כָּלָה

All the officers and all the people rejoiced and brought their contributions, and they dropped them in the chest until it was full.

When they were finished, they brought the rest of the money to the king and Jehoiada, and with it were made articles for the house of the LORD—utensils for the service and for the burnt offerings, dishes, and other objects of gold and silver. Throughout the days of Jehoiada, burnt offerings were presented regularly in the house of the LORD.

They began the consecration on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they reached the portico of the LORD. For eight more days they consecrated the house of the LORD itself, finishing on the sixteenth day of the first month.

The whole assembly was worshiping, the singers were singing, and the trumpeters were playing. All this continued until the burnt offering was completed.

When the offerings were completed, the king and all those present with him bowed down and worshiped.

However, since there were not enough priests to skin all the burnt offerings, their Levite brothers helped them until the work was finished and until the priests had consecrated themselves. For the Levites had been more diligent in consecrating themselves than the priests had been.

When all this had ended, the Israelites in attendance went out to the cities of Judah and broke up the sacred pillars, chopped down the Asherah poles, and tore down the high places and altars throughout Judah and Benjamin, as well as in Ephraim and Manasseh, until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the Israelites returned to their cities, each to his own property.

In the third month they began building up the heaps, and they finished in the seventh month.

In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken through Jeremiah, the LORD stirred the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia to send a proclamation throughout his kingdom and to put it in writing as follows:

In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken through Jeremiah, the LORD stirred the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia to send a proclamation throughout his kingdom and to put it in writing as follows:

After these things had been accomplished, the leaders approached me and said, “The people of Israel, including the priests and Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the surrounding peoples whose abominations are like those of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites.

…shall we again break Your commandments and intermarry with the peoples who commit these abominations? Would You not become so angry with us as to wipe us out, leaving no remnant or survivor?

…and by the first day of the first month they had dealt with all the men who had married foreign women.

…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?”

In his fury, the king arose from drinking his wine and went to the palace garden, while Haman stayed behind to beg Queen Esther for his life, for he realized that the king was planning a terrible fate for him.

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

My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle; they come to an end without hope.

As a cloud vanishes and is gone, so he who goes down to Sheol does not come back up.

It is all the same, and so I say, ‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’

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

If a man denounces his friends for a price, the eyes of his children will fail.

I will see Him for myself; my eyes will behold Him, and not as a stranger. How my heart yearns within me!

If I have denied the desires of the poor or allowed the widow’s eyes to fail,

His flesh wastes away from sight, and his hidden bones protrude.

If they obey and serve Him, then they end their days in prosperity and their years in happiness.

I pursued my enemies and overtook them; I did not turn back until they were consumed.

For my life is consumed with grief and my years with groaning; my iniquity has drained my strength, and my bones are wasting away.

But the wicked and enemies of the LORD will perish like the glory of the fields. They will vanish; like smoke they will fade away.

Remove Your scourge from me; I am perishing by the force of Your hand.

Consume them in wrath; consume them till they are no more, so it may be known to the ends of the earth that God rules over Jacob. Selah

I am weary from my crying; my throat is parched. My eyes fail, looking for my God.

Do not discard me in my old age; do not forsake me when my strength fails.

May the accusers of my soul be ashamed and consumed; may those who seek my harm be covered with scorn and disgrace.

Thus conclude the prayers of David son of Jesse.

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Why do You withdraw Your strong right hand? Stretch it out to destroy them!

So He ended their days in futility, and their years in sudden terror.

My soul longs, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.

For we are consumed by Your anger and terrified by Your wrath.

For all our days decline in Your fury; we finish our years with a sigh.

For my days vanish like smoke, and my bones burn like glowing embers.

My soul faints for Your salvation; I wait for Your word.

My eyes fail, looking for Your promise; I ask, “When will You comfort me?”

They almost wiped me from the earth, but I have not forsaken Your precepts.

My eyes fail, looking for Your salvation, and for Your righteous promise.

Answer me quickly, O LORD; my spirit fails. Do not hide Your face from me, or I will be like those who descend to the Pit.

At the end of your life you will groan when your flesh and your body are spent,