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Therefore You gave them into the hand of the ones who distressed them, and they afflicted them with distress,But at the time of their distress they cried to You,And You listened from heaven, and according to Your abundant compassionYou gave them saviors and they saved them from the hand of the ones that distressed them.

But as soon as they had rest, they returned to do evil before You;Therefore You forsook them in the hand of their enemies, so they had dominion over them.Then they returned and cried to You. And You listened from heaven,And many times You delivered them according to Your compassion,

And testified to them in order to turn them back to Your law.Yet they acted presumptuously and did not listen to Your commandments but sinned against Your judgments,By which if a man does them, he shall live.And they gave a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck, and would not listen.

However, You are righteous in all that has come upon us;For You have dealt in truth, but we have acted wickedly.

But they, in their own kingdom,With Your abundant goodness which You gave them,With the broad and rich land which You set before them,Did not serve You or turn from their evil deeds.

And the officials of the people lived in Jerusalem, but the rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of ten to live in Jerusalem, the holy city, while nine-tenths remained in the other cities.

Now these are the heads of the provinces who lived in Jerusalem, but in the cities of Judah each lived in his own possession in their cities—the Israelites, the priests, the Levites, the temple servants, and the sons of Solomon's servants.

But the temple servants were living in Ophel, and Ziha and Gishpa were over the temple servants.

because they did not meet the sons of Israel with bread and water, but hired Balaam against them to curse them. However, our God turned the curse into a blessing.

But during all this time I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I had gone to the king. After some time, however, I asked leave from the king,

As for their children, half spoke in the language of Ashdod, and none of them was able to speak the language of Judah, but only the tongue of his own people.

But Queen Vashti refused to come at the word of the king which was delivered by the hand of the eunuchs. Then the king became exceedingly furious, and his wrath burned within him.

Then in the presence of the king and the princes, Memucan said, "Queen Vashti has committed iniquity against not only the king but also against all the princes and all the peoples who are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus.

For the word about the queen will get out to all the women causing them to despise their husbands in their eyes by saying, ‘King Ahasuerus said for Queen Vashti to be brought in to his presence, but she did not come.'

But the matter became known to Mordecai, and he told it to Queen Esther, and Esther said it to the king in Mordecai's name.

And all the king's servants who were at the king's gate were bowing down and prostrating themselves before Haman, for so the king had commanded concerning him. But Mordecai would not bow down or prostrate himself.

But he despised in his eyes to send forth his hand against Mordecai alone, for they had told him who the people of Mordecai were; therefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, who were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus.

The couriers went out, hastened by the word of the king. And the law was given at the citadel in Susa. Now the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was in confusion.

Then Esther's young women and her eunuchs came and told her, and the queen writhed in great anguish. And she sent garments to clothe Mordecai and to remove his sackcloth from upon him, but he did not accept them.

"All the king's servants and the people of the king's provinces know that for any man or woman who comes to the king to the inner court who is not summoned, he has but one law, that he be put to death, unless the king holds out to him the golden scepter so that he may live. And I have not been summoned to come to the king for these thirty days."