NOW

vour.

OW it came to pass on the third day, that Esther put on her royal apparel, and stood in the inner court of the king's house, over against the king's house: and the king sat upon his royal throne in the royal house, over against the gate of the house.

2 And it was so, when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, that she obtained favour in his sight: and the king held out to Esther the golden sceptre that was in his hand. So Esther drew near, and touched the top of the

sceptre.

Haman's pride.

things wherein the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the princes and servants of the king.

12 Haman said moreover, Yea, Esther the queen did let no man come in with, the king unto the banquet that she had prepared but myself; and to-morrow am I invited unto her also with the king.

13 Yet all this availeth me no thing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate.

14 Then said Zeresh his wife and all his friends unto him, Let a gallows be made of fifty cubits high, and to-morrow speak thou unto the king that Mordecai may be hanged thereon: then go thou in merrily with the king unto the banquet. And the thing pleased Haman; and he caused the gallows to be made. CHAP. VI.

Ahasuerus honoureth Mordecai. ON that night could not the king sleep, and he commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles; and they were read be

3 Then said the king unto her, What wilt thou, queen Esther 7 and what is thy request ? it shall be even given thee to the half of the king-fore the king. dom.

4 And Esther answered, If it seem good unto the king, let the king and Haman come this day unto the banquet that I have prepared for him.

5 Then the king said, Cause Haman to make haste, that he may do as Esther hath said. So the king and Haman came to the banquet that Esther had prepared.

6 And the king said unto Esther at the banquet of wine, What is thy petition? and it shall be granted thee: and what is thy request? even to the half of the kingdom it shall be performed.

7Then answered Esther, and said, My petition and my request is:

8 If I have found favour 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 shall prepare for them, and I will do to-morrow as the king hath said.

9 Then went Haman forth that day joyful and with a glad heart: but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king's gate, that he stood not up, nor moved for him, he was full of indignation against Mordecai.

10 Nevertheless, Haman refrained himself: and when he came home, he sent and called for his friends, and Zeresh his wife.

11 And Haman told them of the glory of his riches, and the multitude of his children, and all the 480

2 And it was found written, that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's chamberlains, the keepers of the door, who sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus.

3 And the king said, What honour and dignity hath been done to Mordecai for this? Then said the king's servants that ministered unto him, There is nothing done for him.

4 And the king said, Who is in the court? (Now Haman was come into the outward court of the king's house, to speak unto the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him.) pinaka

5 And the king's servants said unto him, Behold, Haman standeth in the court. And the king said, Let him come in.

6 So Haman came in. And the king said unto him, What shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour? (Now Haman thought in his heart, To whom would the king delight to do honour more than to myself?)

7 And Haman answered the king, For the man whom the king de lighteth to honour,

8 Let the royal apparel be brought which the king useth to wear, and the horse that the king rideth upon, and the crown-royal which is set upon his head:

be delivered to the band of one 9 And let this apparel and horse of the king's most noble princes, that they may array the man withal

ing with him, came the king's 14 And while they were yet talk-On that day did the king Ahasu erus give the house of Haman, chamberlains, and hasted to bring the Jews' enemy, unto Esther the Haman unto the banquet that queen. And Mordecai came before Esther had prepared. the king; for Esther had told what he was unto her.

5 And said, If it please the king. 4 For we are sold, I and my and if I have found favour in his people, to be destroyed, to be slain, sight, and the thing seem right beand to perish. But if we had been fore the king, and I be pleasing in sold for bond-men and bond-wo-his eyes, let it be written to reverse men, I had held my tongue, al- the letters devised by Haman the though the enemy could not coun- son of Hammedatha the Agagite, tervail the king's damage. which he wrote to destroy the Jews which are in all the king's provinces.

5 T Then the king Ahasuerus answered and said unto Esther the queen, Who is he, and where is he, 6 For how cen I endure to see that durst presume in his heart to the evil that shall come unto my do so? people? or how can I endure to 6 And Esther said, The adversary see the destruction of my kindred?

7 Then the king Ahasuerus said

Haman's decree reversed. ESTHER, The Jews slay their enemies 16 The Jews had light, and glad unto Esther the queen and to Mor-ness, and joy, and honour. decai the Jew, Behold, I have 17 And in every province, and given Esther the house of Haman, in every city, whithersoever the and him they have hanged upon king's commandment and his dethe gallows, because he laid his cree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a good day. hand upon the Jews. And many of the people of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews fell upon them. CHAP. IX.

8 Write ye also for the Jews, as it liketh 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 Institution of the Days of Purim. king's ring, may no man reverse. TOW in the twelfth month, that NOW is, the month Adar, on the 9 Then were the king's scribes called at that time in the third thirteenth day of the same, when month, that is, the month Sivan, the king's commandment and his on the three and twentieth day decree drew near to be put in thereof; and it was written, accord-execution, in the day that the eneing to all that Mordecai command-mies of the Jews hoped to have ed, unto the Jews, and to the lieu-power over them, (though it was tenants, and the deputies and rulers turned to the contrary, that the of the provinces which are from Jews had rule over them that hated India unto Ethiopia, a hundred them;) 2 The Jews gathered themselves twenty and seven provinces, unto every province according to the together in their cities throughout writing thereof, and unto every all the provinces of the king Ahapeople after their language, and to suerus, to lay hand on such as the Jews according to their writ-sought their hurt: and no man ing, and according to their lan-could withstand them; for the fear of them fell upon all people. 3 And all the rulers of the pro10 And he wrote in the king Ahasuerus name, and sealed it vinces, and the lieutenants, and with the king's ring, and sent let-the deputies, and officers of the ters by posts on horseback, and king helped the Jews; because the riders on mules, camels, and young fear of Mordecai fell upon them. dromedarios:

guage.

11 Wherein the king granted the Jews which were in every city to gather themselves together, and to stand for their life, to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish, all the power of the people and province that would assault them, both little ones and women, and to take the spoil of them for a prey,

12 Upon one day in all the provinces of king Ahasuerus, namely, upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar.

13 The copy of the writing for a commandment to be given in every province was published unto all people, and that the Jews should be ready against that day to avenge themselves on their enemies.

14 So the posts that rode upon mules and camels went out, being hastened and pressed on by the king's commandment. And the decree was given at Shushan the palace.

4 For Mordecai was great in the king's house, and his fame went out throughout all the provinces: for this man Mordecai waxed greater and greater.

5 Thus the Jews smote all their enemies with the stroke of the sword, and slaughter, and destruction, and did what they would unto those that hated them.

6 And in Shushan the palace the Jews slew and destroyed five hundred men.

7 And Parshandatha, and Dalphon, and Aspatha,

8 And Poratha, and Adalia, and Aridatha,

9 And Parmashta, and Arisai, and Aridai, and Vajezatha,

10 The ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews, slew they; but on the spoil laid they not their hand.

11 On that day the number of those that were slain in Shushan the palace was brought before the king.

15 And Mordecai went out from 12 And the king said unto Esther the presence of the king in royal the queen, The Jews have slain and apparel of blue and white, and destroyed five hundred men in with a great crown of gold, and Shushan the palace, and the ten with a garment of fine linen and sons of Haman; what have they purple: and the city of Shushan done in the rest of the king's prorejoiced, and was glad: vinces? now what is thy petition?

and it shall be granted thee: or (and had cast Pur, that is, the lot, to what is thy request further? and it consume them, and to destroy them; shall be done. 25 But when Esther came before the king, he commanded by letters that his wicked device, which he devised against the Jews, should return upon his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.

13 Then said Esther, If it please the king, let it be granted to the Jews which are in Shushan to do to-morrow also according unto this day's decree, and let Haman's ten sons be hanged upon the gallows. 14 And the king commanded it so to be done: and the decree was given at Shushan; and they hanged Haman's ten sons.

15 For the Jews that were in Shushan gathered themselves together on the fourteenth day also of the month Adar, and slew three hundred men at Shushan; but on the prey they laid not their hand.

16 But the other Jews that were in the king's provinces gathered themselves together, and stood for their lives, and had rest from their enemies, and slew of their foes 28 And that these days should be seventy and five thousand, but they laid not their hands on the prey,

31 To confirm these days of Purim in their times appointed, according as Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen had enjoined them, and as they had decreed for themselves and for their seed, the matters of the fastings and their cry.

32 And the decree of Esther confirmed these matters of Purim; and it was written in the book. CHAP. X.

The Acts of King Ahasuerus.

AND the king Ahasuerus, laid upon the isles of the sea.

2 And all the acts of his power and of his might, and the declaration of the greatness of Mordecai, whereunto the king advanced him, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia?

3 For Mordecai the Jew was next unto king Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and accepted of the multitude of his brethren, seeking the wealth of his people, and speaking peace to all his seed.

483

CHAP. I.

¶ The Book of JOB.

Job's Uprightness. HERE was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.

2 And there were born unto him seven sons and three daugh

ters.

3 His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred sheasses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east.

4 And his sons went and feasted in their houses, every one his day; and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them.

5 And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, 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 cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually.

61 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.

7 And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.

8 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?

9 Then Satan answered the LORD and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?

10 Hast not thou made a hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every hide hast blessed his hands, and his substance is in

creased in the land.

13 T And there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house:

14 And there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were ploughing, and the asses feeding beside them:

15 And the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away; yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.

16 While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.

17 While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell upon the camels, and have carried them away, yea, and slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.

18 While he was yet speaking. there came also another, and said, Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house:

19 And behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.

20 Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped,

21 And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: The LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.

22 In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly. CHAP. II.

Job's Affliction and Patience. work of we came to per AGAIN there was a day when sent themselves before the LORD, 11 But put forth thy hand now, and Satan came also among them and touch all that he hath, and he to present himself before the will curse thee to thy face." LORD.

12 And the LORD said unto 2 And the LORD said unto Satan, Satan, Behold, all that he hath is From whence comest thou? And in thy power; only upon himself Satan answered the LORD, and put not forth thy hand. So Satan said, From going to and fro in the went forth from the presence of the earth, and from walking up and LORD. I down in it.