10 ^[a] Those who set their seal are Nehemi′ah the governor, the son of Hacali′ah, Zedeki′ah, ² Serai′ah, Azari′ah, Jeremiah, ³ Pashhur, Amari′ah, Malchi′jah, ⁴ Hattush, Shebani′ah, Malluch, ⁵ Harim, Mer′emoth, Obadi′ah, ⁶ Daniel, Gin′nethon, Baruch, ⁷ Meshul′lam, Abi′jah, Mi′jamin, ⁸ Ma-azi′ah, Bil′gai, Shemai′ah; these are the priests. ⁹ And the Levites: Jeshua the son of Azani′ah, Bin′nui of the sons of Hen′adad, Kad′mi-el; ¹⁰ and their brethren, Shebani′ah, Hodi′ah, Keli′ta, Pelai′ah, Hanan, ¹¹ Mica, Rehob, Hashabi′ah, ¹² Zaccur, Sherebi′ah, Shebani′ah, ¹³ Hodi′ah, Bani, Beni′nu. ¹⁴ The chiefs of the people: Parosh, Pa′hath-mo′ab, Elam, Zattu, Bani, ¹⁵ Bunni, Azgad, Be′bai, ¹⁶ Adoni′jah, Big′vai, Adin, ¹⁷ Ater, Hezeki′ah, Azzur, ¹⁸ Hodi′ah, Hashum, Be′zai, ¹⁹ Hariph, An′athoth, Ne′bai, ²⁰ Mag′piash, Meshul′lam, Hezir, ²¹ Meshez′abel, Zadok, Jad′du-a, ²² Pelati′ah, Hanan, Anai′ah, ²³ Hoshe′a, Hanani′ah, Hasshub, ²⁴ Hallo′hesh, Pil′ha, Shobek, ²⁵ Rehum, Hashab′nah, Ma-asei′ah, ²⁶ Ahi′ah, Hanan, Anan, ²⁷ Malluch, Harim, Ba′anah.

Summary of the Covenant

²⁸ The rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants, and all who have separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the law of God, their wives, their sons, their daughters, all who have knowledge and understanding, ²⁹ join with their brethren, their nobles, and enter into a curse and 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 the Lord our Lord and his ordinances and his statutes. ³⁰ We will not give our daughters to the peoples of the land or take their daughters for our sons; ³¹ and if the peoples of the land bring in wares or any grain on the sabbath day to sell, we will not buy from them on the sabbath or on a holy day; and we will forego the crops of the seventh year and the exaction of every debt.

³² We also lay upon ourselves the obligation to charge ourselves yearly with the third part of a shekel for the service of the house of our God: ³³ for the showbread, the continual cereal offering, the continual burnt offering, the sabbaths, the new moons, the appointed feasts, the holy things, and the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God. ³⁴ We have likewise 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 upon the altar of the Lord our God, as it is written in the law. ³⁵ We obligate ourselves to bring the first fruits of our ground and the first fruits of all fruit of every tree, year by year, to the house of the Lord; ³⁶ also to bring to the house of our God, to the priests who minister in the house of our God, the first-born of our sons and of our cattle, as it is written in the law, and the firstlings of our herds and of our flocks; ³⁷ and to bring the first of our coarse meal, and our contributions, the fruit of every tree, the wine and the oil, to the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God; and to bring to the Levites the tithes from our ground, for it is the Levites who collect the tithes in all our rural towns. ³⁸ And the priest, the son of Aaron, shall be with the Levites when the Levites receive the tithes; and the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes to the house of our God, to the chambers, to the storehouse. ³⁹ For the people of Israel and the sons of Levi shall bring the contribution of grain, wine, and oil to the chambers, where are the vessels of the sanctuary, and the priests that minister, and the gatekeepers and the singers. We will not neglect the house of our God.

The King Honors Mordecai

6 On that night the king could not sleep; and he gave orders to bring the book of memorable deeds, the chronicles, and they were read before the king. ² And it was found written how Mor′decai had told about Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs, who guarded the threshold, and who had sought to lay hands upon King Ahasu-e′rus. ³ And the king said, “What honor or dignity has been bestowed on Mor′decai for this?” The king’s servants who attended him said, “Nothing has been done for him.” ⁴ And the king said, “Who is in the court?” Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the king’s palace to speak to the king about having Mor′decai hanged on the gallows that he had prepared for him. ⁵ So the king’s servants told him, “Haman is there, standing in the court.” And the king said, “Let him come in.” ⁶ So Haman came in, and the king said to him, “What shall be done to the man whom the king delights to honor?” And Haman said to himself, “Whom would the king delight to honor more than me?” ⁷ And Haman said to the king, “For the man whom the king delights to honor, ⁸ let royal robes be brought, which the king has worn, and the horse which the king has ridden, and on whose head a royal crown is set; ⁹ and let the robes and the horse be handed over to one of the king’s most noble princes; let him^[a] array the man whom the king delights to honor, and let him^[b] conduct the man on horseback through the open square of the city, proclaiming before him: ‘Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor.’” ¹⁰ Then the king said to Haman, “Make haste, take the robes and the horse, as you have said, and do so to Mor′decai the Jew who sits at the king’s gate. Leave out nothing that you have mentioned.” ¹¹ So Haman took the robes and the horse, and he arrayed Mor′decai and made him ride through the open square of the city, proclaiming, “Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor.”

¹² Then Mor′decai returned to the king’s gate. But Haman hurried to his house, mourning and with his head covered. ¹³ And Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had befallen him. Then his wise men and his wife Zeresh said to him, “If Mor′decai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of the Jewish people, you will not prevail against him but will surely fall before him.”

Haman’s Downfall and Mordecai’s Advancement

¹⁴ While they were yet talking with him, the king’s eunuchs arrived and brought Haman in haste to the banquet that Esther had prepared.

7 So the king and Haman went in to feast with Queen Esther. ² And on the second day, as they were drinking wine, the king again said to Esther, “What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.” ³ Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request. ⁴ For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to be annihilated. If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I would have held my peace; for our affliction is not to be compared with the loss to the king.” ⁵ Then King Ahasu-e′rus said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, that would presume to do this?” ⁶ And Esther said, “A foe and enemy! This wicked Haman!” Then Haman was in terror before the king and the queen. ⁷ And the king rose from the feast in wrath and went into the palace garden; but Haman stayed to beg his life from Queen Esther, for he saw that evil was determined against him by the king. ⁸ And the king returned from the palace garden to the place where they were drinking wine, as Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was; and the king said, “Will he even assault the queen in my presence, in my own house?” As the words left the mouth of the king, they covered Haman’s face. ⁹ Then said Harbo′na, one of the eunuchs in attendance on the king, “Moreover, the gallows which Haman has prepared for Mor′decai, whose word saved the king, is standing in Haman’s house, fifty cubits high.” ¹⁰ And the king said, “Hang him on that.” So they hanged Haman on the gallows which he had prepared for Mor′decai. Then the anger of the king abated.