Now these [are] the children of the country, that came up from captivity, of the number which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon carried away, and they returned to Jerusalem and to Judah, [every] man to his city.

Now these [are] the chiefs of the province who dwelt in Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah; [every] man dwelt in his possession in their cities: Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the Nethinim, and the children of the servants of Solomon.

And these [are] the people of the land that went up, of the number of prisoners who were removed, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon carried away to Babylon, and they returned to Judah and Jerusalem, every man to his city.

Be it known to the king, that we went into the land of Judea, to the house of the great God; and it is building with choice stones, and they are laying timbers in the walls, and that work is prospering, and goes on favorably in their hands.

[In the second year of reign of Artaxerxes the great king, on the first [day] of Nisan, Mordecai the [son] of Jair, the [son] of Shimei, the [son] of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Jew dwelling in the city of Susa, a great man, serving in the king's palace, saw a vision. Now he was of the captivity which Nebuchaznezzar king of Babylon had carried captive from Jerusalem, with Jeconiah the king of Judea. And this [was] his dream: Behold, voices and a noise, thunders and an earthquake, and tumult upon the earth. And behold, two great serpents came forth, both ready for conflict, and there came from them a great voice, and by their voice of every nation was prepared for battle, even to fight against the nation of the just. And behold, a day of darkness and blackness, tribulation and anguish, affliction and great tumult upon the earth. And all the righteous nation was troubled, fearing their own afflictions; and they prepared to die, and cried to God. And from their cry there came as it were a great river from a little fountain, [even] much water. And light and the sun arose, and the lowly were exalted, and devoured the honorable. And Mordecai, who had seen this vision and what God designed to do, having awoke, kept in his heart, and desired by all means to interpret it, even till night. And Mordecai rested quiet in the palace with Gabatha and Tharrha, the king's two chamberlains, eunuchs who guarded the palace. And he heard their reasonings and searched out their plans, and learned that they were preparing to lay hands on King Artaxerxes. And he informed the king concerning them. And the king examined the two chamberlains, and they confessed, and were executed. And the king wrote these things for a memorial; also Mordecai wrote concerning these matters. And the king commanded Mordecai to attend in the palace, and gave him gifts for this service. And Haman the son of Hammedatha the Bugaean was honorable in the sight of the king, and he endeavored to hurt Mordecai and his people, because of the two eunuchs of the king.] [ 1:1] And it came to pass after these things in the days of Artaxerxes (this Artaxerxes ruled over a hundred and twenty-seven provinces from India),

Behold, we are servants this day, and [as for] the land which You gave to our fathers, to eat the fruit of it and the good things of it, behold, we are servants upon it;

and its produce [is] abundant for the kings whom You appointed over us because of our sins; and they have dominion over our bodies, and over our cattle, as it pleases them, and we are in great affliction.

You made us as sheep [intended] for food; and You scattered us among the nations.

You have made us a reproach to our neighbors, a scorn and derision to them that are round about us.

For David, [A Psalm] of Jeremiah. By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat; and wept when we remembered Zion.

For there they that had taken us captive asked of us the words of a song; and they that had carried us away [asked] a hymn, [saying], Sing us [one] of the songs of Zion.

Rise up, you rich women, and hear my voice; you confident daughters, hearken to my words.

Be amazed, be pained, you confident ones; strip, bare yourselves, gird your loins

[As for] the land of my people, the thorn and grass shall come upon [it], and joy shall be removed from every house.

ZAIN. Jerusalem remembered the days of her affliction, and her rejection. [She thought on] all her desirable things which were from the days of old, when her people fell into the hands of the oppressor, and there was none to help her; when her enemies saw it, they laughed at her habitation.

CHSEN. You have heard their reproach and all their devices against me;

Remember, O Lord, what has happened to us: behold, and look on our reproach.

then I will cut off Israel from the land which I have given them, and this house which I have consecrated to My name I will cast out of My sight; and Israel shall be a desolation and a by-word to all nations.

We have become a reproach to our neighbors, a scorn and derision to them [that are] round about us.

And the princes have defiled My sanctuaries; so I gave Jacob [to enemies] to destroy, and Israel to reproach.

And I will cause them to be dispersed into all the kingdoms of the earth, and they shall be for a reproach, and a proverb, and an [object of] hatred, and a curse, in every place where I have driven them out.

[This translation omits this verse.]

For thus says the Lord: As My wrath has dropped upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so shall My wrath drop upon you, when you have entered into Egypt. And you shall be a desolation, and under the power of others, and a curse and a reproach; and you shall no more see this place.

by provoking Me with the works of your hands, to burn incense to other gods in the land of Egypt, into which you entered to dwell there, that you might be cut off, and that you might become a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth?

And have not ceased even to this day, and they have not kept to My ordinances, which I set before their fathers.

to destroy all the remnant that are in Egypt; and they shall fall by the sword, and by famine, and shall be consumed, small and great; and they shall be for a reproach, and for destruction, and for a curse.

Then I said to them, You see this evil, in which we are, how Jerusalem is desolate, and her gates have been set on fire. Come, and let us build throughout the wall of Jerusalem, and we shall no longer be a reproach.

And the force of the Chaldeans pulled down the wall of Jerusalem round about.

And now I will tell you what I will do to My vineyard; I will take away its hedge, and it shall be for a spoil; and I will pull down its walls, and it shall be [left] to be trodden down.

The city of Your holiness has become desolate, Zion has become as a wilderness, Jerusalem a curse.

The house, our sanctuary, and the glory which our fathers blessed, has been burned with fire; and all our glorious things have gone to ruin.

Go up upon her battlements, and break [them] down; but make not a full end: leave her buttresses; for they are the Lord's.

[This translation omits this verse.]

And the army of the Chaldeans that was with the captain of the guard pulled down all the wall of Jerusalem round about.