Then the servants of the king who were at the king’s gate asked Mordecai, “Why are you violating the king’s commandment?”

The king asked, “What great honor ¹  was bestowed on Mordecai because of this?” The king’s attendants who served him responded, “Not a thing was done for him.”

For the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments; a well-written song ²  by David. It was written when the Ziphites came and informed Saul: “David is hiding with us.” ³  O God, deliver me by your name! ⁴  Vindicate me ⁵  by your power!

Those who try to hide their plans from the Lord are as good as dead, ¹  who do their work in secret and boast, ²  “Who sees us? Who knows what we’re doing?” ³ 

All nations gather together, the peoples assemble. Who among them announced this? Who predicted earlier events for us? ¹  Let them produce their witnesses to testify they were right; let them listen and affirm, ‘It is true.’

“These people have denied what the Lord says. ¹  They have said, ‘That is not so! ²  No harm will come to us. We will not experience war and famine. ³ 

Then the officials said to Baruch, “You and Jeremiah must go and hide. You must not let anyone know where you are.” ¹ 

I will make many stumble. ¹  They will fall over one another in their hurry to flee. ²  They will say, ‘Get up! Let’s go back to our own people. Let’s go back to our homelands because the enemy is coming to destroy us.’ ³ 

The sailors said to one another, ¹  “Come on, let’s cast lots ²  to find out ³  whose fault it is that this disaster has overtaken us. ⁴ ” So they cast lots, and Jonah was singled out. ⁵ 

Then Haggai asked, “If a person who is ritually unclean because of touching a dead body ¹  comes in contact with one of these items, will it become unclean?” The priests answered, “It will be unclean.”

The riders then agreed with the angel of the Lord, ¹  who was standing among the myrtle trees, “We have been walking about on the earth, and now everything is at rest and quiet.”

He said, “Here, my lords, please turn aside to your servant’s house. Stay the night ¹  and wash your feet. Then you can be on your way early in the morning.” ²  “No,” they replied, “we’ll spend the night in the town square.” ³ 

When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he pretended to be a stranger ¹  to them and spoke to them harshly. He asked, “Where do you come from?” They answered, ²  “From the land of Canaan, to buy grain for food.” ³ 

They said to one other, ¹  “Surely we’re being punished ²  because of our brother, because we saw how distressed he was ³  when he cried to us for mercy, but we refused to listen. That is why this distress ⁴  has come on us!”

They replied, “The man questioned us ¹  thoroughly ²  about ourselves and our family, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ ³  So we answered him in this way. ⁴  How could we possibly know ⁵  that he would say, ⁶  ‘Bring your brother down’?”

But the men were afraid when they were brought to Joseph’s house. They said, “We are being brought in because of ¹  the money that was returned in our sacks last time. ²  He wants to capture us, ³  make us slaves, and take ⁴  our donkeys!”

Then they said to Pharaoh, “We have come to live as temporary residents ¹  in the land. There ²  is no pasture for your servants’ flocks because the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. So now, please let your servants live in the land of Goshen.”

When that year was over, they came to him the next year and said to him, “We cannot hide from our ¹  lord that the money is used up and the livestock and the animals belong to our lord. Nothing remains before our lord except our bodies and our land.

When the Canaanites who lived in the land saw them mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a very sad occasion ¹  for the Egyptians.” That is why its name was called ²  Abel Mizraim, ³  which is beyond the Jordan.

When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph bears a grudge and wants to repay ¹  us in full ²  for all the harm ³  we did to him?”