Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.
The Book of Ezra
They begin to offer burnt offerings to the Lord, though the foundation of the Lord's temple had not yet been laid.
But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy.
No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise. And the sound was heard far away
Oh my God, I am too ashamed and disgraced to lift up my face to you, my God, because our sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens.
For we have disregarded the commands you gave through your servants the prophets
What has happened to us is a result of our evil deeds and our great guilt, and yet, our God, you have punished us less than our sins have deserved.
While he was there, he ate no food and drink no water, because he continued to mourn over the unfaithfulness of the exiles.
Now make confession to the Lord, the God of your fathers, and do his will. Separate yourselves from the peoples around you and from your foreign wives.
We have acted very wickedly toward you.
We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.
(Then) They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was being read.
Then all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy, because they now understand the words that have been made known to them.
And their joy was very great.
They stood in their places and confessed their sins and the wickedness of their fathers.
You saw the suffering of our forefathers in Egypt; you heard their cry at the Red Sea.
You gave them regulations and laws that are just and right, and decrees and commands that are good.
But they, our forefathers, became arrogant and stiff necked, and did not obey your commands.
They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them.
They took possession of houses filled with all kinds of good things, wells already dug, vineyards, olive groves and fruit trees in abundance.
They ate to the full and were well-nourished; they revelled in your great goodness.
But when they were oppressed they cried out to you.
You warned them to return to your law, but they became arrogant and disobeyed your commands.
They sinned against you ordinances, by which a man will live if he obeys them.
Stubbornly they turn their backs on you, became stiff-necked and refused to listen.
Our kings, our leaders, our priests and our fathers did not follow your law; they did not pay attention to your commands or the warnings you gave them.
Even while they were in their kingdom, enjoying your great goodness to them in the spacious and fertile land you gave them, they did not serve you or turn from their evil ways.
Was it not because of marriages like these that Solomon king of Israel sinned?
He was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel, but even he was led into sin by foreign women.
Queen Vashti...in order to display her beauty…for she was lovely to look at.
Queen Vashti refused...the Queen's conduct will become known to all the women, and so they will despise their husbands.
There will be no end of disrespect and discord. Let the king give her royal position to someone else who is better than she...proclaiming in each people's tongue that every man should be ruler over his own household.
Esther, was lovely in form and features...
The girl pleased him and won his favor. Immediately he provided her with beauty treatments and special food.
And Esther won the favor of everyone who saw her.
Now the king was attracted to Esther more than any other women, and she won his favor and approval more than any of the other virgins.
So he set a royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.
The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away; Blessed be the name of the Lord.
Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?
What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me.
I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a girl.
To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God.
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and of time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men.
Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work – this is a gift of God. He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart.
The man who fears God will avoid all extremes.
Wisdom brightens a man's face and changes it's hard appearance.
Song of Songs
And our bed is verdant.
My lover is mine and I am his; he browses among the lilies. Until the day breaks and the shadows flee.
Your two breasts are like two fawns, like twin fawns of a gazelle that browse among the lilies.
Until the day breaks and the shadows flee, I will go to the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of incense.
How beautiful your sandaled feet, O prince's daughter!
Your graceful legs are like jewels, the work of a craftsman's hands.
Your breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle.
How beautiful you are and how pleasing, O Love, with your delights!
Your stature is like that of the palm, and your breasts like clusters of fruit.
I said, "I will climb the palm tree; I will take hold of its fruit."
They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young.
Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and good things come?
Why should any living man complain when punished for his sins?
Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord.
Let us lift up our hearts and our hands to God in heaven.
Daniel then said, "Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see."
At the end of the 10 days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food.
So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead.
And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds.
What the King asks is too difficult. Daniel spoke to him with wisdom and tact.
For no other God can save in this way...you will eat grass like cattle and be drenched with the dew of heaven.
Now I have heard that you were able to give interpretations and to solve difficult problems.
So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.
"Do not be afraid, O man highly esteemed," he said."Peace! Be strong now; be strong.”