Return, my daughters! Go, for I am too old to have a husband. If I said I have hope, if I should even have a husband tonight and also bear sons,

For we are sojourners before You, and tenants, as all our fathers were; our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no hope.

Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, said to Ezra, “We have been unfaithful to our God and have married foreign women from the peoples of the land; yet now there is hope for Israel in spite of this.

The Jews Destroy Their Enemies

Now in the twelfth month (that is, the month Adar), on the thirteenth day when the king’s command and edict were about to be executed, on the day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain the mastery over them, it was turned to the contrary so that the Jews themselves gained the mastery over those who hated them.

“Is not your fear of God your confidence, And the integrity of your ways your hope?

“So the helpless has hope, And unrighteousness must shut its mouth.

“The caravans of Tema looked, The travelers of Sheba hoped for them.

“My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, And come to an end without hope.

“So are the paths of all who forget God; And the hope of the godless will perish,

“Then you would trust, because there is hope; And you would look around and rest securely.

“But the eyes of the wicked will fail, And there will be no escape for them; And their hope is to breathe their last.”

“Though He slay me, I will hope in Him. Nevertheless I will argue my ways before Him.

“For there is hope for a tree, When it is cut down, that it will sprout again, And its shoots will not fail.

Water wears away stones, Its torrents wash away the dust of the earth; So You destroy man’s hope.

Where now is my hope? And who regards my hope?

“He breaks me down on every side, and I am gone; And He has uprooted my hope like a tree.

“For what is the hope of the godless when he is cut off, When God requires his life?

For the needy will not always be forgotten, Nor the hope of the afflicted perish forever.

Be strong and let your heart take courage, All you who hope in the Lord.

A horse is a false hope for victory; Nor does it deliver anyone by its great strength.

Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, On those who hope for His lovingkindness,

Let Your lovingkindness, O Lord, be upon us, According as we have hoped in You.

For I hope in You, O Lord; You will answer, O Lord my God.

“And now, Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in You.

Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him For the help of His presence.