The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which flows around the whole land of Hav′ilah, where there is gold;

The First Sin and Its Punishment

Now the serpent was more subtle than any other wild creature that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden’?”

And the waters continued to abate until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen.

In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried from off the earth; and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and behold, the face of the ground was dry.

Noah was the first tiller of the soil. He planted a vineyard;

Cush became the father of Nimrod; he was the first on earth to be a mighty man.

to the place where he had made an altar at the first; and there Abram called on the name of the Lord.

And the first-born said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man on earth to come in to us after the manner of all the earth.

So they made their father drink wine that night; and the first-born went in, and lay with her father; he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.

And on the next day, the first-born said to the younger, “Behold, I lay last night with my father; let us make him drink wine tonight also; then you go in and lie with him, that we may preserve offspring through our father.”

The first-born bore a son, and called his name Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day.

Uz the first-born, Buz his brother, Kemu′el the father of Aram,

These are the names of the sons of Ish′mael, named in the order of their birth: Neba′ioth, the first-born of Ish′mael; and Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,

The first came forth red, all his body like a hairy mantle; so they called his name Esau.

He called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of the city was Luz at the first.

Laban said, “It is not so done in our country, to give the younger before the first-born.

Clans and Kings of Edom

These are the chiefs of the sons of Esau. The sons of El′iphaz the first-born of Esau: the chiefs Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz,

And the thin and gaunt cows ate up the first seven fat cows,

Joseph called the name of the first-born Manas′seh, “For,” he said, “God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father’s house.”

And the men were afraid because they were brought to Joseph’s house, and they said, “It is because of the money, which was replaced in our sacks the first time, that we are brought in, so that he may seek occasion against us and fall upon us, to make slaves of us and seize our asses.”

and said, “Oh, my lord, we came down the first time to buy food;

And they sat before him, the first-born according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth; and the men looked at one another in amazement.

And Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it upon the head of E′phraim, who was the younger, and his left hand upon the head of Manas′seh, crossing his hands, for Manas′seh was the first-born.

And Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father; for this one is the first-born; put your right hand upon his head.”

Reuben, you are my first-born, my might, and the first fruits of my strength, pre-eminent in pride and pre-eminent in power.

“If they will not believe you,” God said, “or heed the first sign, they may believe the latter sign.

The Genealogy of Moses and Aaron

These are the heads of their fathers’ houses: the sons of Reuben, the first-born of Israel: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi; these are the families of Reuben.

The First Plague: Water Turned to Blood

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is hardened, he refuses to let the people go.

and all the first-born in the land of Egypt shall die, from the first-born of Pharaoh who sits upon his throne, even to the first-born of the maidservant who is behind the mill; and all the first-born of the cattle.

The First Passover Instituted

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,

“This month shall be for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you.

For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will smite all the first-born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord.

Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread; on the first day you shall put away leaven out of your houses, for if any one eats what is leavened, from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel.

On the first day you shall hold a holy assembly, and on the seventh day a holy assembly; no work shall be done on those days; but what every one must eat, that only may be prepared by you.

In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, and so until the twenty-first day of the month at evening.

The Tenth Plague: Death of the Firstborn

At midnight the Lord smote all the first-born in the land of Egypt, from the first-born of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the first-born of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the first-born of the cattle.

“Consecrate to me all the first-born; whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine.”

For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord slew all the first-born in the land of Egypt, both the first-born of man and the first-born of cattle. Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all the males that first open the womb; but all the first-born of my sons I redeem.’

“You shall not delay to offer from the fulness of your harvest and from the outflow of your presses. “The first-born of your sons you shall give to me.

You shall keep the feast of harvest, of the first fruits of your labor, of what you sow in the field. You shall keep the feast of ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in from the field the fruit of your labor.

“The first of the first fruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of the Lord your God. “You shall not boil a kid in its mother’s milk.

And you shall make loops of blue on the edge of the outmost curtain in the first set; and likewise you shall make loops on the edge of the outmost curtain in the second set.

they shall be separate beneath, but joined at the top, at the first ring; thus shall it be with both of them; they shall form the two corners.

And you shall set in it four rows of stones. A row of sardius, topaz, and carbuncle shall be the first row;

and with the first lamb a tenth measure of fine flour mingled with a fourth of a hin of beaten oil, and a fourth of a hin of wine for a libation.

Moses Makes New Tablets

The Lord said to Moses, “Cut two tables of stone like the first; and I will write upon the tables the words that were on the first tables, which you broke.

So Moses cut two tables of stone like the first; and he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand two tables of stone.

The firstling of an ass you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. All the first-born of your sons you shall redeem. And none shall appear before me empty.

And you shall observe the feast of weeks, the first fruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year’s end.

The first of the first fruits of your ground you shall bring to the house of the Lord your God. You shall not boil a kid in its mother’s milk.”

And he made loops of blue on the edge of the outmost curtain of the first set; likewise he made them on the edge of the outmost curtain of the second set;

And they were separate beneath, but joined at the top, at the first ring; he made two of them thus, for the two corners.

And they set in it four rows of stones. A row of sardius, topaz, and carbuncle was the first row;

“On the first day of the first month you shall erect the tabernacle of the tent of meeting.

And in the first month in the second year, on the first day of the month, the tabernacle was erected.

And he shall carry forth the bull outside the camp, and burn it as he burned the first bull; it is the sin offering for the assembly.

Then he presented the people’s offering, and took the goat of the sin offering which was for the people, and killed it, and offered it for sin, like the first sin offering.

In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening, is the Lord’s passover.

On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work.

“Say to the people of Israel, When you come into the land which I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest;

And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the first fruits as a wave offering before the Lord, with the two lambs; they shall be holy to the Lord for the priest.

“Say to the people of Israel, In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of solemn rest, a memorial proclaimed with blast of trumpets, a holy convocation.

On the first day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work.

“On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the produce of the land, you shall keep the feast of the Lord seven days; on the first day shall be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall be a solemn rest.

And you shall take on the first day the fruit of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days.

The First Census of Israel

The Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying,

and on the first day of the second month, they assembled the whole congregation together, who registered themselves by families, by fathers’ houses, according to the number of names from twenty years old and upward, head by head,

These are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab the first-born, and Abi′hu, Elea′zar, and Ith′amar;

for all the first-born are mine; on the day that I slew all the first-born in the land of Egypt, I consecrated for my own all the first-born in Israel, both of man and of beast; they shall be mine: I am the Lord.”

The Redemption of the Firstborn

And the Lord said to Moses, “Number all the first-born males of the people of Israel, from a month old and upward, taking their number by names.

And you shall take the Levites for me—I am the Lord—instead of all the first-born among the people of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of all the firstlings among the cattle of the people of Israel.”

So Moses numbered all the first-born among the people of Israel, as the Lord commanded him.

And all the first-born males, according to the number of names, from a month old and upward as numbered were twenty-two thousand two hundred and seventy-three.

“Take the Levites instead of all the first-born among the people of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle; and the Levites shall be mine: I am the Lord.

And for the redemption of the two hundred and seventy-three of the first-born of the people of Israel, over and above the number of the male Levites,

from the first-born of the people of Israel he took the money, one thousand three hundred and sixty-five shekels, reckoned by the shekel of the sanctuary;

He who offered his offering the first day was Nahshon the son of Ammin′adab, of the tribe of Judah;

For they are wholly given to me from among the people of Israel; instead of all that open the womb, the first-born of all the people of Israel, I have taken them for myself.

For all the first-born among the people of Israel are mine, both of man and of beast; on the day that I slew all the first-born in the land of Egypt I consecrated them for myself,

and I have taken the Levites instead of all the first-born among the people of Israel.

The Passover at Sinai

And the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying,

And they kept the passover in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, in the evening, in the wilderness of Sinai; according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so the people of Israel did.

They set out for the first time at the command of the Lord by Moses.

and whether the land is rich or poor, and whether there is wood in it or not. Be of good courage, and bring some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the season of the first ripe grapes.

Of the first of your coarse meal you shall present a cake as an offering; as an offering from the threshing floor, so shall you present it.

Of the first of your coarse meal you shall give to the Lord an offering throughout your generations.

All the best of the oil, and all the best of the wine and of the grain, the first fruits of what they give to the Lord, I give to you.

The first ripe fruits of all that is in their land, which they bring to the Lord, shall be yours; every one who is clean in your house may eat of it.

Everything that opens the womb of all flesh, whether man or beast, which they offer to the Lord, shall be yours; nevertheless the first-born of man you shall redeem, and the firstling of unclean beasts you shall redeem.

The Waters of Meribah

And the people of Israel, the whole congregation, came into the wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and was buried there.

Then he looked on Am′alek, and took up his discourse, and said, “Am′alek was the first of the nations, but in the end he shall come to destruction.”

Reuben, the first-born of Israel; the sons of Reuben: of Hanoch, the family of the Ha′nochites; of Pallu, the family of the Pal′luites;

Offerings at Passover

“On the fourteenth day of the first month is the Lord’s passover.

On the first day there shall be a holy convocation: you shall do no laborious work,

Offerings at the Festival of Weeks

“On the day of the first fruits, when you offer a cereal offering of new grain to the Lord at your feast of weeks, you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work,

Offerings at the Festival of Trumpets

“On the first day of the seventh month you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work. It is a day for you to blow the trumpets,

They set out from Ram′eses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the day after the passover the people of Israel went out triumphantly in the sight of all the Egyptians,

And Aaron the priest went up Mount Hor at the command of the Lord, and died there, in the fortieth year after the people of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, on the first day of the fifth month.

And in the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the people of Israel according to all that the Lord had given him in commandment to them,

The Second Pair of Tablets

“At that time the Lord said to me, ‘Hew two tables of stone like the first, and come up to me on the mountain, and make an ark of wood.

And I will write on the tables the words that were on the first tables which you broke, and you shall put them in the ark.’

So I made an ark of acacia wood, and hewed two tables of stone like the first, and went up the mountain with the two tables in my hand.

And he wrote on the tables, as at the first writing, the ten commandments which the Lord had spoken to you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly; and the Lord gave them to me.

“I stayed on the mountain, as at the first time, forty days and forty nights, and the Lord hearkened to me that time also; the Lord was unwilling to destroy you.

No leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory for seven days; nor shall any of the flesh which you sacrifice on the evening of the first day remain all night until morning.

The first fruits of your grain, of your wine and of your oil, and the first of the fleece of your sheep, you shall give him.

The Right of the Firstborn

“If a man has two wives, the one loved and the other disliked, and they have borne him children, both the loved and the disliked, and if the first-born son is hers that is disliked,

then on the day when he assigns his possessions as an inheritance to his sons, he may not treat the son of the loved as the first-born in preference to the son of the disliked, who is the first-born,

but he shall acknowledge the first-born, the son of the disliked, by giving him a double portion of all that he has, for he is the first issue of his strength; the right of the first-born is his.

And the first son whom she bears shall succeed to the name of his brother who is dead, that his name may not be blotted out of Israel.

you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from your land that the Lord your God gives you, and you shall put it in a basket, and you shall go to the place which the Lord your God will choose, to make his name to dwell there.

And behold, now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground, which thou, O Lord, hast given me.’ And you shall set it down before the Lord your God, and worship before the Lord your God;

The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they encamped in Gilgal on the east border of Jericho.

And all Israel, sojourner as well as homeborn, with their elders and officers and their judges, stood on opposite sides of the ark before the Levitical priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, half of them in front of Mount Geri′zim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded at the first, that they should bless the people of Israel.

The Other Half-Tribe of Manasseh (West)

Then allotment was made to the tribe of Manas′seh, for he was the first-born of Joseph. To Machir the first-born of Manas′seh, the father of Gilead, were allotted Gilead and Bashan, because he was a man of war.

And they named the city Dan, after the name of Dan their ancestor, who was born to Israel; but the name of the city was La′ish at the first.

But the people, the men of Israel, took courage, and again formed the battle line in the same place where they had formed it on the first day.

And the Benjaminites said, “They are routed before us, as at the first.” But the men of Israel said, “Let us flee, and draw them away from the city to the highways.”

the men of Israel should turn in battle. Now Benjamin had begun to smite and kill about thirty men of Israel; they said, “Surely they are smitten down before us, as in the first battle.”

And he said, “May you be blessed by the Lord, my daughter; you have made this last kindness greater than the first, in that you have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich.

And Saul built an altar to the Lord; it was the first altar that he built to the Lord.

Now the sons of Saul were Jonathan, Ishvi, and Mal′chishu′a; and the names of his two daughters were these: the name of the first-born was Merab, and the name of the younger Michal;

The three eldest sons of Jesse had followed Saul to the battle; and the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eli′ab the first-born, and next to him Abin′adab, and the third Shammah.

Is today the first time that I have inquired of God for him? No! Let not the king impute anything to his servant or to all the house of my father; for your servant has known nothing of all this, much or little.”

Behold, even now he has hidden himself in one of the pits, or in some other place. And when some of the people fall at the first attack, whoever hears it will say, ‘There has been a slaughter among the people who follow Ab′salom.’

For your servant knows that I have sinned; therefore, behold, I have come this day, the first of all the house of Joseph to come down to meet my lord the king.”

And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, “We have ten shares in the king, and in David also we have more than you. Why then did you despise us? Were we not the first to speak of bringing back our king?” But the words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel.

and he gave them into the hands of the Gib′eonites, and they hanged them on the mountain before the Lord, and the seven of them perished together. They were put to death in the first days of harvest, at the beginning of barley harvest.

But the other woman said, “No, the living child is mine, and the dead child is yours.” The first said, “No, the dead child is yours, and the living child is mine.” Thus they spoke before the king.

Then the king answered and said, “Give the living child to the first woman, and by no means slay it; she is its mother.”

Elisha Feeds One Hundred Men

A man came from Ba′al-shal′ishah, bringing the man of God bread of the first fruits, twenty loaves of barley, and fresh ears of grain in his sack. And Eli′sha said, “Give to the men, that they may eat.”

These are their genealogies: the first-born of Ish′mael, Neba′ioth; and Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,

The sons of Jerah′meel, the first-born of Hezron: Ram, his first-born, Bunah, Oren, Ozem, and Ahi′jah.

The sons of Ram, the first-born of Jerah′meel: Ma′az, Jamin, and Eker.

These were the descendants of Caleb. The sons of Hur the first-born of Eph′rathah: Shobal the father of Kir′iath-je′arim,

Descendants of David and Solomon

These are the sons of David that were born to him in Hebron: the first-born Amnon, by Ahin′o-am the Jez′reelitess; the second Daniel, by Ab′igail the Car′melitess,

The sons of Josi′ah: Joha′nan the first-born, the second Jehoi′akim, the third Zedeki′ah, the fourth Shallum.

and Penu′el was the father of Gedor, and Ezer the father of Hushah. These were the sons of Hur, the first-born of Eph′rathah, the father of Bethlehem.

Descendants of Reuben

The sons of Reuben the first-born of Israel (for he was the first-born; but because he polluted his father’s couch, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph the son of Israel, so that he is not enrolled in the genealogy according to the birthright;

the sons of Reuben, the first-born of Israel: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.

Now the first to dwell again in their possessions in their cities were Israel, the priests, the Levites, and the temple servants.

And of the Shi′lonites: Asa′iah the first-born, and his sons.

and Mattithi′ah, one of the Levites, the first-born of Shallum the Kor′ahite, was in charge of making the flat cakes.

These are the men who crossed the Jordan in the first month, when it was overflowing all its banks, and put to flight all those in the valleys, to the east and to the west.

Because you did not carry it the first time, the Lord our God broke forth upon us, because we did not care for it in the way that is ordained.”

The first lot fell to Jehoi′arib, the second to Jeda′iah,

The first lot fell for Asaph to Joseph; the second to Gedali′ah, to him and his brethren and his sons, twelve;

And Meshelemi′ah had sons: Zechari′ah the first-born, Jedi′a-el the second, Zebadi′ah the third, Jath′ni-el the fourth,

And O′bed-e′dom had sons: Shemai′ah the first-born, Jeho′zabad the second, Jo′ah the third, Sachar the fourth, Nethan′el the fifth,

And Hosah, of the sons of Merar′i, had sons: Shimri the chief (for though he was not the first-born, his father made him chief),

Jasho′beam the son of Zab′di-el was in charge of the first division in the first month; in his division were twenty-four thousand.

He was a descendant of Perez, and was chief of all the commanders of the army for the first month.

and of this cherub, one wing, of five cubits, touched the wall of the house, and the other wing, also of five cubits, was joined to the wing of the first cherub.

Their father gave them great gifts, of silver, gold, and valuable possessions, together with fortified cities in Judah; but he gave the kingdom to Jehor′am, because he was the first-born.

The Temple Cleansed

In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the Lord, and repaired them.

They began to sanctify on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they came to the vestibule of the Lord; then for eight days they sanctified the house of the Lord, and on the sixteenth day of the first month they finished.

As soon as the command was spread abroad, the people of Israel gave in abundance the first fruits of grain, wine, oil, honey, and of all the produce of the field; and they brought in abundantly the tithe of everything.

Celebration of the Passover

Josi′ah kept a passover to the Lord in Jerusalem; and they killed the passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the first month.

Cyrus Proclaims Liberty for the Exiles

Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing:

End of the Babylonian Captivity

In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing:

From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord. But the foundation of the temple of the Lord was not yet laid.

But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ houses, old men who had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid, though many shouted aloud for joy;

However in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, Cyrus the king made a decree that this house of God should be rebuilt.

In the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king issued a decree: Concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, let the house be rebuilt, the place where sacrifices are offered and burnt offerings are brought; its height shall be sixty cubits and its breadth sixty cubits,

The Passover Celebrated

On the fourteenth day of the first month the returned exiles kept the passover.

for on the first day of the first month he began to go up from Babylonia, and on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, for the good hand of his God was upon him.

The Return to Jerusalem

Then we departed from the river Aha′va on the twelfth day of the first month, to go to Jerusalem; the hand of our God was upon us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambushes by the way.

Then the returned exiles did so. Ezra the priest selected men, heads of fathers’ houses, according to their fathers’ houses, each of them designated by name. On the first day of the tenth month they sat down to examine the matter;

and by the first day of the first month they had come to the end of all the men who had married foreign women.

Lists of the Returned Exiles

Then God put it into my mind to assemble the nobles and the officials and the people to be enrolled by genealogy. And I found the book of the genealogy of those who came up at the first, and I found written in it:

And Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could hear with understanding, on the first day of the seventh month.

And day by day, from the first day to the last day, he read from the book of the law of God. They kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day there was a solemn assembly, according to the ordinance.

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;

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;

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.

Temple Responsibilities

On that day men were appointed over the chambers for the stores, the contributions, the first fruits, and the tithes, to gather into them the portions required by the law for the priests and for the Levites according to the fields of the towns; for Judah rejoiced over the priests and the Levites who ministered.

and I provided for the wood offering, at appointed times, and for the first fruits. Remember me, O my God, for good.

But I alone went often to Jerusalem for the feasts, as it is ordained for all Israel by an everlasting decree. Taking the first fruits and the tithes of my produce and the first shearings, I would give these to the priests, the sons of Aaron, at the altar.

Then Tobit said to him, “You are welcome, my brother. Do not be angry with me because I tried to learn your tribe and family. You are a relative of mine, of a good and noble lineage. For I used to know Anani′as and Jathan, the sons of the great Shema′iah, when we went together to Jerusalem to worship and offered the first-born of our flocks and the tithes of our produce. They did not go astray in the error of our brethren. My brother, you come of good stock.

The Expedition against the West

In the eighteenth year, on the twenty-second day of the first month, there was talk in the palace of Nebuchadnez′zar king of the Assyrians about carrying out his revenge on the whole region, just as he said.

Today is not the first time your wisdom has been shown, but from the beginning of your life all the people have recognized your understanding, for your heart’s disposition is right.

They have decided to consume the first fruits of the grain and the tithes of the wine and oil, which they had consecrated and set aside for the priests who minister in the presence of our God at Jerusalem—although it is not lawful for any of the people so much as to touch these things with their hands.

Mordecai’s Dream

In the second year of the reign of Ahasu-e′rus the Great, on the first day of Nisan, Mor′decai the son of Ja′ir, son of Shim′e-i, son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, had a dream. He was a Jew, dwelling in the city of Susa, a great man, serving in the court of the king. He was one of the captives whom Nebuchadnez′zar king of Babylon had brought from Jerusalem with Jeconi′ah king of Judea. And this was his dream: Behold, noise and confusion, thunders and earthquake, tumult upon the earth! And behold, two great dragons came forward, both ready to fight, and they roared terribly. And at their roaring every nation prepared for war, to fight against the nation of the righteous. And behold, a day of darkness and gloom, tribulation and distress, affliction and great tumult upon the earth! And the whole righteous nation was troubled; they feared the evils that threatened them, and were ready to perish. Then they cried to God; and from their cry, as though from a tiny spring, there came a great river, with abundant water; light came, and the sun rose, and the lowly were exalted and consumed those held in honor. Mor′decai saw in this dream what God had determined to do, and after he awoke he had it on his mind and sought all day to understand it in every detail.

A Plot against the King

Now Mor′decai took his rest in the courtyard with Gab′atha and Tharra, the two eunuchs of the king who kept watch in the courtyard. He overheard their conversation and inquired into their purposes, and learned that they were preparing to lay hands upon Ahasu-e′rus the king; and he informed the king concerning them. Then the king examined the two eunuchs, and when they confessed they were led to execution. The king made a permanent record of these things, and Mor′decai wrote an account of them. And the king ordered Mor′decai to serve in the court and rewarded him for these things. But Haman, the son of Hammeda′tha, a Bougae′an, was in great honor with the king, and he sought to injure Mor′decai and his people because of the two eunuchs of the king.

King Ahasu-erus Deposes Queen Vashti

In the days of Ahasu-e′rus, the Ahasu-e′rus who reigned from India to Ethiopia over one hundred and twenty-seven provinces,

In the first month, which is the month of Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasu-e′rus, they cast Pur, that is the lot, before Haman day after day; and they cast it month after month till the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar.

Then the king’s secretaries were summoned on the thirteenth day of the first month, and an edict, according to all that Haman commanded, was written to the king’s satraps and to the governors over all the provinces and to the princes of all the peoples, to every province in its own script and every people in its own language; it was written in the name of King Ahasu-e′rus and sealed with the king’s ring.

Now be the first to come and do what the king commands, as all the Gentiles and the men of Judah and those that are left in Jerusalem have done. Then you and your sons will be numbered among the friends of the king, and you and your sons will be honored with silver and gold and many gifts.”

They also brought the garments of the priesthood and the first fruits and the tithes, and they stirred up the Naz′irites who had completed their days;

So the armies met in battle on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar. The army of Nica′nor was crushed, and he himself was the first to fall in the battle.

In the first month of the one hundred and fifty-second year they encamped against Jerusalem;

And all the additional funds which the government officials have not paid as they did in the first years, they shall give from now on for the service of the temple.

They favored Alexander, because he had been the first to speak peaceable words to them, and they remained his allies all his days.

and the people began to write in their documents and contracts, “In the first year of Simon the great high priest and commander and leader of the Jews.”

After the first brother had died in this way, they brought forward the second for their sport. They tore off the skin of his head with the hair, and asked him, “Will you eat rather than have your body punished limb by limb?”

He replied in the language of his fathers, and said to them, “No.” Therefore he in turn underwent tortures as the first brother had done.

Besides, he appointed Elea′zar to read aloud from the holy book, and gave the watchword, “God’s help”; then, leading the first division himself, he joined battle with Nica′nor.

Maccabe′us himself was the first to take up arms, and he urged the others to risk their lives with him to aid their brethren. Then they eagerly rushed off together.

“Are you the first man that was born? Or were you brought forth before the hills?

By disease his skin is consumed, the first-born of death consumes his limbs.

“He is the first of the works of God; let him who made him bring near his sword!

And he called the name of the first Jemi′mah; and the name of the second Kezi′ah; and the name of the third Ker′en-hap′puch.

He smote all the first-born in Egypt, the first issue of their strength in the tents of Ham.

And I will make him the first-born, the highest of the kings of the earth.

He smote all the first-born in their land, the first issue of all their strength.

He it was who smote the first-born of Egypt, both of man and of beast;

to him who smote the first-born of Egypt, for his steadfast love endures for ever;

Honor the Lord with your substance and with the first fruits of all your produce;

Wisdom’s Part in Creation

The Lord created me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old.

Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth.

before he had made the earth with its fields, or the first of the dust of the world.

Solomon Like Other Mortals

I also am mortal, like all men, a descendant of the first-formed child of earth; and in the womb of a mother I was molded into flesh,

The Work of Wisdom from Adam to Moses

Wisdom protected the first-formed father of the world, when he alone had been created; she delivered him from his transgression,

Fear the Lord and honor the priest, and give him his portion, as is commanded you: the first fruits, the guilt offering, the gift of the shoulders, the sacrifice of sanctification, and the first fruits of the holy things.

It fills men with wisdom, like the Pishon, and like the Tigris at the time of the first fruits.

Just as the first man did not know her perfectly, the last one has not fathomed her;

Be the first to stop eating, for the sake of good manners, and do not be insatiable, lest you give offense.

Glorify the Lord generously, and do not stint the first fruits of your hands.

He added glory to Aaron and gave him a heritage; he allotted to him the first of the first fruits, he prepared bread of first fruits in abundance;

like roses in the days of the first fruits, like lilies by a spring of water, like a green shoot on Leb′anon on a summer day;

I directed my soul to her, and through purification I found her. I gained understanding with her from the first, therefore I will not be forsaken.

And I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city.”

And the first-born of the poor will feed, and the needy lie down in safety; but I will kill your root with famine, and your remnant I will slay.

Who has performed and done this, calling the generations from the beginning? I, the Lord, the first, and with the last; I am He.

Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: “I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.

“Hearken to me, O Jacob, and Israel, whom I called! I am He, I am the first, and I am the last.

For thus says the Lord God: My people went down at the first into Egypt to sojourn there, and the Assyrian oppressed them for nothing.

Israel was holy to the Lord, the first fruits of his harvest. All who ate of it became guilty; evil came upon them, says the Lord.”

The Babylonian Captivity Foretold

The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoi′akim the son of Josi′ah, king of Judah (that was the first year of Nebuchadrez′zar king of Babylon),

“Take another scroll and write on it all the former words that were in the first scroll, which Jehoi′akim the king of Judah has burned.

And every one had four faces: the first face was the face of the cherub, and the second face was the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.

Proclamation against Tyre

In the eleventh year, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me:

Babylonia Will Plunder Egypt

In the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me:

Proclamation against Pharaoh

In the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me:

The Lofty Cedar

In the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me:

Lamentation over Pharaoh and Egypt

In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me:

Dirge over Egypt

In the twelfth year, in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me:

Its side rooms, three on either side, and its jambs and its vestibule were of the same size as those of the first gate; its length was fifty cubits, and its breadth twenty-five cubits.

And the first of all the first fruits of all kinds, and every offering of all kinds from all your offerings, shall belong to the priests; you shall also give to the priests the first of your coarse meal, that a blessing may rest on your house.

Festivals

“Thus says the Lord God: In the first month, on the first day of the month, you shall take a young bull without blemish, and cleanse the sanctuary.

“In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall celebrate the feast of the passover, and for seven days unleavened bread shall be eaten.

And Daniel continued until the first year of King Cyrus.

Visions of the Four Beasts

In the first year of Belshaz′zar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions of his head as he lay in his bed. Then he wrote down the dream, and told the sum of the matter.

The first was like a lion and had eagles’ wings. Then as I looked its wings were plucked off, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand upon two feet like a man; and the mind of a man was given to it.

I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots; and behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things.

Vision of a Ram and a Goat

In the third year of the reign of King Belshaz′zar a vision appeared to me, Daniel, after that which appeared to me at the first.

And the he-goat is the king of Greece; and the great horn between his eyes is the first king.

Daniel’s Prayer for the People

In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasu-e′rus, by birth a Mede, who became king over the realm of the Chalde′ans—

in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years which, according to the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years.

while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the first, came to me in swift flight at the time of the evening sacrifice.

On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river, that is, the Tigris,

Then he said to me, “Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your mind to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words.