Study Desk

"But to the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of the LORD, this is what you shall say to him: 'This is what the LORD, the God of Israel says: In regard to the words which you have heard,

'Also the gold and silver utensils of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, are to be returned and brought to their places in the temple in Jerusalem; and you shall put them in the house of God.'

"And I issued a decree that any person who violates this decree, a timber shall be pulled out of his house and he shall be impaled on it; and his house shall be turned into a refuse heap on account of this.

with this money, therefore, you shall diligently buy bulls, rams, and lambs, with their grain offerings and their drink offerings, and offer them on the altar of the house of your God which is in Jerusalem.

"I myself, King Artaxerxes, issue a decree to all the treasurers who are in the provinces beyond the Euphrates River, that whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven, may require of you, it shall be done diligently,

"Whatever is commanded by the God of heaven, it shall be done with zeal for the house of the God of heaven, so that there will not be wrath against the kingdom of the king and his sons.

"And now, our God, what shall we say after this? For we have abandoned Your commandments,

shall we again break Your commandments and intermarry with the peoples who commit these abominations? Would You not be angry with us to the point of destruction, until there would be no remnant nor any who would escape?

At that time I also said to the people, "Each man with his servant shall spend the night within Jerusalem, so that they may be a guard for us by night and a laborer by day."

And the priest, the son of Aaron, shall be with the Levites when the Levites receive tithes, and the Levites shall bring up the tenth of the tithes to the house of our God, to the chambers of the storehouse.

For the sons of Israel and the sons of Levi shall bring the contribution of the grain, the new wine, and the oil to the chambers; the utensils of the sanctuary, the priests who are ministering, the gatekeepers, and the singers are there. So we will not neglect the house of our God.

So I quarreled with them and cursed them, and struck some of them and pulled out their hair, and made them swear by God, "You shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor take any of their daughters for your sons or for yourselves.

Then the king said to her, "What is troubling you, Queen Esther? And what is your request? Up to half of the kingdom it shall be given to you."

As they drank their wine at the banquet, the king said to Esther, "What is your request, for it shall be granted to you. And what is your wish? Up to half of the kingdom it shall be done."

then order them to hand the robe and the horse over to one of the king's noble officials, and have them dress the man whom the king desires to honor, and lead him on horseback through the city square, and proclaim before him, 'So it shall be done for the man whom the king desires to honor.'"

So Haman took the robe and the horse, and dressed Mordecai, and led him on horseback through the city square, and proclaimed before him, "So it shall be done for the man whom the king desires to honor."

And the king said to Esther on the second day also as they drank their wine at the banquet, "What is your request, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your wish? Up to half of the kingdom it shall be done."

And the king said to Queen Esther, "The Jews have killed and eliminated five hundred men and the ten sons of Haman at the citadel in Susa. What have they done in the rest of the king's provinces! Now what is your request? It shall also be granted you. And what is your further wish? It shall also be done."

He said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, And naked I shall return there. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD."

But he said to her, "You are speaking as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we actually accept good from God but not accept adversity?" Despite all this, Job did not sin with his lips.