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The Dung Gate was repaired by Malchijah son of Rechab, ruler of the district of Beth-haccherem. He rebuilt it and installed its doors, bolts, and bars.

The Fountain Gate was repaired by Shallun son of Col-hozeh, ruler of the district of Mizpah. He rebuilt it, roofed it, and installed its doors, bolts, and bars. He also repaired the wall of the Pool of Shelah near the king’s garden, as far as the stairs that descend from the City of David.

…before his associates and the army of Samaria, saying, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Can they restore the wall by themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they complete it in a day? Can they bring these burnt stones back to life from the mounds of rubble?”

So I stationed men behind the lowest sections of the wall, at the vulnerable areas. I stationed them by families with their swords, spears, and bows.

At that time I also said to the people, “Let every man and his servant spend the night inside Jerusalem, so that they can stand guard by night and work by day.”

At that time I also said to the people, “Let every man and his servant spend the night inside Jerusalem, so that they can stand guard by night and work by day.”

The fifth time, Sanballat sent me this same message by his young servant, who had in his hand an unsealed letter

Later, I went to the house of Shemaiah son of Delaiah, the son of Mehetabel, who was confined to his house. He said: “Let us meet at the house of God inside the temple. Let us shut the temple doors because they are coming to kill you—by night they are coming to kill you!”

He had been hired to intimidate me so that I would sin by doing as he suggested, so they could give me a bad name in order to discredit me.

When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and disheartened, for they realized that this task had been accomplished by our God.

For many in Judah were bound by oath to him, since he was a son-in-law of Shecaniah son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam son of Berechiah.

Then my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles, the officials, and the people to be enrolled by genealogy. I found the genealogical register of those who had first returned, and I found the following written in it:

These are the people of the province who came up from the captivity of the exiles carried away to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar its king. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town,

…accompanied by Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, and Baanah. This is the count of the men of Israel:

And from among the priests: the descendants of Hobaiah, the descendants of Hakkoz, and the descendants of Barzillai (who had married a daughter of Barzillai the Gileadite and was called by their name).

So the priests, Levites, gatekeepers, singers, and temple servants, along with some of the people and the rest of the Israelites, settled in their own towns. And by the seventh month the Israelites had settled in their towns.

And the people went out, brought back branches, and made booths on their own rooftops, in their courtyards, in the courts of the house of God, and in the squares by the Water Gate and by the Gate of Ephraim.

And the people went out, brought back branches, and made booths on their own rooftops, in their courtyards, in the courts of the house of God, and in the squares by the Water Gate and by the Gate of Ephraim.

You led them with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, to light for them the way in which they should travel.

You led them with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, to light for them the way in which they should travel.

You in Your great compassion did not forsake them in the wilderness. By day the pillar of cloud never turned away from guiding them on their path; and by the night the pillar of fire illuminated the way they should go.

You in Your great compassion did not forsake them in the wilderness. By day the pillar of cloud never turned away from guiding them on their path; and by the night the pillar of fire illuminated the way they should go.

You admonished them to turn back to Your law, but they were arrogant and disobeyed Your commandments. They sinned against Your ordinances, by which a man will live if he practices them. They turned a stubborn shoulder; they stiffened their necks and would not obey.

We have cast lots among the priests, Levites, and people for the donation of wood by our families at the appointed times each year. They are to bring it to the house of our God to burn on the altar of the LORD our God, as it is written in the Law.

We will also bring the firstfruits of our land and of every fruit tree to the house of the LORD year by year.

The leaders of the Levites were Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua son of Kadmiel, along with their associates, who stood across from them to give praise and thanksgiving as one section alternated with the other, as prescribed by David the man of God.

At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, the Levites were sought out from all their homes and brought to Jerusalem to celebrate the joyous dedication with thanksgiving and singing, accompanied by cymbals, harps, and lyres.

…and his associates—Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani—with the musical instruments prescribed by David the man of God. Ezra the scribe led the procession.

And on that same day men were appointed over the rooms that housed the supplies, contributions, firstfruits, and tithes. The portions specified by the Law for the priests and Levites were gathered into these storerooms from the fields of the villages, because Judah rejoiced over the priests and Levites who were serving.

…to return to Jerusalem. Then I discovered the evil that Eliashib had done on behalf of Tobiah by providing him a room in the courts of the house of God.

Did not your forefathers do the same things, so that our God brought all this disaster on us and on this city? And now you are rekindling His wrath against Israel by profaning the Sabbath!”

Did not King Solomon of Israel sin in matters like this? There was not a king like him among many nations, and he was loved by his God, who made him king over all Israel—yet foreign women drew him into sin.

Must we now hear that you too are doing all this terrible evil and acting unfaithfully against our God by marrying foreign women?”

By order of the king, no limit was placed on the drinking, and every official of his household was to serve each man whatever he desired.

Queen Vashti, however, refused to come at the king’s command brought by his eunuchs. And the king became furious, and his anger burned within him.

“According to law,” he asked, “what should be done with Queen Vashti, since she refused to obey the command of King Xerxes delivered by the eunuchs?”

He had been carried into exile from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon among those taken captive with Jeconiah king of Judah.

She would go there in the evening, and in the morning she would return to a second harem under the care of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch in charge of the concubines. She would not return to the king unless he delighted in her and summoned her by name.

And the letters were sent by couriers to each of the royal provinces with the order to destroy, kill, and annihilate all the Jews—young and old, women and children—and to plunder their possessions on a single day, the thirteenth day of Adar, the twelfth month.

The couriers left, spurred on by the king’s command, and the edict was issued in the citadel of Susa. Then the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was in confusion.

Mordecai wrote in the name of King Xerxes and sealed it with the royal signet ring. He sent the documents by mounted couriers riding on swift horses bred from the royal mares.

By these letters the king permitted the Jews in each and every city the right to assemble and defend themselves, to destroy, kill, and annihilate all the forces of any people or province hostile to them, including women and children, and to plunder their possessions.

The couriers rode out in haste on their royal horses, pressed on by the command of the king. And the edict was also issued in the citadel of Susa.

But when it came before the king, he commanded by letter that the wicked scheme which Haman had devised against the Jews should come back upon his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.

These days should be remembered and celebrated by every generation, family, province, and city, so that these days of Purim should not fail to be observed among the Jews, nor should the memory of them fade from their descendants.

For Mordecai the Jew was second only to King Xerxes, preeminent among the Jews and highly favored by his many kinsmen, seeking the good of his people and speaking peace to all his countrymen.

May it be cursed by those who curse the day—those prepared to rouse Leviathan.

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

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

They encounter darkness by day and grope at noon as in the night.

Were He to pass by me, I would not see Him; were He to move, I would not recognize Him.

They sweep by like boats of papyrus, like an eagle swooping down on its prey.

For you will forget your misery, recalling it only as waters gone by.

He loosens the bonds placed by kings and fastens a belt around their waists.

…what was declared by wise men and was not concealed from their fathers,

I was at ease, but He shattered me; He seized me by the neck and crushed me. He has set me up as His target;

My skin and flesh cling to my bones; I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.

…by an iron stylus on lead, or chiseled in stone forever.

…then you should fear the sword yourselves, because wrath brings punishment by the sword, so that you may know there is a judgment.”

Are they like straw before the wind, like chaff swept away by a storm?

Behold, I know your thoughts full well, the schemes by which you would wrong me.

They were snatched away before their time, and their foundations were swept away by a flood.

Yet I am not silenced by the darkness, by the thick darkness that covers my face.

Yet I am not silenced by the darkness, by the thick darkness that covers my face.

Drenched by mountain rains, they huddle against the rocks for want of shelter.

In the dark they dig through houses; by day they shut themselves in, never to experience the light.

Yet by His power, God drags away the mighty; though rising up, they have no assurance of life.

By His power He stirred the sea; by His understanding He shattered Rahab.

By His power He stirred the sea; by His understanding He shattered Rahab.

By His breath the skies were cleared; His hand pierced the fleeing serpent.

His survivors will be buried by the plague, and their widows will not weep for them.

…what he lays up, the righteous will wear, and his silver will be divided by the innocent.

The house he built is like a moth’s cocoon, like a hut set up by a watchman.

Far from human habitation he cuts a shaft in places forgotten by the foot of man. Far from men he dangles and sways.

Food may come from the earth, but from below it is transformed as by fire.

“How I long for the months gone by, for the days when God watched over me,

…when His lamp shone above my head, and by His light I walked through the darkness,

Gaunt from poverty and hunger, they gnawed the dry land, and the desolate wasteland by night.

Terrors are turned loose against me; they drive away my dignity as by the wind, and my prosperity has passed like a cloud.

With great force He grasps my garment; He seizes me by the collar of my tunic.

I go about blackened, but not by the sun. I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.

If my heart has been enticed by my neighbor’s wife, or I have lurked at his door,

I have not allowed my mouth to sin by asking for his life with a curse—

…if I have covered my transgressions like Adam by hiding my guilt in my heart,

…to preserve his soul from the Pit and his life from perishing by the sword.

But if they do not obey, then they perish by the sword and die without knowledge.

God rescues the afflicted by their affliction and opens their ears in oppression.

For by these He judges the nations and provides food in abundance.

By the breath of God the ice is formed and the watery expanses are frozen.

“Who is this who obscures My counsel by words without knowledge?

Will the wild ox consent to serve you? Will he stay by your manger at night?

Does the hawk take flight by your understanding and spread his wings toward the south?

Who can open his jaws, ringed by his fearsome teeth?

He is like a tree planted by streams of water, yielding its fruit in season, whose leaf does not wither, and who prospers in all he does.

Not so the wicked! For they are like chaff driven off by the wind.

I will proclaim the decree spoken to Me by the LORD: “You are My Son; today I have become Your Father.

For the choirmaster, to be accompanied by flutes. A Psalm of David. Give ear to my words, O LORD; consider my groaning.

But I will enter Your house by the abundance of Your loving devotion; in reverence I will bow down toward Your holy temple.

Declare them guilty, O God; let them fall by their own devices. Drive them out for their many transgressions, for they have rebelled against You.

The LORD is known by the justice He brings; the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands. Higgaion Selah