Study Desk

O LORD God of Israel, thou art righteous; for thou hast spared a remnant of us, as it is today; behold, we are standing and confessing before thee our sins; for we have no word to speak before thee because of this.

Then Ezra the scribe rose up from before the house of God and went into the chamber of Johanan the son of Elisha; and he sat there, but he neither ate bread nor drank water; for he was sorrowful because of the transgression of the people.

Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin assembled at Jerusalem within three days. It was the ninth month, on the tenth day of the month; and all the people of the LORD assembled in the street of the temple of the LORD, trembling and shuddering because of this matter.

Nevertheless we made our prayer to our God, that he may set watchmen over us day and night because of them.

Also I said to them, The thing that you are doing is not good; for now you are not walking in the reverence of our God, because you are behaving like the nations which are round about us.

But the former governors who had been before me had enslaved the people and taken from them wine and bread, besides forty shekels of silver; also their servants bore rule over the people, and they were subject to them and were tormented by them; but I did not do so, because of the fear of God.

Now the man who prepared food brought to the servants who did the cooking, daily one ox and six fat sheep; also yearling goats were prepared for us, and once in ten days wine in abundance; yet for all this I did not ask for the provisions which were due the governorship, because the work was heavy upon this people.

O my God, remember me for good, because of all that I have done for this people.

Remember, O my God, Tobiah and Sanballat and their companions according to these their impious works, and also Jodaiah the prophet and the rest of the prophets who tried to frighten me because of them.

For there were many in Judah who had sworn to him that they would not harm him, because he was the son-in-law of Shechaniah the son of Arah; and his son Johanan had taken the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah.

And all the people went their way to eat and to drink and to send portions and to rejoice because they had understood the words that were declared to them.

Nevertheless because of thy great mercy thou didst not utterly destroy them nor forsake them; for thou art a gracious and merciful God.

And its produce is taken by the kings whom thou hast set over us because of our sins; also they have dominion over our bodies and over our cattle at their pleasure, and we are living in a great distress.

And if the people of the land should bring wares or provisions on the sabbath day to sell, we would not buy it of them, and whosoever should engage his animal in service on the sabbath day, he would not receive hire, nor should he carry a burden on the sabbath day because it is holy; and in the seventh year we would forego all debts due to us.

And on that day certain men were appointed over the chambers of the kings storehouses to gather into them the offerings, the first fruits, and the tithes of the towns, as it is written in the book of the law, for the priests and Levites, since the Jews were rejoicing because the priests and the Levites had stood up keeping watch in the house of their God.

Because they did not meet the children of Israel with bread and water, but hired Baalam to curse them; but our God turned his curses into blessings.

And he said, What shall we do to Queen Vashti, according to law, because she has not performed the command of King Akhshirash by the eunuchs?

Then Mordecai told him to tell Esther, Think not in yourself that you shall escape because you are in the kings house, more than all the other Jews.

And Rahbona, one of his eunuchs, said before the king, Behold the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman had made to hang Mordecai because he had spoken good concerning the king, stands in the house of Haman. Then the king said, Hang him on it.

Then King Akhshirash said to Esther the queen, Behold, I have given you the house of Haman, and him they have hanged upon the gal lows because he lifted up his hand against the Jews.