among the Jews, and fasting, and weep,ing, and wailing, and many lay in sack. eloth and ashes.

4 So Esther's maids and her chamberlains came, and told it her: then was the Queen exceedingly grieved, and she sent raiment to clothe Mordecai, and to take away the sackcloth from him: but he received it not.

5 Then called Esther for Hatach, one of the king's 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 street of the city, which was before the king's gate:

7 And Mordecai told him of all that had happened unto him, and of the sum of the money that Haman had promised to pay to the King's treasuries for the Jews, to destroy them.

8 Also he gave him the copy of the writing of the decree, that was given at Shushan to destroy them, to shew it unto Esther, and to declare it unto her, and to charge her that she should go in unto the king, to make supplication unto him, and to make request before him, for her people.

9 And Hatach came and told Esther the words of Mordecai.

10 Again Esther spake unto Hatach, and gave him commandment unto Mordecar,

11 All the King's servants, and the people of the king's provinces do know, that whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the King into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law of his to put him to death, except such to whom the King shall hold out the golden sceptre, 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 Esther's words.

13 Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther; Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king's house, more than all the Jews.

14 For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place, but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth, whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?

Her fast, and suit.

15 Then Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer:

16 Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise, and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law, and if I perish, I perish.

17 So Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that Esther had commanded him.

CHAP. V.

Esther adventuring on the king's fa

cour.

TOW it came to pass on the third

NOW

day, that Esther put on her royal apparel, and stood in the inner court of the king's house, over against the king's house: and the King sat upon his royal throne in the royal house, over against the gate of the house.

2 And it was so, when the king saw Esther the Queen standing in the court, that she obtained favour in his sight: and the king held out to Esther the golden sceptre that was in his hand. So Esther drew near, and touched the top of the sceptre.

3 Then said the King unto her, What wilt thou, Queen Esther? and what is thy request? it shall be even given thee to the half of the kingdom.

4 And Esther answered, If it seem good unto the King, let the King and Haman come this day unto the banquet that I have prepared for him.

5 Then the King said, Cause Haman to make haste, that he may do as Esther hath said. So the king and Haman came to the banquet that Esther had prepared.

6 And the king said unto Esther at the banquet of wine, What is thy petition, and it shall be granted thee? and what is thy request? even to the half of the kingdom it shall be performed.

7 Then answered Esther, and said, My petition, and my request is,

8 If I have found favour in the sight of the king, and if it please the king to grant my petition, and to perform my request, let the king and Haman come to the banquet that I shall prepare for them, and I will do to morrow, as the king hath said.

9 Then went Haman forth that day joyful, and with a glad heart: but when

Haman saw Mordecai in the king's gate, that he stood not up, nor moved for him, he was full of indignation against Mordecai.

10 Nevertheless Haman refrained himself, and when he came home, he sent and called for his friends, and Zeresh 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 servants of the king.

12 Haman said moreover, Yea Esther the Queen did let no man come in with the king unto the banquet that she had prepared but myself; and to morrow am I invited unto her also with the king.

13 Yet all this availeth me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sit ting at the king's gate.

14 Then said Zeresh his wife, and all his friends unto him, Let a gallows be made of fifty cubits high, and to morrow speak thou unto the king, that Mordecai may be hanged thereon: then go thou in merrily with the king unto the banquet. And the thing pleased Haman, and he caused the gallows to be made.

CHAP. VI.

Ahasuerus reading in the Chronicles of the good service done by Mordecai.

ON

N that night could not the King sleep, and he commanded to bring the book of Records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king.

2 And it was found written, that Mor. decai had told of Bigthana, and Teresh, two of the king's chamberlains, the keepers of the door, who sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus.

3 And the king said, What honour and dignity hath been done to Mordecai for this? Then said the king's servants that ministered unto him, There is no thing done for him.

4 And the king said, Who is in the court? (now Haman was come into the outward court of the king's house, to speak unto the king, to hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him.)

5 And the king's servants said unto him, Behold, Haman standeth in the court. And the King said, Let him come in.

Jew, promoted.

6 So Haman came in, and the king said unto him, What shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour? (now Haman thought in his heart, To whom would the king delight to do honour, more than to myself?)

7 And Haman answered the king, For the man whom the king delighteth to honour,

8 Let the royal apparel be brought, which the King useth to wear, and the horse that the King rideth upon, and the crown royal which is set upon his head:

9 And let this apparel and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king's most noble Princes, that they may array the man withal, whom the king delight. eth to honour, and bring him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaim before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king de. lighteth to honour.

10 Then the king said to Haman, Make haste, and take the apparel and the horse, as thou hast said, and do even so to Mordecai the Jew, that sitteth at the King's gate let nothing fail of all that thou hast spoken.

11 Then took Haman the apparel and the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, and brought him on horse-back through the street of the city, and proclaimed before him: Thus shall it be done unto the man whom the King delighteth to honour.

12 And Mordecai came again to the king's gate: but Haman hasted to his house mourning, and having his head covered.

13 And Haman told Zeresh his wife and all his friends, every thing that had befallen him. Then said his wise men and Zeresh his wife unto him, If Mor. decai be of the seed of the Jews, before whom thou hast begun to fall, thou shalt not prevail against him, but shalt surely fall before him.

14 And while they were yet talking with him, came the king's chamberlains, and hasted to bring Haman unto the banquet that Esther had prepared. CHAP. VII. Esther entertaining the King and

S%

Haman.

the King and Haman came to banquet with Esther the Queen.

2 And the king said again unto Esther, on the second day at the banquet of

The Jews' joy.

perish all the power of the people and province that would assault them, both attle ones, and women, and to take the spoil of them for a prey:

12 on one day, in all the provinces of king Ahasuerus, namely upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar.

Haman's ten sons.

5 Thus the Jews smote all their enemies with the stroke of the sword, and slaughter, and destruction, and did what they would unto those that hated them. 6 And in Shushan the palace the Jews slew and destroyed five hundred men:

7 And Parshandatha, and Dalphon, and Aspatha,

8 And Poratha, and Adalia, and Aridatha,

9 And Parmashta, and Arisai, and Aridai, and Vajezatha,

15 And Mordecai went out from the presence 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 Shushan rejoiced, and was glad :

16 The Jews had light and gladness, and joy and honour.

17 And in every province, and in every city, whithersoever the king's commandment, and his decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a good day. And many of the people of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews fell upon them.

NOW

CHAP. IX.

The Jews slay their enemies. OW in the twelfth month (that is the month Adar) on the thirteenth day of the same, when the King's 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 such as sought their hurt, and no man could withstand 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 king's house, and his fame went out, throughout all the provinces: for this man Mordecai waxed greater and greater.

11 On that day, the number of those that were slain in Shushan the palace, was brought before the king.

12 And the king said unto Esther the Queen; The Jews have slain and destroyed five hundred men in Shushan the palace, and the ten sons of Haman; what have they done in the rest of the king's provinces? now what is thy pe tition ? and it shall be granted thee: or what is thy request further? and it shall be done.

13 Then said Esther, If it please the king, Let it be granted to the Jews which are in Shushan, to do to morrow also, according unto this day's decree, and let Haman's ten sons be hanged upon the gallows.

14 And the king commanded it so to be done; and the decree was given at Shushan, and they hanged Haman's ten

sons.

15 For the Jews that were in Shushan, gathered themselves together on the fourteenth day also of the month Adar, and slew three hundred men at Shushan: but on the prey they laid not their hand.

16 But the other Jews that were in the king's provinces, gathered themselves together, and stood for their lives, and had rest from their enemies, and slew of their foes seventy and five thousand, 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 same, rested they, and made it a day of feasting and gladness.

18 But the Jews that were at Shushan, assembled together on the thir. teenth day thereof, and on the fourteenth

A new Feast

is ordained.

19 Therefore the Jews of the villages, that dwelt in the unwalled towns, made the fourteenth day of the month Adar, a day of gladness and feasting, and a good day, and of sending portions one to another.

20 And Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters unto all the Jews, that were in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, both nigh and far, 21 To stablish this among them, that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, yearly:

22 As the days wherein the Jews rested from their enemies, and the month which was turned unto them, from sorrow to joy, and from mourning into a good day that they should make them days of feasting and joy, and of sending 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 Because Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had devised against the Jews to destroy them, and had cast Pur (that is, the lot) to consume them, and to destroy them.

25 But when Esther came before the king, he commanded by letters, that his wicked device which he devised against the Jews, should return upon his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.

26 Wherefore they called these days Purim, after the name of Pur: therefore for all the words of this letter, and of that which they had seen concerning this matter, and which had come unto them, 27 The Jews ordained, and took upon them, and upon their seed, and upon all

ΤΗ

28 And that these days should be remembered, and kept throughout every generation, every family, every pro vince, and every city, and that these days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews, nor the memorial of them perish from their seed.

29 Then Esther the Queen, the daugh. ter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew, wrote with all authority, to confirm this second letter of Purim.

30 And he sent the letters unto all the Jews, to the hundred twenty and seven 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 Esther the Queen had enjoined them, and as they had decreed for themselves and for their seed, the matters of the fastings and their cry.

32 And the decree of Esther confirmed these matters of Purim, and it was written in the book.

CHAP. X.
Ahasuerus' greatness.

AND the king Ahasuerus laid a tribute upon the land, and upon

the Isles of the sea.

2 And all the acts of his power, and of his might, and the declaration of the greatness of Mordecai, whereunto the king advanced him, are they not writ. ten in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia?

3 For Mordecai the Jew was next unto King Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and accepted of the multitude of his brethren, seeking the wealth of his people, and speaking peace to all his seed.

CHAP. I. The care of Job for his children. HERE was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job, and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil. 2 And there were born unto him seven sons, and three daughters.