But prior to this time, Eliashib the priest, a relative of Tobiah, had been appointed over the storerooms ¹  of the temple of our God.

The king’s attendants said to him, “It is Haman who is standing in the courtyard.” The king said, “Let him enter.”

The wicked man is so arrogant he always thinks, “God won’t hold me accountable; he doesn’t care.” ¹ 

All your garments are perfumed with ¹  myrrh, aloes, and cassia. From the luxurious palaces ²  comes the music of stringed instruments that makes you happy. ³ 

You answer our prayers by performing awesome acts of deliverance, O God, our savior. ¹  All the ends of the earth trust in you, ²  as well as those living across the wide seas. ³ 

Be my protector and refuge, ¹  a stronghold where I can be safe! ²  For you are my high ridge ³  and my stronghold.

I desperately want to be ¹  in the courts of the Lord’s temple. ²  My heart and my entire being ³  shout for joy to the living God.

Your wife will be like a fruitful vine ¹  in the inner rooms of your house; your children ²  will be like olive branches, as they sit all around your table.

My lover is like a gazelle or a young stag. ¹  Look! There he stands behind our wall, gazing through the window, peering through the lattice.

“I thought, ¹  ‘In the middle of my life ²  I must walk through the gates of Sheol, I am deprived ³  of the rest of my years.’

For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your children will conquer ¹  nations and will resettle desolate cities.

The splendor of Lebanon will come to you, its evergreens, firs, and cypresses together, to beautify my palace; ¹  I will bestow honor on my throne room. ² 

‘We ¹  are ashamed because we have been insulted. ²  Our faces show our disgrace. ³  For foreigners have invaded the holy rooms ⁴  in the Lord’s temple.’

The sound of a carefree crowd accompanied her, ¹  including all kinds of men; ²  even Sabeans ³  were brought from the desert. The sisters ⁴  put bracelets on their wrists and beautiful crowns on their heads.

Then he led me toward the south. I saw ¹  a gate on the south. He measured its jambs and its porches; they had the same dimensions as the others.

There were hooks ¹  three inches ²  long, fastened in the house all around, and on the tables was the flesh of the offering.

Then he brought me to the outer sanctuary, and measured the jambs; the jambs were 10½ feet ¹  wide on each side.

and said to him, “Hurry, speak to this young man ¹  as follows: ‘Jerusalem will no longer be enclosed by walls ²  because of the multitude of people and animals there.

And those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all they found, both bad and good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,