Study Desk

So it was, at the gates of Jerusalem, as it began to be dark before the Sabbath, that I commanded the gates to be shut, and charged that they must not be opened till after the Sabbath. Then I posted some of my servants at the gates, so that no burdens would be brought in on the Sabbath day.

For the queen's behavior will become known to all women, so that they will despise their husbands in their eyes, when they report, "King Ahasuerus commanded Queen Vashti to be brought in before him, but she did not come.'

If it pleases the king, let a royal decree go out from him, and let it be recorded in the laws of the Persians and the Medes, so that it will not be altered, that Vashti shall come no more before King Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal position to another who is better than she.

A copy of the document was to be issued as a decree in every province and published for all people, so that the Jews would be ready on that day to avenge themselves on their enemies.

Also, his possessions were seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and a very large household, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the East.

He frustrates the devices of the crafty, So that their hands cannot carry out their plans.

So that my soul chooses stranglingAnd death rather than my body. [fn]

Have I sinned?What have I done to You, O watcher of men?Why have You set me as Your target,So that I am a burden to myself? [fn]

Since his days are determined, The number of his months is with You; You have appointed his limits, so that he cannot pass.

He has fenced up my way, so that I cannot pass; And He has set darkness in my paths.

Or darkness so that you cannot see; And an abundance of water covers you.

Thick clouds cover Him, so that He cannot see, And He walks above the circle of heaven.'

"They should be swift on the face of the waters, Their portion should be cursed in the earth, So that no one would turn into the way of their vineyards.

Or eaten my morsel by myself, So that the fatherless could not eat of it

So that my heart has been secretly enticed, And my mouth has kissed my hand;

Because I feared the great multitude, And dreaded the contempt of families, So that I kept silence And did not go out of the door--

So that his life abhors bread, And his soul succulent food.

So that they caused the cry of the poor to come to Him; For He hears the cry of the afflicted.

He teaches my hands to make war, So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

I have wounded them, So that they could not rise; They have fallen under my feet.