Study Desk

So their descendants went in and possessed the land. You subdued before them the Canaanites dwelling in the land; You handed their kings and peoples over to them to do with them as they wished.

They captured fortified cities and fertile land and took houses full of all goods, wells already dug, vineyards, olive groves, and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate and were filled; they grew fat and delighted in Your great goodness.

So You delivered them into the hands of their enemies, who oppressed them. And in their time of distress, they cried out to You, and You heard them from heaven. In Your abundant compassion You gave them deliverers, who rescued them from the hands of their enemies.

But as soon as they had rest, they again did evil in Your sight. So You abandoned them to the hands of their enemies, who had dominion over them. When they cried out to You again, You heard from heaven, And You delivered them many times in Your compassion.

Yet You were patient with them for many years, and Your Spirit admonished them through Your prophets, but they would not listen; so You gave them into the hands of the people of the land.

So now, our God, the great and mighty and awesome God who keeps His gracious covenant, do not view lightly all the hardship that has come upon us, and upon our kings and leaders, our priests and prophets, our ancestors and all Your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until today.

So here we are today, slaves in the land You gave our fathers to enjoy its fruit and its goodness. And here we are as slaves!

Moreover, we will bring to the priests at the storerooms of the house of our God the firstfruits of our dough, of our grain offerings, of the fruit of all our trees, and of our new wine and oil. A tenth of our produce belongs to the Levites, so that they shall receive tithes in all the towns where we labor.

Zanoah, and Adullam, with their villages; in Lachish with its fields and Azekah with its villages. So they settled from Beersheba all the way to the Valley of Hinnom.

On that day they offered great sacrifices, rejoicing because God had given them great joy. The women and children also rejoiced, so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard from afar.

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 the descendants of Aaron.

So I rebuked the officials and asked, "Why has the house of God been neglected?" Then I gathered the Levites and singers together and stationed them at their posts,

In those days I saw people in Judah treading wine presses on the Sabbath and bringing in grain and loading it on donkeys, along with wine, grapes, and figs. All kinds of goods were being brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. So I warned them against selling food on that day.

Did not your forefathers do the same things, so that our God brought all this disaster on us and on this city? And now you are rekindling His wrath against Israel by profaning the Sabbath!"

When the evening shadows began to fall on the gates of Jerusalem, just before the Sabbath, I ordered that the gates be shut and not opened until after the Sabbath. I posted some of my servants at the gates, so that no goods could enter on the Sabbath day.

So if it pleases the king, let him issue a royal decree, and let it be recorded in the laws of Persia and Media so that it cannot be repealed, that Vashti shall never again enter the presence of King Xerxes, and her royal position shall be given to a woman more worthy than she.

The edict the king issues will be heard throughout his vast kingdom-and so all women, from the least to the greatest, will honor their husbands."

The king and his princes were pleased with this counsel; so the king did as Memucan had advised.

And the young woman pleased him and obtained his favor, so he quickly provided her with beauty treatments and the special diet. He assigned to her seven select maidservants from the palace and transferred her with them to the best place in the harem.

Esther did not reveal her people or her lineage, because Mordecai had instructed her not to do so.