be done, even to the half of my kingdom. 5:7Then Esther said in answer, My prayer and my request is this: 5:8If I have the king's approval, and if it is the king's pleasure to give me my prayer and do my request, let the king and Haman come to the feast which I will make ready for them, and tomorrow I will do as the king has said. 5:9Then on that day Haman went out full of joy and glad in heart; but when he saw Mordecai in the king's doorway, and he did not get to his feet or give any sign of fear before him, Haman was full of wrath against Mordecai. 5:10But controlling himself, he went to his house; and he sent for his friends and Zeresh, his wife. 5:11And he gave them an account of the glories of his wealth, and the number of children he had, and the ways in which he had been honoured by the king, and how he had put him over the captains and servants of the king. 5:12And Haman said further, Truly, Esther the queen let no man but myself come in to the feast which she had made ready for the king; and tomorrow again I am to be her guest with the king. 5:13But all this is nothing to me while I see Mordecai the Jew seated by the king's doorway. 5:14Then his wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, Let a pillar, fifty cubits high, be made ready for hanging him, and in the morning get the king to give orders for the hanging of Mordecai: then you will be able to go to the feast with the king with a glad heart. And Haman was pleased with the suggestion, and he had the pillar made.
6:1That night the king was unable to get any sleep; and he sent for the books of the records; and while some one was reading them to the king, 6:2It came out that it was recorded in the book how Mordecai had given word of the designs of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's servants, keepers of the door, by whom an attack on the king had been designed. 6:3And the king said, What honour and reward have been given to Mordecai for this? Then the servants who were waiting on the king said, Nothing has been done for him. 6:4Then the king said, Who is in the outer room? Now Haman had come into the outer room to get the king's authority for the hanging of Mordecai on the pillar which he had made ready for him. 6:5And the king's servants said to him, See, Haman is waiting in the outer room. And the king said, Let him come in. 6:6So Haman came in. And the king said to him, What is to be done to the man whom the king has delight in honouring? Then the thought came into Haman's mind, Whom, more than myself, would the king have pleasure in honouring? 6:7And Haman, answering the king, said, For the man whom the king has delight in honouring, 6:8Let them take the robes which the king generally puts on, and the horse on which the king goes, and the crown which is on his head: 6:9And let the robes and the horse be given to one of the king's most noble captains, so that they may put them on the man whom the king has delight in honouring, and let him go on horseback through the streets of the town, with men crying out before him, So let it be done to the man whom the king has delight in honouring. 6:10Then the king said to Haman, Go quickly, and take the robes and the horse, as you have said, and do even so to Mordecai the Jew, who is seated at the king's doorway: see that you do everything as you have said. 6:11Then Haman took the robes and the horse, and dressing Mordecai in the robes, he made him go on horseback through the streets of the town, crying out before him, So let it be done to the man whom the king has delight in honouring. 6:12And Mordecai came back to the king's doorway. But Haman went quickly back to his house, sad and with his head covered. 6:13And Haman gave his wife Zeresh and all his friends an account of what had taken place. Then his wise men and his wife Zeresh said to him, If Mordecai, who is starting to get the better of you, is of the seed of the Jews, you will not be able to do anything against him, but you will certainly go down before him. 6:14While they were still talking, the king's servants came to take Haman to the feast which Esther had made ready.
7:1So the king and Haman came to take wine with Esther the queen. 7:2And the king said to Esther again on the second day, while they were drinking, What is your prayer, Queen Esther? for it will be given to you; and what is your request? for it will be done, even to the half of my kingdom. 7:3Then Esther the queen, answering, said, If I have your approval, O king, and if it is the king's pleasure, let my life be given to me in answer to my prayer, and my people at my request: 7:4For we are given up, I and my people, to destruction and death and to be cut off. If we had been taken as men-servants and women-servants for a price, I would have said nothing, for our trouble is little in comparison with the king's loss. 7:5Then King Ahasuerus said to Esther the queen, Who is he and where is he who has had this evil thought in his heart? 7:6And Esther said, Our hater and attacker is this evil Haman. Then Haman was full of fear before the king and the queen. 7:7And the king in his wrath got up from the feast and went into the garden: and Haman got to his feet to make a prayer for his life to Esther the queen: for he saw that the king's purpose was evil against him. 7:8Then the king came back from the garden into the room where they had been drinking; and Haman was stretched out on the seat where Esther was. Then the king said, Is he taking the queen by force before my eyes in my house? And while the words were on the king's lips, they put a cloth over Haman's face. 7:9Then Harbonah, one of the unsexed servants waiting before the king, said, See, the pillar fifty cubits high, which Haman made for Mordecai, who said a good word for the king, is still in its place in Haman's house. Then the king said, Put him to death by hanging him on it. 7:10So Haman was put to death by hanging him on the pillar he had made for Mordecai. Then the king's wrath became less.
8:1That day the king gave all the family of Haman, the hater of the Jews, to Esther the queen. And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had made clear what he was to her. 8:2And the king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther put Mordecai over the family of Haman. 8:3Then Esther again came before the king, falling down at his feet, and made request to him with weeping, that he would put a stop to the evil purposes of Haman the Agagite and the designs which he had made against the Jews. 8:4Then the king put out the rod of gold to Esther, and she got up before the king. 8:5And she said, If it is the king's pleasure and if I have his approval and this thing seems right to the king and I am pleasing to him, then let letters be sent giving orders against those which Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, sent out for the destruction of the Jews in all divisions of the kingdom: 8:6For how is it possible for me to see the evil which is to overtake my nation? how may I see the destruction of my people? 8:7Then King Ahasuerus said to Esther the queen and to Mordecai the Jew, See now, I have given Esther the family of Haman, and he has come to his death by hanging, because he made an attack on the Jews. 8:8So now send a letter about the Jews, writing whatever seems good to you, in the king's name, and stamping it with the king's ring: for a writing signed in the king's name and stamped with the king's ring may not be changed. 8:9Then at that time, on the twenty-third day of the third month, which is the month Sivan, the king's scribes were sent for; and everything ordered by Mordecai was put in writing and sent to the Jews and the captains and the rulers and the chiefs of all the divisions of the kingdom from India to Ethiopia, a hundred and twenty-seven divisions, to every division in the writing commonly used there, and to every people in their language, and to the Jews in their writing and their language. 8:10The letters were sent in the name of King Ahasuerus and stamped with his ring, and they were taken by men on horseback, going on the quick-running horses used for the king's business, the offspring of his best horses: 8:11In these letters the king gave authority to the Jews in every town to come together and make a fight for their lives, and to send death and destruction on the power of any people in any part of the kingdom attacking them or their children or their women, and to take their goods from them by force, 8:12On one day in every division of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, that is, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month Adar. 8:13A copy of the writing, to be made public as an order in every division of the kingdom, was given out to all the peoples, so that the Jews might be ready when that day came to give punishment to their haters. 8:14So the men went out on the quick-running horses used on the king's business, wasting no time and forced on by the king's order; and the order was given out in Shushan, the king's town. 8:15And Mordecai went out from before the king, dressed in king-like robes of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold and clothing of purple and the best linen: and all the town of Shushan gave loud cries of joy. 8:16And the Jews had light and joy and honour. 8:17And in every part of the kingdom and in every town, wherever the king's letter and his order came, the Jews were glad with great joy, and had a feast and a good day. And a great number of the people of the land became Jews: for the fear of the Jews had come on them.
9:1Now on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, when the time came for the king's order to be put into effect, on the very day when the haters of the Jews had been hoping to have rule over them; though the opposite had come about, and the Jews had rule over their haters; 9:2On that day, the Jews came together in their towns through all the divisions of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, for the purpose of attacking all those who were attempting evil against them: and everyone had to give way before them, for the fear of them had come on all the peoples. 9:3And all the chiefs and the captains and the rulers and those who did the king's business gave support to the Jews; because the fear of Mordecai had come on them. 9:4For Mordecai was great in the king's house, and word of him went out through every part of the kingdom: for the man Mordecai became greater and greater. 9:5So the Jews overcame all their attackers with the sword and with death and destruction, and did to their haters whatever they had a desire to do. 9:6And in Shushan the Jews put to death five hundred men. 9:7They put to death Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, 9:8Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, 9:9Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha, 9:10The ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the hater of the Jews; but they put not a hand on any of their goods. 9:11On that day the number of those who had been put to death in the town of Shushan was given to the king. 9:12And 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. 9:13Then 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. 9:14And 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. 9:15For 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. 9:16And 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. 9:17This 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. 9:18But 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. 9:19So 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. 9:20And Mordecai sent letters to all the Jews in every division of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, near and far, 9:21Ordering them to keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar and the fifteenth day of the same month, every year, 9:22As 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. 9:23And the Jews gave their word to go on as they had been doing and as Mordecai had given them orders in writing; 9:24Because 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; 9:25But 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. 9:26So 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, 9:27The 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; 9:28And 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. 9:29Then 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. 9:30And he sent letters to all the Jews in the hundred and twenty-seven divisions of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, with true words of peace, 9:31Giving 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. 9:32The order given by Esther gave the force of law to the rules about the Purim; and it was recorded in the book.
10:1And King Ahasuerus put a tax on the land and on the islands of the sea. 10:2And all his acts of power and his great strength and the full story of the high place which the king gave Mordecai, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Media and Persia? 10:3For 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.