Bible in 90 Days
Sabbath Reforms Begun
15 In those days I saw in Judah people treading winepresses on the Sabbath and bringing in heaps of grain and loading them on donkeys, and also wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of burdens that they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, and I warned them at that time against selling food.(A) 16 Tyrians also, who lived in the city, brought in fish and all kinds of merchandise and sold them on the Sabbath to the people of Judah in Jerusalem. 17 Then I contended with the nobles of Judah and said to them, “What is this evil thing that you are doing, profaning the Sabbath day?(B) 18 Did not your ancestors act in this way, and did not our God bring all this disaster on us and on this city? Yet you bring more wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath.”(C)
19 When it began to be dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be shut and gave orders that they should not be opened until after the Sabbath. And I set some of my servants over the gates, to prevent any burden from being brought in on the Sabbath day.(D) 20 Then the merchants and sellers of all kinds of merchandise spent the night outside Jerusalem once or twice. 21 But I warned them and said to them, “Why do you spend the night in front of the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you.” From that time on they did not come on the Sabbath.(E) 22 And I commanded the Levites that they should purify themselves and come and guard the gates, to keep the Sabbath day holy. Remember this also in my favor, O my God, and spare me according to the greatness of your steadfast love.(F)
Mixed Marriages Condemned
23 In those days also I saw Jews who had married women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab,(G) 24 and half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod, and they could not speak the language of Judah but spoke the language of various peoples. 25 And I contended with them and cursed them and beat some of the men and pulled out their hair, and I made them take an oath in the name of God, saying, “You shall not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves.(H) 26 Did not King Solomon of Israel sin on account of such women? Among the many nations there was no king like him, and he was beloved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel; nevertheless, foreign women made even him to sin.(I) 27 Shall we then listen to you and do all this great evil and act treacherously against our God by marrying foreign women?”(J)
28 And one of the sons of Jehoiada, son of the high priest Eliashib, was the son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite; I chased him away from me.(K) 29 Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood, the covenant of the priests and the Levites.(L)
30 Thus I cleansed them from everything foreign, and I established the duties of the priests and Levites, each in his work,(M) 31 and I provided for the wood offering, at appointed times, and for the first fruits. Remember me, O my God, for good.(N)
King Ahasuerus Deposes Queen Vashti
1 This happened in the days of Ahasuerus, the same Ahasuerus who ruled over one hundred twenty-seven provinces from India to Cush.(O) 2 In those days when King Ahasuerus sat on his royal throne in the citadel of Susa,(P) 3 in the third year of his reign, he gave a banquet for all his officials and ministers. The army of Persia and Media, the nobles, and the governors of the provinces were present,(Q) 4 while he displayed the great wealth of his kingdom and the splendor and pomp of his majesty for many days, one hundred eighty days in all.
5 When these days were completed, the king gave for all the people present in the citadel of Susa, both great and small, a banquet lasting for seven days, in the court of the garden of the king’s palace.(R) 6 There were white cotton curtains and blue hangings tied with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings[a] and marble pillars. There were couches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl, and colored stones.(S) 7 Drinks were served in golden goblets, goblets of different kinds, and the royal wine was lavished according to the bounty of the king.(T) 8 Drinking was by ordinance without restraint, for the king had given orders to all the officials of his palace to do as each one desired. 9 Furthermore, Queen Vashti gave a banquet for the women in the palace of King Ahasuerus.
10 On the seventh day, when the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha and Abagtha, Zethar and Carkas, the seven eunuchs who attended him,(U) 11 to bring Queen Vashti before the king wearing the royal crown, in order to show the peoples and the officials her beauty, for she was fair to behold. 12 But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s command conveyed by the eunuchs. At this the king was enraged, and his anger burned within him.
13 Then the king consulted the sages who knew the laws[b] (for this was the king’s procedure toward all who were versed in law and custom,(V) 14 and those next to him were Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven officials of Persia and Media who had access to the king and sat first in the kingdom):(W) 15 “According to the law, what is to be done with Queen Vashti because she has not performed the command of King Ahasuerus conveyed by the eunuchs?” 16 Then Memucan said in the presence of the king and the officials, “Queen Vashti has done wrong not only to the king but also to all the officials and all the peoples who are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus. 17 For this deed of the queen will be made known to all women, causing them to look with contempt on their husbands, since they will say, ‘King Ahasuerus commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him, and she did not come.’(X) 18 This very day the noble ladies of Persia and Media who have heard of the queen’s behavior will rebel against[c] the king’s officials, and there will be no end of contempt and wrath! 19 If it pleases the king, let a royal order go out from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes so that it may not be altered, that Vashti is never again to come before King Ahasuerus, and let the king give her royal position to another who is better than she.(Y) 20 So when the decree made by the king is proclaimed throughout all his kingdom, vast as it is, all women will give honor to their husbands, high and low alike.”(Z)
21 This advice pleased the king and the officials, and the king did as Memucan proposed; 22 he sent letters to all the royal provinces, to every province in its own script and to every people in its own language, declaring that every man should be master in his own house.[d](AA)
Esther Becomes Queen
2 After these things, when the anger of King Ahasuerus had abated, he remembered Vashti and what she had done and what had been decreed against her.(AB) 2 Then the king’s servants who attended him said, “Let beautiful young virgins be sought out for the king. 3 And let the king appoint commissioners in all the provinces of his kingdom to gather all the beautiful young virgins to the harem in the citadel of Susa under custody of Hegai, the king’s eunuch, who is in charge of the women; let their cosmetic treatments be given them.(AC) 4 And let the young woman who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti.” This pleased the king, and he did so.
5 Now there was a Jew in the citadel of Susa whose name was Mordecai son of Jair son of Shimei son of Kish, a Benjaminite,(AD) 6 who had been carried away from Jerusalem among the captives carried away with King Jeconiah of Judah, whom King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had carried away.(AE) 7 He had brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his cousin, for she had neither father nor mother; the young woman was fair and beautiful, and when her father and her mother died, Mordecai adopted her as his own daughter.(AF) 8 When the king’s order and his edict were proclaimed and when many young women were gathered in the citadel of Susa in custody of Hegai, Esther was taken into the king’s palace and put in custody of Hegai, who had charge of the women.(AG) 9 The young woman pleased him and won his favor, and he quickly provided her with her cosmetic treatments and her portion of food and with seven chosen maids from the king’s palace, and he advanced her and her maids to the best place in the harem.(AH) 10 Esther did not reveal her people or kindred, for Mordecai had charged her not to tell.(AI) 11 Every day Mordecai would walk back and forth in front of the court of the harem to learn how Esther was and how she fared.
12 The turn came for each young woman to go in to King Ahasuerus, after being twelve months under the regulations for the women, since this was the regular period of their cosmetic treatment: six months with oil of myrrh and six months with perfumes and cosmetics for women. 13 When the young woman went in to the king, she was given whatever she asked for to take with her from the harem to the king’s palace. 14 In the evening she went in; then in the morning she came back to the second harem in custody of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the concubines; she did not go in to the king again unless the king delighted in her and she was summoned by name.
15 When the turn came for Esther daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had adopted her as his own daughter, to go in to the king, she asked for nothing except what Hegai the king’s eunuch, who had charge of the women, advised. Now Esther was admired by all who saw her.(AJ) 16 When Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus in his royal palace in the tenth month, which is the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign, 17 the king loved Esther more than all the other women; of all the virgins she won his favor and devotion, so that he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.(AK) 18 Then the king gave a great banquet to all his officials and ministers: “Esther’s banquet.” He also granted a holiday[e] to the provinces and gave gifts with royal liberality.(AL)
Mordecai Discovers a Plot
19 When the virgins were being gathered together,[f] Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate. 20 Now Esther had not revealed her kindred or her people, as Mordecai had charged her, for Esther obeyed Mordecai just as when she was brought up by him.(AM) 21 In those days, while Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs who guarded the threshold, became angry and conspired to kill[g] King Ahasuerus.(AN) 22 But the matter came to the knowledge of Mordecai, and he told it to Queen Esther, and Esther told the king in the name of Mordecai.(AO) 23 When the affair was investigated and found to be so, both men were hung on the pole. It was recorded in the book of the annals in the presence of the king.(AP)
Haman Undertakes to Destroy the Jews
3 After these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite and advanced him and set his seat above all the officials who were with him. 2 And all the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate bowed down and did obeisance to Haman, for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai did not bow down or do obeisance.(AQ) 3 Then the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate said to Mordecai, “Why do you disobey the king’s command?”(AR) 4 When they spoke to him day after day and he would not listen to them, they told Haman, in order to see whether Mordecai’s words would stand, for he had told them that he was a Jew. 5 When Haman saw that Mordecai did not bow down or do obeisance to him, Haman was infuriated.(AS) 6 But he thought it beneath him to kill[h] only Mordecai. So, having been told who Mordecai’s people were, Haman plotted to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus.(AT)
7 In the first month, which is the month of Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, they cast Pur—which means “the lot”—before Haman for the day and for the month, and the lot fell on the thirteenth day of[i] the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar.(AU) 8 Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered and separated among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from those of every other people, and they do not keep the king’s laws, so that it is not appropriate for the king to tolerate them.(AV) 9 If it pleases the king, let a decree be issued for their destruction, and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who have charge of the king’s business, so that they may put it into the king’s treasuries.” 10 So the king took his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews.(AW) 11 The king said to Haman, “The money is given to you, and the people as well, to do with them as it seems good to you.”
12 Then the king’s secretaries were summoned on the thirteenth day of the first month, and an edict, according to all that Haman commanded, was written to the king’s satraps and to the governors over all the provinces and to the officials of all the peoples, to every province in its own script and every people in its own language; it was written in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with the king’s ring.(AX) 13 Letters were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces, giving orders to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all Jews, young and old, children and women, in one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods.(AY) 14 A copy of the document was to be issued as a decree in every province by proclamation, calling on all the peoples to be ready for that day.(AZ) 15 The couriers went quickly by order of the king, and the decree was issued in the citadel of Susa. The king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was thrown into confusion.(BA)
Esther Agrees to Help the Jews
4 When Mordecai learned all that had been done, Mordecai tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes and went through the city, wailing with a loud and bitter cry;(BB) 2 he went up to the entrance of the king’s gate, for no one might enter the king’s gate clothed with sackcloth. 3 In every province, wherever the king’s command and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting and weeping and lamenting, and most of them lay in sackcloth and ashes.(BC)
4 When Esther’s maids and her eunuchs came and told her, the queen was deeply distressed; she sent garments to clothe Mordecai, so that he might take off his sackcloth, but he would not accept them. 5 Then Esther called for Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs who had been appointed to attend her, and ordered him to go to Mordecai to learn what was happening and why. 6 Hathach went out to Mordecai in the open square of the city in front of the king’s gate, 7 and Mordecai told him all that had happened to him and the exact sum of money that Haman had promised to pay into the king’s treasuries for the destruction of the Jews.(BD) 8 Mordecai also gave him a copy of the written decree issued in Susa for their destruction, that he might show it to Esther, explain it to her, and charge her to go to the king to make supplication to him and to entreat him for her people.(BE)
9 Hathach went and told Esther what Mordecai had said. 10 Then Esther spoke to Hathach and gave him a message for Mordecai: 11 “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that, if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law: to be put to death. Only if the king holds out the golden scepter to someone may that person live. I myself have not been called to come in to the king for thirty days.”(BF) 12 When they told Mordecai what Esther had said, 13 Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. 14 For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. Who knows? Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this.” 15 Then Esther said in reply to Mordecai, 16 “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will also fast as you do. After that I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.”(BG) 17 Mordecai then went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him.
Esther’s Banquet
5 On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king’s palace, opposite the king’s hall. The king was sitting on his royal throne inside the palace opposite the entrance to the palace.(BH) 2 As soon as the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, she won his favor, and he held out to her the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther approached and touched the top of the scepter.(BI) 3 The king said to her, “What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? Even to half of my kingdom, it shall be given you.”(BJ) 4 Then Esther said, “If it pleases the king, let the king and Haman come today to a banquet that I have prepared for the king.” 5 Then the king said, “Bring Haman quickly, so that we may do as Esther desires.” So the king and Haman came to the banquet that Esther had prepared.(BK) 6 While they were drinking wine, the king said to Esther, “What is your petition? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.”(BL) 7 Then Esther answered, “This is my petition and request: 8 If I have won the king’s favor, and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and fulfill my request, let the king and Haman come tomorrow to the banquet that I will prepare for them, and then I will do as the king has said.”(BM)
Haman Plans to Have Mordecai Hung
9 Haman went out that day happy and in good spirits, but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king’s gate and observed that he neither rose nor trembled before him, he was infuriated with Mordecai;(BN) 10 nevertheless, Haman restrained himself and went home. Then he sent and called for his friends and his wife Zeresh,(BO) 11 and Haman recounted to them the splendor of his riches, the number of his sons, all the promotions with which the king had honored him, and how he had advanced him above the officials and the ministers of the king.(BP) 12 Haman added, “Even Queen Esther let no one but myself come with the king to the banquet that she prepared. Tomorrow also I am invited by her, together with the king.(BQ) 13 Yet all this does me no good so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.”(BR) 14 Then his wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, “Let a pole fifty cubits high be made, and in the morning tell the king to have Mordecai hung on it; then go with the king to the banquet in good spirits.” This advice pleased Haman, and he had the pole made.(BS)
The King Honors Mordecai
6 On that night the king could not sleep, and he gave orders to bring the book of records, the annals, and they were read to the king.(BT) 2 It was found written how Mordecai had told about Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs who guarded the threshold and who had conspired to kill[j] King Ahasuerus.(BU) 3 Then the king said, “What honor or distinction has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?” The king’s servants who attended him said, “Nothing has been done for him.” 4 The king said, “Who is in the court?” Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the king’s palace to speak to the king about having Mordecai hung on the pole that he had prepared for him.(BV) 5 So the king’s servants told him, “Haman is there, standing in the court.” The king said, “Let him come in.” 6 So Haman came in, and the king said to him, “What shall be done for the man whom the king wishes to honor?” Haman said to himself, “Whom would the king wish to honor more than me?”(BW) 7 So Haman said to the king, “For the man whom the king wishes to honor, 8 let royal robes be brought, which the king has worn, and a horse that the king has ridden, with a royal crown on its head.(BX) 9 Let the robes and the horse be handed over to one of the king’s most noble officials; let him[k] robe the man whom the king wishes to honor, and let him[l] conduct the man on horseback through the open square of the city, proclaiming before him: ‘Thus shall it be done for the man whom the king wishes to honor.’ ”(BY) 10 Then the king said to Haman, “Quickly, take the robes 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 mentioned.” 11 So Haman took the robes and the horse and robed Mordecai and led him riding through the open square of the city, proclaiming, “Thus shall it be done for the man whom the king wishes to honor.”
12 Then Mordecai returned to the king’s gate, but Haman hurried to his house, mourning and with his head covered.(BZ) 13 When Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had happened to him, his advisers and his wife Zeresh said to him, “If Mordecai, before whom your downfall has begun, is of the Jewish people, you will not prevail against him but will surely fall before him.”(CA)
Haman’s Downfall and Mordecai’s Advancement
14 While they were still talking with him, the king’s eunuchs arrived and hurried Haman off to the banquet that Esther had prepared.(CB) 7 1
Esther Saves the Jews
8 On that day King Ahasuerus gave to Queen Esther the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews, and Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told what he was to her.(CI) 2 Then the king took off his signet ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. So Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.(CJ)
3 Then Esther spoke again to the king; she fell at his feet, weeping and pleading with him to avert the evil design of Haman the Agagite and the plot that he had devised against the Jews. 4 The king held out the golden scepter to Esther, and Esther rose and stood before the king.(CK) 5 She said, “If it pleases the king, and if I have won his favor, and if the thing seems right before the king, and I have his approval, let an order be written to revoke the letters devised by Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote giving orders to destroy the Jews who are in all the provinces of the king.(CL) 6 For how can I bear to see the calamity that is coming on my people? Or how can I bear to see the destruction of my kindred?”(CM) 7 Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “See, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and they have hung him on the pole because he plotted to kill[o] the Jews.(CN) 8 You may write as you please with regard to the Jews, in the name of the king, and seal it with the king’s ring, for an edict written in the name of the king and sealed with the king’s ring cannot be revoked.”(CO)
9 The king’s secretaries were summoned at that time, in the third month, which is the month of Sivan, on the twenty-third day, and an edict was written, according to all that Mordecai commanded, to the Jews and to the satraps and the governors and the officials of the provinces from India to Cush, one hundred twenty-seven provinces, to every province in its own script and to every people in its own language, and also to the Jews in their script and their language.(CP) 10 He wrote letters in the name of King Ahasuerus, sealed them with the king’s ring, and sent them by mounted couriers riding on fast steeds bred from the royal herd.[p](CQ) 11 By these letters the king allowed the Jews who were in every city to assemble and defend their lives, to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate any armed force of any people or province that might attack them, their children, and their women, and to plunder their goods(CR) 12 on a single day throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar. 13 A copy of the writ was to be issued as a decree in every province and published to all peoples, and the Jews were to be ready on that day to take revenge on their enemies.(CS) 14 So the couriers, mounted on their royal steeds, hurried out, urged by the king’s command. The decree was issued in the citadel of Susa.
15 Then Mordecai went out from the presence of the king, wearing royal robes of blue and white, with a great golden crown and a mantle of fine linen and purple, while the city of Susa shouted and rejoiced.(CT) 16 For the Jews there was light and gladness, joy and honor. 17 In every province and in every city, wherever the king’s command and his edict came, there was gladness and joy among the Jews, a festival and a holiday. Furthermore, many of the peoples of the country professed to be Jews because the fear of the Jews had fallen upon them.(CU)
Destruction of the Enemies of the Jews
9 Now in the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, on the thirteenth day, when the king’s command and edict were about to be executed, on the very day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain power over them but that had been changed to a day when the Jews would gain power over their foes,(CV) 2 the Jews gathered in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to kill[q] those who had sought their ruin, and no one could withstand them, because the fear of them had fallen upon all peoples.(CW) 3 All the officials of the provinces, the satraps and the governors, and the royal officials were supporting the Jews because the fear of Mordecai had fallen upon them.(CX) 4 For Mordecai was powerful in the king’s palace, and his fame spread throughout all the provinces, because the man Mordecai was growing more and more powerful.(CY) 5 So the Jews struck down all their enemies with the sword, slaughtering and destroying them, and did as they pleased to those who hated them. 6 In the citadel of Susa the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred people. 7 They killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, 8 Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, 9 Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha, 10 the ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews, but they did not touch the plunder.(CZ)
11 That very day the number of those killed in the citadel of Susa was reported to the king. 12 The king said to Queen Esther, “In the citadel of Susa the Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred people and the ten sons of Haman. What have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces? Now what is your petition? It shall be granted you. And what further is your request? It shall be fulfilled.”(DA) 13 Esther said, “If it pleases the king, let the Jews who are in Susa be allowed tomorrow also to do according to this day’s edict, and let the ten sons of Haman be hung on the pole.”(DB) 14 So the king commanded this to be done; a decree was issued in Susa, and the ten sons of Haman were hung. 15 The Jews who were in Susa gathered also on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, and they killed three hundred persons in Susa, but they did not touch the plunder.(DC)
16 Now the other Jews who were in the king’s provinces also gathered to defend their lives and gained relief from their enemies and killed seventy-five thousand of those who hated them, but they laid no hands on the plunder.(DD) 17 This was on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth day they rested and made that a day of feasting and gladness.(DE)
The Feast of Purim Inaugurated
18 But the Jews who were in Susa gathered on the thirteenth day and on the fourteenth and rested on the fifteenth day, making that a day of feasting and gladness.(DF) 19 Therefore the Jews of the villages, who live in the open towns, hold the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a day for gladness and feasting, a holiday on which they send gifts of food to one another.(DG)
20 Mordecai recorded these things and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far, 21 enjoining them that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar and also the fifteenth day of the same month, year by year, 22 as the days on which the Jews gained relief from their enemies and as the month that had been turned for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday, that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, days for sending gifts of food to one another and presents to the poor.(DH) 23 So the Jews adopted as a custom what they had begun to do, as Mordecai had written to them.
24 For 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 crush and to destroy them,(DI) 25 but when Esther[r] came before the king, he gave orders in writing that the wicked plot that he had devised against the Jews should come upon his own head and that he and his sons should be hung on the pole.(DJ) 26 Therefore these days are called Purim, from the word Pur. Thus because of all that was written in this letter and of what they had faced in this matter and of what had happened to them,(DK) 27 the Jews established and accepted as a custom for themselves and their descendants and all who joined them that without fail they would continue to observe these two days every year, as it was written and at the time appointed.(DL) 28 These days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, in every family, province, and city, and these days of Purim should never fall into disuse among the Jews, nor should the commemoration of these days cease among their descendants.
29 Queen Esther daughter of Abihail, along with Mordecai the Jew, gave full written authority confirming this second letter about Purim.(DM) 30 Letters were sent wishing peace and security to all the Jews, to the one hundred twenty-seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus,(DN) 31 and giving orders that these days of Purim should be observed at their appointed seasons, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther enjoined on the Jews, just as they had laid down for themselves and for their descendants regulations concerning their fasts and their lamentations.(DO) 32 The command of Esther fixed these practices of Purim, and it was recorded in writing.(DP)
10 King Ahasuerus laid tribute on the land and on the islands of the sea.(DQ) 2 All the acts of his power and might, and the full account of the high honor of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him, are they not written in the annals of the kings of Media and Persia?(DR) 3 For Mordecai the Jew was next in rank to King Ahasuerus, and he was powerful among the Jews and popular with his many kindred, for he sought the good of his people and interceded for the welfare of all his descendants.(DS)
Job and His Family
1 There was once a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. That man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.(DT) 2 There were born to him seven sons and three daughters.(DU) 3 He had seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred donkeys, and very many servants, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the East.(DV) 4 His sons used to go and hold feasts in one another’s houses in turn, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 And when the feast days had run their course, Job would send and sanctify them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all, for Job said, “It may be that my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This is what Job always did.(DW)
Attack on Job’s Character
6 One day the heavenly beings[s] came to present themselves before the Lord, and the accuser[t] also came among them.(DX) 7 The Lord said to the accuser,[u] “Where have you come from?” The accuser[v] answered the Lord, “From going to and fro on the earth and from walking up and down on it.”(DY) 8 The Lord said to the accuser,[w] “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil.”(DZ) 9 Then the accuser[x] answered the Lord, “Does Job fear God for nothing?(EA) 10 Have you not put a fence around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.(EB) 11 But stretch out your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.”(EC) 12 The Lord said to the accuser,[y] “Very well, all that he has is in your power; only do not stretch out your hand against him!” So the accuser[z] went out from the presence of the Lord.
Job Loses Property and Children
13 One day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the eldest brother’s house, 14 a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were feeding beside them, 15 and the Sabeans fell on them and carried them off and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; I alone have escaped to tell you.”(ED) 16 While he was still speaking, another came and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them; I alone have escaped to tell you.”(EE) 17 While he was still speaking, another came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three columns, made a raid on the camels and carried them off, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; I alone have escaped to tell you.”(EF) 18 While he was still speaking, another came and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house,(EG) 19 and suddenly a great wind came across the desert, struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people, and they are dead; I alone have escaped to tell you.”(EH)
20 Then Job arose, tore his robe, shaved his head, and fell on the ground and worshiped.(EI) 21 He said, “Naked I came from 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.”(EJ)
22 In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrongdoing.(EK)
Attack on Job’s Health
2 One day the heavenly beings[aa] came to present themselves before the Lord, and the accuser[ab] also came among them to present himself before the Lord.(EL) 2 The Lord said to the accuser,[ac] “Where have you come from?” The accuser[ad] answered the Lord, “From going to and fro on the earth and from walking up and down on it.”(EM) 3 The Lord said to the accuser,[ae] “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil. He still persists in his integrity, although you incited me against him, to destroy him for no reason.”(EN) 4 Then the accuser[af] answered the Lord, “Skin for skin! All that the man has he will give for his life. 5 But stretch out your hand now and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.”(EO) 6 The Lord said to the accuser,[ag] “Very well, he is in your power; only spare his life.”(EP)
7 So the accuser[ah] went out from the presence of the Lord and inflicted loathsome sores on Job from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.(EQ) 8 Job[ai] took a potsherd with which to scrape himself and sat among the ashes.(ER)
9 Then his wife said to him, “Do you still persist in your integrity? Curse[aj] God and die.” 10 But he said to her, “You speak as any foolish woman would speak. Shall we receive good from God and not receive evil?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.(ES)
Job’s Three Friends
11 Now when Job’s three friends heard of all these troubles that had come upon him, each of them set out from his home—Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They met together to go and console and comfort him.(ET) 12 When they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him, and they raised their voices and wept aloud; they tore their robes and threw dust in the air upon their heads.(EU) 13 They sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great.(EV)
Job Curses the Day He Was Born
3 After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. 2 Job said:
3 “Let the day perish in which I was born,
and the night that said,
‘A male is conceived.’(EW)
4 Let that day be darkness!
May God above not seek it
or light shine on it.
5 Let gloom and deep darkness claim it.
Let clouds settle upon it;
let the blackness of the day terrify it.(EX)
6 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.(EY)
7 Yes, let that night be barren;
let no joyful cry be heard[ak] in it.
8 Let those curse it who curse the Sea,[al]
those who are skilled to rouse up Leviathan.(EZ)
9 Let the stars of its dawn be dark;
let it hope for light but have none;
may it not see the eyelids of the morning—(FA)
10 because it did not shut the doors of my mother’s womb
and hide trouble from my eyes.
11 “Why did I not die at birth,
come forth from the womb and expire?(FB)
12 Why were there knees to receive me
or breasts for me to suck?(FC)
13 Now I would be lying down and quiet;
I would be asleep; then I would be at rest
14 with kings and counselors of the earth
who rebuild ruins for themselves,(FD)
15 or with princes who have gold,
who fill their houses with silver.
16 Or why was I not buried like a stillborn child,
like an infant that never sees the light?(FE)
17 There the wicked cease from troubling,
and there the weary are at rest.(FF)
18 There the prisoners are at ease together;
they do not hear the voice of the taskmaster.
19 The small and the great are there,
and the slaves are free from their masters.
20 “Why is light given to one in misery
and life to the bitter in soul,(FG)
21 who long for death, but it does not come,
and dig for it more than for hidden treasures;(FH)
22 who rejoice exceedingly
and are glad when they find the grave?
23 Why is light given to one who cannot see the way,
whom God has fenced in?(FI)
24 For my sighing comes like[am] my bread,
and my groanings are poured out like water.(FJ)
25 Truly the thing that I fear comes upon me,
and what I dread befalls me.
26 I am not at ease, nor am I quiet;
I have no rest, but trouble comes.”
Eliphaz Speaks: Job Has Sinned
4 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:
2 “If one ventures a word with you, will you be offended?
But who can keep from speaking?(FK)
3 See, you have instructed many;
you have strengthened the weak hands.(FL)
4 Your words have supported those who were stumbling,
and you have made firm the feeble knees.(FM)
5 But now it has come to you, and you are impatient;
it touches you, and you are dismayed.(FN)
6 Is not your fear of God your confidence
and the integrity of your ways your hope?(FO)
7 “Think now, who that was innocent ever perished?
Or where were the upright cut off?(FP)
8 As I have seen, those who plow iniquity
and sow trouble reap the same.(FQ)
9 By the breath of God they perish,
and by the blast of his anger they are consumed.(FR)
10 The roar of the lion, the voice of the fierce lion,
and the teeth of the young lions are broken.(FS)
11 The strong lion perishes for lack of prey,
and the whelps of the lioness are scattered.(FT)
12 “Now a word came stealing to me;
my ear received the whisper of it.(FU)
13 Amid thoughts from visions of the night,
when deep sleep falls on mortals,
14 dread came upon me and trembling,
which made all my bones shake.(FV)
15 A spirit glided past my face;
the hair of my flesh bristled.
16 It stood still,
but I could not discern its appearance.
A form was before my eyes;
there was silence; then I heard a voice:
17 ‘Can mortals be righteous before[an] God?
Can humans be pure before[ao] their Maker?(FW)
18 Even in his servants he puts no trust,
and his angels he charges with error;(FX)
19 how much more those who live in houses of clay,
whose foundation is in the dust,
who are crushed like a moth.(FY)
20 Between morning and evening they are destroyed;
they perish forever without any regarding it.(FZ)
21 Their tent cord is plucked up within them,
and they die devoid of wisdom.’(GA)
Job Is Corrected by God
5 “Call now; is there anyone who will answer you?
To which of the holy ones will you turn?(GB)
2 Surely vexation kills the fool,
and jealousy slays the simple.(GC)
3 I have seen fools taking root,
but suddenly I cursed their dwelling.(GD)
4 Their children are far from safety,
they are crushed in the gate,
and there is no one to deliver them.(GE)
5 The hungry eat their harvest,
and they take it even out of the thorns,[ap]
and the thirsty[aq] pant after their wealth.(GF)
6 For misery does not come from the earth,
nor does trouble sprout from the ground,
7 but humans are born to trouble
just as sparks[ar] fly upward.(GG)
8 “As for me, I would seek God,
and to God I would commit my cause.(GH)
9 He does great things and unsearchable,
marvelous things without number.(GI)
10 He gives rain on the earth
and sends waters on the fields;(GJ)
11 he sets on high those who are lowly,
and those who mourn are lifted to safety.(GK)
12 He frustrates the devices of the crafty,
so that their hands achieve no success.(GL)
13 He takes the wise in their own craftiness,
and the schemes of the wily are brought to a quick end.
14 They meet with darkness in the daytime
and grope at noonday as in the night.(GM)
15 But he saves the needy from the sword of their mouth,
from the hand of the mighty.(GN)
16 So the poor have hope,
and injustice shuts its mouth.(GO)
17 “How happy is the one whom God reproves;
therefore do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.[as](GP)
18 For he wounds, but he binds up;
he strikes, but his hands heal.(GQ)
19 He will deliver you from six troubles;
in seven no harm shall touch you.(GR)
20 In famine he will redeem you from death
and in war from the power of the sword.(GS)
21 You shall be hidden from the scourge of the tongue
and shall not fear destruction when it comes.(GT)
22 At destruction and famine you shall laugh
and shall not fear the wild animals of the earth.(GU)
23 For you shall be in league with the stones of the field,
and the wild animals shall be at peace with you.(GV)
24 You shall know that your tent is safe;
you shall inspect your fold and miss nothing.(GW)
25 You shall know that your descendants will be many
and your offspring like the grass of the earth.(GX)
26 You shall come to your grave in ripe old age,
as a shock of grain comes up to the threshing floor in its season.(GY)
27 See, we have searched this out; it is true.
Hear, and know it for yourself.”
Job Replies: My Complaint Is Just
6 Then Job answered:
2 “O that my vexation were weighed
and all my calamity laid in the balances!(GZ)
3 For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea;
therefore my words have been rash.(HA)
4 For the arrows of the Almighty[at] are in me;
my spirit drinks their poison;
the terrors of God are arrayed against me.(HB)
5 Does the wild ass bray over its grass
or the ox low over its fodder?
6 Can that which is tasteless be eaten without salt,
or is there any flavor in the juice of mallows?[au]
7 My appetite refuses to touch them;
they are like food that is loathsome to me.[av]
8 “O that I might have my request
and that God would grant my desire,(HC)
9 that it would please God to crush me,
that he would let loose his hand and cut me off!(HD)
10 This would be my consolation;
I would even exult[aw] in unrelenting pain,
for I have not denied the words of the Holy One.(HE)
11 What is my strength, that I should wait?
And what is my end, that I should be patient?(HF)
12 Is my strength the strength of stones,
or is my flesh bronze?
13 In truth I have no help in me,
and any resource is driven from me.(HG)
14 “Those who withhold[ax] kindness from a friend
forsake the fear of the Almighty.[ay]
15 My companions are treacherous like a torrent bed,
like swollen streams that pass away,(HH)
16 that run dark with ice,
turbid with melting snow.
17 In time of heat they disappear;
when it is hot, they vanish from their place.(HI)
18 The caravans turn aside from their course;
they go up into the waste and perish.
19 The caravans of Tema look;
the travelers of Sheba hope.(HJ)
20 They are disappointed because they were confident;
they come there and are confounded.(HK)
21 Such you have now become to me;[az]
you see my calamity and are afraid.
22 Have I said, ‘Make me a gift’?
Or, ‘From your wealth offer a bribe for me’?
23 Or, ‘Save me from an opponent’s hand’?
Or, ‘Ransom me from the hand of oppressors’?
24 “Teach me, and I will be silent;
make me understand how I have gone wrong.
25 How forceful are honest words!
But your reproof, what does it reprove?(HL)
26 Do you think that you can reprove words,
as if the speech of the desperate were wind?(HM)
27 You would even cast lots over the orphan
and bargain over your friend.(HN)
28 “But now, be pleased to look at me,
for I will not lie to your face.(HO)
29 Turn, I pray; let no wrong be done.
Turn now; my vindication is at stake.
30 Is there any wrong on my tongue?
Cannot my taste discern calamity?(HP)
Job: My Suffering Is without End
7 “Do not human beings have a hard service on earth,
and are not their days like the days of a laborer?(HQ)
2 Like a slave who longs for the shadow,
and like laborers who look for their wages,(HR)
3 so I am allotted months of emptiness,
and nights of misery are apportioned to me.(HS)
4 When I lie down I say, ‘When shall I rise?’
But the night is long,
and I am full of tossing until dawn.(HT)
5 My flesh is clothed with worms and dirt;
my skin hardens, then breaks out again.
6 My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle
and come to their end without hope.[ba](HU)
7 “Remember that my life is a breath;
my eye will never again see good.(HV)
8 The eye that beholds me will see me no more;
while your eyes are upon me, I shall be gone.(HW)
9 As the cloud fades and vanishes,
so those who go down to Sheol do not come up;(HX)
10 they return no more to their houses,
nor do their places know them any more.(HY)
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.(HZ)
12 Am I the Sea or the Dragon
that you set a guard over me?(IA)
13 When I say, ‘My bed will comfort me,
my couch will ease my complaint,’
14 then you scare me with dreams
and terrify me with visions,(IB)
15 so that I would choose strangling
and death rather than this body.
16 I loathe my life; I would not live forever.
Let me alone, for my days are a breath.(IC)
17 What are humans, that you make so much of them,
that you set your mind on them,(ID)
18 visit them every morning,
test them every moment?
19 Will you not look away from me for a while,
let me alone until I swallow my spittle?
20 If I sin, what do I do to you, you watcher of humanity?
Why have you made me your target?
Why have I become a burden to you?(IE)
21 Why do you not pardon my transgression
and take away my iniquity?
For now I shall lie in the earth;
you will seek me, but I shall not be.”(IF)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.