The blessing of honest people builds up a city. But the words of sinners destroy it.

城因正直人祝福便高举，却因邪恶人的口就倾覆。

因正直人的祝福，城必升高；因邪恶人的口，它必倾覆。

因正直人的祝福，城必升高；因邪恶人的口，它必倾覆。

城因正直人的祝福而兴盛，因恶人的口舌而倾覆。

因正直人的祝福，城的地位就提高；因恶人的口，城就倾覆。

因正直人的祝福，城就被高举；因恶人的口，城就被倾覆。

城因正直人祝福便高舉，卻因邪惡人的口就傾覆。

因正直人的祝福，城必升高；因邪惡人的口，它必傾覆。

因正直人的祝福，城必升高；因邪惡人的口，它必傾覆。

城因正直人的祝福而興盛，因惡人的口舌而傾覆。

因正直人的祝福，城的地位就提高；因惡人的口，城就傾覆。

因正直人的祝福、城就被捧得很高；因惡人的口所說的、城便傾覆。

因正直人的祝福，城就被高舉；因惡人的口，城就被傾覆。

維彼城邑、以正直者之祝而振興、因邪惡者之口而傾覆、

惟彼城邑、義者頌祝則鞏固、惡者謗讟則傾圮。

城因正直人祝福則高堅、因惡者妄言則傾圮、

Through the blessing of the upright a city is exalted, but by the mouth of the wicked it is destroyed.

By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted, but by the mouth of the wicked it is overthrown.

Upright citizens are good for a city and make it prosper, but the talk of the wicked tears it apart.

A city is built up by the blessing of the upright, but it is torn down by the mouth of the wicked.

By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted, But by the mouth of the wicked, it is torn down.

By the blessing of the upright the city is exalted, But it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked.

By the blessing of the upright the city is exalted; But it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked.

A city is built up by the blessing of the upright, but it is torn down by the mouth of the wicked.

By the blessing of the upright the city is exalted: but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked.

A city is exalted by the blessing provided from the upright, but it is destroyed by the counsel of the wicked.

By the blessing of the upright, the city is exalted, but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked.

Those who make fun of others stir up a city. But wise people turn anger away.

Doing what is right lifts people up. But sin brings judgment to any nation.

King Hezekiah cried out in prayer to God in heaven. He prayed about the problem Jerusalem was facing. So did Isaiah the prophet. He was the son of Amoz.The Lord sent an angel. The angel wiped out all the enemy’s fighting men, commanders and officers. He put an end to them right there in the camp of the Assyrian king. So Sennacherib went back to his own land in shame. He went into the temple of his god. There some of his own sons, the people closest to him, killed him with their swords.So the Lord saved Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem. He saved them from the power of Sennacherib, the king of Assyria. He also saved them from all their other enemies. He took care of them on every side.

A certain man lived in that city. He was poor but wise. He used his wisdom to save the city. But no one remembered that poor man.

The tongue is also a fire. The tongue is the most evil part of the body. It makes the whole body impure. It sets a person’s whole way of life on fire. And the tongue itself is set on fire by hell.

He’ll even save those who are guilty. He’ll save them because your hands are clean.”

“ So then, it wasn’t you who sent me here. It was God. He made me like a father to Pharaoh. He made me master of Pharaoh’s entire house. God made me ruler of the whole land of Egypt.

Then Haman said to King Xerxes,“ Certain people are scattered among the nations. They live in all the territories in your kingdom. They keep themselves separate from everyone else. Their practices are different from the practices of all other people. They don’t obey your laws. It really isn’t good for you to put up with them.If it pleases you, give the order to destroy them. I’ll even add 375 tons of silver to the king’s officials for the royal treasures.”So the king took his ring off his finger. The ring had his royal seal on it. He gave the ring to Haman. Haman was the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite. Haman was the enemy of the Jews.“ Keep the money,” the king said to Haman.“ Do what you want to with those people.”The king sent for the royal secretaries. It was the 13th day of the first month. The secretaries wrote down all Haman’s orders. They wrote them down in the writing of each territory in the kingdom. They also wrote them in the language of each nation. The orders were sent to the royal officials and to the governors of the territories. And the orders were also sent to the nobles of the nations. The orders were written in the name of King Xerxes himself. And they were stamped with his own official mark.They were carried by messengers. They were sent to all the king’s territories. The orders commanded people to destroy, kill and wipe out all the Jews. That included young people and old people alike. It included women and children. All the Jews were supposed to be killed on a single day. That day was the 13th day of the 12th month. It was the month of Adar. The orders also commanded people to take everything that belonged to the Jews.A copy of the order had to be sent out as law. It had to be sent to every territory in the kingdom. It had to be announced to the people of every nation. Then they would be ready for that day.The king commanded the messengers to go out. So they did. The order was sent out from the fort of Susa. Then the king and Haman sat down to drink wine. But the people in the city were bewildered.

An evil man who always stirred up trouble happened to be in Gilgal. His name was Sheba, the son of Bikri. Sheba was from the tribe of Benjamin. He blew his trumpet. Then he shouted,“ We don’t have any share in David’s kingdom! Jesse’s son is not our king! Men of Israel, every one of you go back home!”

So Pharaoh said to them,“ The spirit of God is in this man. We can’t find anyone else like him, can we?”Then Pharaoh said to Joseph,“ God has made all this known to you. No one is as wise and understanding as you are.You will be in charge of my palace. All my people must obey your orders. I will be greater than you only because I’m the one who sits on the throne.”So Pharaoh said to Joseph,“ I’m putting you in charge of the whole land of Egypt.”Then Pharaoh took from his finger the ring he used to give his official stamp. He put it on Joseph’s finger. He dressed him in robes made out of fine linen. He put a gold chain around Joseph’s neck.

The king’s order had to be carried out on the 13th day of the 12th month. That was the month of Adar. On that day the enemies of the Jews had hoped to win the battle over them. But now everything had changed. The Jews had gained the advantage over those who hated them.The Jews gathered together in their cities. They gathered in all the territories King Xerxes ruled over. They came together to attack those who were trying to destroy them. No one could stand up against them. The people from all the other nations were afraid of them.All the nobles in the territories helped the Jews. So did the royal officials, the governors and the king’s officers. That’s because they were so afraid of Mordecai.He was well known in the palace. His fame spread all through the territories. So he became more and more important.The Jews struck down with swords all their enemies. They killed them and destroyed them. They did what they pleased to those who hated them.The Jews killed 500 men. They destroyed them in the fort of Susa.They also killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha,Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha,Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai and Vaizatha.They were the ten sons of Haman. He was the son of Hammedatha. Haman had been the enemy of the Jews. They didn’t take anything that belonged to their enemies.A report was brought to the king that same day. He was told how many men had been killed in the fort of Susa.He said to Queen Esther,“ The Jews have killed 500 men. They destroyed them in the fort of Susa. They also killed the ten sons of Haman there. What have they done in the rest of my territories? Now what do you want? I’ll give it to you. What do you want me to do for you? I’ll do that too.”“ If it pleases you,” Esther answered,“ let the Jews in Susa carry out today’s order tomorrow also. Stick poles through the dead bodies of Haman’s ten sons. Set them up where everyone can see them.”So the king commanded that it be done. An order was sent out in Susa. And the king’s men did to the bodies of Haman’s sons everything they were told to do.The Jews in Susa came together on the 14th day of the month of Adar. They put 300 men to death in Susa. But they didn’t take anything that belonged to those men.During that time, the rest of the Jews also gathered together. They lived in the king’s territories. They came together to fight for their lives. They didn’t want their enemies to bother them anymore. They wanted to get some peace and rest. So they killed 75,000 of their enemies. But they didn’t take anything that belonged to them.