He captured a young man from Succoth ¹  and interrogated him. The young man wrote down for him the names of Succoth’s officials and city leaders – seventy-seven men in all. ² 

Solomon did not assign Israelites to these work crews; ¹  the Israelites served as his soldiers, attendants, officers, charioteers, and commanders of his chariot forces. ² 

In the third year of his reign he sent his officials Ben-Hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel, and Micaiah to teach in the cities of Judah.

King Hezekiah and the officials told the Levites to praise the Lord, using the psalms ¹  of David and Asaph the prophet. ²  So they joyfully offered praise and bowed down and worshiped.

and I weighed out to them the silver, the gold, and the vessels intended for the temple of our God – items that the king, his advisers, his officials, and all Israel who were present had contributed.

I brought the leaders of Judah up on top of the wall, and I appointed two large choirs to give thanks. One was to proceed ¹  on the top of the wall southward toward the Dung Gate.

Over them would be three supervisors, one of whom was Daniel. These satraps were accountable ¹  to them, so that the king’s interests might not incur damage.

Now this Daniel was distinguishing himself above the other supervisors and the satraps, for he had an extraordinary spirit. In fact, the king intended to appoint him over the entire kingdom.

He will also take their gods into captivity to Egypt, along with their cast images and prized utensils of silver and gold. Then he will withdraw for some years from ¹  the king of the north.

Then ¹  the kings of the earth, the ²  very important people, the generals, ³  the rich, the powerful, and everyone, slave ⁴  and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains.

These were the ones chosen ¹  from the community, leaders ²  of their ancestral tribes. ³  They were the heads of the thousands ⁴  of Israel.

“When the leaders took the lead ¹  in Israel, When the people answered the call to war – Praise the Lord!

My heart went out ¹  to Israel’s leaders, to the people who answered the call to war. Praise the Lord!

Benaiah son of Jehoida supervised ¹  the Kerithites and Pelethites; and David’s sons were priests. ² 

They marched out of the city with the servants of the district governors in the lead and the army behind them.

The king’s scribes were quickly ¹  summoned – in the third month (that is, the month of Sivan), on the twenty-third day. ²  They wrote out ³  everything that Mordecai instructed to the Jews and to the satraps and the governors and the officials of the provinces all the way from India to Ethiopia ⁴  – a hundred and twenty-seven provinces in all – to each province in its own script and to each people in their own language, and to the Jews according to their own script and their own language.

the voices of the nobles fell silent, ¹  and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.

Rich people from Tyre ¹  will seek your favor by bringing a gift. ² 

A king’s glory is ¹  the abundance of people, but the lack of subjects ²  is the ruin ³  of a ruler.

¹ I was beside myself with joy! ²  There please give me your myrrh, ³  O daughter of my princely people. ⁴