Esther 5:1 On the third day, Esther donned her royal clothes and stood in the inner courtyard of the house, facing it. The king was sitting on his royal throne in the palace’s courtroom, facing its entrance.
Esther 5:2 As soon as the king saw Queen Esther standing in the courtyard, she gained favor in his eyes. The king extended the gold scepter in his hand toward Esther, and she approached and touched the scepter’s tip.
Esther 5:3 “What is it, Queen Esther?” the king asked her. “Whatever you want, even to half the kingdom, will be given to you.”
Esther 5:4 “If it pleases the king,” Esther replied, “may the king and Haman come today to the banquet I have prepared for them.”
Esther 5:5 The king said, “Hurry, and get Haman so we can do as Esther has requested.” So the king and Haman went to the banquet Esther had prepared.
Esther 5:6 While drinking the wine, the king asked Esther, “Whatever you ask will be given to you. Whatever you want, even to half the kingdom, will be done.”
Esther 5:7 Esther answered, “This is my petition and my request:
Esther 5:8 If I have found favor in the eyes of the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and perform my request, may the king and Haman come to the banquet I will prepare for them. Tomorrow, I will do what the king has asked.”
Esther 5:9 That day, Haman left full of joy and with a pleased heart. But when Haman saw Mordecai at the King’s Gate, and Mordecai didn’t rise or tremble in fear at his presence, Haman was filled with rage toward him.
Esther 5:10 Yet Haman controlled himself and went to his house. He sent the ones he cared for and his wife, Zeresh, to join him.
Esther 5:11 Then Haman described his impressive wealth and many sons for them. He told them how the king had honored him and promoted him in rank over the other captains and the royal slaves.
Esther 5:12 “What’s more,” Haman added, “Queen Esther invited no one but me to join the king at the banquet she had prepared. I am asked again tomorrow to join her with the king.
Esther 5:13 Still, none of this satisfies me since I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the King’s Gate all the time.”
Esther 5:14 His wife Zeresh and all the ones he cared for told him, “Have them build a gallows seventy-five feet tall. Ask the king in the morning to hang Mordecai on it. Then go to the banquet with the king and enjoy yourself.” The advice pleased Haman, so he had the gallows constructed.
Esther 4:1 When Mordecai learned everything that had happened, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, went out into the city square, and cried loudly and bitterly.
Esther 4:2 He went only as far as the King’s Gate, as the law prohibited anyone wearing sackcloth from entering it.
Esther 4:3 There was great mourning among the Jewish people in every province where the king’s command and edict came. They fasted, wept, and lamented; many lay in sackcloth and ashes.
Esther 4:4 Esther’s girls and her eunuchs came and reported the news to her, and the queen was overcome with fear. She sent clothes for Mordecai to wear so that he would take off his sackcloth, but he did not accept them.
Esther 4:5 Esther summoned Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs, who was before her, and dispatched him to Mordecai to learn what he was doing and why.
Esther 4:6 So Hathach went to Mordecai in the city square before the King’s Gate.
Esther 4:7 Mordecai told him everything that had happened, as well as the exact amount of money Haman had promised to pay the royal treasury for the destruction of the Jews.
Esther 4:8 Mordecai also gave him a copy of the written decree issued in Susa ordering their extermination, so that Hathach might show it to Esther, explain it to her, and command her to approach the king, implore his favor, and plead with him for her people.
Esther 4:9 Hathach came and repeated Mordecai’s response to Esther.
Esther 4:10 Esther spoke to Hathach and commanded him to tell Mordecai,
Esther 4:11 “All the royal slaves and the people of the royal provinces know that one law applies to every man or woman who approaches the king in the inner courtyard and who has not been summoned—the death penalty—unless the king extends the gold scepter, allowing that person to live. I have not been summoned to appear before the king for thirty days.”
Esther 4:12 Esther’s response was reported to Mordecai.
Esther 4:13 Mordecai told the messenger to reply to Esther, “Don’t think that you will escape the fate of all the Jews because you are in the king’s house.
Esther 4:14 If you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will come to the Jewish people from another source, but you and your father’s house will be destroyed. Who knows, maybe you have come to your royal position for such a time as this.
Esther 4:15 Esther sent this reply to Mordecai:
Esther 4:16: “Go and assemble all the Jews who can be found in Susa and fast for me. Don’t eat or drink for three days, night or day. My girls and I will also fast in the same way. After that, I will go to the king even if it is against the law. If I am destroyed, I am destroyed.”
Esther 4:17 So Mordecai went and did everything Esther had commanded him.
Nehemiah 13:1 At that time, the book of Moses was cried out publicly to the people. The command was found written in it that no Ammonite or Moabite should enter the congregation of God permanently,
Nehemiah 13:2 because they did not provide the Israelites with food and water. Instead, they hired Balaam against them to curse them, but our God turned the affliction[1] into a blessing.
Nehemiah 13:3 When they heard the instruction, they separated all those of mixed descent from Israel.
Nehemiah 13:4 Before this, the priest Eliashib had been put in charge of the storerooms of the house of our God. He was a relative of Tobiah
Nehemiah 13:5 and had prepared a large room for him where they had previously stored the tribute offerings, the frankincense, the articles, and the tenths of grain, new wine, and fresh oil prescribed for the Levites, singers, and gatekeepers, along with the contributions for the priests.
Nehemiah 13:6 While all this was happening, I was not in Jerusalem because I had returned to King Artaxerxes of Babylon in the thirty-second year of his reign. It was only later that I asked the king for a leave of absence
Nehemiah 13:7 so I could return to Jerusalem. Then I discovered the evil that Eliashib had done on behalf of Tobiah by providing him a room in the courts of God’s house.
Nehemiah 13:8 I was greatly displeased and threw all of Tobiah’s household possessions out of the room.
Nehemiah 13:9 I ordered that the rooms be purified, and I had the articles of the house of God restored there, along with the tribute offering and frankincense.
Nehemiah 13:10 I also found out that because the portions for the Levites had not been given, each of the Levites and the singers performing the service had run to his field.
Nehemiah 13:11 Therefore, I rebuked the officials, asking, “Why has the house of God been neglected?” I gathered the Levites and singers together and stationed them at their posts.
Nehemiah 13:12 Then all Judah brought a tenth of the grain, new wine, and fresh oil into the storehouses.
Nehemiah 13:13 I appointed the priest Shelemiah, the scribe Zadok, and Pedaiah of the Levites as treasurers over the storehouses, with Hanan, son of Zaccur, son of Mattaniah, to assist them because they were considered trustworthy. They were responsible for the distribution to their colleagues.
Nehemiah 13:14 Remember me for this, my God, and don’t erase the deeds of faithful love I have done for the house of my God and for its services.
Nehemiah 13:15 At that time, I saw people in Judah treading winepresses on the Sabbath. They were also bringing in stores of grain and loading them on donkeys, along with wine, grapes, and figs. All kinds of goods were being brought to Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, so I warned them against selling food on that day.
Nehemiah 13:16 The Tyrians living there were importing fish and all kinds of merchandise and selling them on the Sabbath to the people of Judah in Jerusalem.
Nehemiah 13:17 I rebuked the nobles of Judah and said to them: “What is this evil you are doing — profaning the Sabbath day?
Nehemiah 13:18 Didn’t your ancestors do the same so that our God brought all this disaster on us and this city? And now you are adding to[2] his anger against Israel by profaning the Sabbath!”
Nehemiah 13:19 When shadows began to fall on the city gates of Jerusalem just before the Sabbath, I gave orders that they be closed and not opened until after the Sabbath. I posted some of my boys at the gates so that no goods could enter during the Sabbath day.
Nehemiah 13:20 Once or twice, the merchants and those who sell all kinds of goods camped outside Jerusalem,
Nehemiah 13:21 but I warned them, “Why are you camping in front of the wall? If you do it again, I’ll use force against you.” After that, they did not come again on the Sabbath.
Nehemiah 13:22 Then I instructed the Levites to purify themselves and guard the city gates in order to keep the Sabbath day holy. Remember me for this also, my God, and look on me with compassion according to the abundance of your faithful love.
Nehemiah 13:23 In those days, I also saw Jews who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab.
Nehemiah 13:24 Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod or the language of one of the other peoples but could not speak Hebrew.
Nehemiah 13:25 I rebuked them, cursed them, struck[3] some of their men, and pulled out their hair. I forced them to take an oath before God and said, “You must not give your daughters in marriage to their sons or take their daughters as wives for your sons or yourselves!
Nehemiah 13:26 Didn’t King Solomon of Israel sin in matters like this? There was no king like him among many nations. His God loved him, and God made him king over all Israel, yet foreign women drew him into sin.
Nehemiah 13:27 Why then should we hear about you doing all this terrible evil and acting unfaithfully against our God by marrying foreign women?”
Nehemiah 13:28 Even one of the sons of Jehoiada, son of the high priest Eliashib, had become a son-in-instruction to Sanballat the Horonite. So I made him run away from me.
Nehemiah 13:29 Remember them, my God, for defiling the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites.
Nehemiah 13:30 So I purified them from everything foreign and assigned specific duties to each priest and Levite.
Nehemiah 13:31 I also arranged for the donation of wood at the appointed times and the first fruits. Remember me, my God, with favor.
Nehemiah 12:11 Joiada fathered Jonathan, and Jonathan fathered Jaddua.
Nehemiah 12:12 In the days of Joiakim, the heads of the priestly families were Meraiah of Seraiah, Hananiah of Jeremiah,
Nehemiah 12:13 Meshullam of Ezra, Jehohanan of Amariah,
Nehemiah 12:14 Jonathan of Malluchi, Joseph of Shebaniah,
Nehemiah 12:15 Adna of Harim, Helkai of Meraioth,
Nehemiah 12:16 Zechariah of Iddo, Meshullam of Ginnethon,
Nehemiah 12:17 Zichri of Abijah, Piltai of Moadiah, of Miniamin,
Nehemiah 12:18 Shammua of Bilgah, Jehonathan of Shemaiah,
Nehemiah 12:19 Mattenai of Joiarib, Uzzi of Jedaiah,
Nehemiah 12:20 Kallai of Sallai, Eber of Amok,
Nehemiah 12:21 Hashabiah of Hilkiah, and Nethanel of Jedaiah.
Nehemiah 12:22 In the days of Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan, and Jaddua, the heads of the families of the Levites and priests were recorded while Darius the Persian ruled.
Nehemiah 12:23 Levi’s descendants, the family heads, were recorded in the Book of the Historical Events during the days of Johanan son of Eliashib.
Nehemiah 12:24 The heads of the Levites—Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua son of Kadmiel, along with their relatives opposite them—gave praise and thanks, division by division, as David, the man of God, had prescribed.
Nehemiah 12:25 This included Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, and Obadiah. Meshullam, Talmon, and Akkub were gatekeepers who guarded the storerooms at the city gates.
Nehemiah 12:26 These served in the days of Joiakim son of Jeshua, son of Jozadak, and in the days of Nehemiah the governor and Ezra the priest and scribe.
Nehemiah 12:27 At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, they sent for the Levites wherever they lived and brought them to Jerusalem to celebrate the joyous dedication with thanksgiving and singing accompanied by cymbals, harps, and lyres.
Nehemiah 12:28 The singers gathered from the region around Jerusalem, from the settlements of the Netophathites,
Nehemiah 12:29 from Beth-gilgal, and the fields of Geba and Azmaveth, for they had built settlements for themselves around Jerusalem.
Nehemiah 12:30 After the priests and Levites had purified themselves, they purified the people, the city gates, and the wall.
Nehemiah 12:31 Then I brought the captains of Judah up on top of the wall and appointed two large processions that gave thanks. One went to the right on the wall, toward the Dung Gate.
Nehemiah 12:32 Hoshaiah and half the captains of Judah followed,
Nehemiah 12:33 along with Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam,
Nehemiah 12:35 and some of the priests’ sons with trumpets, and Zechariah son of Jonathan, son of Shemaiah, son of Mattaniah, son of Micaiah, son of Zaccur, son of Asaph followed
Nehemiah 12:36 as well as his relatives– Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani, with the musical instruments of David, the man of God. Ezra the scribe went in front of them.
Nehemiah 12:37 At the Fountain Gate, they climbed the steps of the city of David on the ascent of the wall and went above the house of David to the Water Gate on the east.
Nehemiah 12:38 The second thanksgiving procession went to the left, and I followed it with half the people along the top of the wall, past the Tower of the Ovens to the Broad Wall,
Nehemiah 12:39 above the Ephraim Gate, and by the Old Gate, the Fish Gate, the Tower of Hananel, and the Tower of the Hundred, to the Sheep Gate. They stopped at the Gate of the Guard.
Nehemiah 12:40 The two thanksgiving processions stood in the house of God. So did I and half of the officials accompanying me,
Nehemiah 12:41 as well as the priests: Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah, with trumpets;
Nehemiah 12:42 and Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam, and Ezer. Then the singers sang, with Jezrahiah as the leader.
Nehemiah 12:43 On that day, they offered great sacrifices and rejoiced[2] because God had given them great joy. The women and children also celebrated, and Jerusalem’s rejoicing was heard far away.
Nehemiah 12:44 On that same day, men were placed in charge of the rooms that housed the supplies, contributions, firstfruits, and tenths. The legally required portions for the priests and Levites were gathered from the village fields, because Judah was grateful to the priests and Levites who were serving.
Nehemiah 12:45 They performed the service of their God and the service of purification, along with the singers and gatekeepers, as David and his son Solomon had prescribed.
Nehemiah 12:46 For long ago, in the days of David and Asaph, there were heads of the singers and songs of praise and thanksgiving to God.
Nehemiah 12:47 So in the days of Zerubbabel and Nehemiah, all Israel contributed the daily portions for the singers and gatekeepers. They also set aside daily portions for the Levites, and the Levites set aside daily portions for Aaron’s descendants.
[1] יָלַד = give birth to, be born, father. Nehemiah 12:10, 11.
Nehemiah 11:1 Now the captains of the people stayed in Jerusalem, and the rest of the people cast lots for one out of ten to come and live in Jerusalem, the sacred city, while the other nine-tenths remained in their towns.
Nehemiah 11:2 The people praised all the men who volunteered[1] to live in Jerusalem.
Nehemiah 11:3 These are the heads of the province who stayed in Jerusalem (but in the villages of Judah each lived on his property in their towns– the Israelites, priests, Levites, temple servants, and descendants of Solomon’s servants —
Nehemiah 11:4, while some of the descendants of Judah and Benjamin settled in Jerusalem. Judah’s descendants: Athaiah son of Uzziah, son of Zechariah, son of Amariah, son of Shephatiah, son of Mahalalel, of Perez’s descendants;
Nehemiah 11:5 and Maaseiah son of Baruch, son of Col-hozeh, son of Hazaiah, son of Adaiah, son of Joiarib, son of Zechariah, a descendant of the Shilonite.
Nehemiah 11:6 The total number of Perez’s descendants who settled in Jerusalem was 468 efficient men.
Nehemiah 11:7 These were Benjamin’s descendants: Sallu son of Meshullam, son of Joed, son of Pedaiah, son of Kolaiah, son of Maaseiah, son of Ithiel, son of Jeshaiah,
Nehemiah 11:8 and after him Gabbai and Sallai: 928.
Nehemiah 11:9 Joel, son of Zichri, was the officer over them, and Judah, son of Hassenuah, was second in command over the city.
Nehemiah 11:10 The priests: Jedaiah son of Joiarib, Jachin, and
Nehemiah 11:11 Seraiah son of Hilkiah, son of Meshullam, son of Zadok, son of Meraioth, son of Ahitub, the chief official of God’s temple,
Nehemiah 11:12 and their relatives who did the work at the temple: 822. Adaiah, son of Jeroham, son of Pelaliah, son of Amzi, son of Zechariah, son of Pashhur, son of Malchijah
Nehemiah 11:13 and his relatives, the heads of families: 242. Amashsai, son of Azarel, son of Ahzai, son of Meshillemoth, son of Immer,
Nehemiah 11:14 and their relatives, capable men: 128. Zabdiel, son of Haggedolim, was their chief.
Nehemiah 11:15 The Levites: Shemaiah son of Hasshub, son of Azrikam, son of Hashabiah, son of Bunni;
Nehemiah 11:16 and Shabbethai and Jozabad, from the heads of the Levites, who supervised the work outside the house of God;
Nehemiah 11:17 Mattaniah the son of Mica, son of Zabdi, son of Asaph, the one who was leading[2] the thanksgiving in prayer; Bakbukiah, second among his relatives; and Abda, son of Shammua, son of Galal, son of Jeduthun.
Nehemiah 11:18 All the Levites in the sacred city: 284.
Nehemiah 11:19 The gatekeepers: Akkub, Talmon, and their relatives, who guarded the city gates: 172.
Nehemiah 11:20 The rest of Israel, the priests, and the Levites were in all the villages of Judah, each on his own inherited property.
Nehemiah 11:21 The temple servants lived on Ophel; Ziha and Gishpa supervised the temple servants.
Nehemiah 11:22 The leader of the Levites in Jerusalem was Uzzi, son of Bani, son of Hashabiah, son of Mattaniah, son of Mica, of the descendants of Asaph, who were singers for the service of God’s house.
Nehemiah 11:23 In fact, the king had commanded them and issued an ordinance regulating the singers’ daily tasks.
Nehemiah 11:24 Pethahiah, son of Meshezabel, of the descendants of Zerah, son of Judah, was the king’s agent in every matter concerning the people.
Nehemiah 11:25 As for the farming settlements with their fields: Some of Judah’s descendants lived in Kiriath-arba and Dibon and their surrounding villages, and Jekabzeel and its settlements;
Nehemiah 11:26 in Jeshua, Moladah, Beth-pelet,
Nehemiah 11:27 Hazar-shual, and Beer-sheba and its surrounding villages;
Nehemiah 11:28 in Ziklag and Meconah and its surrounding villages;
Nehemiah 11:29 in En-rimmon, Zorah, Jarmuth, and
Nehemiah 11:30 Zanoah and Adullam with their settlements; in Lachish with its fields, Azekah, and surrounding villages. So they settled from Beer-sheba to Hinnom Valley.
Nehemiah 11:31 Benjamin’s descendants: from Geba, Michmash, Aija, and Bethel and its surrounding villages,
Nehemiah 11:32 Anathoth, Nob, Ananiah,
Nehemiah 11:33 Hazor, Ramah, Gittaim,
Nehemiah 11:34 Hadid, Zeboim, Neballat,
Nehemiah 11:35 Lod, and Ono, in Craftsmen’s Valley.
Nehemiah 11:36 Some of the Judean divisions of Levites were in Benjamin.
jeffersonvann 