<p class="bodytext">All these had taken foreign wives, and some of them also had children by these women.<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">The waves<n id="1" /> roar, O <sc>Lord,sc>p> <p class="poetry">the waves roar,p> <p class="poetry">the waves roar and crash.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">The young men perform menial labor;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">boys stagger from their labor.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">They go about naked, without clothing,p> <p class="poetry">and go hungry while they carry the sheaves.<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">For look, your enemies are making a commotion;p> <p class="poetry">those who hate you are hostile.<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">The watchmen found me as they made their rounds in the city.p> <p class="poetry">They beat me, they bruised me;p> <p class="poetry">they took away my cloak, those watchmen on the walls!p>

and said to him,<n id="1" /> &#8220;Your servants have taken a count<n id="2" /> of the men who were in the battle, who were under our authority,<n id="3" /> and not one is missing.

Indeed, they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race<n id="1" /> has become intermingled with the local residents. Worse still, the leaders and the officials have been at the forefront of all of this!&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">Listen,<n id="1" /> your watchmen shout;p> <p class="poetry">in unison they shout for joy,p> <p class="poetry">for they see with their very own eyes<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s return to Zion.p>

<p class="lamhebrew">&#1508; (<i>Pei>)p> <p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> himself<n id="1" /> has scattered them;p> <p class="poetry">he no longer watches over them.p> <p class="poetry">They did not honor the priests;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">they did not show favor to the elders.<n id="3" />p>

Everyone<n id="1" /> whose heart stirred him to action<n id="2" /> and everyone whose spirit was willing<n id="3" /> came and brought the offering for the <sc>Lordsc> for the work of the tent of meeting, for all its service, and for the holy garments.<n id="4" />

<p class="bodytext">Moses summoned<n id="1" /> Bezalel and Oholiab and every skilled person in whom<n id="2" /> the <sc>Lordsc> had put skill &#8211; everyone whose heart stirred him<n id="3" /> to volunteer<n id="4" /> to do the work,

<p class="bodytext">Then Ahimaaz called out and said to the king, &#8220;Greetings!&#8221;<n id="1" /> He bowed down before the king with his face toward the ground and said, &#8220;May the <sc>Lordsc> your God be praised because he has defeated<n id="2" /> the men who opposed<n id="3" /> my lord the king!&#8221;p>

They said to him, &#8220;Look, there are fifty capable men with your servants. Let them go and look for your master, for the wind sent from the <sc>Lordsc><n id="1" /> may have carried him away and dropped him on one of the hills or in one of the valleys.&#8221; But Elisha<n id="2" /> replied, &#8220;Don&#8217;t send them out.&#8221;

Haman then recounted to them his fabulous wealth,<n id="1" /> his many sons,<n id="2" /> and how the king had magnified him and exalted him over the king&#8217;s other officials and servants.