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

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.

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

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

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.

Mockers can get a whole town agitated, but the wise will calm anger.

Godliness makes a nation great, but sin is a disgrace to any people.

Then King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz cried out in prayer to God in heaven.And the Lord sent an angel who destroyed the Assyrian army with all its commanders and officers. So Sennacherib was forced to return home in disgrace to his own land. And when he entered the temple of his god, some of his own sons killed him there with a sword.That is how the Lord rescued Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem from King Sennacherib of Assyria and from all the others who threatened them. So there was peace throughout the land.

A poor, wise man knew how to save the town, and so it was rescued. But afterward no one thought to thank him.

And among all the parts of the body, the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself.

Even sinners will be rescued; they will be rescued because your hands are pure.”

So it was God who sent me here, not you! And he is the one who made me an adviser to Pharaoh— the manager of his entire palace and the governor of all Egypt.

Then Haman approached King Xerxes and said,“ There is a certain race of people scattered through all the provinces of your empire who keep themselves separate from everyone else. Their laws are different from those of any other people, and they refuse to obey the laws of the king. So it is not in the king’s interest to let them live.If it please the king, issue a decree that they be destroyed, and I will give 10,000 large sacks of silver to the government administrators to be deposited in the royal treasury.”The king agreed, confirming his decision by removing his signet ring from his finger and giving it to Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews.The king said,“ The money and the people are both yours to do with as you see fit.”So on April 17 the king’s secretaries were summoned, and a decree was written exactly as Haman dictated. It was sent to the king’s highest officers, the governors of the respective provinces, and the nobles of each province in their own scripts and languages. The decree was written in the name of King Xerxes and sealed with the king’s signet ring.Dispatches were sent by swift messengers into all the provinces of the empire, giving the order that all Jews— young and old, including women and children— must be killed, slaughtered, and annihilated on a single day. This was scheduled to happen on March 7 of the next year. The property of the Jews would be given to those who killed them.A copy of this decree was to be issued as law in every province and proclaimed to all peoples, so that they would be ready to do their duty on the appointed day.At the king’s command, the decree went out by swift messengers, and it was also proclaimed in the fortress of Susa. Then the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa fell into confusion.

There happened to be a troublemaker there named Sheba son of Bicri, a man from the tribe of Benjamin. Sheba blew a ram’s horn and began to chant:“ Down with the dynasty of David! We have no interest in the son of Jesse. Come on, you men of Israel, back to your homes!”

So Pharaoh asked his officials,“ Can we find anyone else like this man so obviously filled with the spirit of God?”Then Pharaoh said to Joseph,“ Since God has revealed the meaning of the dreams to you, clearly no one else is as intelligent or wise as you are.You will be in charge of my court, and all my people will take orders from you. Only I, sitting on my throne, will have a rank higher than yours.”Pharaoh said to Joseph,“ I hereby put you in charge of the entire land of Egypt.”Then Pharaoh removed his signet ring from his hand and placed it on Joseph’s finger. He dressed him in fine linen clothing and hung a gold chain around his neck.

So on March 7 the two decrees of the king were put into effect. On that day, the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, but quite the opposite happened. It was the Jews who overpowered their enemies.The Jews gathered in their cities throughout all the king’s provinces to attack anyone who tried to harm them. But no one could make a stand against them, for everyone was afraid of them.And all the nobles of the provinces, the highest officers, the governors, and the royal officials helped the Jews for fear of Mordecai.For Mordecai had been promoted in the king’s palace, and his fame spread throughout all the provinces as he became more and more powerful.So the Jews went ahead on the appointed day and struck down their enemies with the sword. They killed and annihilated their enemies and did as they pleased with those who hated them.In the fortress of Susa itself, the Jews killed 500 men.They also killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha,Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha,Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha—the ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews. But they did not take any plunder.That very day, when the king was informed of the number of people killed in the fortress of Susa,he called for Queen Esther. He said,“ The Jews have killed 500 men in the fortress of Susa alone, as well as Haman’s ten sons. If they have done that here, what has happened in the rest of the provinces? But now, what more do you want? It will be granted to you; tell me and I will do it.”Esther responded,“ If it please the king, give the Jews in Susa permission to do again tomorrow as they have done today, and let the bodies of Haman’s ten sons be impaled on a pole.”So the king agreed, and the decree was announced in Susa. And they impaled the bodies of Haman’s ten sons.Then the Jews at Susa gathered together on March 8 and killed 300 more men, and again they took no plunder.Meanwhile, the other Jews throughout the king’s provinces had gathered together to defend their lives. They gained relief from all their enemies, killing 75,000 of those who hated them. But they did not take any plunder.