Benaiah son of Jehoiada was a brave warrior from Kabzeel who performed great exploits. He struck down the two sons of Ariel of Moab; ¹  he also went down and killed a lion inside a cistern on a snowy day.

He looked for Ahaziah, who was captured while hiding in Samaria. ¹  They brought him to Jehu and then executed him. They did give him a burial, for they reasoned, ²  “He is the son of Jehoshaphat, who sought the Lord with his whole heart.” There was no one in Ahaziah’s family strong enough to rule in his place. ³ 

When Azariah the high priest and the other priests looked at ¹  him, there was a skin disease on his forehead. They hurried him out of there; even the king ²  himself wanted to leave quickly because the Lord had afflicted him.

This Ezra is the one who came up from Babylon. He was a scribe who was skilled in the law of Moses which the Lord God of Israel had given. The king supplied him with everything he requested, for the hand of the Lord his God was on him.

Then Nehemiah the governor, ¹  Ezra the priestly scribe, ²  and the Levites who were imparting understanding to the people said to all of them, ³  “This day is holy to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping when they heard the words of the law.

In the evening she went, and in the morning she returned to a separate part ¹  of the harem, to the authority of Shaashgaz the king’s eunuch who was overseeing the concubines. She would not go back to the king unless the king was pleased with her ²  and she was requested by name.

On that same day King Ahasuerus gave the estate ¹  of Haman, that adversary of the Jews, to Queen Esther. Now Mordecai had come before the king, for Esther had revealed how he was related to her.

In the twelfth month (that is, the month of Adar), on its thirteenth day, the edict of the king and his law were to be executed. It was on this day that the enemies of the Jews had supposed that they would gain power over them. But contrary to expectations, the Jews gained power over their enemies.

At that time tribute will be brought to the Lord who commands armies, by a people that are tall and smooth-skinned, a people that are feared far and wide, a nation strong and victorious, whose land rivers divide. ¹  The tribute ²  will be brought to the place where the Lord who commands armies has chosen to reside, on Mount Zion. ³ 

Carefully read the scroll of the Lord! ¹  Not one of these creatures will be missing, ²  none will lack a mate. ³  For the Lord has issued the decree, ⁴  and his own spirit gathers them. ⁵ 

For this is what the Lord says, the one who created the sky – he is the true God, ¹  the one who formed the earth and made it; he established it, he did not create it without order, ²  he formed it to be inhabited – “I am the Lord, I have no peer.

The Lord says, ¹  “Listen, ²  nation of Israel! ³  I am about to bring a nation from far away to attack you. It will be a nation that was founded long ago and has lasted for a long time. It will be a nation whose language you will not know. Its people will speak words that you will not be able to understand.

On that day I swore ¹  to bring them out of the land of Egypt to a land which I had picked out ²  for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, ³  the most beautiful of all lands.

Cry out and moan, son of man, for it is wielded against my people; against all the princes of Israel. They are delivered up to the sword, along with my people. Therefore, strike your thigh. ¹ 

“‘On that day I will assign Gog a grave in Israel. It will be the valley of those who travel east of the sea; it will block the way of the travelers. There they will bury Gog and all his horde; they will call it the valley of Hamon-Gog. ¹ 

Even though he flourishes like a reed plant, ¹  a scorching east wind will come, a wind from the Lord rising up from the desert. As a result, his spring will dry up; ²  his well will become dry. That wind ³  will spoil all his delightful foods in the containers in his storehouse.

Indeed, he will build the temple of the Lord, and he will be clothed in splendor, sitting as king on his throne. Moreover, there will be a priest ¹  with him on his throne and they will see eye to eye on everything.

On that day the Lord himself will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the weakest among them will be like mighty David, and the dynasty of David will be like God, like the angel of the Lord before them. ¹ 

And I will put hostility ¹  between you and the woman and between your offspring and her offspring; ²  her offspring will attack ³  your head, and ⁴  you ⁵  will attack her offspring’s heel.” ⁶ 

To the woman he said, “I will greatly increase ¹  your labor pains; ²  with pain you will give birth to children. You will want to control your husband, ³  but he will dominate ⁴  you.”