Bible in 90 Days

¹⁵ In those days I saw in Judah men treading winepresses on the Sabbath, bringing in sheaves or heaps of grain with which they loaded donkeys, as well as wine, grapes, figs, and all sorts of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And I protested and warned them on the day they sold the produce.

¹⁶ There dwelt men of Tyre there also who brought fish and all kinds of wares and sold on the Sabbath to the people of Judah and in Jerusalem.

¹⁷ Then I reproved the nobles of Judah and said, What evil thing is this that you do—profaning the Sabbath day?

¹⁸ Did not your fathers do thus, and did not our God bring all this evil upon us and upon this city? Yet you bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the Sabbath.

¹⁹ And when it began to get dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath [day began], I commanded that the gates should be shut and not be opened till after the Sabbath. And I set some of my servants at the gates to prevent any burden being brought in on the Sabbath day.

²⁰ So the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice.

²¹ But I reproved and warned them, saying, Why do you lodge by the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you. Then they stopped coming on the Sabbath.

²² And I commanded the Levites to cleanse themselves and come and guard the gates to keep the Sabbath day holy. O my God, [earnestly] remember me concerning this also and spare me according to the greatness of Your mercy and loving-kindness.

²³ In those days also I saw Jews who had married wives from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab.

²⁴ And their children spoke half in the speech of Ashdod, and could not speak the Hebrew, but in the language of each people.

²⁵ And I contended with them and reviled them and beat some of them and pulled out their hair and made them swear by God, saying, You shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves.

²⁶ Did not Solomon king of Israel act treacherously against God and miss the mark on account of such women? Among many nations there was no king like him. He was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel; yet strange women even caused him to sin [when he was old he turned treacherously away from the Lord to other gods, and God rent his kingdom from him].^(A)

²⁷ Shall we then listen to you to do all this great evil and act treacherously against our God by marrying strange (heathen) women?

²⁸ One of the sons of Joiada son of Eliashib the high priest was son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite; therefore I chased him from me.

²⁹ O my God, [earnestly] remember them, because they have defiled the priesthood and the covenant of the priests and Levites.

³⁰ Thus I cleansed them from everything foreign (heathen), and I defined the duties of the priests and Levites, everyone in his work;

³¹ And I provided for the wood offering at appointed times, and for the firstfruits. O my God, [earnestly] remember me for good and imprint me [on Your heart]!

1 It was in the days of Ahasuerus [Xerxes], the Ahasuerus who reigned from India to Ethiopia over 127 provinces.

² In those days when King Ahasuerus sat on his royal throne which was in Shushan or Susa [the capital of the Persian Empire] in the palace or castle,

³ In the third year of his reign he made a feast for all his princes and his courtiers. The chief officers of the Persian and Median army and the nobles and governors of the provinces were there before him

⁴ While he showed the riches of his glorious kingdom and the splendor and excellence of his majesty for many days, even 180 days.

⁵ And when these days were completed, the king made a feast for all the people present in Shushan the capital, both great and small, a seven-day feast in the court of the garden of the king’s palace.

⁶ There were hangings of fine white cloth, of green and of blue [cotton], fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings or rods and marble pillars. The couches of gold and silver rested on a [mosaic] pavement of porphyry, white marble, mother-of-pearl, and [precious] colored stones.

⁷ Drinks were served in different kinds of golden goblets, and there was royal wine in abundance, according to the liberality of the king.

⁸ And drinking was according to the law; no one was compelled to drink, for the king had directed all the officials of his palace to serve only as each guest desired.

⁹ Also Queen Vashti gave a banquet for the women in the royal house which belonged to King Ahasuerus.

¹⁰ On the seventh day, when the king’s heart was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carkas, the seven eunuchs who ministered to King Ahasuerus as attendants,

¹¹ To bring Queen Vashti before the king, with her royal crown, to show the peoples and the princes her beauty, for she was fair to behold.

¹² But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s command conveyed by the eunuchs. Therefore the king was enraged, and his anger burned within him.

¹³ Then the king spoke to the wise men who knew the times—for this was the king’s procedure toward all who were familiar with law and judgment—

¹⁴ Those next to him being Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven princes of Persia and Media who were in the king’s presence and held first place in the kingdom.

¹⁵ [He said] According to the law, what is to be done to Queen Vashti because she has not done the bidding of King Ahasuerus conveyed by the eunuchs?

¹⁶ And Memucan answered before the king and the princes, Vashti the queen has not only done wrong to the king but also to all the princes and to all the peoples who are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus.

¹⁷ For this deed of the queen will become known to all women, making their husbands contemptible in their eyes, since they will say, King Ahasuerus commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him, but she did not come.

¹⁸ This very day the ladies of Persia and Media who have heard of the queen’s behavior will be telling it to all the king’s princes. So contempt and wrath in plenty will arise.

¹⁹ If it pleases the king, let a royal command go forth from him and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and Medes, so that it may not be changed, that Vashti is to [be divorced and] come no more before King Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal position to another who is better than she.

²⁰ So when the king’s decree is made and proclaimed throughout all his kingdom, extensive as it is, all wives will give honor to their husbands, high and low.

²¹ This advice pleased the king and the princes, and the king did what Memucan proposed.

²² He sent letters to all the royal provinces, to each in its own script and to every people in their own language, saying that every man should rule in his own house and speak there in the language of his own people. [If he had foreign wives, let them learn his language.]

2 After these things, when the wrath of King Ahasuerus was pacified, he [earnestly] remembered Vashti and what she had done and what was decreed against her.

² Then the king’s servants who ministered to him said, Let beautiful young virgins be sought for the king.

³ And let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom to gather all the beautiful young virgins to the capital in Shushan, to the harem under the custody of Hegai, the king’s eunuch, who is in charge of the women; and let their things for purification be given them.

⁴ And let the maiden who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti. This pleased the king, and he did so.

⁵ There was a certain Jew in the capital in Shushan whose name was Mordecai son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite,

⁶ Who had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captives taken away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried into exile.

⁷ He had brought up Hadassah, that is Esther, his uncle’s daughter, for she had neither father nor mother. The maiden was beautiful and lovely, and when her father and mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter.

⁸ So when the king’s command and his decree were proclaimed and when many maidens were gathered in Shushan the capital under the custody of Hegai, Esther also was taken to the king’s house into the custody of Hegai, keeper of the women.

⁹ And the maiden pleased [Hegai] and obtained his favor. And he speedily gave her the things for her purification and her portion of food and the seven chosen maids to be given her from the king’s palace; and he removed her and her maids to the best [apartment] in the harem.

¹⁰ Esther had not made known her nationality or her kindred, for Mordecai had charged her not to do so.

¹¹ And Mordecai [who was an ^[a]attendant in the king’s court] walked every day before the court of the harem to learn how Esther was and what would become of her.

¹² Now when the turn of each maiden came to go in to King Ahasuerus, after the regulations for the women had been carried out for twelve months—since this was the regular period for their beauty treatments, six months with oil of myrrh and six months with sweet spices and perfumes and the things for the purifying of the women—

¹³ Then in this way the maiden came to the king: whatever she desired was given her to take with her from the harem into the king’s palace.

¹⁴ In the evening she went and next day she returned into the second harem in the custody of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the concubines. She came to the king no more unless the king delighted in her and she was called for by name.

¹⁵ Now when the turn for Esther the daughter of Abihail, the uncle of Mordecai who had taken her as his own daughter, had come to go in to the king, she required nothing but what Hegai the king’s attendant, the keeper of the women, suggested. And Esther won favor in the sight of all who saw her.

¹⁶ So Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus into his royal palace in the tenth month, the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.

¹⁷ And the king loved Esther more than all the women, and she obtained grace and favor in his sight more than all the maidens, so that he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.

¹⁸ Then the king gave a great feast for all his princes and his servants, Esther’s feast; and he gave a holiday [or a lessening of taxes] to the provinces and gave gifts in keeping with the generosity of the king.

¹⁹ And when the maidens were gathered together the second time, Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate.

²⁰ Now Esther had not yet revealed her nationality or her people, for she obeyed Mordecai’s command to her [^[b]to fear God and execute His commands] just as when she was being brought up by him.

²¹ In those days, while Mordecai sat at the king’s gate, two of the king’s eunuchs, Bigthan and Teresh, of those who guarded the door, were angry and sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus.

²² And this was known to Mordecai, who told it to Queen Esther, and Esther told the king in Mordecai’s name.

²³ When it was investigated and found to be true, both men were hanged on the gallows. And it was recorded in the Book of the Chronicles in the king’s presence.

3 After these things, King ^[c]Ahasuerus promoted Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite and advanced him and set his seat above all the princes who were with him.

² And all the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate bowed down and did reverence to Haman, for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai did not bow down or do him reverence.

³ Then the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate said to Mordecai, Why do you transgress the king’s command?

⁴ Now when they spoke to him day after day and he paid no attention to them, they told Haman to see whether Mordecai’s conduct would stand, for he had told them that he was a Jew.

⁵ And when Haman saw that Mordecai did not bow down or do him reverence, he was very angry.

⁶ But he scorned laying hands only on Mordecai. So since they had told him Mordecai’s nationality, Haman sought to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus.

⁷ In the first month, the month of Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, Haman caused Pur, that is, lots, to be cast before him day after day [to find a lucky day for his venture], month after month, until the twelfth, the month of Adar.

⁸ Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from every other people, neither do they keep the king’s laws. Therefore it is not for the king’s profit to tolerate them.

⁹ If it pleases the king, let it be decreed that they be destroyed, and I will pay 10,000 talents of silver into the hands of those who have charge of the king’s business, that it may be brought into the king’s treasuries.

¹⁰ And the king took his signet ring from his hand [with which to seal his letters by the king’s authority] and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews’ enemy.

¹¹ And the king said to Haman, The silver is given to you, the people also, to do with them as it seems good to you.

¹² Then the king’s secretaries were called in on the thirteenth day of the first month, and all that Haman had commanded was written to the king’s chief rulers and to the governors who were over all the provinces and to the princes of each people, to every province in its own script and to each people in their own language; it was written in the name of King Ahasuerus and it was sealed with the king’s [signet] ring.

¹³ And letters were sent by special messengers to all the king’s provinces—to destroy, to slay, and to do away with all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, and to seize their belongings as spoil.

¹⁴ A copy of the writing was to be published and given out as a decree in every province to all the peoples to be ready for that day.

¹⁵ The special messengers went out in haste by order of the king, and the decree was given out in Shushan, the capital. And the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Shushan was perplexed [at the strange and alarming decree].

4 Now when Mordecai learned all that was done, [he] rent his clothes and put on sackcloth with ashes and went out into the midst of the city and cried with a loud and bitter cry.

² He came and stood before the king’s gate, for no one might enter the king’s gate clothed with sackcloth.

³ And in every province, wherever the king’s commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping, and wailing, and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

⁴ When Esther’s maids and her attendants came and told it to her, the queen was exceedingly grieved and distressed. She sent garments to clothe Mordecai, with orders to take his sackcloth from off him, but he would not receive them.

⁵ Then Esther called for Hathach, one of the king’s attendants whom he had appointed to attend her, and ordered him to go to Mordecai to learn what this was and why it was.

⁶ So Hathach went out to Mordecai in the open square of the city, which was in front of the king’s gate.

⁷ And Mordecai told him of all that had happened to him, and the exact sum of money that Haman had promised to pay to the king’s treasuries for the Jews to be destroyed.

⁸ [Mordecai] also gave him a copy of the decree to destroy them, that was given out in Shushan, that he might show it to Esther, explain it to her, and charge her to go to the king, make supplication to him, and plead with him for the lives of her people.

⁹ And Hathach came and told Esther the words of Mordecai.

¹⁰ Then Esther spoke to Hathach and gave him a message for Mordecai, saying,

¹¹ All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that any person, be it man or woman, who shall go into the inner court to the king without being called shall be put to death; there is but one law for him, except [him] to whom the king shall hold out the golden scepter, that he may live. But I have not been called to come to the king for these thirty days.

¹² And they told Mordecai what Esther said.

¹³ Then Mordecai told them to return this answer to Esther, Do not flatter yourself that you shall escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews.

¹⁴ For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance shall arise for the Jews from elsewhere, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows but that you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this and for this very occasion?

¹⁵ Then Esther told them to give this answer to Mordecai,

¹⁶ Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast for me; and neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. I also and my maids will fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law; and if I perish, I perish.

¹⁷ So Mordecai went away and did all that Esther had commanded him.

5 On the third day [of the fast] Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the royal or inner court of the king’s palace opposite his [throne room]. The king was sitting on his throne, facing the main entrance of the palace.

² And when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, she obtained favor in his sight, and he held out to [her] the golden scepter that was in his hand. So Esther drew near and touched the tip of the scepter.

³ Then the king said to her, What will you have, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given you, even to the half of the kingdom.

⁴ And Esther said, If it seems good to the king, let the king and Haman come this day to the dinner that I have prepared for the king.

⁵ Then the king said, Cause Haman to come quickly, that what Esther has said may be done.

⁶ So the king and Haman came to the dinner that Esther had prepared.

⁷ And during the serving of wine, the king said to Esther, What is your petition? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the half of the kingdom, it shall be performed.

⁸ Then Esther said, My petition and my request is: If 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 tomorrow to the dinner that I shall prepare for them; and I will do tomorrow as the king has said.

⁹ Haman went away that day joyful and elated in heart. But when he saw Mordecai at the king’s gate refusing to stand up or show fear before him, he was filled with wrath against Mordecai.

¹⁰ Nevertheless, Haman restrained himself and went home. There he sent and called for his friends and Zeresh his wife.

¹¹ And Haman recounted to them the glory of his riches, the abundance of his [ten] sons, all the things in which the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the princes and servants of the king.

¹² Haman added, Yes, and today Queen Esther did not let any man come with the king to the dinner she had prepared but myself; and tomorrow also I am invited by her together with the king.

¹³ Yet all this benefits me nothing as long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.

¹⁴ Then Zeresh his wife and all his friends said to him, Let a gallows be made, fifty cubits [seventy-five feet] high, and in the morning speak to the king, that Mordecai may be hanged on it; then you go in merrily with the king to the dinner. And the thing pleased Haman, and he caused the gallows to be made.

6 On that night the king could not sleep; and he ordered that the book of memorable deeds, the chronicles, be brought, and they were read before the king.

² And it was found written there how Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s attendants who guarded the door, who had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus.

³ And the king said, What honor or distinction has been given Mordecai for this? Then the king’s servants who ministered to him said, Nothing has been done for him.

⁴ The king said, Who is in the court? Now Haman had just come into the outer court of the king’s palace to ask the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows he had prepared for him.

⁵ And the king’s servants said to him, Behold, Haman is 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? Now Haman said to himself, To whom would the king delight to do honor more than to me?

⁷ And Haman said to the king, For the man whom the king delights to honor,

⁸ Let royal apparel be brought which the king has worn and the horse which the king has ridden, and a royal crown be set on his head.

⁹ And let the apparel and the horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king’s most noble princes. Let him array the man whom the king delights to honor, and conduct him on horseback through the open square of the city, and proclaim 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 and take the apparel and the horse, as you have said, and do so to Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king’s gate. Leave out nothing that you have spoken.

¹¹ Then Haman took the apparel and the horse and conducted Mordecai 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.

¹² Then Mordecai came again to the king’s gate. But Haman hastened to his house, mourning and having his head covered.

¹³ And Haman 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 the offspring of the Jews, you cannot prevail against him, but shall surely fall before him.

¹⁴ While they were yet talking with him, the king’s attendants came and hastily brought Haman to the dinner that Esther had prepared.

7 So the king and Haman came to dine with Esther the queen.

² And the king said again to Esther on the second day when wine was being served, What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted. And what is your request? Even to the half of the kingdom, it shall be performed.

³ Then Queen Esther said, 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.

⁴ For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, slain, and wiped out of existence! But if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I would have held my tongue, for our affliction is not to be compared with the damage this will do to the king.

⁵ Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, Who is he, and where is he who dares presume in his heart to do that?

⁶ And Esther said, An adversary and an enemy, even this wicked Haman. Then Haman was afraid before the king and queen.

⁷ And the king arose from the feast in his wrath and went into the palace garden; and Haman stood up to make request for his life to Queen Esther, for he saw that there was evil determined against him by the king.

⁸ When the king returned out of the palace garden into the place of the drinking of wine, Haman was falling upon the couch where Esther was. Then said the king, Will he even forcibly assault the queen in my presence, in my own palace? As the king spoke the words, [the servants] covered Haman’s face.

⁹ Then said Harbonah, one of the attendants serving the king, Behold, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman has made for Mordecai, whose warning saved the king, stands at the house of Haman. And the king said, Hang him on it!

¹⁰ So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s wrath was pacified.

8 On that day King Ahasuerus gave the house of Haman, the Jews’ enemy, to Queen Esther. And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told what he was to her.

² And the king took off his [signet] ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.

³ And Esther spoke yet again to the king and fell down at his feet and besought him with tears to avert the evil plot of Haman the Agagite and his scheme that he had devised against the Jews.

⁴ Then the king held out to Esther the golden scepter. So Esther arose and stood before the king.

⁵ And she said, If it pleases the king and if I have found favor in his sight and the thing seems right before the king and I am pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to reverse the letters devised by Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all the king’s provinces.

⁶ For how can I endure to see the evil that shall come upon my people? Or how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?

⁷ Then the King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and him they have hanged upon the gallows because he laid his hand upon the Jews.

⁸ Write also concerning the Jews as it pleases you in the king’s name, and seal it with the king’s [signet] ring—for writing which is in the king’s name and sealed with the king’s ring no man can reverse.

⁹ Then the king’s scribes were called, in the third month, the month of Sivan, on the twenty-third day, and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded to the Jews, to the chief rulers, and the governors and princes of the provinces from India to Ethiopia, 127 provinces, to every province in its own script and to every people in their own language and to the Jews according to their writing and according to their language.

¹⁰ He wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed it with the king’s ring and sent letters by messengers on horseback, riding on swift steeds, mules, and young dromedaries used in the king’s service, bred from the [royal] stud.

¹¹ In it the king granted the Jews who were in every city to gather and defend their lives; to destroy, to slay, and to wipe out any armed force that might attack them, their little ones, and women; and to take the enemies’ goods for spoil.

¹² On one day in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar,

¹³ A copy of the writing was to be issued as a decree in every province and as a proclamation to all peoples, and the Jews should be ready on that day to avenge themselves upon their enemies.

¹⁴ So the couriers, who were mounted on swift beasts that were used in the king’s service, went out, being hurried and urged on by the king’s command; and the decree was released in Shushan, the capital.

¹⁵ And Mordecai went forth from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white, with a great crown of gold and with a robe of fine linen and purple; and the city of Shushan shouted and rejoiced.

¹⁶ The Jews had light [a dawn of new hope] and gladness and joy and honor.

¹⁷ And in every province and in every city, wherever the king’s command and his decree came, the Jews had gladness and joy, a feast and a holiday. And many from among the peoples of the land [submitted themselves to Jewish rite and] became Jews, for the fear of the Jews had fallen upon them.

9 Now in the twelfth month, the month of Adar, on the thirteenth day of Adar when the king’s command and his edict were about to be executed, on the [very] day that the enemies of the Jews had planned for a massacre of them, it was turned to the contrary and the Jews had rule over those who hated them.

² The Jews gathered together in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to lay hands on such as sought their hurt; and no man could withstand them, for the fear of them had fallen upon all the peoples.

³ And all the princes of the provinces and the chief rulers and the governors and they who attended to the king’s business helped the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai had fallen upon them.

⁴ For Mordecai was great in the king’s palace; and his fame went forth throughout all the provinces, for the man Mordecai became more and more powerful.

⁵ So the Jews smote all their enemies with the sword, slaughtering and destroying them, and did as they chose with those who hated them.

⁶ In Shushan, the capital itself, the Jews slew and destroyed 500 men.

⁷ And they killed Parshandatha,

⁸ Dalphon, Aspatha, Poratha, Adalia,

⁹ Aridatha, Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai,

¹⁰ And Vaizatha, the ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, the Jews’ enemy; but on the spoil they laid not their hands.

¹¹ On that day the number of those who were slain in Shushan, the capital, was brought before the king.

¹² And the king said to Esther the queen, The Jews have slain and destroyed 500 men in Shushan, the capital, and 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 to you. Or what is your request further? It shall be done.

¹³ Then said Esther, If it pleases the king, let it be granted to the Jews which are in Shushan to do tomorrow also according to this day’s decree, and let [the dead bodies of] Haman’s ten sons be hanged on the gallows.^(B)

¹⁴ And the king commanded it to be done; the decree was given in Shushan, and they hanged [the bodies of] Haman’s ten sons.

¹⁵ And the Jews that were in Shushan gathered together on the fourteenth day also of the month of Adar and slew 300 men in Shushan, but on the spoil they laid not their hands.

¹⁶ And the other Jews who were in the king’s provinces gathered to defend their lives and had relief and rest from their enemies and slew of them that hated them 75,000; but on the spoil they laid not their hands.

¹⁷ This was done on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth day they rested and made it a day of feasting and gladness.

¹⁸ But the Jews who were in Shushan [Susa] assembled on the thirteenth day and on the fourteenth, and on the fifteenth day they rested and made it a day of feasting and gladness.

¹⁹ Therefore the Jews of the villages, who dwell in the unwalled towns, make the fourteenth day of the month of Adar a day of gladness and feasting, a holiday, and a day for sending choice portions to one another.

²⁰ And Mordecai recorded these things, and he sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of the King Ahasuerus, both near and far,

²¹ To command them to keep the fourteenth day of the month of Adar and also the fifteenth, yearly,

²² As the days on which the Jews got rest from their enemies, and as the month which was turned for them from sorrow to gladness and from mourning into a holiday—that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, days of sending choice portions to one another and gifts to the poor.

²³ So the Jews undertook to do as they had begun and as Mordecai had written to them—

²⁴ Because Haman 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 find a lucky day] to crush and consume and destroy them.

²⁵ But when Esther brought the matter before the king, he commanded in writing that Haman’s wicked scheme which he had devised against the Jews should return upon his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.

²⁶ Therefore they called these days Purim, after the name Pur [lot]. Therefore, because of all that was in this letter and what they had faced in this matter and what had happened to them,

²⁷ The Jews ordained and took it upon themselves and their descendants and all who joined them that without fail every year they would keep these two days at the appointed time and as it was written,

²⁸ That these days should be remembered (imprinted on their minds) and kept throughout every generation in every family, province, and city, and that these days of Purim should never cease from among the Jews, nor the commemoration of them cease among their descendants.

²⁹ Then Queen Esther, the daughter of Abihail, with Mordecai the Jew, gave full power [written authority], confirming this second letter about Purim.

³⁰ And letters were sent to all the Jews, to the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, in words of peace and truth,

³¹ To confirm that these days of Purim should be observed at their appointed times, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had commanded [the Jews], and as they had ordained for themselves and for their descendants in the matter of their fasts and their lamenting.

³² And the command of Esther confirmed these observances of Purim, and it was written in the book.

10 King Ahasuerus laid a tribute (tax) on the land and on the coastlands of the sea.

² And all the acts of his power and of his might, and the full account of the greatness of Mordecai to which the king advanced him, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Media and Persia?

³ For Mordecai the Jew was next to King Ahasuerus and great among the Jews, and was a favorite with the multitude of his brethren, for he sought the welfare of his people and spoke peace to his whole race.

1 There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who [reverently] feared God and abstained from and shunned evil [because it was wrong].

² And there were born to him seven sons and three daughters.

³ He possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and a very great body of servants, so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the East.

⁴ His sons used to go and feast in the house of each on his day (birthday) in turn, and they invited their three sisters to eat and drink with them.^(C)

⁵ And when the days of their feasting were over, Job sent for them to purify and hallow 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 cursed or disowned God in their hearts. Thus did Job at all [such] times.

⁶ Now there was a day when the sons (the angels) of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan (the adversary and accuser) also came among them.^(D)

⁷ And the Lord said to Satan, From where did you come? Then Satan answered the Lord, From going to and fro on the earth and from walking up and down on it.

⁸ And the Lord said to Satan, Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who [reverently] fears God and abstains from and shuns evil [because it is wrong]?

⁹ Then Satan answered the Lord, Does Job [reverently] fear God for nothing?

¹⁰ Have You not put a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have conferred prosperity and happiness upon him in the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.

¹¹ But put forth Your hand now and touch all that he has, and he will curse You to Your face.

¹² And the Lord said to Satan (the adversary and the accuser), Behold, all that he has is in your power, only upon the man himself put not forth your hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord.

¹³ And there was a day when [Job’s] sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house [on his birthday],

¹⁴ And there came a messenger to Job and said, The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them,

¹⁵ And the Sabeans swooped down upon them and took away [the animals]. Indeed, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.

¹⁶ While he was yet speaking, there came also another and said, The fire of God (lightning) has fallen from the heavens and has burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.

¹⁷ While he was yet speaking, there came also another and said, The Chaldeans divided into three bands and made a raid upon the camels and have taken them away, yes, and have slain the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.

¹⁸ While he was yet speaking, there came also another and said, Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house,

¹⁹ And behold, there came a great [whirlwind] from the desert, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you.

²⁰ Then Job arose and rent his robe and shaved his head and fell down upon the ground and worshiped

²¹ And said, Naked (without possessions) came I [into this world] from my mother’s womb, and naked (without possessions) shall I depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed (praised and magnified in worship) be the name of the Lord!

²² In all this Job sinned not nor charged God foolishly.

2 Again there was a day when the sons of God [the angels] came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan (the adversary and the accuser) came also among them to present himself before the Lord.

² And the Lord said to Satan, From where do you come? And Satan (the adversary and the accuser) answered the Lord, From going to and fro on the earth and from walking up and down on it.

³ And the Lord said to Satan, Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who [reverently] fears God and abstains from and shuns all evil [because it is wrong]? And still he holds fast his integrity, although you moved Me against him to destroy him without cause.

⁴ Then Satan answered the Lord, Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has will he give for his life.

⁵ But put forth Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse and renounce You to Your face.

⁶ And the Lord said to Satan, Behold, he is in your hand; only spare his life.

⁷ So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord and smote Job with loathsome and painful sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.

⁸ And he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself, and he sat [down] among the ashes.

⁹ Then his wife said to him, Do you still hold fast your blameless uprightness? Renounce God and die!

¹⁰ But he said to her, You speak as one of the impious and foolish women would speak. What? Shall we accept [only] good at the hand of God and shall we not accept [also] misfortune and what is of a bad nature? In [spite of] all this, Job did not sin with his lips.

¹¹ Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came each one from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, for they had made an appointment together to come to condole with him and to comfort him.

¹² And when they looked from afar off and saw him [disfigured] beyond recognition, they lifted up their voices and wept; and each one tore his robe, and they cast dust over their heads toward the heavens.

¹³ So they sat down with [Job] on the ground for seven days and seven nights, and none spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief and pain were very great.

3 After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed his day (birthday).

² And Job said,

³ Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night which announced, There is a man-child conceived.

⁴ Let that day be darkness! May not God above regard it, nor light shine upon it.

⁵ Let gloom and deep darkness claim it for their own; let a cloud dwell upon it; let all that blackens the day terrify it (the day that I was born).

⁶ As for that night, let thick darkness seize it; let it not rejoice among the days of the year; let it not come into the number of the months.

⁷ Yes, let that night be solitary and barren; let no joyful voice come into it.

⁸ Let those curse it who curse the day, who are skilled in rousing up Leviathan.

⁹ Let the stars of the early dawn of that day be dark; let [the morning] look in vain for the light, nor let it behold the day’s dawning,

¹⁰ Because it shut not the doors of my mother’s womb nor hid sorrow and trouble from my eyes.

¹¹ Why was I not stillborn? Why did I not give up the ghost when my mother bore me?

¹² Why did the knees receive me? Or why the breasts, that I should suck?

¹³ For then would I have lain down and been quiet; I would have slept; then would I have been at rest [in death]

¹⁴ With kings and counselors of the earth, who built up [now] desolate ruins for themselves,

¹⁵ Or with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver.

¹⁶ Or [why] was I not a miscarriage, hidden and put away, as infants who never saw light?

¹⁷ There [in death] the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest.

¹⁸ There the [captive] prisoners rest together; they hear not the taskmaster’s voice.

¹⁹ The small and the great are there, and the servant is free from his master.^(E)

²⁰ Why is light [of life] given to him who is in misery, and life to the bitter in soul,

²¹ Who long and wait for death, but it comes not, and dig for it more than for hidden treasures,

²² Who rejoice exceedingly and are elated when they find the grave?

²³ [Why is the light of day given] to a man whose way is hidden, and whom God has hedged in?

²⁴ For my sighing comes before my food, and my groanings are poured out like water.

²⁵ For the thing which I greatly fear comes upon me, and that of which I am afraid befalls me.

²⁶ I was not or am not at ease, nor had I or have I rest, nor was I or am I quiet, yet trouble came and still comes [upon me].

4 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,

² If we venture to converse with you, will you be offended? Yet who can restrain himself from speaking?

³ Behold, you have instructed many, and you have strengthened the weak hands.

⁴ Your words have held firm him who was falling, and you have strengthened the feeble knees.

⁵ But now it is come upon you, and you faint and are grieved; it touches you, and you are troubled and dismayed.

⁶ Is not your [reverent] fear of God your confidence and the integrity and uprightness of your ways your hope?

⁷ Think [earnestly], I beg of you: who, being innocent, ever perished? Or where were those upright and in right standing with God cut off?

⁸ As I myself have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble and mischief reap the same.

⁹ By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of His anger they are consumed.

¹⁰ The roaring of the lion and the voice of the fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions are broken.

¹¹ The old and strong lion perishes for lack of prey, and the whelps of the lioness are scattered abroad.

¹² Now a thing was secretly brought to me, and my ear received a whisper of it.

¹³ In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on men,

¹⁴ Fear came upon me and trembling, which made all my bones shake.

¹⁵ Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up!

¹⁶ [The spirit] stood still, but I could not discern the appearance of it. A form was before my eyes; there was silence, and then I heard a voice, saying,

¹⁷ Can mortal man be just before God, or be more right than He is? Can a man be pure before his Maker, or be more cleansed than He is?^(F)

¹⁸ Even in His [heavenly] servants He puts no trust or confidence, and His angels He charges with folly and error—

¹⁹ How much more those who dwell in houses (bodies) of clay, whose foundations are in the dust, who are crushed like the moth.

²⁰ Between morning and evening they are destroyed; without anyone noticing it they perish forever.

²¹ Is not their tent cord plucked up within them [so that the tent falls]? Do they not die, and that without [acquiring] wisdom?

5 Call now—is there any who will answer you? And to which of the holy [angels] will you turn?

² For ^[d]vexation and rage kill the foolish man; jealousy and indignation slay the simple.

³ I have seen the foolish taking root [and outwardly prospering], but suddenly I saw that his dwelling was cursed [for his doom was certain].

⁴ His children are far from safety; [involved in their father’s ruin] they are crushed in the [court of justice in the city’s] gate, and there is no one to deliver them.

⁵ His harvest the hungry eat and take it even [when it grows] among the thorns; the snare opens for [his] wealth.

⁶ For affliction comes not forth from the dust, neither does trouble spring forth out of the ground.

⁷ But man is born to trouble as the sparks and the flames fly upward.

⁸ As for me, I would seek God and inquire of and require Him, and to God would I commit my cause—

⁹ Who does great things and unsearchable, marvelous things without number,

¹⁰ Who gives rain upon the earth and sends waters upon the fields,

¹¹ So that He sets on high those who are lowly, and those who mourn He lifts to safety.

¹² He frustrates the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise or anything of [lasting] worth.

¹³ He catches the [so-called] wise in their own trickiness, and the counsel of the schemers is brought to a quick end.^(G)

¹⁴ In the daytime they meet in darkness, and at noon they grope as in the night.

¹⁵ But [God] saves [the fatherless] from the sword of their mouth, and the needy from the hand of the mighty.

¹⁶ So the poor have hope, and iniquity shuts her mouth.

¹⁷ Happy and fortunate is the man whom God reproves; so do not despise or reject the correction of the Almighty [subjecting you to trial and suffering].

¹⁸ For He wounds, but He binds up; He smites, but His hands heal.

¹⁹ He will rescue you in six troubles; in seven nothing that is evil [for you] will touch you.

²⁰ In famine He will redeem you from death, and in war from the power of the sword.

²¹ You shall be hidden from the scourge of the tongue, neither shall you be afraid of destruction when it comes.

²² At destruction and famine you shall laugh, neither shall you be afraid of the living creatures of the earth.

²³ For you shall be in league with the stones of the field, and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you.

²⁴ And you shall know that your tent shall be in peace, and you shall visit your fold and your dwelling and miss nothing [from them].

²⁵ You shall know also that your children shall be many, and your offspring as the grass of the earth.

²⁶ You shall come to your grave in ripe old age, and as a shock of grain goes up [to the threshing floor] in its season.

²⁷ This is what we have searched out; it is true. Hear and heed it and know for yourself [for your good].

6 Then Job answered,

² Oh, that my impatience and vexation might be [thoroughly] weighed and all my calamity be laid up over against them in the balances, one against the other [to see if my grief is unmanly]!

³ For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea; therefore my words have been rash and wild,

⁴ [But it is] because the arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poison which my spirit drinks up; the terrors of God set themselves in array against me.

⁵ Does the wild ass bray when it has grass? Or does the ox low over its fodder?

⁶ Can that which has no taste to it be eaten without salt? Or is there any flavor in the white of an egg?

⁷ [These afflictions] my soul refuses to touch! Such things are like diseased food to me [sickening and repugnant]!

⁸ Oh, that I might have my request, and that God would grant me the thing that I long for!

⁹ I even wish that it would please God to crush me, that He would let loose His hand and cut me off!

¹⁰ Then would I still have consolation—yes, I would leap [for joy] amid unsparing pain [though I shrink from it]—that I have not concealed or denied the words of the Holy One!

¹¹ What strength have I left, that I should wait and hope? And what is ahead of me, that I should be patient?

¹² Is my strength and endurance that of stones? Or is my flesh made of bronze?

¹³ Is it not that I have no help in myself, and that wisdom is quite driven from me?

¹⁴ To him who is about to faint and despair, kindness is due from his friend, lest he forsake the fear of the Almighty.

¹⁵ [You] my brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook, as the channel of brooks that pass away,

¹⁶ Which are black and turbid by reason of the ice, and in which the snows hides itself;

¹⁷ When they get warm, they shrink and disappear; when it is hot, they vanish out of their place.

¹⁸ The caravans which travel by way of them turn aside; they go into the waste places and perish. [Such is my disappointment in you, the friends I fully trusted.]

¹⁹ The caravans of Tema looked [for water], the companies of Sheba waited for them [in vain].

²⁰ They were confounded because they had hoped [to find water]; they came there and were bitterly disappointed.

²¹ Now to me you are [like a dried-up brook]; you see my dismay and terror, and [believing me to be a victim of God’s anger] you are afraid [to sympathize with me].

²² Did I ever say, Bring me a gift, or Pay a bribe on my account from your wealth

²³ To deliver me from the adversary’s hand, or Redeem me from the hand of the oppressors?

²⁴ Teach me, and I will hold my peace; and cause me to understand wherein I have erred.

²⁵ How forcible are words of straightforward speech! But what does your arguing argue and prove or your reproof reprove?

²⁶ Do you imagine your words to be an argument, but the speeches of one who is desperate to be as wind?

²⁷ Yes, you would cast lots over the fatherless and bargain away your friend.

²⁸ Now be pleased to look upon me, that it may be evident to you if I lie [for surely I would not lie to your face].

²⁹ Return [from your suspicion], I pray you, let there be no injustice; yes, return again [to confidence in me], my vindication is in it.

³⁰ Is there wrong on my tongue? Cannot my taste discern what is destructive?

7 Is there not an [appointed] warfare and hard labor to man upon earth? And are not his days like the days of a hireling?

² As a servant earnestly longs for the shade and the evening shadows, and as a hireling who looks for the reward of his work,

³ So am I allotted months of futile [suffering], and [long] nights of misery are appointed to me.

⁴ When I lie down I say, When shall I arise and the night be gone? And I am full of tossing to and fro till the dawning of the day.

⁵ My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust; my skin is broken and has become loathsome, and it closes up and breaks out afresh.

⁶ My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and are spent without hope.

⁷ Oh, remember that my life is but wind (a puff, a breath, a sob); my eye shall see good no more.

⁸ The eye of him who sees me shall see me no more; while your eyes are upon me, I shall be gone.

⁹ As the cloud is consumed and vanishes away, so he who goes down to Sheol (the place of the dead) shall come up no more.

¹⁰ He shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him any more.

¹¹ Therefore I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit, I will complain in the bitterness of my soul [O Lord]!

¹² Am I the sea, or the sea monster, that You set a watch over me?

¹³ When I say, My bed shall comfort me, my couch shall ease my complaint,

¹⁴ Then You scare me with dreams and terrify me through visions,

¹⁵ So that I would choose strangling and death rather than these my bones.

¹⁶ I loathe my life; I would not live forever. Let me alone, for my days are a breath (futility).

¹⁷ What is man that You should magnify him and think him important? And that You should set Your mind upon him?^(H)

¹⁸ And that You should visit him every morning and try him every moment?

¹⁹ How long will Your [plaguing] glance not look away from me, nor You let me alone till I swallow my spittle?

²⁰ If I have sinned, what [harm] have I done You, O You Watcher and Keeper of men? Why have You set me as a mark for You, so that I am a burden to myself [and You]?

²¹ And why do You not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity? For now shall I lie down in the dust; and [even if] You will seek me diligently, [it will be too late, for] I shall not be.