 chapters 8 through 13 of the book of Nehemiah from the World English Bible. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by November 8, Echo Victor Victor. Nehemiah from the World English Bible, chapters 8 through 13. Chapter 8 All the people gathered themselves together as one man into the broad place that was before the water-gate, and they spoke to Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the Law of Moses which Yahweh had commanded to Israel. Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly, both men and women, and all who could hear with understanding, on the first day of the seventh month. He read therein before the broad place that was before the water-gate, from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women, and of those who could understand, and the ears of all the people were attentive to the book of the Law. Ezra the scribe stood on a pulpit of wood which they had made for the purpose, and beside him stood Matataya, and Shema, and Anaya, and Uriah, and Hilkiah, and Maesiah on his right hand, and on his left hand, Padaya, and Maeshael, and Malkijah, and Hashem, and Hashpedena, Zechariah, and Meshallam. Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and when he opened it all the people stood up, and Ezra blessed Yahweh the great God. All the people answered, Amen, Amen, with the lifting up of their hands. They bowed their heads, and worshiped Yahweh with their faces to the ground. Also Jeshua, and Bani, and Sheribiah, Jamon, Aqab, Shabbathai, Hodaia, Maesiah, Kulita, Azariah, Josabad, Hanan, Piliah, and the Levites, caused the people to understand the law, and the people stayed in their place. They read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and they gave the sense so that they understood the reading. Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, This day is holy to Yahweh your God. Not mourn nor weep, for all the people wept when they heard the words of the law. Then he said to them, Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to him for whom nothing is prepared. For this day is holy to our Lord. Don't be grieved, for the joy of Yahweh is your strength. So the Levites stilled all the people, saying, Hold your peace, for the day is holy, neither be grieved. All the people went their way to eat, and to drink, and to send portions, and to make great mirth, because they had understood the words that were declared to them. On the second day were gathered together the heads of Father's households of all the people, the priests and the Levites, to Ezra the scribe, even to give attention to the words of the law. They found written in the law how that Yahweh had commanded by Moses that the children of Israel should dwell in booths in the feast of the seventh month, and that they should publish and proclaim in all their cities, and in Jerusalem saying, Go out to the mountain, and get olive branches, and branches of wild olive, and myrtle branches, and palm branches, and branches of thick trees to make booths as it is written. So the people went out and brought them, and made themselves booths, every one on the roof of his house, and in their courts, and in the courts of God's house, and in the broad place of the Watergate, and in the broad place of the gate of Ephraim. All the assembly of those who had come again out of the captivity made booths, and lived in the booths, for since the days of Jeshua the son of Nun, to that day the children of Israel had not done so. There was very great gladness, also day by day, from the first day to the last day, he read in the book of the law of God. They kept the feast seven days, and on the eighth day was a solemn assembly, according to the ordinance. Chapter 9 Now in the twenty-fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, and with sackcloth, and earth on them. The seed of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners, and stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers. They stood up in their place, and read in the book of the law of Yahweh their God a fourth part of the day, and a fourth part they confessed, and worshiped Yahweh their God. Then Jeshua and Bani, Kadmahel, Shebeniah, Bani, Sheribiah, Bani, and Canaanai of the Levites stood up on the stairs, and cried with a loud voice to Yahweh their God. Then the Levites, Jeshua and Kadmahel, Bani, Hashemniah, Sheribiah, Hodaia, Shebeniah, and Pethahiah said, Stand up and bless Yahweh your God from everlasting to everlasting. Blessed be your glorious name, which has exalted above all blessing and praise. You are Yahweh, even you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their army, the earth, and all things that are on it, the seas and all that is in them, and you preserve them all. The army of heaven worships you. You are Yahweh, the God who chose Abram, and brought him out of Ur of the Caldees, and gave him the name of Abraham, and found his heart faithful before you, and made a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, and the Parasite, and the Jebusite and the Gurgashite, to give it to his seed, and have performed your words, for you are righteous. You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt and heard their cry by the Red Sea, and showed signs and wonders against Pharaoh, and against all his servants, and against all the people of his land, for you knew that they dealt proudly against them, and made a name for yourself as it is this day. You divided the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land, and you cast their pursuers into the depths, as a stone into the mighty waters. Moreover, in a pillar of cloud you led them by day, and in a pillar of fire by night, to give them light in the way in which they should go. You came down also on Mount Sinai, and spoke with them from heaven, and gave them right ordinances and true laws, good statutes and commandments, and made known to them your holy Sabbath, and commanded them commandments and statutes and a law by Moses your servant, and gave them bread from the sky for their hunger, and brought forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and commanded them that they should go in to possess the land which you had sworn to give them. But they and our fathers dealt proudly and hardened their neck, didn't listen to your commandments, and refused to obey neither were they mindful of your wonders that you did among them, but hardened their neck, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage. But you are a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abundant in loving-kindness, and didn't forsake them. Yes, when they had made them a molten calf, and said, This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt, and had committed awful blasphemies. Yet you and your manifold mercies didn't forsake them in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud didn't depart from over them by day to lead them in the way. Neither the pillar of fire by night to show them light, and the way in which they should go. You gave also your good spirit to instruct them, and didn't withhold your mana from their mouth, and gave them water for their thirst. Yes, forty years you sustained them in the wilderness. They lacked nothing. Their clothes didn't grow old, and their feet didn't swell. Moreover you gave them kingdoms and peoples which you allotted according to their portions, so they possessed the land of Sion, even the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og, king of Baishon. You also multiplied their children as the stars of the sky, and brought them into the land concerning which you said their fathers that they should go in to possess it. So the children went in and possessed the land, and you subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gave them into their hands with their kings, and the peoples of the land that they might do with them as they pleased. They took fortified cities and a rich land, and possessed houses full of all good things, cisterns dug out, vineyards, and olive groves, and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate, were filled, became fat, and delighted themselves in your great goodness. Nevertheless they were disobedient and rebelled against you, and cast your law behind their back, and killed your prophets that testified against them to turn them again to you, and they committed awful blasphemies. Therefore you delivered them into the hand of their adversaries who distressed them. In the time of their trouble, when they cried to you, you heard from heaven, and according to your manifold mercies you gave them saviours who saved them out of the hand of their adversaries. But after they had rest they did evil again before you, therefore left you them in the hand of their enemies so that they had the dominion over them. Yet when they returned and cried to you, you heard from heaven, and many times you delivered them according to your mercies, and testified against them that you might bring them again to your law. Yet they dealt proudly and didn't listen to your commandments, but sinned against your ordinances, which if a man does he shall live in them, turned their backs, stiffened their neck, and would not hear. Yet many years you put up with them, and testified against them by your spirit through your prophets. Yet would they not give ear, therefore you gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands. Nevertheless in your manifold mercies you did not make a full end of them, nor forsake them, for you are a gracious and merciful God. Now therefore our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and loving-kindness, don't let all the travail seem little before you that has come on us, on our kings, on our princes, and on our priests, and on our prophets, and on our fathers, and on all your people since the time of the kings of Assyria to this day. However you are just in all that has come on us, for you have dealt truly, but we have done wickedly. Neither have our kings, our princes, our priests, nor our fathers kept your law, nor listened to your commandments and your testimonies with which you testified against them. For they have not served you in their kingdom, and in your great goodness that you gave them, and in the large and rich land which you gave before them, neither did they turn from their wicked works. Behold, we are servants this day, and as for the land that you gave to our fathers to eat its fruit and its good, behold, we are servants in it. It yields much increase to the kings whom you have set over us because of our sins. Also they have power over our bodies and over our livestock at their pleasure, and we are in great distress. Yet for all this we make a sure covenant, and write it, and our princes, our Levites, and our priests seal it. Now those who sealed were Nehemiah the governor, the son of Hacalliah, and Zedekiah, Sariah, Azariah, Jeremiah, Pashur, Amariah, Malkijah, Hatush, Shevaniah, Malik, Herum, Miramoth, Obadiah, Daniel, Ginnithon, Beric, Michoam, Abijah, Majemen, Meaziah, Bilgei, Shemiah, these were the priests. The Levites, namely Jeshua the son of Azaniah, Benui of the sons of Henedad, Cadmiel, and their brothers Shevaniah, Hodaia, Calyta, Piliah, Hainan, Micah, Rehob, Hashabiah, Zachar, Sheribiah, Shebaniah, Hodaia, Benai, Benainu, the chiefs of the people, Parish, Paethmoab, Elam, Zatu, Benai, Benai, Asgad, Bebei, Adonijah, Begvei, Aden, Aeter, Hezekiah, Azar, Hodaia, Hashem, Bizei, Hera, Anathoth, Nobei, Magpiash, Michellem, Hezer, Meshezabil, Zadah, Jadua, Pelatiah, Hainan, Aniah, Hoshia, Hananiah, Hashem, Hilohech, Pilha, Shobek, Riham, Hashabnah, Meaziah, and Ahiah, Hainan, Ainen, Malik, Harim, Baena. The rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the porters, the singers, the Nethanim, and all those who had separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the law of God, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, everyone who had knowledge and understanding, they joined with their brothers, their nobles, and entered into a curse, and into an oath, to walk in God's law which was given by Moses, the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of Yahweh our Lord, and His ordinances, and His statutes, and that we would not give our daughters to the peoples of the land, nor take their daughters for our sons, and if the peoples of the land bring wares or any grain on the Sabbath day to sell, that we would not buy of them on the Sabbath or on a holy day, and that we would forgo the seventh year and the exaction of every debt. Also, we made ordinances for ourselves to charge ourselves yearly with the third part of a shekel, for the service of the house of our God, for the showbread, and for the continual meal offering, and for the continual burnt offering, for the Sabbaths, for the new moons, for the set feasts, and for the holy things, and for the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God. We cast lots, the priests, the Levites, and the people, for the wood offering, to bring it into the house of our God, according to our Father's houses, at times appointed year by year, to burn on the altar of Yahweh our God, as it is written in the law, and to bring the first fruits of our ground, and the first fruits of all fruit of all kinds of trees year by year, to the house of Yahweh. Also, the first born of our sons, and of our livestock, as it is written in the law, and the first born of our herds, and of our flocks, to bring to the house of our God, to the priests who minister in the house of our God, and that we should bring the first fruits of our dough, and our wave offerings, and the fruit of all kinds of trees, the new wine, and the oil to the priests, to the rooms of the house of our God, and the tithes of our ground, to the Levites, for they, the Levites, take the tithes in all the cities of our tillage. The priest, the son of Aaron, shall be with the Levites when the Levites take tithes, and the Levites shall bring up the tithes, of the tithes, to the house of our God, to the rooms, into the treasure house, for the children of Israel, and the children of Levites shall bring the wave offering of the grain, of the new wine, and of the oil to the rooms, where are the vessels of the sanctuary, and the priests who minister, and the porters, and the singers. We will not forsake the house of our God. The princes of the people lived in Jerusalem. The rest of the people also cast lots, to bring one of ten to dwell in Jerusalem, the holy city, and nine parts in the other cities. The people blessed all the men who willingly offered themselves to dwell in Jerusalem. Now these are the chiefs of the province who lived in Jerusalem, but in the cities of Judah every one lived in his possession in their cities, Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the Nephilim, and the children of Solomon's servants. In Jerusalem lived certain of the children of Judah, and of the children of Benjamin, of the children of Judah, Ataya, the son of Uzziah, the son of Zechariah, the son of Amoriah, the son of Shephatiah, the son of Mahallelil, of the children of Pires, and Maesiah, the son of Barak, the son of Colhosi, the son of Hiziah, the son of Adiah, the son of Joyarib, the son of Zechariah, the son of the Shylanite, all the sons of Pires, who lived in Jerusalem, were 468 valiant men. These are the sons of Benjamin, Salu, the son of Meshallam, the son of Joed, the son of Padaya, the son of Koliah, the son of Maesiah, the son of Iphiel, the son of Jeshiah, after him Gebei, Solei, 928. Joel, the son of Zechariah, was their overseer, and Judah, the son of Hassenua, was second over the city. Of the priests, Jediah, the son of Joyarib, Jacob, Soriah, the son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshallam, the son of Zadok, the son of Mariahoth, the son of Ahaita, the ruler of God's house, and their brothers who did the work of the house, 822. And Adiah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Pelaliah, the son of Amzai, the son of Zechariah, the son of Pashur, the son of Malkijah, and his brothers, chiefs of father's households, 242. And Amashzai, the son of Azaril, the son of Ashzai, the son of Meshallamoth, the son of Imr, and their brothers, mighty men of Valar, 128. And their overseer was Zabdel, the son of Haggadolam. Of the Levites, Shamiah, the son of Hashub, the son of Ezraikam, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Bani, and Shabbathai, and Josabad, of the chiefs of the Levites, who had the oversight of the outward business of God's house. And Matnaya, the son of Micah, the son of Zabdai, the son of Asaph, who was the chief to begin the thanksgiving in prayer, was Babbukaya, the second among his brothers, and Abda, the son of Shamiah, the son of Gaelol, the son of Jeditham, all the Levites in the holy city were 284. Moreover, the porters, Aqab, Talman, and their brothers, who kept watch at the gates, were 172. The residue of Israel, of the priests, the Levites, were in all the cities of Judah, everyone in his inheritance. But the Nethnim lived in Ophol, and Ziah and Gishpa were over the Nethnim. The overseer also of the Levites at Jerusalem was Uzai, the son of Bani, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Matnaya, the son of Micah, of the sons of Asaph, the singers, over the business of God's house. For there was a commandment from the king concerning them, and a settled provision for the singers as every day required. Pethahiah, the son of Meshezabil, of the children of Zira, the son of Judah, was at the king's hand in all matters concerning the people. As for the villages with their fields, some of the children of Judah lived in Kariath Arba, and its towns, and in Daiban, and its towns, and in Jakabsil, and its villages, and in Jeshua, and in Moledah, and in Beth Pellet, and in Hazar Shul, and in Beersheba, and its towns, and in Ziklag, and in Makona, and in its towns, and in Enrimon, and in Zora, and in Jarmath, Zanoa, Adolam, and their villages, Lakish, and its fields, Azika, and its towns. So they encamped from Beersheba to the valley of Hinnom. The children of Benjamin also lived from Giba onward, at Micmash, and Ijah, and at Bethel, and its towns, at Anathoth, Knob, Ananiah, Hazar, Reima, Getayam, Hadid, Zaboam, Nabalit, Lod, and Ono, the valley of Craftsmen. Of the Levites, certain divisions in Judah settled in Benjamin's territory. Chapter 12. Now these are the priests and the Levites who went up with Zerubb Babel, the son of Shialta El, and Jeshua, Sariah, Jeremiah, Ezra, Amariah, Malak, Hatush, Shekiniah, Riham, Merimoth, Iddo, Genethoi, Abijah, Majemen, Meyadaya, Bilga, Shemaya, and Joyarib, Jedaya, Salu, Amuk, Hilkaya, Jedaya. These were the chiefs of the priests and of their brothers in the days of Jeshua. Moreover, the Levites, Jeshua, Binyuai, Kadmiel, Shereibaya, Judah, and Matnaia, who was over the Thanksgiving, he and his brothers. Also, Bacchia and Ono, their brothers, were over against them according to their offices. Jeshua became the father of Joiachim, and Joiachim became the father of Eliashib, and Eliashib became the father of Joiada, and Joiada became the father of Jonathan, and Jonathan became the father of Jadua. In the days of Joiachim were priests, heads of fathers' households, of Sariah, Mariah, of Jeremiah, Hananiah, of Ezra, Michellem, of Amariah, Jehohanan, of Malachi, Jonathan, of Shabaniah, Joseph, of Haram, Adna, of Meriloth, Helkaya, of Iddo, Zechariah, of Genethen, Michellem, of Abijah, Zikray, of Manayaman, of Moedaya, Piltaea, of Bilga, Shemua, of Shemaya, Jehanathan, and of Joiarib, Matina, of Jadaya, Azai, of Soleia, Kalei, of Amek, Eber, of Hilkaya, Hashabiah, of Jadaya, Nathaniel. As for the Levites in the days of Eliashib, Joiada, and Johanan, and Jadua, there were recorded the heads of fathers' households, also the priests in the reign of Darius the Persian. The sons of Levi, heads of fathers' households, were written in the book of the Chronicles, even until the days of Johanan, the son of Eliashib. The chiefs of the Levites, Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua, the son of Kadamel, with their brothers over against them, to praise and give thanks according to the commandment of David, the man of God, watch next to watch. Matiniah and Bakbikaya, Obadiah, Michellem, Talman, Aqab, were porters keeping the watch at the storehouses of the gates. These were in the days of Joiakim, the son of Jeshua, the son of Josadak, and in the days of Nehemiah the governor, and of Ezra the priest the scribe. At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, they sought the Levites out of all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem, to keep the dedication with gladness, both with giving thanks, and with singing with cymbals, stringed instruments, and with harps. The sons of the singers gathered themselves together both out of the plain around Jerusalem, and from the villages of the Natothathites, also from Beth Gilgal, and out of the fields of Giba, and as Mavith, for the singers had built them villages around Jerusalem. The priests and the Levites purified themselves, and they purified the people and the gates and the wall. Then I brought up the princes of Judah on the wall, and appointed two great companies who gave thanks and went in procession. One went on the right hand on the wall toward the Dung Gate, and after them went Hoshiah, and half of the princes of Judah, and Azariah, Ezra, and Meshelem, Judah, and Benjamin, and Shamiah, and Jeremiah, and certain of the priests' sons with trumpets, Zachariah the son of Jonathan, the son of Shamiah, the son of Mataniah, the son of Micaiah, the son of Zachar, the son of Asaph, and his brothers, Shamiah, and Azaral, Mililai, Gililai, Mayai, Nethanyel, and Judah, Hanaynai, with the musical instruments of David, the man of God, and Ezra the scribe was before them. By the spring gate and straight before them they went up by the stairs of the city of David, at the ascent of the wall, above the house of David, even to the water gate eastward. The other company of those who gave thanks went to meet them, and I after them with the half of the people on the wall, above the tower of the furnaces, even to the broad wall, and above the gate of Ephraim, and by the old gate, and by the fish gate, and the tower of Hananeel, and the tower of Hamiah, even to the sheep gate, and they stood still in the gate of the guard. So stood the two companies of those who gave thanks in God's house, and I and half of the rulers with me, and the priests, Eliakim, Maesaiah, Minaiamin, Micaiah, Ila-O'inae, Zechariah, and Hananiah with trumpets, and Maesaiah and Shamiah, and Eleazar, and Azai, and Jehohanen, and Malkijah, and Elam, and Ezra. The singers sang loud with Jezrehiah their overseer. They offered great sacrifices that day, and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy, and the women also and the children rejoiced, so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off. On that day were men appointed over the rooms for the treasures, for the wave offerings, for the first fruits, and for the tithes to gather into them according to the fields of the cities, the portions appointed by the law for the priests and Levites. For Judah rejoiced for the priests and for the Levites who waited. They performed the duty of their God, and the duty of the purification, and so did the singers and the porters according to the commandment of David, and of Solomon his son. For in the days of David and Asaph of old, there was a chief of the singers, and songs of praise and thanksgiving to God. All Israel in the days of Zerubb Babel and the days of Nehemiah gave the portions of the singers and the porters as every day required, and they set apart that which was for the Levites, and the Levites set apart that which was for the sons of Aaron. Should not enter into the assembly of God forever, because they didn't meet the children of Israel with bread and with water, but hired Balaam against them to curse them. However our God turned the curse into a blessing. It came to pass when they had heard the law, that they separated from Israel all the mixed multitude. Now before this Eliashub the priest, who was appointed over the rooms of the house of our God, being allied to Tobiah, had prepared for him a great room where before they laid the meal offerings, the frankincense and the vessels, and the tithes of the grain, the new wine and the oil, which were given by commandment to the Levites and the singers and the porters, and the wave offerings for the priests. But in all this I was not at Jerusalem, for in the two-and-thirtieth year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I went to the king, and after certain days asked I leave of the king, and I came to Jerusalem, and understood the evil that Eliashub had done for Tobiah, in preparing him a room in the courts of God's house. It grieved me severely, therefore I cast forth all the household stuff of Tobiah out of the room. Then I commanded, and they cleansed the rooms, and there brought I again the vessels of God's house. With the meal offerings and the frankincense, I perceived that the portions of the Levites had not been given them, so that the Levites and the singers who did the work had fled every one to his field. Then I contended with the rulers and said, Why is God's house forsaken? I gathered them together, and set them in their place. Then brought all Judah the tithe of the grain, and the new wine, and the oil to the treasuries. I made treasurers over the treasuries, Shelly Maya the priest, and Zadok the scribe, and of the Levites Padaya, and next to them was Hanon the son of Zachar the son of Mattaniah, for they were counted faithful, and their business was to distribute to their brothers. Remember me, my God, concerning this, and don't wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God, and for its observances. In those days saw I and Judah some men treading wine presses on the Sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and loading donkeys as also wine, grapes, and figs, and all kinds of burdens which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And I testified against them in the day in which they sold food. There lived men of tire also therein, who brought in fish, and all kinds of wares, and sold on the Sabbath to the children of Judah and in Jerusalem. Then I contended with the nobles of Judah and said to them, What evil thing is this that you do, and profane the Sabbath day? Didn't your fathers do thus, and didn't our God bring all this evil on us, and on this city, yet you bring more wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath? It came to pass that when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the Sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be shut, and commanded that they should not be opened until after the Sabbath. I set some of my servants over the gates, that no burden should be brought in on the Sabbath day. So the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares lodged outside of Jerusalem once or twice. Then I testified against them and said to them, Why do you stay around the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you. From that time on they didn't come on the Sabbath. I commanded the Levites that they should purify themselves, and that they should come and keep the gates to sanctify the Sabbath day. Remember to me, my God, this also, and spare me according to the greatness of your loving-kindness. In those days also I saw the Jews who had married women of Ashtad, of Ammon, and of Moab, and their children spoke half in the speech of Ashtad, and could not speak in the Jews language, but according to the language of each people. I contended with them, and cursed them, and struck certain of them, and plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God, You shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor take their daughters for your sons, or for yourselves. Didn't Solomon, king of Israel, sin by these things? Yet among many nations was there no king like him, and he was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel. Nevertheless, foreign women caused even him to sin. Shall we then listen to you to do all this great evil, to trespass against our God in marrying foreign women? One of the sons of Joyadah, the son of Eliashub, the high priest, was son-in-law to sand-ballot the Horonite, therefore I chased him from me. Remember them, my God, because they have defiled the priesthood, and the covenant of the priesthood, and of the Levites. Thus I cleansed them from all foreigners, and appointed duties for the priests, and for the Levites, every one in his work, and for the wood-offering, at times appointed, and for the first fruits. Remember me, my God, for good. Now it happened in the days of Ahasuerus, this is the Ahasuerus who reigned from India even to Ethiopia, over 127 provinces. Then in those days when the king Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the palace, in the third year of his reign, he made a feast for all his princes and his servants, the power of Persia and media, the nobles and princes of the provinces, being before him. He displayed the riches of his glorious kingdom, and the honor of his excellent majesty many days, even 180 days. When these days were fulfilled, the king made a seven-day feast for all the people who were present in Shushan the palace, both great and small, in the court of the garden of the king's palace. There were hangings of white, green, and blue material, fastened with cords of fine linen and purple, to silver rings and marble pillars. The couches were of gold and silver, on a pavement of red, white, yellow, and black marble. They gave them drinks in golden vessels of various kinds, including royal wine and abundance, according to the bounty of the king. In accordance with the law the drinking was not compulsory, for so the king had instructed all the officials of his house that they should do according to every man's pleasure. Also Vashti the queen made a feast for the women in the royal house which belonged to King Ahasuerus. On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was married with wine, he commanded Mahuman, Bistha, Harbona, Bigtha, and Abaghtha, Zethaar and Karkas, the seven eunuchs who served in the presence of Ahasuerus the king, to bring Vashti the queen before the king with the royal crown, to show the people and the princes her beauty, for she was beautiful. But the queen Vashti refused to come at the king's commandment by the eunuchs. Therefore the king was very angry, and his anger burned in him. Then the king said to the wise men who knew the times, for it was the king's custom to consult those who knew the law and judgment, and next to him were Karshena, Shethaar, Admatha, Tarshish, Maris, Marseena and Mahuman, the seven princes of Persia and Media, who saw the king's face and sat first in the kingdom. What shall we do to the queen Vashti according to law, because she has not done the bidding of the king Ahasuerus by the eunuchs? Mahuman answered before the king and the princes. Vashti the queen has not done wrong to just the king, but also to all the princes, and to all the people who are in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus. For this deed of the queen will become known to all women, causing them to show contempt for their husbands when it is reported King Ahasuerus commanded Vashti the queen to be brought in before him, but she didn't come. Today the princes of Persia and Media, who have heard of the queen's deed, will tell all the king's princes. This will cause much contempt and wrath. If it please the king, let a royal commandment go from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes, so that it cannot be altered, that Vashti may never again come before King Ahasuerus, and let the king give her royal estate to another who is better than she. When the king's decree which he shall make is published throughout all his kingdom, for it is great, all the wives will give their husbands honour both great and small. This advice pleased the king and the princes, and the king did according to the word of Mahuman, for he sent letters into all the king's provinces, into every province according to its writing, and to every people in their language, that every man should rule his own house, speaking in the language of his own people. Chapter 2 After these things, when the wrath of King Ahasuerus was pacified, he remembered Vashti and what she had done, and what was decreed against her. Then the king's servants, who served him, said, Let beautiful young virgins be sought for the king. Let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, that they may gather together all the beautiful young virgins to the citadel of Sousa, to the women's house, to the custody of Haggai the king's eunuch, keeper of the women. Let cosmetics be given them, and let the maiden who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti. The thing pleased the king, and he did so. There was a certain Jew in the citadel of Sousa whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjaminite, who had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captives, who had been carried away with Jecaniah, king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had carried away. He brought a padassa, that is Esther, his uncle's daughter, for she had neither father nor mother. The maiden was fair and beautiful, and when her father and mother were dead Mordecai took her for his own daughter. So it happened, when the king's commandment and his decree was heard, and when many maidens were gathered together to the citadel of Sousa, to the custody of Haggai, that Esther was taken into the king's house, to the custody of Haggai, keeper of the women. The maiden pleased him, and she obtained kindness from him. He quickly gave her cosmetics and her portions of food, and the southern-choice maidens who were to be given her out of the king's house. He moved her and her maidens to the best place in the women's house. Esther had not made known her people nor her relatives, because Mordecai had instructed her that she should not make them known. Mordecai walked every day in front of the court of the women's house, to find out how Esther was doing, and what would become of her. Each young woman's turn came to go in to King Ahasuerus after her purification for twelve months, for so were the days of their purification accomplished, six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with sweet fragrances, and with preparations for beautifying women. The young woman then came to the king like this. Whatever she desired was given her to go with her out of the women's house to the king's house. In the evening she went, and on the next day she returned into the second women's house to the custody of Shashkas, the king's unit, who kept the concubines. She came into the king no more, unless the king delighted in her, and she was called by name. Now, when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abihail, the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her for his daughter, came to go into the king, she required nothing but what Hegai the king's unit, the keeper of the women, advised. Esther obtained favour in the sight of all those who looked at her. So Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus into his royal house in the tenth month, which is the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign. The king loved Esther more than all the women, and she obtained favour and kindness in his sight more than all the virgins, so that he set the royal crown on her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti. Then the king made a great feast for all his princes and his servants, even Esther's feast, and he proclaimed a holiday in the provinces, and gave gifts according to the king's bounty. When the virgins were gathered together the second time, Mordecai was sitting in the king's gate. Esther had not yet made known her relatives nor her people, as Mordecai had commanded her, for Esther obeyed Mordecai, like she did when she was brought up by him. In those days, while Mordecai was sitting in the king's gate, two of the king's eunuchs, bigsenn and teresh, who were doorkeepers, were angry and sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. This thing became known to Mordecai, who informed Esther the queen, and Esther informed the king in Mordecai's name. When this matter was investigated, and it was found to be so, they were both hanged on a tree, and it was written in the book of the Chronicles in the king's presence. Chapter 3 After these things, King Ahasuerus promoted Haman, the son of Hamedatha, the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat above all the princes who were with him. All the king's servants, who were in the king's gate, bowed down and paid homage to Haman, for the king had so commanded concerning him, but Mordecai didn't bow down or pay him homage. The king's servants, who were in the king's gate, said to Mordecai, why do you disobey the king's commandment? Now it came to pass when they spoke daily to him, and he didn't listen to them, that they told Haman to see whether Mordecai's reason would stand, or he had told them that he was a Jew. When Haman saw that Mordecai didn't bow down nor pay him homage, Haman was full of wrath. But he scorned the thought of laying hands on Mordecai alone, for they had made known to him Mordecai's people. Therefore, Haman sought to destroy all the Jews who were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even Mordecai's people. In the first month, which is a month of Nyssen, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, they cast Per, that is, the lot, before Haman from day to day and from month to month, and he chose the twelfth month, which is a month of Adar. Haman said to King Ahasuerus, There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom, and their laws are different than other peoples. They don't keep the king's laws. Therefore, it is not for the king's profit to allow them to remain. If it pleases the king, let it be written that they be destroyed, and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who are in charge of the king's business, to bring it into the king's treasuries. The king took his ring from his hand and gave it to Haman, the son of Hamedatha, the agigite, the Jews' enemy. The king said to Haman, The silver is given to you, the people also, to do with them as it seems good to you. Then the king's scribes were called in the first month, on the thirteenth day of the month, and all that Haman commanded was written to the king's satraps and to the governors who were over every province and to the princes of every people, to every province according to its writing and to every people in their language. It was written in the name of King Ahasuerus, and it was sealed with the king's ring. Letters were sent by couriers 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, even on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to plunder their possessions. A copy of the letter, that the decree should be given out in every province, was published to all the peoples, that they should be ready against that day. The couriers went forth in haste by the king's commandment, and the decree was given out in the citadel of Suza. The king and Haman sat down to drink. But the city of Shushan was perplexed. Chapter 4 Now in Mordecai found out all that was done, Mordecai tore his clothes and put on satcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and wailed loudly and bitterly. He came even before the king's gate, for no one is allowed inside the king's gate clothes and satcloth. In every province, wherever the king's commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing, and many lay in satcloth and ashes. Esther's maidens and her eunuchs came and told her this, and the queen was exceedingly grieved. She sent clothing to Mordecai to replace his satcloth, but he didn't receive it. Then Esther called for Hasak, one of the king's eunuchs, whom he had appointed to attend her, and command him to go to Mordecai to find out what this was and why it was. So Hasak went out to Mordecai, to city square which was before the king's gate. Mordecai told him of all that had happened to him, and the exact sum of money that Haman had promised to pay to the king's treasuries for the destruction of the Jews. He also gave him a copy of the writing of the decree that was given out in Shushan to destroy them, to show it to Esther and to declare it to her, and to urge her to go into the king, to make supplication to him, and to make requests before him for her people. Hasak came and told Esther the words of Mordecai, then Esther spoke to Hasak and gave him a message to Mordecai. All the king's servants and the people of the king's provinces know that whoever, whether man or woman, comes to the king into the inner court without being called, there is one law for him that he be put to death, except those to whom the king might hold out the golden scepter that he may live. I have not been called to come into the king these 30 days. They told Mordecai Esther's words. Then Mordecai asked them to return to Esther. Don't think to yourself that you will escape in the king's house any more than all the Jews, for if you remain silent now, then relief and deliverance will come to the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. Who knows if you haven't come to the kingdom for such a time as this. Then Esther asked them to answer Mordecai. Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan and fast for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day. I and my maidens will also fast the same way. Then I will go into the king, which is against the law, and if I perish, I perish. So Mordecai went his way and did according to all the Esther had commanded him. Chapter 5 Now it happened on the third day that Esther put on her royal clothing and stood in the inner court of the king's house, next to the king's house. The king sat on his royal throne in the royal house, next to the entrance of the house. When the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, she obtained favor in his sight, and the king held out to Esther, the golden scepter that was in his hand. So Esther came near and touched the top of the scepter. Then the king asked her, What would you like, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given you, even to half of the kingdom. Esther said, If it seems good to the king, let the king and Haman come today to the banquet that I have prepared for him. Then the king said, Bring Haman quickly, so that it may be done as Esther had said. So the king and Haman came to the banquet that Esther had repaired. The king said to Esther at the banquet of wine, What is your petition? It shall be granted you. What is your request? Even to half of the kingdom, it shall be performed. Then Esther answered and said, My petition and my request is this. If I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it please the king to grant my petition and to perform my request, let the king and Haman come to the banquet that I will prepare for them, and I will do tomorrow, as the king has said. Then Haman went out that day joyful and glad of heart. But when Haman saw Mordecai and the king's gate, that he didn't stand up nor move for him, he was filled with wrath against Mordecai. Nevertheless, Haman restrained himself and went home. There he sent and called for his friends and xerish his wife. Haman recounted to them the glory of his riches, the multitude of his children, all the things in which the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the princes and servants of the king. Haman also said, Yes, Esther the queen let no man come in with the king to the banquet that she had prepared but myself. And tomorrow I am also invited by her together with the king. Yet all this avails me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew standing at the king's gate. Then xerish his wife and all his friends said to him, Let a gallows be made, fifty cubits high, and in the morning speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on it. Then go in merrily with the king to the banquet. This please, Taman, so he had the gallows made. Chapter 6 On that night the king couldn't sleep. He commanded the book of records of the chronicles to be brought, and they were read to the king. It was found written that Mordecai had told of Big Thana and Terish, two of the king's eunuchs, who were doorkeepers, who had tried to lay hands on the king Ahasuerus. The king said, What honor and dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this? The king's servants, who attended him, said, Nothing has been done for him. The king said, Who is in the court? Now, Haman had come into the outer court of the king's house to speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him. The king's servant said to him, Behold, Haman stands in the court. The king said, Let him come in. So Haman came in. The king said to him, What shall be done to the man whom the king delights to honor? Now, Haman said in his heart, Who would the king delight to honor more than myself? Haman said to the king, For the man whom the king delights to honor, Let royal clothing be brought, Which the king uses to wear, And the horse that the king rides on, And on the head of which a crowned royal is set. Let the clothing and the horse be Delivered to the hand of one of the king's most noble princes, That they may array the man whom the king delights to honor with them, And have him ride on horseback through the city square, And proclaim before him, Thus shall be done to the man whom the king delights to honor. Then the king said to Haman, Hurry, and take the clothing and the horse as you have said, And do this for Mordecai the Jew who sits at the king's gate, Led nothing fail of all that you have spoken. Then Haman took the clothing and the horse, And arrayed Mordecai and had him ride through the city square, And proclaimed before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor. Mordecai came back to the king's gate, But Haman hurried to his house, Mourning and having his head covered. Haman recounted to Xerish his wife, And all his friends, everything that had happened to him. Then his wise men and Xerish his wife told him, If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish descent, He will not prevail against him, for you will surely fall before him. While they were yet talking with him, the king's eunuchs came, And hurried to bring Haman to the banquet that Esther had prepared. Chapter 7 So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen. The king said again to Esther, on the second day at the banquet of wine, What is your petition, queen Esther? It shall be granted you, What is your request? Even to half the kingdom it shall be performed. Then Esther the queen answered, If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, Let my life be given me at my petition, And my people at my request, For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for bond-servants and bond-maids, I would have held my peace, although the adversary could not have compensated for the king's loss. Then king Ahasuerus said to Esther the queen, Who is he, and where is he, who dared presume in his heart to do so? Esther said, an adversary and an enemy, even the swick at Haman. Then Haman was afraid before the king and queen. The king arose in his wrath from the banquet of wine and went into the palace garden. 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. Then the king returned out of the palace garden into the place of the banquet of wine, and Haman had fallen on the couch where Esther was. Then the king said, Will he even assault the queen in front of me in the house? As the word went out of the king's mouth, they covered Haman's face. Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs, who were with the king, said, Behold the gallows fifty feet high, which Haman has made for Mordecai, who spoke good for the king, is standing at Haman's house. The king said, Hang him on it. So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king's wrath was pacified. Chapter 8 On that day, king Ahasuerus gave the house of Haman, the jew's enemy, to Esther the queen. Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told what he was to her. The king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman. Esther spoke yet again before the king, and fell down at his feet, and begged him with tears to put away the mischief of Haman the Aggigite, and his device that he had devised against the jews. Then the king held out to Esther the golden scepter, so Esther arose and stood before the king. She said, If it pleases the king, and if I have found favor in his sight, and the things seem right to the king, and I am pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to reverse the letters devised by Haman, the son of Hamedatha, the Aggigite, which he wrote to destroy the jews who are in all the king's provinces, for how can I endure to see the evil that would come to my people? How can I endure to see the destruction of my relatives? Then King Ahasuerus said to Esther the queen, and to Mordecai the jew. See, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and him they have hanged on the gallows, because he laid his hand on the jews. Right also to 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 reversed by any man. Then the king's scribes were called at that time, in the third month seven, on the twenty-third day of the month, and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded to the jews, and to the satraps, and the governors and princes of the provinces, which are from India to Ethiopia, 127 provinces, to every province according to its writing, and to every people according to their language, and to the jews in their writing, and in their language. He wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus, and sealed it with the king's ring, and sent letters by courier on horseback, writing on royal horses that were bred from swift steeds. In those letters the king granted the jews, who were in every city, to gather themselves together, and to defend their life, to destroy, to kill, and to cause the parish, all the power of the people and province that would assault them, their little ones and women, and plunder their possessions, on one day in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is a month of Adar. A copy of the letter, that the decree should be given out in every province, was published to all the peoples, that the jews should be ready for that day to avenge themselves on their enemies. So the couriers who rode on royal horses were sent out, hastened and pressed on by the king's commandment. The decree was given out in the citadel of Sousa. Mordecai went out of the presence of the king in royal clothing of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a robe of fine linen and purple, and the city of Sousa shouted and was glad. The jews had light, gladness, joy, and honor, in every province, and in every city, wherever the king's commandment and his decree came, the jews had gladness, joy, a feast, and a good day. Many from among the peoples of the land became jews, for the fear of the jews was fallen on them. Chapter 9 Now in the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, on the thirteenth day of the month, when the king's commandment and his decree grew near to be put in execution, on the day that the enemies of the jews hoped to conquer them, but it was turned out the opposite happened, that the jews conquered those who hated them. The jews gathered themselves together in their cities throughout all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, to lay hands on those who wanted to harm them. No one could withstand them, because the fear of them had fallen on all the people. All the princes of the provinces, the satraps, the governors, and those who did the king's business helped the jews, because the fear of Mordecai had fallen on them. For Mordecai was great in the king's house, and his fame went out throughout all the provinces, for the man Mordecai grew greater and greater. The jews struck all their enemies with the stroke of the sword, and was slaughtered and destruction, and did what they wanted to those who hated them. In the citadel of Suza, the jews killed and destroyed five hundred men. They killed Parshandatha, Dalfon, Aspatha, Horatha, Adalia, Eredatha, Parmashta, Eresai, Eredai, and Visapha. The ten sons of Haman, the son of Hamidatha, the jews' enemy, but they didn't lay their hand on the plunder. On that day the number of those who were slain in the citadel of Suza was brought before the king. The king said after the queen, the jews have slain and destroyed five hundred men in the citadel of Suza, including the ten sons of Haman. What then have they done in the rest of the king's provinces? Now what is your petition? It shall be granted you. What is your further request? It shall be done. Then Esther said, If it pleases the king, let it be granted to the jews who are in Shushan, to do tomorrow also according to this day's decree, and let Haman's ten sons be hanged on the gallows. The king commanded this to be done. A decree was given out in Shushan, and they hanged Haman's ten sons. The jews who were in Shushan gathered themselves together on the fourteenth day also of the month Adar, and killed three hundred men in Shushan, but they didn't lay their hand on the spoil. The other jews who were in the king's provinces gathered themselves together, defended their lives, had rest from their enemies, and killed seventy five thousand of those who hated them, but they didn't lay their hand on the ponder. This was done on the thirteenth day of the month Adar, and on the fourteenth day of that month they rested, and made it a day of feasting and gladness. But the jews who were in Shushan assembled together on the thirteenth and on the fourteenth days of the month, and on the fifteenth day of that month they rested, and made it a day of feasting and gladness. Therefore the jews and the villages who live in the unwalled towns made the fourteenth day of the month of Adar a day of gladness and feasting a good day, and a day of sending presents of food to one another. Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters to all the jews who were in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, or far and near, to enjoin them that they should keep the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month Adar yearly, as the days in which the jews had rest from their enemies, and the month which was turned to them from sorrow to gladness, and from mourning into a good day, that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, and of sending presents of food to one another, and gifts to the needy. The jews accepted the custom that they had begun, as Mordecai had written to them, because Haman the son of Hamidatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the jews, had plotted against the jews to destroy them, and had cast Per, that is the lot, to consume them, and to destroy them. But when this became known to the king, he commanded by letters that his wicked device, which he had devised against the jews, should return on his own head, and that he and his son should be hanged on the gallows. Therefore they called these days Purim, from the word Pur. Therefore, because of all the words of this letter, and of that which they had seen, concerning this matter, and that which had come to them, the jews established, and imposed on themselves, and on their descendants, and on all those who joined themselves to them, so that it should not fail, that they would keep these two days according to what was written, and according to its appointed time, every year, 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 their memory perished from their seed. Then Esther the queen, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the jew, wrote with all authority to confirm this second letter of Purim. He sent letters to all the jews to the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, with words of peace and truth, to confirm these days of Purim in their appointed times, as Mordecai the jew and Esther the queen had decreed, and as they had imposed upon themselves, and on their descendants, in the matter of the fastings and their cry. The commandment of Esther confirmed these matters of Purim, and it was written in the book. Chapter 10 King Ahasuerus laid a tribute on the land, and on the islands of the sea, all the acts of his power and of his might, and the full account of the greatness of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him. Aren't they written in the book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Media in Persia? For Mordecai the jew was next to King Ahasuerus, and great among the jews, and accepted by the multitude of his brothers, seeking the good of his people, and speaking peace to all his descendants. End of the book of Esther. Chapters 1 through 14 of the book of Job from the World English Bible. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org. The Book of Job from the World English Bible. Chapters 1 through 14. Chapter 1 There was a man in the land of us whose name was Job. That man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and turned away from evil. There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. His possessions also were seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and a very great household, so that this man was the greatest of all the children of the east. His sons went and held a feast in the house of each one on his birthday, and they sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them. It was so when the days of their feasting had run their course, 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 renounced God in their hearts. Job did so continually. Now it happened on the day when the God's sons came to present themselves before Yahweh, that Satan also came among them. Yahweh said to Satan, Where have you come from? Then Satan answered Yahweh and said, From going back and forth in the earth and from walking up and down in it. Yahweh said to Satan, Have you considered my servant Job? For there is none like him in the earth a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and turns away from evil. Then Satan answered Yahweh and said, Does Job fear God for nothing? Haven't you made a hedge around him and around his house and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. But put forth your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will renounce you to your face. Yahweh said to Satan, Behold, all that he has is in your power. Only on himself don't put forth your hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of Yahweh. It fell on a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house, that there came a messenger to Job and said, The oxen were plowing, and the donkeys feeding beside them and the Sabaeans attacked and took them away. Yes, they have killed the servants with the edge of their sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you. While he was still speaking, there also came another and said, The fire of God has fallen from the sky and has burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them all, and I alone have escaped to tell you. While he was still speaking, there came also another and said, The Chaldeans made three bands and swept down on the camels and have taken them away. Yes, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you. While he was still speaking, there came also another and said, Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house, and behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young men, and they are dead. I alone have escaped to tell you. Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head, and fell down on the ground and worshipped. He said, Naked I came out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there. Yahweh gave, and Yahweh has taken away. Blessed be the name of Yahweh. In all this Job did not sin, nor charge God with wrongdoing. Chapter 2 Again it happened on the day when the God's sons came to present themselves before Yahweh, that Satan came also among them to present himself before Yahweh. Yahweh said to Satan, Where have you come from? Satan answered Yahweh and said, From going back and forth in the earth and from walking up and down in it. Yahweh said to Satan, Have you considered my servant Job? For there is none like him in the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and turns away from evil. He still maintains his integrity, although you incited me against him to ruin him without cause. Satan answered Yahweh and said, Skin for skin, yes, all that a man has he will give for his life. But put forth your hand now and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will renounce you to your face. Yahweh said to Satan, Behold, he is in your hand, only spare his life. So Satan went forth from the presence of Yahweh, and struck Job with painful sores from the soul of his foot to his head. He took for himself a poacher to scrape himself with, and he sat among the ashes. Then his wife said to him, Do you still maintain your integrity, renounce God, and die? But he said to her, You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. What? Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this Job didn't sin with his lips. Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that had come on him, they each came from his own place. Eliphaz the Timonite, Bildad the Shoe-Height, and Zophar the Namethite, and they made an appointment together to come to sympathize with him and to comfort him. When they lifted up their eyes from a distance, they didn't recognize him. They raised their voices and wept, and they each tore his robe and sprinkled dust on their heads toward the sky. So they sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief was very great. Chapter 3 After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. Job answered, Let the day perish in which I was born, the night which said, There is a boy conceived. Let that day be darkness. Don't let God from above seek for it. Neither let the light shine on it. Let darkness and the shadow of death claim it for their own. Let a cloud dwell on it. Let all that makes black the day terrify it. As for that night, let thick darkness seize on it. Let it not rejoice among the days of the year. Let it not come into the number of the months. Behold, let that night be barren. Let no joyful voice come therein. Let them curse it who curse the day, who are ready to rouse up Leviathan. Let the stars of its twilight be dark. Let it look for light but have none. Neither let it see the eyelids of mourning, because it didn't shut up the doors of my mother's womb, nor did it hide trouble for my eyes. Why didn't I die from the womb? Why didn't I give up the spirit when my mother bore me? Why did my knees receive me, or why the breast that I should suck? For now I should have lain down and been quiet. I should have slept. Then I would have been at rest with kings and counselors of the earth who built up waste places for themselves, or with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver, or as a hidden, untimely birth I had not been, as infants who never saw light. There the wicked cease from troubling. There the weary are at rest. There the prisoners are at ease together. They don't hear the voice of the taskmaster. The small and the great are there. The servant is free from his master. Why is light given to him who is in misery? Life to the bitter in soul who long for death but it doesn't come, and dig for it more than for hidden treasures? Who rejoice exceedingly and are glad when they can find the grave? Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, whom God has hedged in? For my sign comes before I eat. My groanings are poured out like water. For the thing which I fear comes on me. That which I am afraid of comes to me. I am not at ease. Neither am I quiet. Neither have I rest, but trouble comes. If someone ventures to talk with you, will you be grieved? But who can withhold himself from speaking? Behold, you have instructed many. You have strengthened the weak hands. Your words have supported him who was falling. You have made firm the feeble knees. But now it has come to you and you faint. It touches you and you are troubled. Isn't your piety your confidence? Isn't the integrity of your ways your hope? Remember now, whoever perished being innocent? Or where were the upright cut off? According to what I have seen, those who plow iniquity and so trouble reap the same. By the breath of God they perish. By the blast of his anger they are consumed. The roaring of the lion and the voice of the fierce lion, the teeth of the young lions are broken. The old lion perishes for lack of prey. The cubs of the lioness are scattered abroad. Now a thing was secretly brought to me. My ear received a whisper of it. In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on men, fear came on me and trembling, which made all my bones shake. Then a spirit passed before my face. The hair of my flesh stood up. It stood still, but I couldn't discern its appearance. A form was before my eyes. Silence. Then I heard a voice saying, Shall mortal man be more just than God? Shall a man be more pure than his maker? Behold, he puts no trust in his servants. He charges his angels with error. How much more those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed before the moth? Between morning and evening they are destroyed. They perish forever without any regarding it. Isn't their tent cord plucked up within them? They die and that without wisdom. Chapter 5 Call now. Is there any who will answer you? To which of the holy ones will you turn? For resentment kills the foolish man, and jealousy kills the simple. I have seen the foolish taking root. But suddenly I cursed his habitation. His children are far from safety. They are crushed in the gate. Neither is there any to deliver them, whose harvest the hungry eats up, and take it even out of the thorns. The snare gapes for their substance. For affliction doesn't come forth from the dust, neither does trouble spring out of the ground, but man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward. But as for me, I would seek God. I would commit my cause to God, who does great things that can't be fathomed, marvelous things without number, who gives rain on the earth, and sends waters on the fields, so that he sets up on high those who are low. Those who mourn are exalted to safety. He frustrates the devices of the crafty, so that their hands can't perform their enterprise. He takes the wise in their own craftiness. The council of the cunning is carried headlong. They meet with darkness in the daytime, and grope at noontime as in the night. But he says from the sword of their mouth, even the needy from the hand of the mighty. So the poor has hope, and injustice shuts her mouth. Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects. Therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty, for he wounds and binds up. He injures, and his hands make whole. He will deliver you in six troubles, yes, in seven there shall no evil touch you. In famine he will redeem you from death, in war from the power of the sword. You shall be hidden from the scourge of the tongue. Neither shall you be afraid of destruction when it comes. At destruction in famine you shall laugh. Neither shall you be afraid of the animals of the earth, for you shall be in league with the stones of the field. The animals of the field shall be at peace with you. You shall know that your tent is in peace. You shall visit your fold, and shall miss nothing. You shall know also that your seed shall be great. Your offspring as the grass of the earth. You shall come to your grave in full age, like a shock of grain comes in its season. Look this, we have searched it, so it is. Hear it, and know it for your good. Chapter 6 Then Job answered, Oh, that my anguish were weighed, and all my calamity laid in the balances. For now it would be heavier than the sand of the seas. Therefore have my words been rash, for the arrows of the Almighty are within me. My spirit drinks up their poison. The terrors of God set themselves in array against me. Does the wild donkey bray when he has grass? Or does the ox low over his fodder? Can that which has no flavor be eaten without salt? Or is there any taste in the white of an egg? My soul refuses to touch them. They are loathsome food to me. Oh, that I might have my request, that God would grant the thing that I long for. Even that it would please God to crush me. That he would let loose his hand and cut me off. Be it still my consolation. Yes, let me exult in pain that doesn't spare. That I have not denied the word of the Holy One. What is my strength that I should wait? What is my end that I should be patient? Is my strength the strength of stones? Or is my flesh of brass? Isn't it that I have no help in me, that wisdom is driven quite from me? To him who is ready to faint, kindness should be sown from his friend. Even to him who forsakes the fear of the Almighty. My brothers have dealt deceitfully as a brook. As a channel of brooks that pass away, which are black by reason of the ice in which the snow hights itself. In the dry season they vanish. When it is hot they are consumed out of their place. The caravans that travel beside them turn aside. They go up into the waste and perish. The caravans of Tima looked. The companies of Shiba waited for them. They were distressed because they were confident. They came there and were confounded. For now you are nothing. You see a terror and are afraid. Did I say give to me or offer a present for me from your substance? Or deliver me from my adversary's hand? Or redeem me from the hand of my oppressors? Teach me and I will hold my peace. Cause me to understand wherein I have aired. How forcible are words of uprightness. But your reproof, what does it reproof? Do you intend to reproof words? Seeing that the speeches of one who is desperate are as wind? Yes, you would even cast lots for the fatherless and make merchandise of your friend. Now therefore be pleased to look at me. For surely I shall not lie to your face. Please return. Let there be no injustice. Yes, return again. My cause is righteous. Is there injustice on my tongue? Can't my taste discern mischievous things? Chapter 7 Isn't a man forced to labor on earth? Aren't his days like the days of a hired hand as a servant who earnestly desires the shadow? As a hireling who looks for his wages? So am I made to possess months of misery. Weary some nights are appointed to me. When I lie down I say, When shall I arise and that night be gone? I toss and turn until the dawning of the day. My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust. My skin closes up and breaks out afresh. My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle and are spent without hope. Oh, remember that my life is a breath. My eye shall no more see good. The eye of him who sees me shall see me no more. Your eyes shall be on me, but I shall not be. As a cloud is consumed and vanishes away, so he who goes down to Sheol shall come up no more. He shall return no more to his house. Neither shall his place know him any more. Therefore I will not keep silent. I will speak in the anguish of my spirit. I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. Am I a sea or a sea monster that you put a guard over me? When I say, My bed shall comfort me. My couch shall ease my complaint. Then you scare me with dreams and terrify me through visions so that my soul chooses strangling death rather than my bones. I loathe my life. I don't want to live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath. What is man that you should magnify him, that you should set your mind on him, that you should visit him every morning and test him every moment? How long will you not look away from me, nor leave me alone until I swallow down my spittle? If I have sinned, what do I do to you, you watcher of men? Why have you set me as a mark for you, so that I am a burden to myself? Why do not pardon my disobedience and take away my iniquity? For now shall I lie down in the dust. You will seek me diligently, but I shall not be. Chapter 8 Then Bill Dad, the shoe-hide answered, How long will you speak these things? Shall the words of your mouth be a mighty wind? Does God pervert justice? Or does the Almighty pervert righteousness? If your children have sinned against him, he has delivered them into the hand of their disobedience. If you want to seek God diligently, make your supplication to the Almighty. If you were pure and upright, surely now he would awaken for you and make the habitation of your righteousness prosperous. Though your beginning was small, yet your latter end would greatly increase. Please inquire of past generations. Find out about the learning of their fathers. For we are but of yesterday and know nothing because our days on earth are a shadow. Shall they not teach you, tell you, and utter words out of their heart? Can the papyrus grow up without mire? Can the rushes grow without water? While it is yet in its greenness, not cut down, it withers before any other reed. So are the paths of all who forget God. The hope of the godless man shall perish, whose confidence shall break apart, whose trust is a spider's web. He shall lean on his house, but it shall not stand. He shall cling to it, but it shall not endure. He is green before the sun. His shoots go forth over his garden. His roots are wrapped before the rock pile. He sees the place of stones. If he is destroyed from his place, then it shall deny him, saying, I have not seen you. Behold, this is the joy of his way. Out of the earth others shall spring. Behold, God will not cast away the blameless man. Neither will he uphold the evildoers. He will still fill your mouth with laughter, your lips with shouting. Those who hate you shall be clothed with shame. The tent of the wicked shall be no more. Chapter 9 Then Job answered, truly I know that it is so. But how can man be just with God? If he is pleased to contend with him, he can't answer him one time in a thousand. God, who is wise in heart and mighty in strength, who has hearted himself against him and prospered, he removes mountains, and they don't know it when he overturns them in his anger. He shakes the earth out of its place, its pillars tremble. He commands the sun, and it doesn't rise, and seals up the stars. He alone stretches out the heavens, and treads on the waves of the sea. He makes the bear, Orion, and the Pleiades, and the chambers of the south. He does great things past finding out, yes, marvelous things without number. Behold, he goes by me, and I don't see him. He passes on also, but I don't perceive him. Behold, he snatches away. Who can hinder him? Who will ask him? What are you doing? God will not withdraw his anger. The helpers of Rahab stoop under him. How much less shall I answer him, and choose my words to argue with him. Though I were righteous, yet I wouldn't answer him. I would make supplication to my judge. If I had called and he had answered me, yet I wouldn't believe that he listened to my voice. For he breaks me with a storm, and multiplies my wounds without cause. He will not allow me to catch my breath, but fills me with bitterness. If it is a matter of strength, behold, he is mighty. If of justice, who says he will summon me? Though I am righteous, my own mouth shall condemn me. Though I am blameless, it shall prove me perverse. I am blameless. I don't regard myself. I despise my life. It is all the same. Therefore, I say, he destroys the blameless and the wicked. If the scourge kills suddenly, he will mock at the trial of the innocent. The earth is given into the hand of the wicked. He covers the faces of its judges. If not he, then who is it? Now my days are swifter than a runner. They flee away. They see no good. They have passed away as the swift ships, as the eagle that swoops on the prey. If I say, I will forget my complaint, I will put off my sad face and cheer up, I am afraid of all my sorrows. I know that you will not hold me innocent. I shall be condemned. Why, then, do I labor in vain? If I wash myself with snow and cleanse my hands with lye, yet you will plunge me in the ditch. My own clothes shall abhor me, for he is not a man as I am that I should answer him. That we should come together in judgment. There is no umpire between us that might lay his hand on us both. Let him take his rod away from me. Let his terror not make me afraid. Then I would speak and not fear him, for I am not so in myself. Chapter 10 My soul is weary of my life. I will give free course to my complaint. I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. I will tell God, do not condemn me, show me why you contend with me. Is it good to you that you should oppress? That you should despise the work of your hands and smile on the counsel of the wicked? Do you have eyes or flesh? Or do you see as man sees? Are your days as the days of mortals? Or your years as man's ears that you inquire after my iniquity and search after my sin? Although you know that I am not wicked, there is no one who can deliver out of your hand. Your hands have framed me and fashioned me altogether, yet you destroy me. Remember, I beg you, that you have fashioned me as clay. Will you bring me into dust again? Haven't you poured me out like milk and curdled me like cheese? You have clothed me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews. You have granted me life and loving kindness. Your visitation has preserved my spirit. Yet you hid these things in your heart. I know that this is with you. If I sin, then you mark me. You will not acquit me from my iniquity. If I am wicked, woe to me! If I am righteous, I still shall not lift up my head, being filled with disgrace and conscious of my affliction. If my head is held high, you hunt me like a lion. Again, you show yourself powerful to me. You renew your witnesses against me and increase your indignation on me. Changes and warfare are with me. Why, then, have you brought me forth out of the womb? I wish I had given up the spirit, and no I had seen me. I should have been as though I had not been. I should have been carried from the womb to the grave. Aren't my days few? Cease, then. Leave me alone, that I may find a little comfort before I go where I shall not return from, to the land of darkness and of shadow and of death, the land dark as midnight, of the shadow of death, without any order where the light is as midnight. Chapter 11 Then, so far the name of Thite answered, shouldn't the multitude of words be answered? Should a manful of talk be justified? Should your boastings make men hold their peace? When you mock, shall no man make you ashamed? For you say, my doctrine is pure, I am clean in your eyes. But, oh, that God would speak and open his lips against you. That he would show you the secrets of wisdom. For true wisdom has two sides. No, therefore, that God exacts of you less than your iniquity deserves. Can you fathom the mystery of God? Or can you probe the limits of the Almighty? They are high as heaven. What can you do? They are deeper than sheol. What can you know? Its measure is longer than the earth and broader than the sea. If he passes by, or confines, or convenes a court, then who can oppose him? For he knows false men. He sees iniquity also, even though he doesn't consider it. An empty-headed man becomes wise when a man is born as a wild donkey's colt. If you set your heart to right, stretch out your hands toward him. If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away. Don't let unrighteousness dwell in your tints. Surely then, you shall lift up your face without spot. Yes, you shall be steadfast and shall not fear. For you shall forget your misery. You shall remember it as waters that are passed away. Life shall be clearer than the noonday. Though there is darkness, it shall be as the morning. You shall be secure, because there is hope. Yes, you shall search, and you shall take your rest in safety. Also you shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid. Yes, many shall court your favor, but the eyes of the wicked shall fail. They shall have no way to flee. Their hope shall be the giving up of the spirit. Chapter 12 Then Job answered, No doubt, but you are the people, and wisdom shall die with you. But I have understanding as well as you. I am not inferior to you. Yes, who doesn't know such things as these? I am like one who is a joke to his neighbor. I, who called on God, and he answered, The just, the blameless man, is a joke. In the thought of him who is at ease, there is contempt for misfortune. It is ready for them whose foot slips. The tents of robbers prosper. Those who provoke God are secure, who carry their God in their hands. But ask the animals now, and they shall teach you. The birds of the sky, and they shall tell you. Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach you. The fish of the sea shall declare to you. Who doesn't know that in all these the hand of Yahweh has done this? In whose hand is the life of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind? Doesn't the ear try words even as the palate tastes its food? With aged men is wisdom, in length of days understanding. With God is wisdom and might. He has counsel and understanding. Behold, he breaks down, and it can't be built again. He imprisons a man, and there can be no release. Behold, he withholds the waters, and they dry up. Again, he sends them out, and they overturn the earth. With him is strength and wisdom. The deceived and the deceiver are his. He leads counselors away strict. He makes judges fools. He loosens the bond of kings. He binds their waste with a belt. He leads priests away strict, and overthrows the mighty. He removes the speech of those who are trusted, and takes away the understanding of the elders. He pours contempt on princes, and loosens the belt of the strong. He uncovers deep things out of darkness, and brings out to light the shadow of death. He increases the nations, and he destroys them. He enlarges the nations, and he leads them to captive. He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth, and causes them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way. They grope in the dark without light. He makes them stagger like a drunken man. Chapter 13 Behold, my eye has seen all this. My ear has heard and understood it. What you know, I know also. I am not inferior to you. Surely I would speak to the Almighty. I desire to reason with God. But you are forgers of lies. You are all physicians of no value. Oh, that you would be completely silent. Then you would be wise. Hear now, my reasoning. Listen to the pleadings of my lips. Will you speak unrighteously for God, and talk deceitfully for Him? Will you show partiality to Him? Will you contend for God? Is it good that He should search you out? Or, as one deceives a man, will you deceive Him? He will surely reprove you if you secretly show partiality. Shall not His Majesty make you afraid, and His dread fall on you? Your memorable sayings are proverbs of ashes. Your defenses are defenses of clay. Be silent. Leave me alone, that I may speak. Let come on me what will. Why should I take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in my hand? Behold, He will kill me. I have no hope. Nevertheless, I will maintain my ways before Him. This also shall be my salvation, that a Godless man shall not come before Him. Hear diligently my speech. Let my declaration be in your ears. See now, I have set my cause in order. I know that I am righteous. Who is He who will contend with me? For then would I hold my peace and give up the spirit. Only don't do two things to me, then I will not hide myself from your face. Withdraw your hand far from me, and don't let your terror make me afraid. Then call, and I will answer. Or let me speak, and you answer me. How many are my iniquities and sins? Make me know my disobedience and my sin. Why hide you your face, and hold me your enemy? Will you harass a driven leaf? Will you pursue the dry stubble? For you write bitter things against me, and make me inherit the iniquities of my youth. You also put my feet in the stalks, and mark all my paths. You set abound to the soles of my feet. Though I am decaying like a rotten thing. Like a garment that is moth eaten. Chapter 14 Man who is born of a woman is a few days and full of trouble. He comes forth like a flower and is cut down. He also flees like a shadow and doesn't continue. Do you open your eyes on such a one, and bring me into judgment with you? Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one. Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months is with you. And you have appointed his bounds that he can't pass. Look away from him that he may rest, until he shall accomplish as a hireling his day. For there is hope for a tree if it is cut down, that it will sprout again, that the tender branch of it will not cease. Though its root grows old in the earth, and its stalk dies in the ground. Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and put forth boughs like a plant. But man dies, and is laid low. Yes, man gives up the spirit, and where is he? As the waters fail from the sea, and the river wastes and dries up, so man lies down and doesn't rise. Until the heavens are no more, they shall not awake, nor be aroused out of their sleep. Oh, that you would hide me in shale, that you would keep me secret until your wrath is passed, that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me. If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my warfare would I wait, until my release should come. You would call, and I would answer you. You would have a desire to the work of your hands. But now you number my steps. Don't you watch over my sin? My disobedience is sealed up in a bag. You fasten up my iniquity. But the mountain falling comes to nothing. The rock is removed out of its place. The waters wear the stones, the torrents of it wash away the dust of the earth. So you destroy the hope of man. You forever prevail against him, and he departs. You change his face and send him away. His sons come to honour, and he doesn't know it. They are brought low, and he doesn't perceive it of them. But his flesh on him has pain, and his soul within him mourns.