10:1Now those who sealed were: Nehemiah the governor, 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, and Shemaiah. These were the priests. 10:9The Levites: namely, 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, and Beninu. 10:14The chiefs of the people: Parosh, Pahathmoab, 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, and Baanah. 10:28The rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants, and all those who had separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the law of God, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, everyone who had knowledge, and understanding— 10:29they joined with their brothers, their nobles, and entered into a curse, and into an oath, to walk in God’s law, which was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of Yahweh our Lord, and his ordinances and his statutes; 10:30and that we would not give our daughters to the peoples of the land, nor take their daughters for our sons; 10:31and if the peoples of the land bring wares or any grain on the Sabbath day to sell, that we would not buy from them on the Sabbath, or on a holy day; and that we would forego the seventh year, and the exaction of every debt. 10:32Also we made ordinances for ourselves, to charge ourselves yearly with the third part of a shekel for the service of the house of our God; 10:33for the show bread, for the continual meal offering, for the continual burnt offering, for the Sabbaths, for the new moons, for the set feasts, and for the holy things, and for the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God. 10:34We cast lots, the priests, the Levites, and the people, for the wood offering, to bring it into the house of our God, according to our fathers’ houses, at times appointed, year by year, to burn on Yahweh our God’s altar, as it is written in the law; 10:35and to bring the first fruits of our ground, and the first fruits of all fruit of all kinds of trees, year by year, to Yahweh’s house; 10:36also the firstborn of our sons, and of our livestock, as it is written in the law, and the firstborn of our herds and of our flocks, to bring to the house of our God, to the priests who minister in the house of our God; 10:37and that we should bring the first fruits of our dough, our wave offerings, the fruit of all kinds of trees, and the new wine and the oil, to the priests, to the rooms of the house of our God; and the tithes of our ground to the Levites; for they, the Levites, take the tithes in all the cities of our tillage. 10:38The priest the son of Aaron shall be with the Levites, when the Levites take tithes. The Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes to the house of our God, to the rooms, into the treasure house. 10:39For the children of Israel and the children of Levi shall bring the wave offering of the grain, of the new wine, and of the oil, to the rooms, where the vessels of the sanctuary are, and the priests who minister, with the gatekeepers and the singers. We will not forsake the house of our God.
11:1The princes of the people lived in Jerusalem. The rest of the people also cast lots, to bring one of ten to dwell in Jerusalem the holy city, and nine parts in the other cities. 11:2The people blessed all the men who willingly offered themselves to dwell in Jerusalem. 11:3Now these are the chiefs of the province who lived in Jerusalem; but in the cities of Judah everyone lived in his possession in their cities: Israel, the priests, the Levites, the temple servants, and the children of Solomon’s servants. 11:4Some of the children of Judah and of the children of Benjamin lived in Jerusalem. 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 Colhozeh, 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 who lived in Jerusalem were four hundred sixty-eight valiant men. 11:7These 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. 11:8After him Gabbai, Sallai, nine hundred twenty-eight. 11:9Joel the son of Zichri was their overseer; and Judah the son of Hassenuah was second over the city. 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 God’s house, 11:12and their brothers who did the work of the house, eight hundred 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, chiefs of fathers’ households, two hundred forty-two; and Amashsai the son of Azarel, the son of Ahzai, the son of Meshillemoth, the son of Immer, 11:14and their brothers, mighty men of valor, one hundred twenty-eight; and their overseer was Zabdiel, the son of Haggedolim. 11:15Of 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 had the oversight of the outward business of God’s house; 11:17and Mattaniah the son of Mica, the son of Zabdi, the son of Asaph, who was the chief to begin the thanksgiving 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 city were two hundred eighty-four. 11:19Moreover the gatekeepers, Akkub, Talmon, and their brothers, who kept watch at the gates, were one hundred seventy-two. 11:20The residue of Israel, of the priests, the Levites, were in all the cities of Judah, everyone in his inheritance. 11:21But the temple servants lived in Ophel: and Ziha and Gishpa were over the temple servants. 11:22The overseer also 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 singers, over the business of God’s house. 11:23For there was a commandment from the king concerning them, and a settled provision for the singers, as every day required. 11:24Pethahiah the son of Meshezabel, of the children of Zerah the son of Judah, was at the king’s hand in all matters concerning the people. 11:25As for the villages, with their fields, some of the children of Judah lived in Kiriath Arba and its towns, in Dibon and its towns, in Jekabzeel and its villages, 11:26in Jeshua, in Moladah, Beth Pelet, 11:27in Hazar Shual, in Beersheba and its towns, 11:28in Ziklag, in Meconah and in its towns, 11:29in En Rimmon, in Zorah, in Jarmuth, 11:30Zanoah, Adullam, and their villages, Lachish and its fields, and Azekah and its towns. So they encamped from Beersheba to the valley of Hinnom. 11:31The children of Benjamin also lived from Geba onward, at Michmash and Aija, and at Bethel and its towns, 11:32at Anathoth, Nob, Ananiah, 11:33Hazor, Ramah, Gittaim, 11:34Hadid, Zeboim, Neballat, 11:35Lod, and Ono, the valley of craftsmen. 11:36Of the Levites, certain divisions in Judah settled in Benjamin’s territory.
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, and Jedaiah. These were the chiefs of the priests and of their brothers in the days of Jeshua. 12:8Moreover the Levites: Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah, who was over the thanksgiving, he and his brothers. 12:9Also Bakbukiah and Unno, their brothers, were close to them according to their offices. 12:10Jeshua became the father of Joiakim, and Joiakim became the father of Eliashib, and Eliashib became the father of Joiada, 12:11and Joiada became the father of Jonathan, and Jonathan became the father of Jaddua. 12:12In the days of Joiakim were priests, heads of fathers’ households: 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. 12:22As for the Levites, in the days of Eliashib, Joiada, and Johanan, and Jaddua, there were recorded the heads of fathers’ households; also the priests, in the reign of Darius the Persian. 12:23The sons of Levi, heads of fathers’ households, were written in the book of the chronicles, even until the days of Johanan the son of Eliashib. 12:24The chiefs of the Levites: Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua the son of Kadmiel, with their brothers close to them, to praise and give thanks, according to the commandment of David the man of God, watch next to watch. 12:25Mattaniah, and Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, Akkub, were gatekeepers keeping the watch at the storehouses of the gates. 12:26These were in the days of Joiakim the son of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and in the days of Nehemiah the governor, and of Ezra the priest and scribe. 12:27At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, they sought the Levites out of all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem, to keep the dedication with gladness, both with giving thanks, and with singing, with cymbals, stringed instruments, and with harps. 12:28The sons of the singers gathered themselves together, both out of the plain around Jerusalem and from the villages of the Netophathites; 12:29also from Beth Gilgal, and out of the fields of Geba and Azmaveth: for the singers had built themselves villages around Jerusalem. 12:30The priests and the Levites purified themselves; and they purified the people, and the gates, and the wall. 12:31Then I brought up the princes of Judah on the wall, and appointed two great companies who gave thanks and went in procession. One went on the right hand on the wall toward the dung gate; 12:32and after them went Hoshaiah, with half of the princes of Judah, 12:33and Azariah, Ezra, and Meshullam, 12:34Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, Jeremiah, 12:35and some of the priests’ sons with trumpets: 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, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani, with the musical instruments of David the man of God; and Ezra the scribe was before them. 12:37By the spring gate, and straight before them, they went up by the stairs of David’s city, at the ascent of the wall, above David’s house, even to the water gate eastward. 12:38The other company of those who gave thanks went to meet them, and I after them, with the half of the people, on the wall, above the tower of the furnaces, even to the wide wall, 12:39and above the gate of Ephraim, and by the old gate, and by the fish gate, and the tower of Hananel, and the tower of Hammeah, even to the sheep gate: and they stood still in the gate of the guard. 12:40So the two companies of those who gave thanks in God’s house stood, and I, and the half of the rulers with me; 12:41and the priests, Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah, with trumpets; 12:42and Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam, and Ezer. The singers sang loud, with Jezrahiah their overseer. 12:43They offered great sacrifices that day, and rejoiced; for God had made them rejoice with great joy; and the women and the children also rejoiced; so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard even far away. 12:44On that day were men appointed over the rooms for the treasures, for the wave offerings, for the first fruits, and for the tithes, to gather into them, according to the fields of the cities, the portions appointed by the law for the priests and Levites; for Judah rejoiced for the priests and for the Levites who waited. 12:45They performed the duty of their God, and the duty of the purification, and so did the singers and the gatekeepers, according to the commandment of David, and of Solomon his son. 12:46For in the days of David and Asaph of old there was a chief of the singers, and songs of praise and thanksgiving to God. 12:47All Israel in the days of Zerubbabel, and in the days of Nehemiah, gave the portions of the singers and the gatekeepers, as every day required; and they set apart that which was for the Levites; and the Levites set apart that which was for the sons of Aaron.
13:1On that day they read in the book of Moses in the hearing of the people; and it was found written in it that an Ammonite and a Moabite should not enter into the assembly of God forever, 13:2because they didn’t meet the children of Israel with bread and with water, but hired Balaam against them, to curse them; however our God turned the curse into a blessing. 13:3It came to pass, when they had heard the law, that they separated all the mixed multitude from Israel. 13:4Now before this, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed over the rooms of the house of our God, being allied to Tobiah, 13:5had prepared for him a great room, where before they laid the meal offerings, the frankincense, the vessels, and the tithes of the grain, the new wine, and the oil, which were given by commandment to the Levites, the singers, and the gatekeepers; and the wave offerings for the priests. 13:6But in all this, 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 asked leave of the king, 13:7and I came to Jerusalem, and understood the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah, in preparing him a room in the courts of God’s house. 13:8It grieved me severely. Therefore I threw all Tobiah’s household stuff out of the room. 13:9Then I commanded, and they cleansed the rooms. I brought into them the vessels of God’s house, with the meal offerings and the frankincense again. 13:10I perceived that the portions of the Levites had not been given them; so that the Levites and the singers, who did the work, had each fled to his field. 13:11Then I contended with the rulers, and said, “Why is God’s house forsaken?” I gathered them together, and set them in their place. 13:12Then all Judah brought the tithe of the grain, the new wine, and the oil to the treasuries. 13:13I made treasurers over the treasuries, Shelemiah the priest, and Zadok the scribe, and of the Levites, Pedaiah: and next to them was Hanan the son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah; for they were counted faithful, and their business was to distribute to their brothers. 13:14Remember me, my God, concerning this, and don’t wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God, and for its observances. 13:15In those days saw I in Judah some men treading wine presses on the Sabbath, bringing in sheaves, and loading donkeys; also with wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day; and I testified against them in the day in which they sold food. 13:16Some men of Tyre also lived there, who brought in fish and all kinds of wares, and sold on the Sabbath to the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem. 13:17Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said to them, “What evil thing is this that you do, and profane the Sabbath day? 13:18Didn’t your fathers do thus, and didn’t our God bring all this evil on us, and on this city? Yet you bring more wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath.” 13:19It came to pass that when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the Sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be shut, and commanded that they should not be opened until after the Sabbath. I set some of my servants over the gates, so that no burden should be brought in on the Sabbath day. 13:20So the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares camped outside of Jerusalem once or twice. 13:21Then I testified against them, and said to them, “Why do you stay around the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you.” From that time on, they didn’t come on the Sabbath. 13:22I commanded the Levites that they should purify themselves, and that they should come and keep the gates, to sanctify the Sabbath day. Remember to me, my God, this also, and spare me according to the greatness of your loving kindness. 13:23In those days I also saw the Jews who had married women of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab; 13:24and their children spoke half in the speech of Ashdod, and could not speak in the Jews’ language, but according to the language of each people. 13:25I contended with them, and cursed them, and struck certain of them, and plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God, “You shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor take their daughters for your sons, or for yourselves. 13:26Didn’t Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? Yet among many nations was there no king like him, and he was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel. Nevertheless foreign women caused even him to sin. 13:27Shall we then listen to you to do all this great evil, to trespass against our God in marrying foreign women?” 13:28One of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite; therefore I chased him from me. 13:29Remember them, my God, because they have defiled the priesthood, and the covenant of the priesthood and of the Levites. 13:30Thus I cleansed them from all foreigners, and appointed duties for the priests and for the Levites, everyone in his work; 13:31and for the wood offering, at times appointed, and for the first fruits. Remember me, my God, for good.
Esther
1:1Now in the days of Ahasuerus (this is Ahasuerus who reigned from India even to Ethiopia, over one hundred twenty-seven provinces), 1:2in those days, when the King Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the palace, 1:3in the third year of his reign, he made a feast for all his princes and his servants; the power of Persia and Media, the nobles and princes of the provinces, being before him. 1:4He displayed the riches of his glorious kingdom and the honor of his excellent majesty many days, even one hundred eighty days. 1:5When these days were fulfilled, the king made a seven day feast for all the people who were present in Shushan the palace, both great and small, in the court of the garden of the king’s palace. 1:6There were hangings of white, green, and blue material, fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and marble pillars. The couches were of gold and silver, on a pavement of red, white, yellow, and black marble. 1:7They gave them drinks in golden vessels of various kinds, including royal wine in abundance, according to the bounty of the king. 1:8In accordance with the law, the drinking was not compulsory; for so the king had instructed all the officials of his house, that they should do according to every man’s pleasure. 1:9Also Vashti the queen made a feast for the women in the royal house which belonged to King Ahasuerus. 1:10On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, and Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcass, the seven eunuchs who served in the presence of Ahasuerus the king, 1:11to bring Vashti the queen before the king with the royal crown, to show the people and the princes her beauty; for she was beautiful. 1:12But the queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s commandment by the eunuchs. Therefore the king was very angry, and his anger burned in him. 1:13Then the king said to the wise men, who knew the times (for it was the king’s custom to consult those who knew law and judgment; 1:14and the next to him were Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven princes of Persia and Media, who saw the king’s face, and sat first in the kingdom), 1:15“What shall we do to the queen Vashti according to law, because she has not done the bidding of the King Ahasuerus by the eunuchs?” 1:16Memucan answered before the king and the princes, “Vashti the queen has not done wrong to just the king, but also to all the princes, and to all the people who are in all the provinces of the King Ahasuerus. 1:17For this deed of the queen will become known to all women, causing them to show contempt for their husbands, when it is reported, ‘King Ahasuerus commanded Vashti the queen to be brought in before him, but she didn’t come.’ 1:18Today, the princesses of Persia and Media who have heard of the queen’s deed will tell all the king’s princes. This will cause much contempt and wrath. 1:19“If it pleases the king, let a royal commandment go from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes, so that it cannot be altered, that Vashti may never again come before King Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal estate to another who is better than she. 1:20When the king’s decree which he shall make is published throughout all his kingdom (for it is great), all the wives will give their husbands honor, both great and small.” 1:21This advice pleased the king and the princes, and the king did according to the word of Memucan: 1:22for he sent letters into all the king’s provinces, into every province according to its writing, and to every people in their language, that every man should rule his own house, speaking in the language of his own people.
2:1After these things, when the wrath of King Ahasuerus was pacified, he remembered Vashti, and what she had done, and what was decreed against her. 2:2Then the king’s servants who served him said, “Let beautiful young virgins be sought for the king. 2:3Let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, that they may gather together all the beautiful young virgins to the citadel of Susa, to the women’s house, to the custody of Hegai the king’s eunuch, keeper of the women. Let cosmetics be given them; 2:4and let the maiden who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti.” The thing pleased the king, and he did so. 2:5There was a certain Jew in the citadel of Susa, whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite, 2:6who had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captives who had been carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away. 2:7He brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter; for she had neither father nor mother. The maiden was fair and beautiful; and when her father and mother were dead, Mordecai took her for his own daughter. 2:8So, when the king’s commandment and his decree was heard, and when many maidens were gathered together to the citadel of Susa, to the custody of Hegai, Esther was taken into the king’s house, to the custody of Hegai, keeper of the women. 2:9The maiden pleased him, and she obtained kindness from him. He quickly gave her cosmetics and her portions of food, and the seven choice maidens who were to be given her out of the king’s house. He moved her and her maidens to the best place in the women’s house. 2:10Esther had not made known her people nor her relatives, because Mordecai had instructed her that she should not make it known. 2:11Mordecai walked every day in front of the court of the women’s house, to find out how Esther was doing, and what would become of her. 2:12Each young woman’s turn came to go in to King Ahasuerus after her purification for twelve months (for so were the days of their purification accomplished, six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with sweet fragrances and with preparations for beautifying women). 2:13The young woman then came to the king like this: whatever she desired was given her to go with her out of the women’s house to the king’s house. 2:14In the evening she went, and on the next day she returned into the second women’s house, to the custody of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch, who kept the concubines. She came in to the king no more, unless the king delighted in her, and she was called by name. 2:15Now when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her for his daughter, came to go in to the king, she required nothing but what Hegai the king’s eunuch, the keeper of the women, advised. Esther obtained favor in the sight of all those who looked at her. 2:16So Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus into his royal house in the tenth month, which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign. 2:17The king loved Esther more than all the women, and she obtained favor and kindness in his sight more than all the virgins; so that he set the royal crown on her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti. 2:18Then the king made a great feast for all his princes and his servants, even Esther’s feast; and he proclaimed a holiday in the provinces, and gave gifts according to the king’s bounty. 2:19When the virgins were gathered together the second time, Mordecai was sitting in the king’s gate. 2:20Esther had not yet made known her relatives nor her people, as Mordecai had commanded her; for Esther obeyed Mordecai, like she did when she was brought up by him. 2:21In those days, while Mordecai was sitting in the king’s gate, two of the king’s eunuchs, Bigthan and Teresh, who were doorkeepers, were angry, and sought to lay hands on the King Ahasuerus. 2:22This thing became known to Mordecai, who informed Esther the queen; and Esther informed the king in Mordecai’s name. 2:23When this matter was investigated, and it was found to be so, they were both hanged on a tree; and it was written in the book of the chronicles in the king’s presence.
3:1After these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat above all the princes who were with him. 3:2All the king’s servants who were in the king’s gate bowed down, and paid homage to Haman; for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai didn’t bow down or pay him homage. 3:3Then the king’s servants, who were in the king’s gate, said to Mordecai, “Why do you disobey the king’s commandment?” 3:4Now it came to pass, when they spoke daily to him, and he didn’t listen to them, that they told Haman, to see whether Mordecai’s reason would stand; for he had told them that he was a Jew. 3:5When Haman saw that Mordecai didn’t bow down, nor pay him homage, Haman was full of wrath. 3:6But he scorned the thought of laying hands on Mordecai alone, for they had made known to him Mordecai’s people. Therefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews who were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even Mordecai’s people. 3:7In the first month, which is the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that is, the lot, before Haman from day to day, and from month to month, and chose the twelfth month, which is the month Adar. 3:8Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom, and their laws are different than other people’s. They don’t keep the king’s laws. Therefore it is not for the king’s profit to allow them to remain. 3:9If it pleases the king, let it be written that they be destroyed; and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who are in charge of the king’s business, to bring it into the king’s treasuries.” 3:10The king took his ring from his hand, and gave it to Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews’ enemy. 3:11The king said to Haman, “The silver is given to you, the people also, to do with them as it seems good to you.” 3:12Then the king’s scribes were called in on the first month, on the thirteenth day of the month; and all that Haman commanded was written to the king’s satraps, and to the governors who were over every province, and to the princes of every people, to every province according to its writing, and to every people in their language. It was written in the name of King Ahasuerus, and it was sealed with the king’s ring. 3:13Letters were sent by couriers into all the king’s provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, even on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to plunder their possessions. 3:14A copy of the letter, that the decree should be given out in every province, was published to all the peoples, that they should be ready against that day. 3:15The couriers went out in haste by the king’s commandment, and the decree was given out in the citadel of Susa. The king and Haman sat down to drink; but the city of Shushan was perplexed.
4:1Now when Mordecai found out all that was done, Mordecai tore his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the middle of the city, and wailed loudly and bitterly. 4:2He came even before the king’s gate, for no one is allowed inside the king’s gate clothed with sackcloth. 4:3In every province, wherever the king’s commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes. 4:4Esther’s maidens and her eunuchs came and told her this, and the queen was exceedingly grieved. She sent clothing to Mordecai, to replace his sackcloth; but he didn’t receive it. 4:5Then Esther called for Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs, whom he had appointed to attend her, and commanded him to go to Mordecai, to find out what this was, and why it was. 4:6So Hathach went out to Mordecai, to city square which was before the king’s gate. 4:7Mordecai told him of all that had happened to him, and the exact sum of the money that Haman had promised to pay to the king’s treasuries for the destruction of the Jews. 4:8He also gave him the copy of the writing of the decree that was given out in Shushan to destroy them, to show it to Esther, and to declare it to her, and to urge her to go in to the king, to make supplication to him, and to make request before him, for her people. 4:9Hathach came and told Esther the words of Mordecai. 4:10Then Esther spoke to Hathach, and gave him a message to Mordecai: 4:11“All the king’s servants, and the people of the king’s provinces, know, that whoever, whether man or woman, comes to the king into the inner court without being called, there is one law for him, that he be put to death, except those to whom the king might hold out the golden scepter, that he may live. I have not been called to come in to the king these thirty days.” 4:12They told to Mordecai Esther’s words. 4:13Then Mordecai asked them to return this answer to Esther: “Don’t think to yourself that you will escape in the king’s house any more than all the Jews. 4:14For if you remain silent now, then relief and deliverance will come to the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Who knows if you haven’t come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” 4:15Then Esther asked them to answer Mordecai, 4:16“Go, gather together all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day. I and my maidens will also fast the same way. Then I will go in to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish.” 4:17So Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that Esther had commanded him.
5:1Now on the third day, Esther put on her royal clothing, and stood in the inner court of the king’s house, next to the king’s house. The king sat on his royal throne in the royal house, next to the entrance of the house. 5:2When the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, she obtained favor in his sight; and the king held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. So Esther came near, and touched the top of the scepter. 5:3Then the king asked her, “What would you like, queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given you even to the half of the kingdom.” 5:4Esther said, “If it seems good to the king, let the king and Haman come today to the banquet that I have prepared for him.” 5:5Then the king said, “Bring Haman quickly, so that it may be done as Esther has said.” So the king and Haman came to the banquet that Esther had prepared. 5:6The king said to Esther at the banquet of wine, “What is your petition? It shall be granted you. What is your request? Even to the half of the kingdom it shall be performed.” 5:7Then Esther answered and said, “My petition and my request is this. 5:8If I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and to perform my request, let the king and Haman come to the banquet that I will prepare for them, and I will do tomorrow as the king has said.” 5:9Then Haman went out that day joyful and glad of heart, but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king’s gate, that he didn’t stand up nor move for him, he was filled with wrath against Mordecai. 5:10Nevertheless Haman restrained himself, and went home. There, he sent and called for his friends and Zeresh his wife. 5:11Haman recounted to them the glory of his riches, the multitude of his children, all the things in which the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the princes and servants of the king. 5:12Haman also said, “Yes, Esther the queen let no man come in with the king to the banquet that she had prepared but myself; and tomorrow I am also invited by her together with the king. 5:13Yet all this avails me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.” 5:14Then Zeresh his wife and all his friends said to him, “Let a gallows be made fifty cubits high, and in the morning speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on it. Then go in merrily with the king to the banquet.” This pleased Haman, so he had the gallows made.
6:1On that night, the king couldn’t sleep. He commanded the book of records of the chronicles to be brought, and they were read to the king. 6:2It was found written that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs, who were doorkeepers, who had tried to lay hands on the King Ahasuerus. 6:3The king said, “What honor and dignity has been given to Mordecai for this?” Then the king’s servants who attended him said, “Nothing has been done for him.” 6:4The king said, “Who is in the court?” Now Haman had come into the outer court of the king’s house, to speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him. 6:5The king’s servants said to him, “Behold, Haman stands in the court.” The king said, “Let him come in.” 6:6So Haman came in. The king said to him, “What shall be done to the man whom the king delights to honor?” Now Haman said in his heart, “Who would the king delight to honor more than myself?” 6:7Haman said to the king, “For the man whom the king delights to honor, 6:8let royal clothing be brought which the king uses to wear, and the horse that the king rides on, and on the head of which a crown royal is set. 6:9Let the clothing and the horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king’s most noble princes, that they may array the man whom the king delights to honor with them, and have him ride on horseback through the city square, and proclaim before him, ‘Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor!’” 6:10Then the king said to Haman, “Hurry and take the clothing and the horse, as you have said, and do this for Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king’s gate. Let nothing fail of all that you have spoken.” 6:11Then Haman took the clothing and the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, and had him ride through the city square, and proclaimed before him, “Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor!” 6:12Mordecai came back to the king’s gate, but Haman hurried to his house, mourning and having his head covered. 6:13Haman recounted to Zeresh his wife and all his friends everything that had happened to him. Then his wise men and Zeresh his wife said to him, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish descent, you will not prevail against him, but you will surely fall before him.” 6:14While they were yet talking with him, the king’s eunuchs came, and hurried to bring Haman to the banquet that Esther had prepared.
7:1So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen. 7:2The king said again to Esther on the second day at the banquet of wine, “What is your petition, queen Esther? It shall be granted you. What is your request? Even to the half of the kingdom it shall be performed.” 7:3Then Esther the queen answered, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request. 7:4For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for male and female slaves, I would have held my peace, although the adversary could not have compensated for the king’s loss.” 7:5Then King Ahasuerus said to Esther the queen, “Who is he, and where is he who dared presume in his heart to do so?” 7:6Esther said, “An adversary and an enemy, even this wicked Haman!” Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen. 7:7The king arose in his wrath from the banquet of wine and went into the palace garden. Haman stood up to make request for his life to Esther the queen; for he saw that there was evil determined against him by the king. 7:8Then the king returned out of the palace garden into the place of the banquet of wine; and Haman had fallen on the couch where Esther was. Then the king said, “Will he even assault the queen in front of me in the house?” As the word went out of the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face. 7:9Then Harbonah, one of the eunuchs who were with the king said, “Behold, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman has made for Mordecai, who spoke good for the king, is standing at Haman’s house.” The king said, “Hang him on it!” 7:10So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king’s wrath pacified.
8:1On that day, King Ahasuerus gave the house of Haman, the Jews’ enemy, to Esther the queen. Mordecai came before the king; for Esther had told what he was to her. 8:2The king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman. 8:3Esther spoke yet again before the king, and fell down at his feet, and begged him with tears to put away the mischief of Haman the Agagite, and his plan that he had planned against the Jews. 8:4Then the king held out to Esther the golden scepter. So Esther arose, and stood before the king. 8:5She said, “If it pleases the king, and if I have found favor in his sight, and the thing seem right to the king, and I am pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to reverse the letters devised by Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all the king’s provinces. 8:6For how can I endure to see the evil that would come to my people? How can I endure to see the destruction of my relatives?” 8:7Then King Ahasuerus said to Esther the queen and to Mordecai the Jew, “See, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and him they have hanged on the gallows, because he laid his hand on the Jews. 8:8Write also to the Jews, as it pleases you, in the king’s name, and seal it with the king’s ring; for the writing which is written in the king’s name, and sealed with the king’s ring, may not be reversed by any man.” 8:9Then the king’s scribes were called at that time, in the third month, which is the month Sivan, on the twenty-third day of the month; and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded to the Jews, and to the satraps, and the governors and princes of the provinces which are from India to Ethiopia, one hundred twenty-seven provinces, to every province according to its writing, and to every people in their language, and to the Jews in their writing, and in their language. 8:10He wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus, and sealed it with the king’s ring, and sent letters by courier on horseback, riding on royal horses that were bred from swift steeds. 8:11In those letters, the king granted the Jews who were in every city to gather themselves together, and to defend their life, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all the power of the people and province that would assault them, their little ones and women, and to plunder their possessions, 8:12on one day in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar. 8:13A copy of the letter, that the decree should be given out in every province, was published to all the peoples, that the Jews should be ready for that day to avenge themselves on their enemies. 8:14So the couriers who rode on royal horses went out, hastened and pressed on by the king’s commandment. The decree was given out in the citadel of Susa. 8:15Mordecai went out of the presence of the king in royal clothing of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a robe of fine linen and purple; and the city of Susa shouted and was glad. 8:16The Jews had light, gladness, joy, and honor. 8:17In every province, and in every city, wherever the king’s commandment and his decree came, the Jews had gladness, joy, a feast, and a good day. Many from among the peoples of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews was fallen on them.
9:1Now in the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, on the thirteenth day of the month, when the king’s commandment and his decree came near to be put in execution, on the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to conquer them, (but it was turned out the opposite happened, that the Jews conquered those who hated them), 9:2the Jews gathered themselves together in their cities throughout all the provinces of the King Ahasuerus, to lay hands on those who wanted to harm them. No one could withstand them, because the fear of them had fallen on all the people. 9:3All the princes of the provinces, the satraps, the governors, and those who did the king’s business helped the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai had fallen on them. 9:4For Mordecai was great in the king’s house, and his fame went out throughout all the provinces; for the man Mordecai grew greater and greater. 9:5The Jews struck all their enemies with the stroke of the sword, and with slaughter and destruction, and did what they wanted to those who hated them. 9:6In the citadel of Susa, the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men. 9:7They killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, 9:8Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, 9:9Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha, 9:10the ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Jews’ enemy, but they didn’t lay their hand on the plunder. 9:11On that day, the number of those who were slain in the citadel of Susa was brought before the king. 9:12The king said to Esther the queen, “The Jews have slain and destroyed five hundred men in the citadel of Susa, including the ten sons of Haman; what then have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces! Now what is your petition? It shall be granted you. What is your further request? It shall be done.” 9:13Then Esther said, “If it pleases the king, let it be granted to the Jews who are in Shushan to do tomorrow also according to today’s decree, and let Haman’s ten sons be hanged on the gallows.” 9:14The king commanded this to be done. A decree was given out in Shushan; and they hanged Haman’s ten sons. 9:15The Jews who were in Shushan gathered themselves together on the fourteenth day also of the month Adar, and killed three hundred men in Shushan; but they didn’t lay their hand on the plunder. 9:16The other Jews who were in the king’s provinces gathered themselves together, defended their lives, had rest from their enemies, and killed seventy-five thousand of those who hated them; but they didn’t lay their hand on the plunder. 9:17This was done on the thirteenth day of the month Adar; and on the fourteenth day of that month they rested and made it a day of feasting and gladness. 9:18But the Jews who were in Shushan assembled together on the thirteenth and on the fourteenth days of the month; and on the fifteenth day of that month, they rested, and made it a day of feasting and gladness. 9:19Therefore the Jews of the villages, who live in the unwalled towns, make the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of gladness and feasting, a good day, and a day of sending presents of food to one another. 9:20Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, both near and far, 9:21to enjoin them that they should keep the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month Adar yearly, 9:22as the days in which the Jews had rest from their enemies, and the month which was turned to them from sorrow to gladness, and from mourning into a good day; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, and of sending presents of food to one another, and gifts to the needy. 9:23The Jews accepted the custom that they had begun, as Mordecai had written to them; 9:24because Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them, and had cast “Pur”, that is the lot, to consume them, and to destroy them; 9:25but when this became known to the king, he commanded by letters that his wicked plan, which he had planned against the Jews, should return on his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows. 9:26Therefore they called these days “Purim”, from the word “Pur.” Therefore because of all the words of this letter, and of that which they had seen concerning this matter, and that which had come to them, 9:27the Jews established, and imposed on themselves, and on their descendants, and on all those who joined themselves to them, so that it should not fail, that they would keep these two days according to what was written, and according to its appointed time, every year; 9:28and 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 their memory perish from their offspring, 9:29Then Esther the queen, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew, wrote with all authority to confirm this second letter of Purim. 9:30He sent letters to all the Jews, to the hundred twenty-seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, with words of peace and truth, 9:31to confirm these days of Purim in their appointed times, as Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen had decreed, and as they had imposed upon themselves and their descendants, in the matter of the fastings and their cry. 9:32The commandment of Esther confirmed these matters of Purim; and it was written in the book.
10:1King Ahasuerus laid a tribute on the land, and on the islands of the sea. 10:2All the acts of his power and of his might, and the full account of the greatness of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia? 10:3For Mordecai the Jew was next to King Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and accepted by the multitude of his brothers, seeking the good of his people, and speaking peace to all his descendants.
Job
1:1There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job. That man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God, and turned away from evil. 1:2There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. 1:3His possessions also were seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the children of the east. 1:4His sons went and held a feast in the house of each one on his birthday; and they sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them. 1:5It was so, when the days of their feasting had run their course, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, “It may be that my sons have sinned, and renounced God in their hearts.” Job did so continually. 1:6Now on the day when God’s sons came to present themselves before Yahweh, Satan also came among them. 1:7Yahweh said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Then Satan answered Yahweh, and said, “From going back and forth in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.” 1:8Yahweh said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant, Job? For there is no one like him in the earth, a blameless and an upright man, one who fears God, and turns away from evil.” 1:9Then Satan answered Yahweh, and said, “Does Job fear God for nothing? 1:10Haven’t you made a hedge around him, and around his house, and around all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. 1:11But stretch out your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will renounce you to your face.” 1:12Yahweh said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power. Only on himself don’t stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of Yahweh. 1:13It fell on a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, 1:14that there came a messenger to Job, and said, “The oxen were plowing, and the donkeys feeding beside them, 1:15and the Sabeans attacked, and took them away. Yes, they have killed the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 1:16While he was still speaking, there also came another, and said, “The fire of God has fallen from the sky, and has burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 1:17While he was still speaking, there came also another, and said, “The Chaldeans made three bands, and swept down on the camels, and have taken them away, yes, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 1:18While he was still speaking, there came also another, and said, “Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, 1:19and behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young men, and they are dead. I alone have escaped to tell you.” 1:20Then Job arose, and tore his robe, and shaved his head, and fell down on the ground, and worshiped. 1:21He said, “Naked I came out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there. Yahweh gave, and Yahweh has taken away. Blessed be Yahweh’s name.” 1:22In all this, Job did not sin, nor charge God with wrongdoing.
2:1Again, on the day when the God’s sons came to present themselves before Yahweh, Satan came also among them to present himself before Yahweh. 2:2Yahweh said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered Yahweh, and said, “From going back and forth in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.” 2:3Yahweh said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? For there is no one like him in the earth, a blameless and an upright man, one who fears God, and turns away from evil. He still maintains his integrity, although you incited me against him, to ruin him without cause.” 2:4Satan answered Yahweh, and said, “Skin for skin. Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life. 2:5But stretch out your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will renounce you to your face.” 2:6Yahweh said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand. Only spare his life.” 2:7So Satan went out from the presence of Yahweh, and struck Job with painful sores from the sole of his foot to his head. 2:8He took for himself a potsherd to scrape himself with, and he sat among the ashes. 2:9Then his wife said to him, “Do you still maintain your integrity? Renounce God, and die.” 2:10But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. What? Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this Job didn’t sin with his lips. 2:11Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this evil that had come on him, they each came from his own place: Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite; and they made an appointment together to come to sympathize with him and to comfort him. 2:12When they lifted up their eyes from a distance, and didn’t recognize him, they raised their voices, and wept; and they each tore his robe, and sprinkled dust on their heads toward the sky. 2:13So they sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief was very great.
3:1After this Job opened his mouth, and cursed the day of his birth. 3:2Job answered: 3:3“Let the day perish in which I was born, the night which said, ‘There is a boy conceived.’ 3:4Let that day be darkness. Don’t let God from above seek for it, neither let the light shine on it. 3:5Let darkness and the shadow of death claim it for their own. Let a cloud dwell on it. Let all that makes black the day terrify it. 3:6As for that night, let thick darkness seize on it. Let it not rejoice among the days of the year. Let it not come into the number of the months. 3:7Behold, let that night be barren. Let no joyful voice come therein. 3:8Let them curse it who curse the day, who are ready to rouse up leviathan. 3:9Let the stars of its twilight be dark. Let it look for light, but have none, neither let it see the eyelids of the morning, 3:10because it didn’t shut up the doors of my mother’s womb, nor did it hide trouble from my eyes. 3:11“Why didn’t I die from the womb? Why didn’t I give up the spirit when my mother bore me? 3:12Why did the knees receive me? Or why the breast, that I should nurse? 3:13For now should I have lain down and been quiet. I should have slept, then I would have been at rest, 3:14with kings and counselors of the earth, who built up waste places for themselves; 3:15or with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver: 3:16or as a hidden untimely birth I had not been, as infants who never saw light. 3:17There the wicked cease from troubling. There the weary are at rest. 3:18There the prisoners are at ease together. They don’t hear the voice of the taskmaster. 3:19The small and the great are there. The servant is free from his master. 3:20“Why is light given to him who is in misery, life to the bitter in soul, 3:21Who long for death, but it doesn’t come; and dig for it more than for hidden treasures, 3:22who rejoice exceedingly, and are glad, when they can find the grave? 3:23Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in? 3:24For my sighing comes before I eat. My groanings are poured out like water. 3:25For the thing which I fear comes on me, That which I am afraid of comes to me. 3:26I am not at ease, neither am I quiet, neither have I rest; but trouble comes.”
4:1Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered, 4:2“If someone ventures to talk with you, will you be grieved? But who can withhold himself from speaking? 4:3Behold, you have instructed many, you have strengthened the weak hands. 4:4Your words have supported him who was falling, You have made firm the feeble knees. 4:5But now it has come to you, and you faint. It touches you, and you are troubled. 4:6Isn’t your piety your confidence? Isn’t the integrity of your ways your hope? 4:7“Remember, now, whoever perished, being innocent? Or where were the upright cut off? 4:8According to what I have seen, those who plow iniquity, and sow trouble, reap the same. 4:9By the breath of God they perish. By the blast of his anger are they consumed. 4:10The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, the teeth of the young lions, are broken. 4:11The old lion perishes for lack of prey. The cubs of the lioness are scattered abroad. 4:12“Now a thing was secretly brought to me. My ear received a whisper of it. 4:13In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on men, 4:14fear came on me, and trembling, which made all my bones shake. 4:15Then a spirit passed before my face. The hair of my flesh stood up. 4:16It stood still, but I couldn’t discern its appearance. A form was before my eyes. Silence, then I heard a voice, saying, 4:17‘Shall mortal man be more just than God? Shall a man be more pure than his Maker? 4:18Behold, he puts no trust in his servants. He charges his angels with error. 4:19How much more, those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed before the moth! 4:20Between morning and evening they are destroyed. They perish forever without any regarding it. 4:21Isn’t their tent cord plucked up within them? They die, and that without wisdom.’