הֵ֫מָּה

…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?”

Then Tobiah the Ammonite, who was beside him, said, “If even a fox were to climb up on what they are building, it would break down their wall of stones!”

Sanballat and Geshem sent me this message: “Come, let us meet together in one of the villages on the plain of Ono.” But they were planning to harm me.

Also in those days, the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah’s letters kept coming to them.

And I told them, “Do not open the gates of Jerusalem until the sun is hot. While the guards are on duty, keep the doors shut and securely fastened. And appoint the residents of Jerusalem as guards, some at their posts and some at their own homes.”

The following came up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addon, and Immer, but they could not prove that their families were descended from Israel:

But they and our fathers became arrogant and stiff-necked and did not obey Your commandments.

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.

For even while they were in their kingdom, with the abundant goodness that You had given them, and in the spacious and fertile land that You had set before them, they would not serve You or turn from their wicked ways.

Moreover, we will bring to the priests at the storerooms of the house of our God the firstfruits of our dough, of our grain offerings, of the fruit of all our trees, and of our new wine and oil. A tenth of our produce belongs to the Levites, so that they shall receive tithes in all the towns where we labor.

In those days I saw people in Judah treading winepresses on the Sabbath and bringing in grain and loading it on donkeys, along with wine, grapes, and figs. All kinds of goods were being brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. So I warned them against selling food on that day.

In those days I also saw Jews who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab.

In those days King Xerxes sat on his royal throne in the citadel of Susa.

In those days, while Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs who guarded the entrance, grew angry and conspired to assassinate King Xerxes.

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.

And all of Mordecai’s powerful and magnificent accomplishments, together with the full account of the greatness to which the king had raised him, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Media and Persia?

My soul refuses to touch them; they are loathsome food to me.

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

Then there are those who rebel against the light, not knowing its ways or staying on its paths.

Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job because the others were older than he.

The enemy has come to eternal ruin, and You have uprooted their cities; the very memory of them has vanished.

Lay terror upon them, O LORD; let the nations know they are but men. Selah

As for the saints in the land, they are the excellence in whom all my delight resides.

They collapse and fall, but we rise up and stand firm.

I can count all my bones; they stare and gloat over me.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

Remember, O LORD, Your compassion and loving devotion, for they are from age to age.

When the wicked came upon me to devour my flesh, my enemies and foes stumbled and fell.

For the evildoers will be cut off, but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land.

My heart pounds, my strength fails, and even the light of my eyes has faded.

Send out Your light and Your truth; let them lead me. Let them bring me to Your holy mountain and to the place where You dwell.

They saw and were astounded; they fled in terror.

His speech is smooth as butter, but war is in his heart. His words are softer than oil, yet they are swords unsheathed.

They conspire, they lurk, they watch my steps while they wait to take my life.

They scavenge for food, and growl if they are not satisfied.

Lowborn men are but a vapor; the exalted are but a lie. Weighed on the scale, they go up; together they are but a vapor.

But those who seek my life to destroy it will go into the depths of the earth.

He remembered that they were but flesh, a passing breeze that does not return.

I am forsaken among the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave, whom You remember no more, who are cut off from Your care.

The LORD knows the thoughts of man, that they are futile.

For forty years I was angry with that generation, and I said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they have not known My ways.”

They will perish, but You remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing You will change them, and they will be passed on.

Many times He rescued them, but they were bent on rebellion and sank down in their iniquity.

They saw the works of the LORD, and His wonders in the deep.

Though they curse, You will bless. When they rise up, they will be put to shame, but Your servant will rejoice.

Your testimonies are my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart.

I am in favor of peace; but when I speak, they want war.

For they are a garland of grace on your head and a pendant around your neck.

But they lie in wait for their own blood; they ambush their own lives.