Reading The Bible

[Boaz]

Nehemiah 13

Audio link ;

https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/purevoice/niv/Neh.13

On that day the Book of Moses was read aloud in the hearing of the people and there it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever be admitted into the assembly of God, 2 because they had not met the Israelites with food and water but had hired Balaam to call a curse down on them. (Our God, however, turned the curse into a blessing.) 3 When the people heard this law, they excluded from Israel all who were of foreign descent.
4 Before this, Eliashib the priest had been put in charge of the storerooms of the house of our God. He was closely associated with Tobiah, 5 and he had provided him with a large room formerly used to store the grain offerings and incense and temple articles, and also the tithes of grain, new wine and olive oil prescribed for the Levites, musicians and gatekeepers, as well as the contributions for the priests.
6 But while all this was going on, I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I had returned to the king. Some time later I asked his permission 7 and came back to Jerusalem. Here I learned about the evil thing Eliashib had done in providing Tobiah a room in the courts of the house of God. 8 I was greatly displeased and threw all Tobiah’s household goods out of the room. 9 I gave orders to purify the rooms, and then I put back into them the equipment of the house of God, with the grain offerings and the incense.
10 I also learned that the portions assigned to the Levites had not been given to them, and that all the Levites and musicians responsible for the service had gone back to their own fields. 11 So I rebuked the officials and asked them, “Why is the house of God neglected?” Then I called them together and stationed them at their posts.
12 All Judah brought the tithes of grain, new wine and olive oil into the storerooms. 13 I put Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and a Levite named Pedaiah in charge of the storerooms and made Hanan son of Zakkur, the son of Mattaniah, their assistant, because they were considered trustworthy. They were made responsible for distributing the supplies to their fellow Levites.
14 Remember me for this, my God, and do not blot out what I have so faithfully done for the house of my God and its services.
15 In those days I saw people in Judah treading winepresses on the Sabbath and bringing in grain and loading it on donkeys, together with wine, grapes, figs and all other kinds of loads. And they were bringing all this into Jerusalem on the Sabbath. Therefore I warned them against selling food on that day. 16 People from Tyre who lived in Jerusalem were bringing in fish and all kinds of merchandise and selling them in Jerusalem on the Sabbath to the people of Judah. 17 I rebuked the nobles of Judah and said to them, “What is this wicked thing you are doing—desecrating the Sabbath day? 18 Didn’t your ancestors do the same things, so that our God brought all this calamity on us and on this city? Now you are stirring up more wrath against Israel by desecrating the Sabbath.”
19 When evening shadows fell on the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I ordered the doors to be shut and not opened until the Sabbath was over. I stationed some of my own men at the gates so that no load could be brought in on the Sabbath day. 20 Once or twice the merchants and sellers of all kinds of goods spent the night outside Jerusalem. 21 But I warned them and said, “Why do you spend the night by the wall? If you do this again, I will arrest you.” From that time on they no longer came on the Sabbath. 22 Then I commanded the Levites to purify themselves and go and guard the gates in order to keep the Sabbath day holy.
Remember me for this also, my God, and show mercy to me according to your great love.
23 Moreover, in those days I saw men of Judah who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon and Moab. 24 Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod or the language of one of the other peoples, and did not know how to speak the language of Judah. 25 I rebuked them and called curses down on them. I beat some of the men and pulled out their hair. I made them take an oath in God’s name and said: “You are not to give your daughters in marriage to their sons, nor are you to take their daughters in marriage for your sons or for yourselves. 26 Was it not because of marriages like these that Solomon king of Israel sinned? Among the many nations there was no king like him. He was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel, but even he was led into sin by foreign women. 27 Must we hear now that you too are doing all this terrible wickedness and are being unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women?”
28 One of the sons of Joiada son of Eliashib the high priest was son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite. And I drove him away from me.
29 Remember them, my God, because they defiled the priestly office and the covenant of the priesthood and of the Levites.
30 So I purified the priests and the Levites of everything foreign, and assigned them duties, each to his own task. 31 I also made provision for contributions of wood at designated times, and for the firstfruits.
Remember me with favor, my God.

[Boaz]

Esther 1

Audio link ;

https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/purevoice/niv/Esth.1

This is what happened during the time of Xerxes, the Xerxes who ruled over 127 provinces stretching from India to Cush 2 At that time King Xerxes reigned from his royal throne in the citadel of Susa, 3 and in the third year of his reign he gave a banquet for all his nobles and officials. The military leaders of Persia and Media, the princes, and the nobles of the provinces were present.
4 For a full 180 days he displayed the vast wealth of his kingdom and the splendor and glory of his majesty. 5 When these days were over, the king gave a banquet, lasting seven days, in the enclosed garden of the king’s palace, for all the people from the least to the greatest who were in the citadel of Susa. 6 The garden had hangings of white and blue linen, fastened with cords of white linen and purple material to silver rings on marble pillars. There were couches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl and other costly stones. 7 Wine was served in goblets of gold, each one different from the other, and the royal wine was abundant, in keeping with the king’s liberality. 8 By the king’s command each guest was allowed to drink with no restrictions, for the king instructed all the wine stewards to serve each man what he wished.
9 Queen Vashti also gave a banquet for the women in the royal palace of King Xerxes.
10 On the seventh day, when King Xerxes was in high spirits from wine, he commanded the seven eunuchs who served him—Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar and Karkas— 11 to bring before him Queen Vashti, wearing her royal crown, in order to display her beauty to the people and nobles, for she was lovely to look at. 12 But when the attendants delivered the king’s command, Queen Vashti refused to come. Then the king became furious and burned with anger.
13 Since it was customary for the king to consult experts in matters of law and justice, he spoke with the wise men who understood the times 14 and were closest to the king—Karshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena and Memukan, the seven nobles of Persia and Media who had special access to the king and were highest in the kingdom.
15 “According to law, what must be done to Queen Vashti?” he asked. “She has not obeyed the command of King Xerxes that the eunuchs have taken to her.”
16 Then Memukan replied in the presence of the king and the nobles, “Queen Vashti has done wrong, not only against the king but also against all the nobles and the peoples of all the provinces of King Xerxes. 17 For the queen’s conduct will become known to all the women, and so they will despise their husbands and say, ‘King Xerxes commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him, but she would not come.’ 18 This very day the Persian and Median women of the nobility who have heard about the queen’s conduct will respond to all the king’s nobles in the same way. There will be no end of disrespect and discord.
19 “Therefore, if it pleases the king, let him issue a royal decree and let it be written in the laws of Persia and Media, which cannot be repealed, that Vashti is never again to enter the presence of King Xerxes. Also let the king give her royal position to someone else who is better than she. 20 Then when the king’s edict is proclaimed throughout all his vast realm, all the women will respect their husbands, from the least to the greatest.”
21 The king and his nobles were pleased with this advice, so the king did as Memukan proposed. 22 He sent dispatches to all parts of the kingdom, to each province in its own script and to each people in their own language, proclaiming that every man should be ruler over his own household, using his native tongue.

[Boaz]

Esther 2

Audio link ;

https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/purevoice/niv/Esth.2

2 Later when King Xerxes’ fury had subsided, he remembered Vashti and what she had done and what he had decreed about her. 2 Then the king’s personal attendants proposed, “Let a search be made for beautiful young virgins for the king. 3 Let the king appoint commissioners in every province of his realm to bring all these beautiful young women into the harem at the citadel of Susa. Let them be placed under the care of Hegai, the king’s eunuch, who is in charge of the women; and let beauty treatments be given to them. 4 Then let the young woman who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti.” This advice appealed to the king, and he followed it.
5 Now there was in the citadel of Susa a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin, named Mordecai son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, 6 who had been carried into exile from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, among those taken captive with Jehoiachin king of Judah. 7 Mordecai had a cousin named Hadassah, whom he had brought up because she had neither father nor mother. This young woman, who was also known as Esther, had a lovely figure and was beautiful. Mordecai had taken her as his own daughter when her father and mother died.
8 When the king’s order and edict had been proclaimed, many young women were brought to the citadel of Susa and put under the care of Hegai. Esther also was taken to the king’s palace and entrusted to Hegai, who had charge of the harem. 9 She pleased him and won his favor. Immediately he provided her with her beauty treatments and special food. He assigned to her seven female attendants selected from the king’s palace and moved her and her attendants into the best place in the harem.
10 Esther had not revealed her nationality and family background, because Mordecai had forbidden her to do so. 11 Every day he walked back and forth near the courtyard of the harem to find out how Esther was and what was happening to her.
12 Before a young woman’s turn came to go in to King Xerxes, she had to complete twelve months of beauty treatments prescribed for the women, six months with oil of myrrh and six with perfumes and cosmetics. 13 And this is how she would go to the king: Anything she wanted was given her to take with her from the harem to the king’s palace. 14 In the evening she would go there and in the morning return to another part of the harem to the care of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the concubines. She would not return to the king unless he was pleased with her and summoned her by name.
15 When the turn came for Esther (the young woman Mordecai had adopted, the daughter of his uncle Abihail) to go to the king, she asked for nothing other than what Hegai, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the harem, suggested. And Esther won the favor of everyone who saw her. 16 She was taken to King Xerxes in the royal residence in the tenth month, the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.
17 Now the king was attracted to Esther more than to any of the other women, and she won his favor and approval more than any of the other virgins. So he set a royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti. 18 And the king gave a great banquet, Esther’s banquet, for all his nobles and officials. He proclaimed a holiday throughout the provinces and distributed gifts with royal liberality.
Mordecai Uncovers a Conspiracy
19 When the virgins were assembled a second time, Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate. 20 But Esther had kept secret her family background and nationality just as Mordecai had told her to do, for she continued to follow Mordecai’s instructions as she had done when he was bringing her up.
21 During the time Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s officers who guarded the doorway, became angry and conspired to assassinate King Xerxes. 22 But Mordecai found out about the plot and told Queen Esther, who in turn reported it to the king, giving credit to Mordecai. 23 And when the report was investigated and found to be true, the two officials were impaled on poles. All this was recorded in the book of the annals in the presence of the king.

[Boaz]

Esther 3

Audio link ;

https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/purevoice/niv/Esth.3

After these events, King Xerxes honored Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, elevating him and giving him a seat of honor higher than that of all the other nobles. 2 All the royal officials at the king’s gate knelt down and paid honor to Haman, for the king had commanded this concerning him. But Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor.
3 Then the royal officials at the king’s gate asked Mordecai, “Why do you disobey the king’s command?” 4 Day after day they spoke to him but he refused to comply. Therefore they told Haman about it to see whether Mordecai’s behavior would be tolerated, for he had told them he was a Jew.
5 When Haman saw that Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor, he was enraged. 6 Yet having learned who Mordecai’s people were, he scorned the idea of killing only Mordecai. Instead Haman looked for a way to destroy all Mordecai’s people, the Jews, throughout the whole kingdom of Xerxes.
7 In the twelfth year of King Xerxes, in the first month, the month of Nisan, the pur (that is, the lot) was cast in the presence of Haman to select a day and month. And the lot fell on the twelfth month, the month of Adar.
8 Then Haman said to King Xerxes, “There is a certain people dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom who keep themselves separate. Their customs are different from those of all other people, and they do not obey the king’s laws; it is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them. 9 If it pleases the king, let a decree be issued to destroy them, and I will give ten thousand talents of silver to the king’s administrators for the royal treasury.”
10 So the king took his signet ring from his finger and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews. 11 “Keep the money,” the king said to Haman, “and do with the people as you please.”
12 Then on the thirteenth day of the first month the royal secretaries were summoned. They wrote out in the script of each province and in the language of each people all Haman’s orders to the king’s satraps, the governors of the various provinces and the nobles of the various peoples. These were written in the name of King Xerxes himself and sealed with his own ring. 13 Dispatches were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces with the order to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews—young and old, women and children—on a single day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods. 14 A copy of the text of the edict was to be issued as law in every province and made known to the people of every nationality so they would be ready for that day.
15 The couriers went out, spurred on by the king’s command, and the edict was issued in the citadel of Susa. The king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was bewildered.

[Boaz]

Ester 4

Audio link ;

https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/purevoice/niv/Esth.4

4 When Mordecai learned of all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the city, wailing loudly and bitterly. 2 But he went only as far as the king’s gate, because no one clothed in sackcloth was allowed to enter it. 3 In every province to which the edict and order of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and wailing. Many lay in sackcloth and ashes.
4 When Esther’s eunuchs and female attendants came and told her about Mordecai, she was in great distress. She sent clothes for him to put on instead of his sackcloth, but he would not accept them. 5 Then Esther summoned Hathak, one of the king’s eunuchs assigned to attend her, and ordered him to find out what was troubling Mordecai and why.
6 So Hathak went out to Mordecai in the open square of the city in front of the king’s gate. 7 Mordecai told him everything that had happened to him, including the exact amount of money Haman had promised to pay into the royal treasury for the destruction of the Jews. 8 He also gave him a copy of the text of the edict for their annihilation, which had been published in Susa, to show to Esther and explain it to her, and he told him to instruct her to go into the king’s presence to beg for mercy and plead with him for her people.
9 Hathak went back and reported to Esther what Mordecai had said. 10 Then she instructed him to say to Mordecai, 11 “All the king’s officials and the people of the royal provinces know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned the king has but one law: that they be put to death unless the king extends the gold scepter to them and spares their lives. But thirty days have passed since I was called to go to the king.”
12 When Esther’s words were reported to Mordecai, 13 he sent back this answer: “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. 14 For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”
15 Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: 16 “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.”

[Boaz]

Esther 5

Audio link ;

https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/purevoice/niv/Esth.5

5 On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the palace, in front of the king’s hall. The king was sitting on his royal throne in the hall, facing the entrance. 2 When he saw Queen Esther standing in the court, he was pleased with her and held out to her the gold scepter that was in his hand. So Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter.
3 Then the king asked, “What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be given you.”
4 “If it pleases the king,” replied Esther, “let the king, together with Haman, come today to a banquet I have prepared for him.”
5 “Bring Haman at once,” the king said, “so that we may do what Esther asks.”
So the king and Haman went to the banquet Esther had prepared. 6 As they were drinking wine, the king again asked Esther, “Now what is your petition? It will be given you. And what is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be granted.”
7 Esther replied, “My petition and my request is this: 8 If the king regards me with favor and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and fulfill my request, let the king and Haman come tomorrow to the banquet I will prepare for them. Then I will answer the king’s question.”
Haman’s Rage Against Mordecai
9 Haman went out that day happy and in high spirits. But when he saw Mordecai at the king’s gate and observed that he neither rose nor showed fear in his presence, he was filled with rage against Mordecai. 10 Nevertheless, Haman restrained himself and went home.
Calling together his friends and Zeresh, his wife, 11 Haman boasted to them about his vast wealth, his many sons, and all the ways the king had honored him and how he had elevated him above the other nobles and officials. 12 “And that’s not all,” Haman added. “I’m the only person Queen Esther invited to accompany the king to the banquet she gave. And she has invited me along with the king tomorrow. 13 But all this gives me no satisfaction as long as I see that Jew Mordecai sitting at the king’s gate.”
14 His wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, “Have a pole set up, reaching to a height of fifty cubits, and ask the king in the morning to have Mordecai impaled on it. Then go with the king to the banquet and enjoy yourself.” This suggestion delighted Haman, and he had the pole set up.

[Boaz]

Esther 6

Audio link ;

https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/purevoice/niv/Esth.6

6 That night the king could not sleep; so he ordered the book of the chronicles, the record of his reign, to be brought in and read to him. 2 It was found recorded there that Mordecai had exposed Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s officers who guarded the doorway, who had conspired to assassinate King Xerxes.
3 “What honor and recognition has Mordecai received for this?” the king asked.
“Nothing has been done for him,” his attendants answered.
4 The king said, “Who is in the court?” Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the palace to speak to the king about impaling Mordecai on the pole he had set up for him.
5 His attendants answered, “Haman is standing in the court.”
“Bring him in,” the king ordered.
6 When Haman entered, the king asked him, “What should be done for the man the king delights to honor?”
Now Haman thought to himself, “Who is there that the king would rather honor than me?” 7 So he answered the king, “For the man the king delights to honor, 8 have them bring a royal robe the king has worn and a horse the king has ridden, one with a royal crest placed on its head. 9 Then let the robe and horse be entrusted to one of the king’s most noble princes. Let them robe the man the king delights to honor, and lead him on the horse through the city streets, proclaiming before him, ‘This is what is done for the man the king delights to honor!’”
10 “Go at once,” the king commanded Haman. “Get the robe and the horse and do just as you have suggested for Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king’s gate. Do not neglect anything you have recommended.”
11 So Haman got the robe and the horse. He robed Mordecai, and led him on horseback through the city streets, proclaiming before him, “This is what is done for the man the king delights to honor!”
12 Afterward Mordecai returned to the king’s gate. But Haman rushed home, with his head covered in grief, 13 and told Zeresh his wife and all his friends everything that had happened to him.
His advisers and his wife Zeresh said to him, “Since Mordecai, before whom your downfall has started, is of Jewish origin, you cannot stand against him—you will surely come to ruin!” 14 While they were still talking with him, the king’s eunuchs arrived and hurried Haman away to the banquet Esther had prepared.

[Boaz]

Ester 7

Audio link ;

https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/purevoice/niv/Esth.7

So the king and Haman went to Queen Esther’s banquet, 2 and as they were drinking wine on the second day, the king again asked, “Queen Esther, what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be granted.”
3 Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor with you, Your Majesty, and if it pleases you, grant me my life—this is my petition. And spare my people—this is my request. 4 For I and my people have been sold to be destroyed, killed and annihilated. If we had merely been sold as male and female slaves, I would have kept quiet, because no such distress would justify disturbing the king.[a]”
5 King Xerxes asked Queen Esther, “Who is he? Where is he—the man who has dared to do such a thing?”
6 Esther said, “An adversary and enemy! This vile Haman!”
Then Haman was terrified before the king and queen. 7 The king got up in a rage, left his wine and went out into the palace garden. But Haman, realizing that the king had already decided his fate, stayed behind to beg Queen Esther for his life.
8 Just as the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall, Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was reclining.
The king exclaimed, “Will he even molest the queen while she is with me in the house?”
As soon as the word left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face. 9 Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs attending the king, said, “A pole reaching to a height of fifty cubits stands by Haman’s house. He had it set up for Mordecai, who spoke up to help the king.”
The king said, “Impale him on it!” 10 So they impaled Haman on the pole he had set up for Mordecai. Then the king’s fury subsided.

[Boaz]

Esther 8

Audio link ;

https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/purevoice/niv/Esth.8

That same day King Xerxes gave Queen Esther the estate of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came into the presence of the king, for Esther had told how he was related to her. 2 The king took off his signet ring, which he had reclaimed from Haman, and presented it to Mordecai. And Esther appointed him over Haman’s estate.
3 Esther again pleaded with the king, falling at his feet and weeping. She begged him to put an end to the evil plan of Haman the Agagite, which he had devised against the Jews. 4 Then the king extended the gold scepter to Esther and she arose and stood before him.
5 “If it pleases the king,” she said, “and if he regards me with favor and thinks it the right thing to do, and if he is pleased with me, let an order be written overruling the dispatches that Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, devised and wrote to destroy the Jews in all the king’s provinces. 6 For how can I bear to see disaster fall on my people? How can I bear to see the destruction of my family?”
7 King Xerxes replied to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Because Haman attacked the Jews, I have given his estate to Esther, and they have impaled him on the pole he set up. 8 Now write another decree in the king’s name in behalf of the Jews as seems best to you, and seal it with the king’s signet ring—for no document written in the king’s name and sealed with his ring can be revoked.”
9 At once the royal secretaries were summoned—on the twenty-third day of the third month, the month of Sivan. They wrote out all Mordecai’s orders to the Jews, and to the satraps, governors and nobles of the 127 provinces stretching from India to Cush. These orders were written in the script of each province and the language of each people and also to the Jews in their own script and language. 10 Mordecai wrote in the name of King Xerxes, sealed the dispatches with the king’s signet ring, and sent them by mounted couriers, who rode fast horses especially bred for the king.
11 The king’s edict granted the Jews in every city the right to assemble and protect themselves; to destroy, kill and annihilate the armed men of any nationality or province who might attack them and their women and children, and to plunder the property of their enemies. 12 The day appointed for the Jews to do this in all the provinces of King Xerxes was the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar. 13 A copy of the text of the edict was to be issued as law in every province and made known to the people of every nationality so that the Jews would be ready on that day to avenge themselves on their enemies.
14 The couriers, riding the royal horses, went out, spurred on by the king’s command, and the edict was issued in the citadel of Susa.
The Triumph of the Jews
15 When Mordecai left the king’s presence, he was wearing royal garments of blue and white, a large crown of gold and a purple robe of fine linen. And the city of Susa held a joyous celebration. 16 For the Jews it was a time of happiness and joy, gladness and honor. 17 In every province and in every city to which the edict of the king came, there was joy and gladness among the Jews, with feasting and celebrating. And many people of other nationalities became Jews because fear of the Jews had seized them.

[Boaz]

Ester 9

Audio link ;

https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/purevoice/niv/Esth.9

On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, the edict commanded by the king was to be carried out. On this day the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, but now the tables were turned and the Jews got the upper hand over those who hated them. 2 The Jews assembled in their cities in all the provinces of King Xerxes to attack those determined to destroy them. No one could stand against them, because the people of all the other nationalities were afraid of them. 3 And all the nobles of the provinces, the satraps, the governors and the king’s administrators helped the Jews, because fear of Mordecai had seized them. 4 Mordecai was prominent in the palace; his reputation spread throughout the provinces, and he became more and more powerful.
5 The Jews struck down all their enemies with the sword, killing and destroying them, and they did what they pleased to those who hated them. 6 In the citadel of Susa, the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men. 7 They also killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, 8 Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, 9 Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai and Vaizatha, 10 the ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews. But they did not lay their hands on the plunder.
11 The number of those killed in the citadel of Susa was reported to the king that same day. 12 The king said to Queen Esther, “The Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men and the ten sons of Haman in the citadel of Susa. What have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces? Now what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? It will also be granted.”
13 “If it pleases the king,” Esther answered, “give the Jews in Susa permission to carry out this day’s edict tomorrow also, and let Haman’s ten sons be impaled on poles.”
14 So the king commanded that this be done. An edict was issued in Susa, and they impaled the ten sons of Haman. 15 The Jews in Susa came together on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, and they put to death in Susa three hundred men, but they did not lay their hands on the plunder.
16 Meanwhile, the remainder of the Jews who were in the king’s provinces also assembled to protect themselves and get relief from their enemies. They killed seventy-five thousand of them but did not lay their hands on the plunder. 17 This happened on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth they rested and made it a day of feasting and joy.
18 The Jews in Susa, however, had assembled on the thirteenth and fourteenth, and then on the fifteenth they rested and made it a day of feasting and joy.
19 That is why rural Jews—those living in villages—observe the fourteenth of the month of Adar as a day of joy and feasting, a day for giving presents to each other.
Purim Established
20 Mordecai recorded these events, and he sent letters to all the Jews throughout the provinces of King Xerxes, near and far, 21 to have them celebrate annually the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar 22 as the time when the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month when their sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning into a day of celebration. He wrote them to observe the days as days of feasting and joy and giving presents of food to one another and gifts to the poor.
23 So the Jews agreed to continue the celebration they had begun, doing what Mordecai had written to them. 24 For Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them and had cast the pur (that is, the lot) for their ruin and destruction. 25 But when the plot came to the king’s attention, he issued written orders that the evil scheme Haman had devised against the Jews should come back onto his own head, and that he and his sons should be impaled on poles. 26 (Therefore these days were called Purim, from the word pur.) Because of everything written in this letter and because of what they had seen and what had happened to them, 27 the Jews took it on themselves to establish the custom that they and their descendants and all who join them should without fail observe these two days every year, in the way prescribed and at the time appointed. 28 These days should be remembered and observed in every generation by every family, and in every province and in every city. And these days of Purim should never fail to be celebrated by the Jews—nor should the memory of these days die out among their descendants.
29 So Queen Esther, daughter of Abihail, along with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm this second letter concerning Purim. 30 And Mordecai sent letters to all the Jews in the 127 provinces of Xerxes’ kingdom—words of goodwill and assurance— 31 to establish these days of Purim at their designated times, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had decreed for them, and as they had established for themselves and their descendants in regard to their times of fasting and lamentation. 32 Esther’s decree confirmed these regulations about Purim, and it was written down in the records.

[Boaz]

Ester 10

Audio link ;

https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/p...ce/niv/Esth.10

King Xerxes imposed tribute throughout the empire, to its distant shores. 2 And all his acts of power and might, together with a full account of the greatness of Mordecai, whom the king had promoted, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Media and Persia? 3 Mordecai the Jew was second in rank to King Xerxes, preeminent among the Jews, and held in high esteem by his many fellow Jews, because he worked for the good of his people and spoke up for the welfare of all the Jews.

[Boaz]

Job 1

Audio link ;

https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/purevoice/niv/Job.1

1 In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. 2 He had seven sons and three daughters, 3 and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East.
4 His sons used to hold feasts in their homes on their birthdays, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would make arrangements for them to be purified. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular custom.
6 One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them. 7 The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”
Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”
8 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”
9 “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. 10 “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. 11 But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.”
12 The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.”
Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.
13 One day when Job’s sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, 14 a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby, 15 and the Sabeans attacked and made off with them. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
16 While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The fire of God fell from the heavens and burned up the sheep and the servants, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
17 While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three raiding parties and swept down on your camels and made off with them. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
18 While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and said, “Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, 19 when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
20 At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship 21 and said:
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
and naked I will depart.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;
may the name of the Lord be praised.”
22 In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.

[Boaz]

Job 2

Audio link '

https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/purevoice/niv/Job.2

2 On another day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them to present himself before him. 2 And the Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”
Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”
3 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.”
4 “Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give all he has for his own life. 5 But now stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.”
6 The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.”
7 So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. 8 Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes.
9 His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!”
10 He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”
In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.
11 When Job’s three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him. 12 When they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him; they began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads. 13 Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was.

[Boaz]

Job 3

Audio link ;

https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/purevoice/niv/Job.3

After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. 2 He said:
3
“May the day of my birth perish,
and the night that said, ‘A boy is conceived!’
4
That day—may it turn to darkness;
may God above not care about it;
may no light shine on it.
5
May gloom and utter darkness claim it once more;
may a cloud settle over it;
may blackness overwhelm it.
6
That night—may thick darkness seize it;
may it not be included among the days of the year
nor be entered in any of the months.
7
May that night be barren;
may no shout of joy be heard in it.
8
May those who curse days curse that day,
those who are ready to rouse Leviathan.
9
May its morning stars become dark;
may it wait for daylight in vain
and not see the first rays of dawn,
10
for it did not shut the doors of the womb on me
to hide trouble from my eyes.
11
“Why did I not perish at birth,
and die as I came from the womb?
12
Why were there knees to receive me
and breasts that I might be nursed?
13
For now I would be lying down in peace;
I would be asleep and at rest
14
with kings and rulers of the earth,
who built for themselves places now lying in ruins,
15
with princes who had gold,
who filled their houses with silver.
16
Or why was I not hidden away in the ground like a stillborn child,
like an infant who never saw the light of day?
17
There the wicked cease from turmoil,
and there the weary are at rest.
18
Captives also enjoy their ease;
they no longer hear the slave driver’s shout.
19
The small and the great are there,
and the slaves are freed from their owners.
20
“Why is light given to those in misery,
and life to the bitter of soul,
21
to those who long for death that does not come,
who search for it more than for hidden treasure,
22
who are filled with gladness
and rejoice when they reach the grave?
23
Why is life given to a man
whose way is hidden,
whom God has hedged in?
24
For sighing has become my daily food;
my groans pour out like water.
25
What I feared has come upon me;
what I dreaded has happened to me.
26
I have no peace, no quietness;
I have no rest, but only turmoil.”

[Boaz]

Job 4

Audio link ;

https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/purevoice/niv/Job.4

Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
2
“If someone ventures a word with you, will you be impatient?
But who can keep from speaking?
3
Think how you have instructed many,
how you have strengthened feeble hands.
4
Your words have supported those who stumbled;
you have strengthened faltering knees.
5
But now trouble comes to you, and you are discouraged;
it strikes you, and you are dismayed.
6
Should not your piety be your confidence
and your blameless ways your hope?
7
“Consider now: Who, being innocent, has ever perished?
Where were the upright ever destroyed?
8
As I have observed, those who plow evil
and those who sow trouble reap it.
9
At the breath of God they perish;
at the blast of his anger they are no more.
10
The lions may roar and growl,
yet the teeth of the great lions are broken.
11
The lion perishes for lack of prey,
and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.
12
“A word was secretly brought to me,
my ears caught a whisper of it.
13
Amid disquieting dreams in the night,
when deep sleep falls on people,
14
fear and trembling seized me
and made all my bones shake.
15
A spirit glided past my face,
and the hair on my body stood on end.
16
It stopped,
but I could not tell what it was.
A form stood before my eyes,
and I heard a hushed voice:
17
‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God?
Can even a strong man be more pure than his Maker?
18
If God places no trust in his servants,
if he charges his angels with error,
19
how much more those who live in houses of clay,
whose foundations are in the dust,
who are crushed more readily than a moth!
20
Between dawn and dusk they are broken to pieces;
unnoticed, they perish forever.
21
Are not the cords of their tent pulled up,
so that they die without wisdom?’

[Boaz]

Job 5

Audio link :

https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/purevoice/niv/Job.5

5
“Call if you will, but who will answer you?
To which of the holy ones will you turn?
2
Resentment kills a fool,
and envy slays the simple.
3
I myself have seen a fool taking root,
but suddenly his house was cursed.
4
His children are far from safety,
crushed in court without a defender.
5
The hungry consume his harvest,
taking it even from among thorns,
and the thirsty pant after his wealth.
6
For hardship does not spring from the soil,
nor does trouble sprout from the ground.
7
Yet man is born to trouble
as surely as sparks fly upward.
8
“But if I were you, I would appeal to God;
I would lay my cause before him.
9
He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed,
miracles that cannot be counted.
10
He provides rain for the earth;
he sends water on the countryside.
11
The lowly he sets on high,
and those who mourn are lifted to safety.
12
He thwarts the plans of the crafty,
so that their hands achieve no success.
13
He catches the wise in their craftiness,
and the schemes of the wily are swept away.
14
Darkness comes upon them in the daytime;
at noon they grope as in the night.
15
He saves the needy from the sword in their mouth;
he saves them from the clutches of the powerful.
16
So the poor have hope,
and injustice shuts its mouth.
17
“Blessed is the one whom God corrects;
so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.
18
For he wounds, but he also binds up;
he injures, but his hands also heal.
19
From six calamities he will rescue you;
in seven no harm will touch you.
20
In famine he will deliver you from death,
and in battle from the stroke of the sword.
21
You will be protected from the lash of the tongue,
and need not fear when destruction comes.
22
You will laugh at destruction and famine,
and need not fear the wild animals.
23
For you will have a covenant with the stones of the field,
and the wild animals will be at peace with you.
24
You will know that your tent is secure;
you will take stock of your property and find nothing missing.
25
You will know that your children will be many,
and your descendants like the grass of the earth.
26
You will come to the grave in full vigor,
like sheaves gathered in season.
27
“We have examined this, and it is true.
So hear it and apply it to yourself.”

[Boaz]

Job 6

'Audio link ;

https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/purevoice/niv/Job.6

Then Job replied:
2
“If only my anguish could be weighed
and all my misery be placed on the scales!
3
It would surely outweigh the sand of the seas—
no wonder my words have been impetuous.
4
The arrows of the Almighty are in me,
my spirit drinks in their poison;
God’s terrors are marshaled against me.
5
Does a wild donkey bray when it has grass,
or an ox bellow when it has fodder?
6
Is tasteless food eaten without salt,
or is there flavor in the sap of the mallow
7
I refuse to touch it;
such food makes me ill.
8
“Oh, that I might have my request,
that God would grant what I hope for,
9
that God would be willing to crush me,
to let loose his hand and cut off my life!
10
Then I would still have this consolation—
my joy in unrelenting pain—
that I had not denied the words of the Holy One.
11
“What strength do I have, that I should still hope?
What prospects, that I should be patient?
12
Do I have the strength of stone?
Is my flesh bronze?
13
Do I have any power to help myself,
now that success has been driven from me?
14
“Anyone who withholds kindness from a friend
forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
15
But my brothers are as undependable as intermittent streams,
as the streams that overflow
16
when darkened by thawing ice
and swollen with melting snow,
17
but that stop flowing in the dry season,
and in the heat vanish from their channels.
18
Caravans turn aside from their routes;
they go off into the wasteland and perish.
19
The caravans of Tema look for water,
the traveling merchants of Sheba look in hope.
20
They are distressed, because they had been confident;
they arrive there, only to be disappointed.
21
Now you too have proved to be of no help;
you see something dreadful and are afraid.
22
Have I ever said, ‘Give something on my behalf,
pay a ransom for me from your wealth,
23
deliver me from the hand of the enemy,
rescue me from the clutches of the ruthless’?
24
“Teach me, and I will be quiet;
show me where I have been wrong.
25
How painful are honest words!
But what do your arguments prove?
26
Do you mean to correct what I say,
and treat my desperate words as wind?
27
You would even cast lots for the fatherless
and barter away your friend.
28
“But now be so kind as to look at me.
Would I lie to your face?
29
Relent, do not be unjust;
reconsider, for my integrity is at stake.
30
Is there any wickedness on my lips?
Can my mouth not discern malice?

[Boaz]

Job 7

Audio link ;

https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/purevoice/niv/Job.7

Do not mortals have hard service on earth?
Are not their days like those of hired laborers?
2
Like a slave longing for the evening shadows,
or a hired laborer waiting to be paid,
3
so I have been allotted months of futility,
and nights of misery have been assigned to me.
4
When I lie down I think, ‘How long before I get up?’
The night drags on, and I toss and turn until dawn.
5
My body is clothed with worms and scabs,
my skin is broken and festering.
6
“My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle,
and they come to an end without hope.
7
Remember, O God, that my life is but a breath;
my eyes will never see happiness again.
8
The eye that now sees me will see me no longer;
you will look for me, but I will be no more.
9
As a cloud vanishes and is gone,
so one who goes down to the grave does not return.
10
He will never come to his house again;
his place will know him no more.
11
“Therefore I will not keep silent;
I will speak out in the anguish of my spirit,
I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
12
Am I the sea, or the monster of the deep,
that you put me under guard?
13
When I think my bed will comfort me
and my couch will ease my complaint,
14
even then you frighten me with dreams
and terrify me with visions,
15
so that I prefer strangling and death,
rather than this body of mine.
16
I despise my life; I would not live forever.
Let me alone; my days have no meaning.
17
“What is mankind that you make so much of them,
that you give them so much attention,
18
that you examine them every morning
and test them every moment?
19
Will you never look away from me,
or let me alone even for an instant?
20
If I have sinned, what have I done to you,
you who see everything we do?
Why have you made me your target?
Have I become a burden to you?
21
Why do you not pardon my offenses
and forgive my sins?
For I will soon lie down in the dust;
you will search for me, but I will be no more.”

[Boaz]

Job 8

Audio link ;

https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/purevoice/niv/Job.8

2
“How long will you say such things?
Your words are a blustering wind.
3
Does God pervert justice?
Does the Almighty pervert what is right?
4
When your children sinned against him,
he gave them over to the penalty of their sin.
5
But if you will seek God earnestly
and plead with the Almighty,
6
if you are pure and upright,
even now he will rouse himself on your behalf
and restore you to your prosperous state.
7
Your beginnings will seem humble,
so prosperous will your future be.
8
“Ask the former generation
and find out what their ancestors learned,
9
for we were born only yesterday and know nothing,
and our days on earth are but a shadow.
10
Will they not instruct you and tell you?
Will they not bring forth words from their understanding?
11
Can papyrus grow tall where there is no marsh?
Can reeds thrive without water?
12
While still growing and uncut,
they wither more quickly than grass.
13
Such is the destiny of all who forget God;
so perishes the hope of the godless.
14
What they trust in is fragile
what they rely on is a spider’s web.
15
They lean on the web, but it gives way;
they cling to it, but it does not hold.
16
They are like a well-watered plant in the sunshine,
spreading its shoots over the garden;
17
it entwines its roots around a pile of rocks
and looks for a place among the stones.
18
But when it is torn from its spot,
that place disowns it and says, ‘I never saw you.’
19
Surely its life withers away,
and[b] from the soil other plants grow.
20
“Surely God does not reject one who is blameless
or strengthen the hands of evildoers.
21
He will yet fill your mouth with laughter
and your lips with shouts of joy.
22
Your enemies will be clothed in shame,
and the tents of the wicked will be no more.”

[Boaz]

Job 9

Audio link ;

https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/purevoice/niv/Job.9

2
“Indeed, I know that this is true.
But how can mere mortals prove their innocence before God?
3
Though they wished to dispute with him,
they could not answer him one time out of a thousand.
4
His wisdom is profound, his power is vast.
Who has resisted him and come out unscathed?
5
He moves mountains without their knowing it
and overturns them in his anger.
6
He shakes the earth from its place
and makes its pillars tremble.
7
He speaks to the sun and it does not shine;
he seals off the light of the stars.
8
He alone stretches out the heavens
and treads on the waves of the sea.
9
He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion,
the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.
10
He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed,
miracles that cannot be counted.
11
When he passes me, I cannot see him;
when he goes by, I cannot perceive him.
12
If he snatches away, who can stop him?
Who can say to him, ‘What are you doing?’
13
God does not restrain his anger;
even the cohorts of Rahab cowered at his feet.
14
“How then can I dispute with him?
How can I find words to argue with him?
15
Though I were innocent, I could not answer him;
I could only plead with my Judge for mercy.
16
Even if I summoned him and he responded,
I do not believe he would give me a hearing.
17
He would crush me with a storm
and multiply my wounds for no reason.
18
He would not let me catch my breath
but would overwhelm me with misery.
19
If it is a matter of strength, he is mighty!
And if it is a matter of justice, who can challenge him
20
Even if I were innocent, my mouth would condemn me;
if I were blameless, it would pronounce me guilty.
21
“Although I am blameless,
I have no concern for myself;
I despise my own life.
22
It is all the same; that is why I say,
‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’
23
When a scourge brings sudden death,
he mocks the despair of the innocent.
24
When a land falls into the hands of the wicked,
he blindfolds its judges.
If it is not he, then who is it?
25
“My days are swifter than a runner;
they fly away without a glimpse of joy.
26
They skim past like boats of papyrus,
like eagles swooping down on their prey.
27
If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint,
I will change my expression, and smile,’
28
I still dread all my sufferings,
for I know you will not hold me innocent.
29
Since I am already found guilty,
why should I struggle in vain?
30
Even if I washed myself with soap
and my hands with cleansing powder,
31
you would plunge me into a slime pit
so that even my clothes would detest me.
32
“He is not a mere mortal like me that I might answer him,
that we might confront each other in court.
33
If only there were someone to mediate between us,
someone to bring us together,
34
someone to remove God’s rod from me,
so that his terror would frighten me no more.
35
Then I would speak up without fear of him,
but as it now stands with me, I cannot.