A person who has a pure and loving heart and speaks kindly will be a friend of the king.

喜爱清心的人因他嘴上的恩言，王必与他为友。

喜爱清心，嘴唇有恩言的，王必与他为友。

喜爱清心，嘴唇有恩言的，王必与他为友。

喜爱清心、口吐恩言的人，必与君王为友。

喜爱内心洁净，嘴上有恩言的，君王要作他的朋友。

喜爱内心纯净的，他的嘴上有恩言，有君王与他做朋友。

喜愛清心的人因他嘴上的恩言，王必與他為友。

喜愛清心，嘴唇有恩言的，王必與他為友。

喜愛清心，嘴唇有恩言的，王必與他為友。

喜愛清心、口吐恩言的人，必與君王為友。

喜愛內心潔淨，嘴上有恩言的，君王要作他的朋友。

喜愛心裏潔淨的、嘴上有恩言的、王必做他的朋友。

喜愛內心純淨的，他的嘴上有恩言，有君王與他做朋友。

好清心者、因其嘉言、王與之友、

清其心、善其詞、王必眷祐。

心喜清潔者、口辭必善、王以之為友、

One who loves a pure heart and who speaks with grace will have the king for a friend.

He who loves purity of heart, and whose speech is gracious, will have the king as his friend.

Whoever loves a pure heart and gracious speech will have the king as a friend.

The one who loves a pure heart and gracious lips— the king is his friend.

One who loves purity of heart And whose speech is gracious, the king is his friend.

He who loves purity of heart And has grace on his lips, The king will be his friend.

He that loveth pureness of heart, For the grace of his lips the king will be his friend.

The one who loves a pure heart and gracious lips— the king is his friend.

He that loveth pureness of heart,[ for] the grace of his lips the king[ shall be] his friend.

The one who loves a pure heart and whose speech is gracious– the king will be his friend.

He who loves purity of heart and speaks gracefully is the king’s friend.

Kings are pleased when what you say is honest. They value people who speak what is right.

Blessed are those whose hearts are pure. They will see God.

A king is pleased with a wise servant. But a servant who is full of shame stirs up the king’s anger.

I will look with favor on the faithful people in the land. They will live with me. Those whose lives are without blame will serve me.

Then the king honored Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. He gave them higher positions in the city of Babylon and the towns around it.

Then King Nebuchadnezzar bowed low in front of Daniel. He wanted to honor him. So he ordered that an offering and incense be offered up to him.The king said to Daniel,“ I’m sure your God is the greatest God of all. He is the Lord of kings. He explains mysteries. That’s why you were able to explain the mystery of my dream.”Then the king put Daniel in a position of authority. He gave him many gifts. He made him ruler over the city of Babylon and the towns around it. He put him in charge of all its other wise men.The king also did what Daniel asked him to. He appointed Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to help Daniel govern Babylon and the towns around it. Daniel himself remained at the royal court.

The position of Mordecai the Jew was second only to the position of King Xerxes. Mordecai was the most important Jew. All the other Jews had the highest respect for him. That’s because he worked for the good of his people. And he spoke up for the benefit of all the Jews.

When he got near it, he called out to Daniel. His voice was filled with great concern. He said,“ Daniel! You serve the living God. You always serve him faithfully. So has he been able to save you from the lions?”Daniel answered,“ Your Majesty, may you live forever!My God sent his angel. And his angel shut the mouths of the lions. They haven’t hurt me at all. That’s because I haven’t done anything wrong in God’s sight. I’ve never done anything wrong to you either, Your Majesty.”The king was filled with joy. He ordered his servants to lift Daniel out of the den. So they did. They didn’t see any wounds on him. That’s because he had trusted in his God.

You are the most excellent of men. Your lips have been given the ability to speak gracious words. God has blessed you forever.

Everyone said good things about him. They were amazed at the gracious words they heard from his lips.“ Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they asked.

So Ezra came up from Babylon. He was a teacher who knew the Law of Moses very well. The Lord, the God of Israel, had given Israel that law. The king had given Ezra everything he asked for. That’s because the Lord his God helped him.Some of the Israelites came up to Jerusalem too. They included priests, Levites and musicians. They also included the temple servants and those who guarded the temple gates. It was in the seventh year that Artaxerxes was king.Ezra arrived in Jerusalem in the fifth month of the seventh year of the king’s rule.Ezra had begun his journey from Babylon on the first day of the first month. He arrived in Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month. That’s because God was gracious to him and helped him.Ezra had committed himself to study and obey the Law of the Lord. He also wanted to teach the Lord’ s rules and laws in Israel.Ezra was a priest and teacher of the Law. He was an educated man. He knew the Lord’ s commands and rules for Israel very well. Here is a copy of a letter King Artaxerxes had given to Ezra. It said,

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.He also had him ride in a chariot. Joseph was now next in command after Pharaoh. People went in front of Joseph and shouted,“ Get down on your knees!” By doing all these things, Pharaoh put Joseph in charge of the whole land of Egypt.Then Pharaoh said to Joseph,“ I am Pharaoh. But unless you give an order, no one will do anything in the whole land of Egypt.”Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath- Paneah. He gave Joseph a wife. She was Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera. Potiphera was the priest of On. Joseph traveled all over the land of Egypt.Joseph was 30 years old when he began serving Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. He left Pharaoh’s palace and traveled all over Egypt.During the seven years there was plenty of food. The land produced more than the people needed.Joseph collected all the extra food produced in those seven years in Egypt. He stored it in the cities. In each city he stored up the food grown in the fields around it.Joseph stored up huge amounts of grain. There was as much of it as sand by the sea. There was so much grain it couldn’t be measured. So Joseph stopped keeping records of it.Before the years when there wasn’t enough food, two sons were born to Joseph. He had them by Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera. Potiphera was the priest of On.Joseph named his first son Manasseh. That’s because he said,“ God has made me forget all my trouble and my father’s whole family.”He named the second son Ephraim. That’s because he said,“ God has given me children in the land where I’ve suffered so much.”The seven years when there was plenty of food in Egypt came to an end.Then the seven years when there wasn’t enough food began. It happened just as Joseph had said it would. There wasn’t enough food in any of the other lands. But in the whole land of Egypt there was food.When all the people of Egypt began to get hungry, they cried out to Pharaoh for food. He told all the Egyptians,“ Go to Joseph. Do what he tells you.”There wasn’t enough food anywhere in the country. So Joseph opened the storerooms. He sold grain to the Egyptians because people were very hungry all over Egypt.People from all over the world came to Egypt. They came to buy grain from Joseph. That’s because people were very hungry everywhere.

The king said to me,“ What do you want?” I prayed to the God of heaven.Then I answered the king,“ Are you pleased with me, King Artaxerxes? If it pleases you, send me to Judah. Let me go to the city of Jerusalem. That’s where my people are buried. I want to rebuild it.”The queen was sitting beside the king. He turned and asked me,“ How long will your journey take? When will you get back?” It pleased the king to send me. So I chose a certain time.