Bible in 90 Days

¹⁵ ¶ In those days I saw in Judah some treading wine presses on the sabbath and bringing in sheaves and lading asses with wine, grapes, figs, and all manner of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the sabbath day; and I protested unto them the day in which they sold the food.

¹⁶ There dwelt men of Tyre also therein, who brought fish and all manner of merchandise, and sold on the sabbath to the sons of Judah in Jerusalem.

¹⁷ Then I contended with the nobles of Judah and said unto them, What evil thing is this that ye do and profane thus the sabbath day?

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

¹⁹ And it came to pass, that when shadow came to the gates of Jerusalem before the sabbath, I commanded that the gates should be shut and charged that they should not be opened until after the sabbath; and I set some of my servants at the gates, that no burden be brought in on the sabbath day.

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

²¹ Then I testified and protested against them and said unto them, Why do ye lodge about the wall? If ye do so again, I will lay hands on you. From that time forth they came no more on the sabbath.

²² And I told the Levites that they should cleanse themselves and that they should come and guard the gates, to sanctify the sabbath day. Remember me, O my God, concerning this also, and spare me according to the greatness of thy mercy.

²³ ¶ In those days I also saw Jews that had married wives of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab;

²⁴ and their sons spoke half in the speech of Ashdod, and according to the language of each people; for they could not speak in the Jews’ language.

²⁵ And I contended with them and cursed them and smote certain of them and plucked off their hair and made them swear by God, saying, Ye shall not give your daughters unto their sons nor take their daughters unto your sons, or for yourselves.

²⁶ Did not Solomon, king of Israel, sin by these things? Yet among many nations there was no king like him, who was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel; nevertheless, strange women caused even him to offend.

²⁷ Shall we then hearken unto you to do all this great evil, to transgress against our God in marrying strange women?

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

²⁹ Remember them, O my God because they have defiled the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and of the Levites.

³⁰ Thus I cleansed them from all strangers and appointed the wards of the priests and the Levites, each one in his work,

³¹ and for the wood offering, at the appointed times, and for the firstfruits. Remember me, O my God, for good.

1 ¶ Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus (this is Ahasuerus who reigned from India even unto Ethiopia over one hundred and twenty-seven provinces)

² That in those days, when the King Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan, the palace,

³ In the third year of his reign, he made a banquet unto all his princes and his slaves, having before him the power of Persia and Media, the governors and princes of the provinces,

⁴ to show them the riches of the glory of his kingdom and the honour of beauty of his greatness for many days, even one hundred and eighty days.

⁵ And when these days were expired, the king made a banquet unto all the people that were present in Shushan the palace, both unto great and small, for seven days, in the court of the garden of the king’s palace.

⁶ There were white, green, and blue hangings, fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and pillars of marble; the beds were of gold and silver, upon a pavement of porphyre and of marble and of alabaster and of blue.

⁷ And they gave them drink in vessels of gold (the vessels being diverse one from another) and royal wine in abundance, according to the power of the king.

⁸ And the drink was according to this law: let no one constrain themselves; for so the king had appointed to all the officers of his house that they should do according to the will of each one.

⁹ Likewise Vashti, the queen, made a banquet for the women in the royal house of King Ahasuerus.

¹⁰ ¶ On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas, the seven eunuchs that served in the presence of Ahasuerus, the king,

¹¹ to bring Vashti, the queen, before the king with the crown of the kingdom, to show the people and the princes her beauty, for she was fair to behold.

¹² But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s word by his eunuchs; therefore, the king was very wroth, and his anger burned in him.

¹³ Then the king asked the wise men, who knew the times, (for so was the king’s manner toward all that knew about the law and rights,

¹⁴ and the next to him was Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, seven princes of Persia and Media, who saw the king’s face, and who sat first in the kingdom;)

¹⁵ What shall we do unto Queen Vashti according to law because she has not performed the decree of King Ahasuerus by the eunuchs?

¹⁶ And Memucan answered before the king and the princes, Vashti, the queen, has not only committed iniquity against the king, but also against all the princes and against all the people that are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus.

¹⁷ For this deed of the queen shall be known abroad unto all the women so that they shall despise their husbands, saying, King Ahasuerus commanded Vashti, the queen, to be brought in before him, but she did not come.

¹⁸ And now the princesses of Persia and Media who have heard of the deed of the queen shall say this unto all the king’s princes, and there shall be much contempt and wrath.

¹⁹ If it pleases the king, let there go forth a royal commandment from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes, that it not be altered, That Vashti come no more before King Ahasuerus, and let the king give her royal estate unto another that is better than she.

²⁰ And this sentence which the king shall make shall be heard throughout all his empire, although it is great, and all the wives shall give their husbands honour, from the greatest to the least.

²¹ And this word pleased the king and the princes, and the king did according to the word of Memucan;

²² for he sent letters into all the king’s provinces, into every province according to the writing thereof, and to every people after their language, saying, That every man should bear rule in his own house and that it should be published according to the language of every people.

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

² Then the king’s servants that ministered unto him said, Let there be fair young virgins sought for the king,

³ and let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom that they may gather together all the fair young virgins unto Shushan, the palace, to the house of the women, unto the custody of Hege, the king’s eunuch, keeper of the women; and let them be given that which is necessary for their purification;

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

⁵ Now in Shushan, the palace, there was a certain Jew, whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite;

⁶ who had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captivity which had been carried away with Jeconiah, king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had carried away.

⁷ And he had brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter; for she had neither father nor mother, and the maid was fair and beautiful; and as her father and mother were dead, Mordecai had taken her for his own daughter.

⁸ So it came to pass, when the king’s commandment and his decree was heard and when many maidens were gathered together unto Shushan, the palace, to the custody of Hegai, that Esther was brought also unto the king’s house to the custody of Hegai, keeper of the women.

⁹ And the maiden pleased him, and she found mercy before him; and he speedily gave her that which was necessary for purification and her rations, and seven maidens, which were meet to be given her out of the king’s house; and he moved her and her maids into the best place of the house of the women.

¹⁰ Esther had not declared her people nor her birth, for Mordecai had charged her that she should not declare it.

¹¹ And Mordecai walked every day before the court of the women’s house to know the peace of Esther and what was done with her.

¹² Now when each maid’s turn was come to go in to King Ahasuerus, after she had been twelve months according to the law regarding the women (for so were the days of their purifications accomplished, that is, six months with oil of myrrh and six months with aromatic odours and oils for women),

¹³ then thus came each maiden unto the king; whatever she desired was given her to go with her out of the house of the women unto the king’s house.

¹⁴ In the evening she went, and on the morrow she returned into the second house of the women, to the custody of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch, who kept the concubines; she came in unto the king no more, unless the king delighted in her and called for her by name.

¹⁵ Now when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abihail, the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her for his daughter, was come to go in unto the king, she required nothing but what Hegai, the king’s eunuch, the keeper of the women, appointed. And Esther obtained grace in the sight of all those that looked upon her.

¹⁶ So Esther was taken unto King Ahasuerus into his royal house in the tenth month, which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.

¹⁷ And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained grace and mercy in his sight more than did all the other virgins so that he set the crown of the kingdom upon her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.

¹⁸ Then the king made a great banquet unto all his princes and his slaves, the banquet of Esther; and he made a release to the provinces of their taxes and gave gifts according to the power of the king.

¹⁹ And when the virgins were gathered together the second time, then Mordecai sat in the king’s gate.

²⁰ Esther had not yet declared her birth nor her people; as Mordecai had charged her; for Esther did the commandment of Mordecai as when she was being brought up with him.

²¹ ¶ In those days, while Mordecai sat in the king’s gate, two of the king’s eunuchs, Bigthan and Teresh, of those which kept the door, were wroth and sought to lay hand on King Ahasuerus.

²² And the thing was known by Mordecai, who told it unto Esther, the queen; and Esther notified the king of this in Mordecai’s name.

²³ And when inquisition was made of the matter, it was found out; therefore, they were both hanged on a tree; and it was written in the book of the chronicles before the king.

3 ¶ After these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman, the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, and advanced him and set his seat above all the princes that were with him.

² And all the king’s slaves that were in the king’s gate, knelt down and worshipped Haman, for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai did not kneel or worship before him.

³ Then the king’s slaves, who were in the king’s gate, said unto Mordecai, Why dost thou pass over the king’s commandment?

⁴ Now it came to pass, when they spoke daily unto him, and he did not hearken unto them, that they told Haman to see whether Mordecai’s word would stand; for he had told them that he was a Jew.

⁵ And when Haman saw that Mordecai did not kneel or worship before him, then Haman was filled with wrath.

⁶ And he thought it a small matter to lay hands on Mordecai alone; for now they had declared unto him the people of Mordecai; therefore, Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, the people of Mordecai.

⁷ ¶ In the first month, that is, the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that is, the lot, before Haman from day to day and from month to month, and the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar was taken.

⁸ And Haman said unto King Ahasuerus, There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of thy kingdom, and their laws are different from all other people; neither do they observe the king’s laws: therefore, it is not profitable for the king to allow them to remain.

⁹ If it pleases the king, let it be written that they may be destroyed; and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver to the hands of those that have the charge of the public works, to bring it into the king’s treasuries.

¹⁰ And the king took his ring from his hand and gave it unto Haman, the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the Jews’ enemy.

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

¹² Then the king’s scribes were called on the thirteenth day of the first month, and it was written according to all that Haman had commanded unto the king’s lieutenants and to the governors that were over each province and to the rulers of every people of every province according to the writing thereof and to every people after their language; in the name of King Ahasuerus it was written and sealed with the king’s ring.

¹³ And the letters were sent by posts into all the king’s provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to take the spoil of them for a prey.

¹⁴ The copy of the writing was to be given as law in every province that it be published unto all the peoples, that they should be ready against that day.

¹⁵ The posts went out in haste by the king’s commandment, and the law was given in Shushan, the palace. And the king and Haman sat down to drink; but the city of Shushan was perplexed.

4 ¶ When Mordecai perceived all that was done, Mordecai rent his clothes and put on sackcloth with ashes and went out into the midst of the city and cried with a loud and a bitter cry

² and came before the king’s gate; for no one was allowed to enter into the king’s gate clothed with sackcloth.

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

⁴ So Esther’s maids and her eunuchs came and told her. Then the queen was grieved exceedingly, and she sent raiment to clothe Mordecai and to take away his sackcloth from him; but he did not receive it.

⁵ ¶ Then Esther called for Hatach, one of the king’s eunuchs, whom he had appointed to attend her, and sent him to Mordecai, to know what it was and why it was.

⁶ So Hatach went forth to Mordecai unto the plaza of the city, which was before the king’s gate.

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

⁸ Also he gave him the copy of the writing of the decree that was given at Shushan to destroy them, to show it unto Esther and to declare it unto her and to charge her that she should go in unto the king to make supplication unto him and to make request before him for her people.

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

¹⁰ Again Esther spoke unto Hatach and sent him to say unto Mordecai,

¹¹ All the king’s slaves and the people of the king’s provinces do know that anyone, whether man or woman, who shall come unto the king into the inner court without being called, by one law shall be put to death, unless the king shall hold out the golden sceptre, that they may live; but I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days.

¹² And they told to Mordecai Esther’s words.

¹³ Then Mordecai told them to answer Esther, Do not think in thy soul that thou shalt escape in the king’s house, more than all the Jews.

¹⁴ For if thou art silent at this time, then enlargement and deliverance shall arise to the Jews from another place, but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed; and who knows whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?

¹⁵ Then Esther told them to return Mordecai this answer,

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 maidens will fast likewise; and so I will go in unto the king, even though this is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish.

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

5 ¶ Now it came to pass on the third day, that Esther put on her royal apparel, and stood in the inner court of the king’s house, over against the king’s house; and the king sat upon his royal throne in the royal house, over against the gate of the house.

² And it was so, when the king saw Esther, the queen, standing in the court, that she had grace in his sight; and the king held out to Esther the golden sceptre that was in his hand. So Esther drew near and touched the top of the sceptre.

³ Then the king said unto her, What wilt thou, Queen Esther? And what is thy request? It shall be given thee, even to the half of the kingdom.

⁴ And Esther answered, If it seems good to the king, let the king and Haman come today to the banquet that I have prepared for him.

⁵ Then the king said, Cause Haman to make haste that he may do as Esther has said. So the king and Haman came to the banquet that Esther had prepared.

⁶ And the king said unto Esther at the banquet of wine, What is thy petition? And it shall be granted thee. What is thy request? Even to the half of the kingdom it shall be performed.

⁷ Then answered Esther and said, My petition and my request is:

⁸ If I have found grace in the sight of the king and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and to perform my request, let the king and Haman come to the banquet that I shall prepare for them, and I will do tomorrow as the king has commanded.

⁹ ¶ Then Haman went forth that day joyful and with a glad heart, but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king’s gate and that he did not stand up nor move for him, he was filled with indignation against Mordecai.

¹⁰ Nevertheless, Haman refrained himself, and when he came home, he sent and called for his friends and Zeresh, his wife.

¹¹ And Haman told them of the glory of his riches and the multitude of his sons and all the things in which the king had promoted him and how he had advanced him above the princes and slaves of the king.

¹² Haman said, moreover, Even Esther, the queen, let no one come in with the king unto the banquet that she had prepared but myself, and tomorrow I am also invited by her with the king.

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

¹⁴ Then said Zeresh, his wife, and all his friends unto him, Let a gallows {Heb. stake} be made fifty cubits high, and tomorrow speak unto the king that Mordecai may be hanged upon it; then go in merrily with the king unto the banquet. And the thing pleased Haman, and he caused the gallows to be made.

6 ¶ On that night the king could not sleep, and he commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles, and they were read before the king.

² And it was found written that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs, the keepers of the door, who had sought to lay hand on King Ahasuerus.

³ And the king said, What honour and dignity has been done unto Mordecai for this? Then the king’s servants who ministered unto him answered, Nothing has been done for him.

⁴ ¶ And the king said, Who is in the court? Now Haman had come into the outward court of the king’s house to speak unto the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him.

⁵ And the king’s servants said unto him, Behold, Haman stands in the court. And the king said, Let him come in.

⁶ So Haman came in. And the king said unto him, What shall be done unto the man whom the king delights to honour? Now Haman thought in his heart, To whom would the king delight to do honour more than to myself?

⁷ And Haman answered the king, For the man whom the king delights to honour,

⁸ let the royal apparel be brought which the king wears, and the horse that the king rides upon, and the royal crown which is set upon his head;

⁹ and let this apparel and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king’s most noble princes, that he may clothe the man whom the king delights to honour and bring him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaim before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honour.

¹⁰ Then the king said to Haman, Make haste, and take the apparel and the horse, as thou hast said, and do so unto Mordecai, the Jew, that sits at the king’s gate; let nothing fail of all that thou hast spoken.

¹¹ Then Haman took the apparel and the horse and clothed Mordecai and brought him on horseback through the plaza of the city and caused it to be proclaimed before him, Thus shall be done unto the man whom the king delights to honour.

¹² ¶ After that Mordecai returned to the king’s gate. But Haman hastened to his house mourning and having his head covered.

¹³ And Haman told Zeresh, his wife, and all his friends all that had befallen him. Then his wise men and Zeresh, his wife, said unto him, If Mordecai is of the seed of the Jews, before whom thou hast begun to fall, thou shalt not prevail against him, but shalt surely fall before him.

¹⁴ And while they were yet talking with him, the king’s eunuchs came in haste to bring Haman to the banquet that Esther had prepared.

7 ¶ So the king and Haman came to the banquet with Esther, the queen.

² And the king said again unto Esther on the second day at the banquet of wine, What is thy petition, Queen Esther? And it shall be granted thee. What is thy request? And it shall be performed, even to the half of the kingdom.

³ Then Esther, the queen, answered and said, If I have found grace in thy 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, to be slain, and to perish. If we had been sold for menslaves and womenslaves, I would remain silent, even though the enemy could not recompense the damage to the king.

⁵ And King Ahasuerus answered and said unto Esther, the queen, Who is he, and where is he, that has filled his heart with the arrogance to do so?

⁶ Then Esther said, The man who is the adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman. Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen.

⁷ ¶ And the king arising from the banquet of wine in his wrath went into the palace garden, and Haman stood up to make request for his life to Esther, the queen; for he saw that there was evil determined against him by the king.

⁸ Then the king returned out of the palace garden into the place of the banquet of wine, and Haman had fallen upon the bed upon which Esther was. Then said the king, Will he force the queen also before me in the house? When this word went out of the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face.

⁹ Then said Harbonah, one of the eunuchs before the king, Behold also, the gallows {Heb. stake} fifty cubits high, which Haman had made for Mordecai, who had spoken good for the king, stands in the house of Haman. Then the king said, Hang him upon 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 same day King Ahasuerus gave the house of Haman, the Jews’ enemy, unto Esther, the queen. And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told what he was unto her.

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

³ ¶ And Esther spoke yet again before the king and fell down at his feet and besought him with tears to put away the evil of Haman, the Agagite, and his device that he had devised against the Jews.

⁴ Then the king held out the golden sceptre toward Esther. So Esther arose and stood before the king,

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

⁶ For how can I endure to see the evil that shall come unto my people? How can I endure to see the destruction of my nation?

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

⁸ Write ye also for the Jews, as it pleases you, in the king’s name, and seal it with the king’s ring; for the writing which is written in the king’s name and sealed with the king’s ring may not be revoked.

⁹ Then the king’s scribes were called at that time in the third month, that is, the month Sivan, on the twenty-third day thereof; and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded unto the Jews and to the lieutenants and the captains and the princes of the provinces which are from India unto Ethiopia, one hundred and twenty-seven provinces, unto each province according to the writing thereof, and unto each people after their language, and to the Jews according to their writing, and according to their language.

¹⁰ And he wrote in King Ahasuerus’s name and sealed it with the king’s ring and sent letters by posts on horseback, and riders on mules, mules that were born of mares,

¹¹ that the king granted power to the Jews who were in all the cities to gather themselves together and to stand for their life, to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish any army of the people or province that would assault them, and even their little ones and women, and to take the spoil of them for a prey,

¹² upon the same day in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, namely, upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar.

¹³ The copy of the writing which was to be given as law in each province was published unto all people and said that the Jews should be ready against that day to avenge themselves of their enemies.

¹⁴ So the posts rode upon mules, they went out on mules, being hastened and pressed on by the king’s commandment. And the law was given at Shushan, the palace.

¹⁵ ¶ And Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white and with a great crown of gold and with a mantel of fine linen and purple; and the city of Shushan rejoiced and was glad.

¹⁶ The Jews had light and gladness and joy and honour.

¹⁷ And in each province and in each city wherever the king’s commandment and his decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a banquet and a good day. And many of the people of the land became Jews, for the fear of the Jews fell upon them.

9 ¶ Now in the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when the king’s commandment and his law drew near to be put in execution, in the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to have power over them, it was turned to the contrary; for the Jews took dominion over those that hated them.

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

³ And all the princes of the provinces and the lieutenants and the captains and officers of the king helped the Jews because the fear of Mordecai fell upon them.

⁴ For Mordecai was great in the king’s house, and his fame went out throughout all the provinces, for this man Mordecai waxed greater and greater.

⁵ Thus the Jews smote all their enemies with the stroke of the sword and slaughter and destruction and did what they would unto those that hated them.

⁶ And in Shushan, the palace, the Jews slew and destroyed five hundred men.

⁷ Then they also slew Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha,

⁸ Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha,

⁹ Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vajezatha,

¹⁰ the ten sons of Haman, the son of Hammedatha; the enemy of the Jews, they slew, but on the spoil they did not lay their hand.

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

¹² And the king said unto Esther, the queen, The Jews have slain and destroyed five hundred men in Shushan, the palace, and the ten sons of Haman; what have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces? Now what is thy petition, and it shall be granted thee? What is thy request further, and it shall be done?

¹³ Then said Esther, If it please the king, let it be granted to the Jews who are in Shushan to do tomorrow also according unto this day’s decree, and let Haman’s ten sons be hanged upon the gallows. {Heb. stake}

¹⁴ And the king commanded it to be so done; and it was given as law at Shushan; and they hanged Haman’s ten sons.

¹⁵ And the Jews that were in Shushan gathered themselves together also on the fourteenth day of the month Adar and slew three hundred men at Shushan; but on the spoil they did not lay their hand.

¹⁶ And the other Jews that were in the king’s provinces also gathered themselves together and stood for their lives and had rest from their enemies and slew of their foes seventy-five thousand, but they did not lay their hands on the spoil,

¹⁷ on the thirteenth day of the month Adar; and on the fourteenth day of the same they rested and made it a day of banquet and gladness.

¹⁸ But the Jews that were at Shushan assembled together on the thirteenth day thereof and on the fourteenth thereof; and on the fifteenth day of the same they rested and made it a day of banquet and gladness.

¹⁹ Therefore, the Jews of the villages that dwelt in the unwalled towns made the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of gladness and banquet and a good day and of sending portions one to another.

²⁰ ¶ And Mordecai wrote these things and sent letters unto all the Jews that were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far,

²¹ to establish this among them that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar and the fifteenth day of the same, yearly,

²² as the days in which the Jews had rest from their enemies and the month which was turned unto them from sorrow to joy and from mourning into a good day, that they should make them days of banquet and joy and of sending portions one to another and gifts to the poor.

²³ And the Jews accepting this began to do as Mordecai had written unto them.

²⁴ Because Haman, the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews, had devised against the Jews to destroy them and had cast Pur, that is, the lot, to consume them and to destroy them,

²⁵ but when she came before the king, he commanded by letters that his wicked device, which he 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 of Pur. Therefore, for all the words of this letter and of that which they had seen concerning this matter and which had come unto them,

²⁷ the Jews ordained and took upon them and upon their seed and upon all such as joined themselves unto them, so as it should not fail, that they would keep these two days according to their writing and according to their appointed time each year,

²⁸ and that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city, and that these days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews nor the memorial of them perish from their seed.

²⁹ Then Esther, the queen, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai, the Jew, wrote with all authority, to confirm this second letter of Purim.

³⁰ And he sent the letters unto all the Jews, to the hundred twenty-seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, with words of peace and truth,

³¹ to confirm these days of Purim in their times appointed, according as Mordecai, the Jew, and Esther, the queen, had enjoined them, and as they had decreed for themselves and for their seed, the words of the fastings and their cry.

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

10 ¶ And King Ahasuerus laid tribute upon the land and upon the isles of the sea.

² And all the acts of his power and of his might and the declaration of the greatness of Mordecai, unto 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 unto King Ahasuerus and great among the Jews and accepted of the multitude of his brethren, seeking the good of his people and speaking peace unto all his seed.

1 ¶ There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God and departed from evil.

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

³ His substance was seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred she asses, and a very great store of servants, so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east.

⁴ ¶ And his sons went and had banquets in their houses, each one on his day, and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them.

⁵ And it was so, when the days of their banquets were over, that Job sent and sanctified them and rose up early in the morning and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all; for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned and blasphemed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually.

⁶ ¶ Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.

⁷ And the LORD said unto Satan, Where dost thou come from? Then Satan answered the LORD and said, From going to and fro in the earth and from walking up and down in it.

⁸ And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my slave Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that fears God and has departed from evil?

⁹ Then Satan answered the LORD and said, Does Job fear God for nothing?

¹⁰ Hast thou not made a hedge about him and about his house and about all that he has on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands; therefore, his substance has increased in the land.

¹¹ But put forth thy hand now and touch all that he has, and thou shalt see if he will not blaspheme thee to thy face.

¹² And the LORD said to Satan, Behold, all that he has is in thy power; only upon himself do not put forth thy hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.

¹³ ¶ And there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their brother, the firstborn;

¹⁴ and a messenger came unto Job and said, The oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them;

¹⁵ and the Sabeans {Heb. those of Sheba} fell upon them and took them away; they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell thee.

¹⁶ While he was yet speaking, another came who said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven and has burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them; and I alone have escaped to tell thee.

¹⁷ While he was yet speaking, another came and said, The Chaldeans made three bands and fell upon the camels and have carried them away and have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell thee.

¹⁸ While he was yet speaking, there another came and said, Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their brother, the firstborn;

¹⁹ and, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I alone have escaped to tell thee.

²⁰ ¶ Then Job arose and rent his mantle and shaved his head and fell down upon the ground and worshipped

²¹ and said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.

²² In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with folly.

2 ¶ Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD.

² And the LORD said unto Satan, Where dost thou come from? And Satan answered the LORD and said, From going to and fro in the earth and from walking up and down in it.

³ And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my slave Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that fears God and has departed from evil and that he still retains his perfection, although thou didst incite me against him to destroy him without cause.

⁴ And Satan answered the LORD and said, Skin for skin, all that a man has he will give for his life.

⁵ But put forth thy hand now and touch his bone and his flesh, and thou shalt see if he does not blaspheme thee to thy face.

⁶ And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thy hand, but preserve his life.

⁷ ¶ So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto the crown of his head.

⁸ And he took a potsherd to scratch himself with, and he was sitting among the ashes.

⁹ Then his wife said unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? Blaspheme God and die.

¹⁰ But he said unto her, Thou hast spoken as any of the foolish women speak. What? Shall we receive good at the hand of God and shall we not receive evil? In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

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

¹² And when they lifted up their eyes afar off and knew him not, they lifted up their voice and wept; and each one rent his mantle and sprinkled dust upon his head toward heaven.

¹³ So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word unto him; for they saw that his grief was very great.

3 ¶ After this Job opened his mouth and cursed his day.

² And Job spoke and said,

³ Let the day perish in which I was born and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived.

⁴ Let that day be darkness; let not God regard it from above; neither let the light shine upon it.

⁵ Let darkness and the shadow of death redeem it; let a cloud dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it.

⁶ As for that night, let darkness seize upon it; let it not be joined unto the days of the year; let it not come into the number of the months.

⁷ O, let that night be solitary; let no song come therein!

⁸ Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to raise up their mourning.

⁹ Let the stars of its dawn be darkened; they waited for light, but have none; neither let them see the dawning of the day;

¹⁰ because it did not shut up the doors of my mother’s womb nor hide the misery from my eyes.

¹¹ ¶ Why did I not die from the womb? Why did I not give up the spirit when I came out of the belly?

¹² Why did the knees receive me? Of what use the breasts that I should suck?

¹³ For now I should have lain still and been quiet; I should have slept; then I would have been at rest,

¹⁴ with the kings and the counsellors of the earth, who built desolate places for themselves;

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

¹⁶ Or, why was I not hidden as an untimely birth, as infants who never saw light?

¹⁷ There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary are at rest.

¹⁸ There the prisoners rest together, they do not hear the voice of the oppressor.

¹⁹ The small and the great are there, and the slave is free from his master.

²⁰ ¶ Why is light given to him that is in misery, and life unto the bitter in soul;

²¹ who long for death, but it comes not; and search for it more than for hid treasures;

²² who rejoice exceedingly and are glad when they can find the grave;

²³ to the man who does not know which way he goes and whom God has hedged in?

²⁴ For my sighing comes before I eat, and my roarings are poured out like the waters.

²⁵ For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.

²⁶ I never had prosperity, nor did I secure myself, neither was I at rest; yet trouble came.

4 ¶ Then Eliphaz, the Temanite, answered and said,

² If we attempt to commune with thee, thou wilt be grieved. But who can withhold himself from speaking?

³ Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands.

⁴ Thy words have upheld the one that was falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees.

⁵ But now that it is come upon thee, thou art grieved; it touches thee, and thou art troubled.

⁶ Is not this thy fear, thy confidence, thy hope, and the integrity of thy ways?

⁷ ¶ Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent? Or where were the righteous cut off?

⁸ Even as I have seen, those that plow iniquity and sow wickedness, reap the same.

⁹ By the breath of God they perish, and by the spirit 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 lion perishes for lack of prey, and the stout lion’s whelps are scattered abroad.

¹² ¶ Now the matter was also hidden from me, but my ear has perceived a little of it.

¹³ In imaginations of visions of the night, when deep sleep falls upon men,

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

¹⁵ Then a spirit passed before me which caused the hair of my flesh to stand up.

¹⁶ A ghost stood in front of me, whose face I did not recognize, and I heard it say,

¹⁷ Shall mortal man be more just than God? Shall a man be more pure than his maker?

¹⁸ Behold, he put no trust in his slaves, and his angels he charged with folly.

¹⁹ How much more with those that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who shall be crushed by the moth!

²⁰ They are destroyed from morning to evening; they perish for ever without anyone regarding it.

²¹ Does their beauty perish with them? They die and do not know.

5 ¶ Call now, if there shall be anyone to answer thee; and if there shall be any of the saints for thee to look unto?

² It is certain that wrath kills the foolish man, and envy consumes the covetous one.

³ I have seen the foolish taking root, but at the same time I cursed his habitation.

⁴ His sons are far from saving health, and they shall be crushed in the gate, and there shall be no one to deliver them.

⁵ The hungry shall eat up his harvest, and even take it out from among the thorns, and the thirsty shall drink up their substance.

⁶ ¶ For the iniquity does not come forth out of the dust; neither does chastisement spring up out of the ground;

⁷ yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.

⁸ I would certainly seek God, and unto God would I commit my affairs;

⁹ who does great things that no one can understand, and marvels that have no explanation;

¹⁰ who gives rain upon the earth and sends waters abroad;

¹¹ who sets up the humble on high, that those who mourn may be lifted up with saving health.

¹² He frustrates the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise.

¹³ He takes the wise in their own prudence, and the counsel of his adversaries is turned to folly.

¹⁴ They meet with darkness in the daytime and grope in the noonday as in the night.

¹⁵ But he saves the poor from the sword, from the mouth of the wicked, and from the hand of the violent.

¹⁶ Who is the hope of the poor, and iniquity closes her mouth.

¹⁷ ¶ Behold, blessed is the man whom God chastens; therefore, do not despise not the correction of the Almighty.

¹⁸ For he makes sore, and binds up; he wounds, and his hands make whole.

¹⁹ He shall deliver thee in six tribulations, and in the seventh no evil shall touch thee.

²⁰ In famine he shall ransom thee from death, and in war from the power of the sword.

²¹ Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue; neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it comes.

²² At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh; neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth;

²³ for thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field; and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.

²⁴ And thou shalt know that there is peace in thy tent, and thou shalt visit thy habitation and shalt not sin.

²⁵ Thou shalt know that thy seed is great and thine offspring as the grass of the earth.

²⁶ Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, like a shock of wheat that is gathered in its season.

²⁷ Behold that which we have searched out, so it is; hear it and judge it for thyself.

6 ¶ And Job answered and said,

² Oh that my grief and calamity were justly weighed and laid equally in the balances!

³ For it would be heavier than the sand of the sea; therefore, my words are swallowed up.

⁴ For the arrows of the Almighty are within me; my spirit drinks of the poison; and terrors of God combat me.

⁵ Does the wild ass bray when he has grass? Does the ox low over his fodder?

⁶ Can that which is unsavoury be eaten without salt? Or is there any taste in the white of an egg?

⁷ The things that my soul refused to touch before, now by my sorrow are my food.

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

⁹ Even that it would please God to destroy me, that he would let loose his hand and cut me off!

¹⁰ Then should my comfort grow; I would hold on to sorrow without mercy; for I have not contradicted the words of the Holy One.

¹¹ What is my strength that I should hope? What is my end that I should prolong my life?

¹² Is my strength the strength of stones? Or is my flesh of steel?

¹³ Am I not doing all that I can, and even with all this I lack the power to do anything?

¹⁴ ¶ He that is afflicted deserves mercy from his friend; but he has forsaken the fear of the Almighty.

¹⁵ My brethren have lied to me as a brook; they passed away as an impetuous stream,

¹⁶ which was hidden by ice and covered by snow.

¹⁷ Which in the time of heat, they vanish; when they are heated, they disappear out of their place;

¹⁸ they turn aside out of the paths of their way; they go to nothing and perish.

¹⁹ The travelers of Tema looked; the traveling companies of Sheba waited for them.

²⁰ They were put to shame because of their hope; they came there and found them confused.

²¹ Now ye are certainly as they; ye have seen the torment and are afraid.

²² ¶ Did I say, Bring unto me and pay for me out of your substance

²³ and deliver me from the enemy’s hand and ransom me from the hand of the mighty?

²⁴ Teach me, and I will be silent; and cause me to understand in what I have erred.

²⁵ How forcible are the words of rectitude! But what does your argument reprove?

²⁶ Are ye not thinking up words of reproof and throw to the wind words that are lost?

²⁷ Ye also overwhelm the fatherless and dig a pit before your friend.

²⁸ Now, therefore, if ye desire, look upon me and see if I shall lie in your presence.

²⁹ Turn now, and there is no iniquity; return again to look for my righteousness in this.

³⁰ If there is iniquity in my tongue or if my taste cannot discern the torments.

7 ¶ Man certainly has an appointed amount of time upon earth, and his days are like the days of a hireling.

² As a slave earnestly desires the shade and as a hireling waits for rest from his work,

³ so I am made to possess months of vanity, and wearisome nights are appointed to me.

⁴ When I lie down, I say, When shall I arise? I measure the night, and I am full of tossings to and fro unto the dawning of the day.

⁵ My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust; my skin is broken and abominable.

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

⁷ ¶ Remember thou that my life is wind and that my eyes shall not return to see good.

⁸ The eyes of those that see me now shall not see me again; thine eyes shall be upon me, and I will cease to be.

⁹ As the cloud is consumed and vanishes away, so he that goes down to Sheol, who shall not come up again;

¹⁰ he shall return no more to his house; neither shall his place know him any more.

¹¹ Therefore, I will not refrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.

¹² Am I a sea, or a dragon, that thou settest a watch over me?

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

¹⁴ then thou dost scare me with dreams and terrify me with visions.

¹⁵ And my soul thought it better to be strangled and desired death more than my bones.

¹⁶ I loathed life; I do not desire to live for ever; let me alone; for my days are vanity.

¹⁷ ¶ What is man that thou should magnify him and that thou should set thine heart upon him

¹⁸ and that thou should visit him every morning and try him every moment?

¹⁹ For how long wilt thou not depart from me, nor let me alone until I swallow down my spittle?

²⁰ If I have sinned, what shall I do unto thee, O thou preserver of men? Why hast thou set me as a mark against thee, so that I am a burden to myself?

²¹ And why dost thou not take away my rebellion and pass over my iniquity? For now I shall sleep in the dust; and if thou shalt seek me in the morning, I shall not be found.