Mordecai's great mourning. Chap. iv, v. Efther obtaineth the kings favour. among the Jews, and fafting, and weep- that are prefent in Shufhan, and fast ye ing and wailing, and many lay in fack- for me, and neither eat nor drink cloth and afhes. three days, night or day: I alfo and my maidens will faft likewife, and fo will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perifh. So Efthers maids, and her chamberlains came and told it her. Then was the queen exceedingly grieved, and fle fent raiment to clothe Mordecai, and to take away his fackcloth from him: but he received it not. 5 Then called Efther for Hatach, one of the kings chamberlains, whom he had appointed to attend upon her, and gave him a commandment to Mordecai, to know what it was, and why it was. 6 So Hatach went forth to Mordecai, unto the ftreet of the city, which was before the kings gate. 7 And Mordecai told him of all that had happened unto him, and of the fum of the money that Haman had promifed to pay to the kings treasuries for the Jews, to deftroy them. 8 Alfo he gave him the copy of the writing of the decree, that was given at Shufhan to deftroy them, to fhew it unto Efther, and to declare it unto her, and to charge her that fhe fhould go in unto the king, to make fupplication unto him, and to make requeft before him for her people" 9 And Ha ach came and told Efther the words of Mordecai. ToAgain Efther fpake unto Hatach, and gave him commandment unto Mordecais 11 All the kings fervants, and the people of the kings provinces do know, that whofoever, whether man or woman, fhall come unto the king into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law of his to put him to death, except fuch to whom the king fhall hold ou the golden fceptre, that he may live: but I have not been called to come in unto the king, these thirty days. 12 And they told to Mordecai Esthers words. 13 Then Mordecai commanded to anfwer Efther, Think not with thy felf that thou fhalt efcape in the kings houfe, more than all the Jews. 14 For if thou altogether holdeft thy peace at this time,then shall there enlargement and deliverance arife to the Jews from another place, but thou and thy fathers houfe thall be deftroyed: and who knoweth, whether thou art come to the kingdom for fuch a time as this? Then Efther bade them return Modecai this answer, 17 So Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that Efther had commanded him. CHAP. V. Efther adventuring on the kings favour, obtaineth the grace of the golden fceptre, and inviteth the king and Haman to a banquet. Ów it came to pass on the third apparel, and food in the inner court of the kings houfe, over against the kings houfe: and the king fat upon his royal throne in the royal houfe, over against the gate of the house. "2 And it was fo when the king faw Efther the queen ftanding in the court, that the obtained favour in his fight: and the king held out to Efther the golden fceptre that was in his hand: fo Efther drew near, and touched the top of the fceptre. 3.Then faid the king unto her, What wilt thou, queen Efther? and what is thy requeftit fhall be even given thee, to the half of the kingdom. 4 And Efther anfwered If it feem good unto the king, let the king and Haman come this day unto the banquer that I have prepared for him. 5 Then the king (aid, Caufe Haman to make hafte, that he may do as Efther hath faid. So the king and Haman came to the banquet that Efther had prepared. 6 And the king faid unto Ether at the banquet of wine, What is thy petition and it fhall be granted thee: and what is thy requeft? even to the half of the kingdom, it fhall be performed. 7 Then answered Efther, and faid, My petition, and my request is ; 8 If I have found favour in the fight of the king, and if it please the king to grant my petition, and to perform my requeft, let the king and Haman come to the banquet that I fhall prepare for them, and I will do to morrow as the king hath faid. 9 Then went Haman forth that day, joyful, and with a glad heart: ban when Haman faw Mordecai in the ki gate, that he ftood not up, nor Hamans pride and malice. Efther Mordecai honoured. for him, he was full of indignatior a- to do honour more than to my gainft Mordecai. 10 Nevertheless, Haman refrained himself, and when he came home, he fent and called for his friends, and Zerefh his wife. 11 And Haman told them of the glory of his riches, and the multitude of his children, and all the things wherein the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the princes and fervants of the king. 12 Haman faid moreover, Yea, Efther the queen did let no man come in with the king unto the banquet that he had Prepared, but my felf; and to morrow am I invited unto her alfo with the king. 13 Yet all this availeth me nothing, fo long as I fee Mordecai the Jew fitting at the kings gare. 14Then faid Zerefh his wife, and all his friends unto him, Let a gallows be made of fifty cubits high, and to morrow fpeak thou unto the king, that Mordecai may be hanged thereon: then go thou in merrily with the king unto the banquer. And the thing pleafed Haman, and he caufed the gallows to be made. CHAP. VI. Abafuerus rewardeth Mordecai. 11 Haman deth him honour. N that night could not the king the book of records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king. 2 And it was found written, that Mordecai had told of Bigthana, and Terefh, two of the kings chamberlains, the keepers of the door, who fought to lay hand on the king Ahafuerus. 3 And the king faid, What honour and dignity hath been done to Mordecai for this? Then faid the kings fervants that miniftred unto him, There is nothing done for him. 4 And the king faid, Who is in the court? (Now Haman was come into the outward court of the kings house, to fpeak unto the king, to hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him) 5 And the kings fervants faid unto him, Behold, Haman ftandeth in the court. And the king faid, Let him come in. 6 So Haman came in and the king faid unto him, What fhall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour? (Now Haman thought in his cart, To whom would the king delight felft) 7 And Haman answered the king, For the man whom the king delightech to honour, 8 Let the royal apparel be brought which the king ufeth to wear, and the horfe that the king rideth upon, and the crown royal which is fet upon his head: 9 And let this apparel and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the kings moft noble princes, that they may aray the man withal whom the king delighteth to honour, and bring him on horfe back through the ftreet of the city, and proclaim before him, Thus fhall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honour. 10 Then the king said to Haman, Make hafte, and take the apparel, and the horse, as thou haft faid, and do even fo to Mordecai the Jew, that fitteth at the kings gate: let nothing fail of all that thou haft spoken. II Then took Haman the apparel and the horse, and arayed Mordecai, and brought him on horfeback through the ftreet of the city, and proclaimed before him, Thus fhall it be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour. 12 And Mordecai came again to the kings gate: but Haman hafted to his covered. 13 And Haman told Zeresh his wife and all his friends, every thing that had befallen him. Then faid his wife men, and Zerefh his wife unto him, If Mordecai be of the feed of the Jews, before whom thou haft begun to fall, thou fhalt not prevail against him, but shalt surely fall before him. 14 And while they were yet talking with him, came the kings chamberlains, and hafted to bring Haman unto the i banquet that Efther had prepared. CHAP. VII. Efther fuseth for her own life, and for her peoples. 7 The king caufeth Haman to be hanged on his own gallows. 1 banquet with Ether the queen. the king and Haman came to 2 And the king faid again to Efther, on the fecond day, at the banquet of wine, What is thy petition, queen Efther? and it fhall be granted thee: and what is thy request? and it fhall be performed even to the half of the kingdom. 3 Then Efther the queen answered and faid, If I have found favour in thy Chap. viii. Efthers request. fight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request. 4 For we are fold, I and my people, -to be deftroyed, to be flain, and to perish: but if we had been fold for bondmen and bond-women, I had held my tongue, although the enemy could not countervail the kings damage. 5 Then the king Ahasuerus anfwered and faid unto Efther the queen, Who is he? and where is he that durft prefume in his heart to do fo? 6 And Efther faid, The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman. Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen. 7And the king arifing from the banquet of wine in his wrath, went in to the palace-garden; and Haman ftood up to make requeft for his life to Efther the queen: for he faw that there was evil determined against him by the king. 8 Then the king returned out of the palace-garden, into the place of the banquet of wine; and Haman was fallen upon the bed whereon Efther was. Then faid the king, Will he force the queen alfo before me in the house? As the word went out of the kings mouth, they covered Hamans face. 9 And Harbonah, one of the chamberlains, faid before the king, Behold alfo the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman had made for Mordecai, who had spoken good for the king, ftandeth in the houfe of Haman. Then the king faid, Hang him thereon. Mordecai advanced. way the mifchief of Haman the Agagite, and his device that he had devised a gainst the Jews. 4 Then the king held out the golden fceptre toward Efther. So Efther arofe, and stood before the king, 5 And faid, If it pleafe the king, and if I have found favour in his fight, and the thing feem right before the king, and I be pleafing in his eyes; let it be written to reverfe the letters devifed by Haman the fon of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to deftroy the Jews which are in all the kings provinces: 6 For how can I endure to fee the evil that shall come unto my people? or how can I endure to fee the destruction of my kindred? 7 Then the king Ahasuerus faid unto Efther the queen, and to Mordecai the Jew, Behold, I have given Efther the houfe of Haman, and him they have banged upon the gallows, because he laid his hand upon the Jews. 8 Write ye alfo for the Jews, as it liketh you, in the kings name, and feal it with the kings ring: for the writing which is written in the kings name, and fealed with the kings ring, may no man reverse. 9 Then were the kings fcribes called at that time in the third month (that is the month Sivan) on the three and twentieth day thereof, and it was written (according to all that Mordecai commanded) unto the Jews, and to the lieutenants, and the deputies and rulers of the provinces which are from India unto Ethiopia, an hundred twenty and 10 So they hanged Haman on the feven provinces, unto every province acgallows that he had prepared for Mor-cording to the writing thereof, and unto decai. Then was the kings wrath pacified. CHAP. VIII. every people after their language, and to the Jews according to their writing, and according to their language. 10 And he wrote in the king Ahafuerus name, and fealed it with the kings ring, and fent letters by pofts on horfoback, and riders on mules, camels, and young dromedaries: 11 Wherein the king granted thei Jews, which were in every city, to gather themselves together, and to ftand for their life, to deftroy, to flay, and to caufe to perifh all the power of the people and province, that would affault them, both little ones, and women, and to take the fpoil of them for a prey: 12 Upon one day, in all the provinces of king Ahasuerus, namely, upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar. The Jews deftroy Efther. their enemies. 13 The copy of the writing, for a flew and deftroyed five hundred commandment to be given in every men. province, was published unto all people, 7 And Parfhandatha, and Dalphon and that the Jews fhould be ready a- and Afpatha, gainst that day, to avenge themselves on their enemies. 14 So the pofts that rode upon mules and camels went out, being haftened, and preffed on by the kings commandment; and the decree was given at Shufhan the palace. 15 And Mordecai went out from the prefence of the king, in royal apparel of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a garment of fine linen and purple; and the city of Shufhan rejoyced and was glad: 16 The Jews had light and gladness, and joy, and honour. 17 And in every province, and in every city, whitherfoever the kings commandment and his decree came,the Jews had joy and gladness, a feaft and a good day: and many of the people of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews fell upon them. CHA P. IX. 1 The Jews flay their enemies, with the ten fons of Haman. 12 Abafuerus granteth another day of laughter. 20 The days of Purim made festival. N Ow in the twelfth month (that is the month Adar) on the thirteenth day of the fame, when the kings commandment and his decree drew near to be put in execution, in the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to have power over them, (though it was turned to the contrary, that the Jews had rule over them that hated them) 2 The Jews gathered themselves together in their cities, throughout all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, to lay hand on fuch as fought their hurt; and no man could withftand them: for the fear of them fell upon all people. 3 And all the rulers of the provinces, and the lieutenants, and the deputies, and officers of the king, helped the Jews: because the fear of Mordecai fell upon them. 4 For Mordecai was great in the kings houfe, and his fame went out throughout all the provinces: for this man Mordecai waxed greater and greater. 5 Thus the Jews fmote all their enemies with the ftroke of the fword, and flaughter and deftruction, and did what they would unto those that hated chem. And in Shufhan the palace the Jews 8 And Poracha, and Adalia, and Aridatha, 9 And Parmahta, and Arifai, and Aridai, and Vajezatha, 10 The ten fons of Haman the fon of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews, flew they; but on the fpoil laid they not their hand. 11 On that day, the number of chole that were flain in Shufhan the palace, was brought before the king. 12 And the king faid unto Efther the queen, The Jews have flain and destroyed five hundred men in Shufhan the palace, and the ten fons of Haman; what have they done in the reft of the kings provinces? now what is thy petition? and it fhall be granted thee: or what thy requeft further? and it shall be done. 13 Then faid Efther, If it please the king, let it be granted to the Jews which are in Shufhan, to do to morrow alfo according unto this days decree, and let Hamans ten fons be hanged upon the gallows. 14 And the king commanded it foto be done; and the decree was given at Shufhan, and they hanged Hamans ten fons. 15 For the Jews that were in Shufhan, gathered themfelves together on the fourteenth day alfo of the month Adar, and flew three hundred men at Shufan; but on the prey they laid not their hand. 16 But the other Jews that were in the kings provinces, gathered themfelves together, and ftood for their lives, and had reft from their enemies, and flew of their foes feventy and five thou fand; but they laid not their hands on the prey. 17 On the thirteenth day of the month Adar, and on the fourteenth day of the fame, refted they, and made it a day of feafting and gladness. 18 But the Jews that were at Shufhan, affembled together on the thirteenth day thereof, and on the fourteenth thereof; and on the fifteenth day of the fame they refted, and made it a day of feafting and gladness. 19 Therefore the Jews of the villa+ ges, that dwelt in the unwalled towns, made the fourteenth day of the month Adar, a day of gladness, and feastings and The days of Purim made festival. Chap. i. Ahasuerus his greatness. and a good day, and offending portions writing, and according to their appointed one to another. time every year: 20 And Mordecai wrote these things, and fent letters unto all the Jews that were in all the provinces of the king Ahafuerus, both nigh and far, 21 Toftablish this among them, that they fhould keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the fame yearly: 22 As the days wherein the Jews refted from their enemies, and the month which was turned unto them from forrow to joy, and from mourning into a good day: that they should make them days of feafting and joy, and of fending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor. 23 And the Jews undertook to do as they had begun, and as Mordecai had written unto them. 24 Becaufe Haman the fon of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had devifed against the Jews to deftroy them, and had caft Pur (that is the lot) to confume them, and to deftroy them: 25 But when Efther came before the king, he commanded by letters, that his wicked device which he devised against the Jews, fhould return upon his own head, and that he and his fons fhould be hanged on the gallows. 26 Wherefore they called thefe days Purim, after the name of Pur: therefore for all the words of this letter, and of that which they had feen concerning this matter, and which had come unto them, 28 And that thefe days fhould be remembred, and kept throughout every generation, every family,every province, and every city; and that thefe days of Purim fhould not fail from among the Jews, nor the memorial of them perish from their feed. 29 Then Efther the queen the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew, wrote with all authority, to confirm this fecond letter of Purim. 30 And he fent the letters unto all the Jews, to the hundred twenty and feven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, with words of peace and truth: 31 To confirm these days of Purim in their times appointed, according as Mordecai the Jew, and Efther the queen bad enjoined them, and as they had decreed for themfelves and for their feed, the matters of the faftings and their cry. 32 And the decree of Efther confirmed these matters of Purim, and it was written in the book. СНАР. Х. 2 And all the acts of his power, and of his might, and the declaration of the greatnefs of Mordecai, whereunto the king advanced him, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Perfia? 3 For Mordecai the Jew was next un27 The Jews ordained, and took up-to king Abafuerus, and great among on them, and upon their feed, and upon the Jews, and accepted of the multitude all fuch as joined themselves unto them, of his brethren, feeking the wealth of fo as it should not fail, that they would his people, and speaking peace to all his keep these two days, according to their feed. The Book of JOB. CHAP. I. 1 The holiness, riches, and religious care of Fob for his children. 6 Satan appearing before God, by calumniation obtaineth leave to tempt him. T Here was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job, and that man was perfect and up right, and one that feared Gou, and efchewed evil. 2 And there were born unto him feven fons,and three daughters. fand fheep, and three thoufand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred fhe-affes, and a very great houfhold; fo that this man was the greateft of all the men of the east. 4 And his fons went and feafted in their houfes, every one his day, and fent and called for their three fifters, to eat and to drink with them. 5 And it was fo, when the days of their feafting were gone about, that Job fent and fan&ified them, and 3 His fubftance also was seven thou-up early in the morning, and |