ESTHER 8

Mordecai Promoted 1 On that day King Ahasuerus (Xerxes) gave thehouse of Haman, the enemy of the Jews, to Queen Esther; and Mordecai came before the king, because Esther had disclosed what [relation] he was to her. 2 The king took off his signet ring which he had taken away from Haman, and gave it […]

ESTHER 9

The Jews Destroy Their Enemies 1 Now in the twelfth month (that is, the month of Adar) on the thirteenth day when the king’s command and edict were about to be executed, on the [very] day when the enemies of the Jews had hoped to gain power over them [and slaughter them], it happened the […]

ESTHER 10

Mordecai’s Greatness 1 King Ahasuerus (Xerxes) imposed a tax on the land and on the coastlands of the sea. 2 And all the accomplishments of his authority and strength, and the full account of the greatness of Mordecai to which the king had raised him, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles […]

NEHEMIAH 1

Nehemiah’s Grief for the Exiles 1 The words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah: Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in thetwentieth year [of thePersian king], as I was in thecapitol of Susa, 2 Hanani, one of my brothers, and some men from Judah came; and I asked them about the surviving Jews who […]

NEHEMIAH 2

Nehemiah’s Prayer Answered 1 In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine wasplacedbefore him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not [previously] been sad in his presence. 2 So the king said to me, “Why do you look sad when you are […]

NEHEMIAH 3

Builders of the Walls 1 Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brothers the priests and builtthe Sheep Gate. They consecrated it and set up its doors; and they consecrated the wall [westward] to the Tower of the Hundred, as far as the Tower of Hananel. 2 Next to Eliashib the men of […]

NEHEMIAH 4

Work Is Ridiculed 1 But when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became furious, completely enraged, and he ridiculed the Jews. 2 He spoke before his brothers and the army of Samaria, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Can they restore it for themselves? Can they offer sacrifices? Can they finish in […]

NEHEMIAH 5

Usury Abolished 1 Now there was a great outcry of the [poorer] people and their wives against their Jewish brothers [to whom they were deeply in debt]. 2 For there were some who were saying, “We,along withour sons and our daughters, are many; therefore allow us to get grain, so that we may eat and […]

NEHEMIAH 6

The Enemy’s Plot 1 Now when Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall, and that there was no breach left in it, although at that time I had not set up doors in the gates, 2 Sanballat and Geshem sentwordto me, saying, “Come, let […]

NEHEMIAH 7

Census of First Returned Exiles 1 Now when the wall had been rebuilt and I had set up the doors, and the gatekeepers, singers, and Levites had been appointed, 2 I put my brother Hanani, with Hananiah the commander of the fortress, in charge of Jerusalem, for Hananiah was a more faithful and God-fearing man […]