Their

Bakbukiah and Unni, their associates, stood across from them in the services.

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.

…as well as the priests with their trumpets—Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah—

They performed the service of their God and the service of purification, along with the singers and gatekeepers, as David and his son Solomon had prescribed.

I also learned that because the portions for the Levites had not been given to them, all the Levites and singers responsible for performing the service had gone back to their own fields.

So I rebuked the officials and asked, “Why has the house of God been neglected?” Then I gathered the Levites and singers together and stationed them at their posts,

I appointed as treasurers over the storerooms Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah of the Levites, with Hanan son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah, to assist them, because they were considered trustworthy. They were responsible for distributing the supplies to their fellow Levites.

Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod or of the other peoples, but could not speak the language of Judah.

I rebuked them and called down curses on them. I beat some of these men and pulled out their hair. Then I made them take an oath before God and said, “You must not give your daughters in marriage to their sons or take their daughters as wives for your sons or for yourselves!

I rebuked them and called down curses on them. I beat some of these men and pulled out their hair. Then I made them take an oath before God and said, “You must not give your daughters in marriage to their sons or take their daughters as wives for your sons or for yourselves!

I rebuked them and called down curses on them. I beat some of these men and pulled out their hair. Then I made them take an oath before God and said, “You must not give your daughters in marriage to their sons or take their daughters as wives for your sons or for yourselves!

For the conduct of the queen will become known to all women, causing them to despise their husbands and say, ‘King Xerxes ordered Queen Vashti to be brought before him, but she did not come.’

The edict the king issues will be heard throughout his vast kingdom—and so all women, from the least to the greatest, will honor their husbands.”

He sent letters to all the provinces of the kingdom, to each province in its own script and to each people in their own language, proclaiming that every man should be master of his own household.

Then Haman informed King Xerxes, “There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the peoples of every province of your kingdom. Their laws are different from everyone else’s, and they do not obey the king’s laws. So it is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them.

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.

And as they drank their wine, the king said to Esther, “What is your petition? It will be given to you. What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be fulfilled.”

…and as they drank their wine on that second day, the king asked once more, “Queen Esther, what is your petition? It will be given to you. What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be fulfilled.”

At once the royal scribes were summoned, and on the twenty-third day of the third month (the month of Sivan), they recorded all of Mordecai’s orders to the Jews and to the satraps, governors, and princes of the 127 provinces from India to Cush—writing to each province in its own script, to every people in their own language, and to the Jews in their own script and language.

At once the royal scribes were summoned, and on the twenty-third day of the third month (the month of Sivan), they recorded all of Mordecai’s orders to the Jews and to the satraps, governors, and princes of the 127 provinces from India to Cush—writing to each province in its own script, to every people in their own language, and to the Jews in their own script and language.

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.

A copy of the text of the edict was to be issued in every province and published to all the people, so that the Jews would be ready on that day to avenge themselves on their enemies.

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.

On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, the king’s command and edict were to be executed. On this day the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, but their plan was overturned and the Jews overpowered those who hated them.

In each of the provinces of King Xerxes, the Jews assembled in their cities to attack those who sought to harm them. No man could withstand them, because the fear of them had fallen upon all peoples.

The Jews put all their enemies to the sword, killing and destroying them, and they did as they pleased to those who hated them.

The rest of the Jews in the royal provinces also assembled to defend themselves and rid themselves of their enemies. They killed 75,000 who hated them, but they did not lay a hand on the plunder.

…as the days on which the Jews gained rest from their enemies and the month in which their sorrow turned to joy and their mourning into a holiday. He wrote that these were to be days of feasting and joy, of sending gifts to one another and to the poor.

…as the days on which the Jews gained rest from their enemies and the month in which their sorrow turned to joy and their mourning into a holiday. He wrote that these were to be days of feasting and joy, of sending gifts to one another and to the poor.

…as the days on which the Jews gained rest from their enemies and the month in which their sorrow turned to joy and their mourning into a holiday. He wrote that these were to be days of feasting and joy, of sending gifts to one another and to the poor.

…the Jews bound themselves to establish the custom that they and their descendants and all who join them should not fail to celebrate these two days at the appointed time each and every year, according to their regulation.

…the Jews bound themselves to establish the custom that they and their descendants and all who join them should not fail to celebrate these two days at the appointed time each and every year, according to their regulation.

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.

…in order to confirm these days of Purim at their appointed time, just as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had established them and had committed themselves and their descendants to the times of fasting and lamentation.

…in order to confirm these days of Purim at their appointed time, just as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had established them and had committed themselves and their descendants to the times of fasting and lamentation.

Job’s sons would take turns holding feasts in their homes, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them.

Job’s sons would take turns holding feasts in their homes, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them.

And when the days of feasting were over, Job would send for his children to purify them, rising early in the morning to offer burnt offerings for all of them. For Job thought, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular practice.

One day, while Job’s sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house,

While he was still speaking, another messenger came and reported: “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house,

When they lifted up their eyes from afar, they could barely recognize Job. They began to weep aloud, and each man tore his robe and threw dust in the air over his head.

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

The captives enjoy their ease; they do not hear the voice of the oppressor.

Surely you have instructed many, and have strengthened their feeble hands.

Are not their tent cords pulled up, so that they die without wisdom?’

He thwarts the schemes of the crafty, so that their hands find no success.

He catches the wise in their craftiness, and sweeps away the plans of the cunning.

He saves the needy from the sword in their mouth and from the clutches of the powerful.

For the arrows of the Almighty have pierced me; my spirit drinks in their poison; the terrors of God are arrayed against me.

…but ceasing in the dry season and vanishing from their channels in the heat.

Caravans turn aside from their routes; they go into the wasteland and perish.

They are confounded because they had hoped; their arrival brings disappointment.

When your children sinned against Him, He gave them over to their rebellion.

Please inquire of past generations and consider the discoveries of their fathers.

Will they not teach you and tell you, and speak from their understanding?

He moves mountains without their knowledge and overturns them in His anger.

Their measure is longer than the earth and wider than the sea.

But the eyes of the wicked will fail, and escape will elude them; they will hope for their last breath.”

The tents of robbers are safe, and those who provoke God are secure—those who carry their god in their hands.

The tents of robbers are safe, and those who provoke God are secure—those who carry their god in their hands.

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,

They conceive trouble and give birth to evil; their womb is pregnant with deceit.”

They open their mouths against me and strike my cheeks with contempt; they join together against me.

Surely mockers surround me, and my eyes must gaze at their rebellion.

You have closed their minds to understanding; therefore You will not exalt them.

You who tear yourself in anger—should the earth be forsaken on your account, or the rocks be moved from their place?

My guests and maidservants count me as a stranger; I am a foreigner in their sight.

Their descendants are established around them, and their offspring before their eyes.

Their descendants are established around them, and their offspring before their eyes.

Their descendants are established around them, and their offspring before their eyes.

Their homes are safe from fear; no rod of punishment from God is upon them.

Their bulls breed without fail; their cows bear calves and do not miscarry.

Their bulls breed without fail; their cows bear calves and do not miscarry.

They send forth their little ones like a flock; their children skip about,

They send forth their little ones like a flock; their children skip about,

They spend their days in prosperity and go down to Sheol in peace.

Still, their prosperity is not in their own hands, so I stay far from the counsel of the wicked.

Still, their prosperity is not in their own hands, so I stay far from the counsel of the wicked.

Have you never asked those who travel the roads? Do you not accept their reports?

For you needlessly demanded security from your brothers and deprived the naked of their clothing.

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

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

But it was He who filled their houses with good things; so I stay far from the counsel of the wicked.

‘Surely our foes are destroyed, and fire has consumed their excess.’

Indeed, like wild donkeys in the desert, the poor go to work foraging for food; the wasteland is food for their children.

They crush olives within their walls; they tread the winepresses, but go thirsty.

For to them, deep darkness is their morning; surely they are friends with the terrors of darkness!

They are but foam on the surface of the water; their portion of the land is cursed, so that no one turns toward their vineyards.

They are but foam on the surface of the water; their portion of the land is cursed, so that no one turns toward their vineyards.

He gives them a sense of security, but His eyes are on their ways.

He wraps up the waters in His clouds, yet the clouds do not burst under their own weight.

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

The miner strikes the flint; he overturns mountains at their base.

…the young men saw me and withdrew, and the old men rose to their feet.

The princes refrained from speaking and covered their mouths with their hands.

The princes refrained from speaking and covered their mouths with their hands.

The voices of the nobles were hushed, and their tongues stuck to the roofs of their mouths.

The voices of the nobles were hushed, and their tongues stuck to the roofs of their mouths.