Bible Reading
August 15
The World English Bible
Aug.
15
Esther
7-10
Est
7:1 So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen.
Est
7:2 The king said again to Esther on the second day at the banquet
of wine, "What is your petition, queen Esther? It shall be
granted you. What is your request? Even to the half of the kingdom it
shall be performed."
Est
7:3 Then Esther the queen answered, "If I have found favor in
your sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given
me at my petition, and my people at my request.
Est
7:4 For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain,
and to perish. But if we had been sold for bondservants and
bondmaids, I would have held my peace, although the adversary could
not have compensated for the king's loss."
Est
7:5 Then King Ahasuerus said to Esther the queen, "Who is he,
and where is he who dared presume in his heart to do so?"
Est
7:6 Esther said, "An adversary and an enemy, even this wicked
Haman!" Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen.
Est
7:7 The king arose in his wrath from the banquet of wine and went
into the palace garden. Haman stood up to make request for his life
to Esther the queen; for he saw that there was evil determined
against him by the king.
Est
7:8 Then the king returned out of the palace garden into the place
of the banquet of wine; and Haman had fallen on the couch where
Esther was. Then the king said, "Will he even assault the queen
in front of me in the house?" As the word went out of the king's
mouth, they covered Haman's face.
Est
7:9 Then Harbonah, one of the eunuchs who were with the king said,
"Behold, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman has made for
Mordecai, who spoke good for the king, is standing at Haman's house."
The king said, "Hang him on it!"
Est
7:10 So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for
Mordecai. Then was the king's wrath pacified.
Est
8:1 On that day, King Ahasuerus gave the house of Haman, the Jews'
enemy, to Esther the queen. Mordecai came before the king; for Esther
had told what he was to her.
Est
8:2 The king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and
gave it to Mordecai. Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.
Est
8:3 Esther spoke yet again before the king, and fell down at his
feet, and begged him with tears to put away the mischief of Haman the
Agagite, and his device that he had devised against the Jews.
Est
8:4 Then the king held out to Esther the golden scepter. So Esther
arose, and stood before the king.
Est
8:5 She said, "If it pleases the king, and if I have found
favor in his sight, and the thing seem right to the king, and I am
pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to reverse the letters
devised by Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote
to destroy the Jews who are in all the king's provinces.
Est
8:6 For how can I endure to see the evil that would come to my
people? How can I endure to see the destruction of my relatives?"
Est
8:7 Then King Ahasuerus said to Esther the queen and to Mordecai the
Jew, "See, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and him they
have hanged on the gallows, because he laid his hand on the Jews.
Est
8:8 Write also to the Jews, as it pleases you, in the king's name,
and seal it with the king's ring; for the writing which is written in
the king's name, and sealed with the king's ring, may not be reversed
by any man."
Est
8:9 Then the king's scribes were called at that time, in the third
month Sivan, on the twenty-third day of the month; and it was written
according to all that Mordecai commanded to the Jews, and to the
satraps, and the governors and princes of the provinces which are
from India to Ethiopia, one hundred twenty-seven provinces, to every
province according to its writing, and to every people in their
language, and to the Jews in their writing, and in their language.
Est
8:10 He wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus, and sealed it with the
king's ring, and sent letters by courier on horseback, riding on
royal horses that were bread from swift steeds.
Est
8:11 In those letters, the king granted the Jews who were in every
city to gather themselves together, and to defend their life, to
destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all the power of the people
and province that would assault them, their little ones and women,
and to plunder their possessions,
Est
8:12 on one day in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the
thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar.
Est
8:13 A copy of the letter, that the decree should be given out in
every province, was published to all the peoples, that the Jews
should be ready for that day to avenge themselves on their enemies.
Est
8:14 So the couriers who rode on royal horses went out, hastened and
pressed on by the king's commandment. The decree was given out in the
citadel of Susa.
Est
8:15 Mordecai went out of the presence of the king in royal clothing
of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a robe of
fine linen and purple; and the city of Susa shouted and was glad.
Est
8:16 The Jews had light, gladness, joy, and honor.
Est
8:17 In every province, and in every city, wherever the king's
commandment and his decree came, the Jews had gladness, joy, a feast,
and a good day. Many from among the peoples of the land became Jews;
for the fear of the Jews was fallen on them.
Est
9:1 Now in the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, on the
thirteenth day of the month, when the king's commandment and his
decree drew near to be put in execution, on the day that the enemies
of the Jews hoped to conquer them, (but it was turned out the
opposite happened, that the Jews conquered those who hated them),
Est
9:2 the Jews gathered themselves together in their cities throughout
all the provinces of the King Ahasuerus, to lay hands on those who
wanted to harm them. No one could withstand them, because the fear of
them had fallen on all the people.
Est
9:3 All the princes of the provinces, the satraps, the governors,
and those who did the king's business helped the Jews, because the
fear of Mordecai had fallen on them.
Est
9:4 For Mordecai was great in the king's house, and his fame went
out throughout all the provinces; for the man Mordecai grew greater
and greater.
Est
9:5 The Jews struck all their enemies with the stroke of the sword,
and with slaughter and destruction, and did what they wanted to those
who hated them.
Est
9:6 In the citadel of Susa, the Jews killed and destroyed five
hundred men.
Est
9:7 They killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha,
Est
9:8 Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha,
Est
9:9 Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha,
Est
9:10 the ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Jew's enemy,
but they didn't lay their hand on the plunder.
Est
9:11 On that day, the number of those who were slain in the citadel
of Susa was brought before the king.
Est
9:12 The king said to Esther the queen, "The Jews have slain
and destroyed five hundred men in the citadel of Susa, including the
ten sons of Haman; what then have they done in the rest of the king's
provinces! Now what is your petition? It shall be granted you. What
is your further request? It shall be done."
Est
9:13 Then Esther said, "If it pleases the king, let it be
granted to the Jews who are in Shushan to do tomorrow also according
to this day's decree, and let Haman's ten sons be hanged on the
gallows."
Est
9:14 The king commanded this to be done. A decree was given out in
Shushan; and they hanged Haman's ten sons.
Est
9:15 The Jews who were in Shushan gathered themselves together on
the fourteenth day also of the month Adar, and killed three hundred
men in Shushan; but they didn't lay their hand on the spoil.
Est
9:16 The other Jews who were in the king's provinces gathered
themselves together, defended their lives, had rest from their
enemies, and killed seventy-five thousand of those who hated them;
but they didn't lay their hand on the plunder.
Est
9:17 This was done on the thirteenth day of the month Adar; and on
the fourteenth day of that month they rested and made it a day of
feasting and gladness.
Est
9:18 But the Jews who were in Shushan assembled together on the
thirteenth and on the fourteenth days of the month; and on the
fifteenth day of that month, they rested, and made it a day of
feasting and gladness.
Est
9:19 Therefore the Jews of the villages, who live in the unwalled
towns, make the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of gladness
and feasting, a good day, and a day of sending presents of food to
one another.
Est
9:20 Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters to all the Jews
who were in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, both near and
far,
Est
9:21 to enjoin them that they should keep the fourteenth and
fifteenth days of the month Adar yearly,
Est
9:22 as the days in which the Jews had rest from their enemies, and
the month which was turned to them from sorrow to gladness, and from
mourning into a good day; that they should make them days of feasting
and gladness, and of sending presents of food to one another, and
gifts to the needy.
Est
9:23 The Jews accepted the custom that they had begun, as Mordecai
had written to them;
Est
9:24 because Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of
all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them, and had
cast "Pur," that is the lot, to consume them, and to
destroy them;
Est
9:25 but when this became known to the king, he commanded by letters
that his wicked device, which he had devised against the Jews, should
return on his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on
the gallows.
Est
9:26 Therefore they called these days "Purim," from the
word "Pur." Therefore because of all the words of this
letter, and of that which they had seen concerning this matter, and
that which had come to them,
Est
9:27 the Jews established, and imposed on themselves, and on their
descendants, and on all those who joined themselves to them, so that
it should not fail, that they would keep these two days according to
what was written, and according to its appointed time, every year;
Est
9:28 and that these days should be remembered and kept throughout
every generation, every family, every province, and every city; and
that these days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews, nor the
memory of them perish from their seed.
Est
9:29 Then Esther the queen, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai
the Jew, wrote with all authority to confirm this second letter of
Purim.
Est
9:30 He sent letters to all the Jews, to the hundred twenty-seven
provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, with words of peace and truth,
Est
9:31 to confirm these days of Purim in their appointed times, as
Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen had decreed, and as they had
imposed upon themselves and their descendants, in the matter of the
fastings and their cry.
Est
9:32 The commandment of Esther confirmed these matters of Purim; and
it was written in the book.
Est
10:1 King Ahasuerus laid a tribute on the land, and on the islands
of the sea.
Est
10:2 All the acts of his power and of his might, and the full
account of the greatness of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him,
aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of
Media and Persia?
Est
10:3 For Mordecai the Jew was next to King Ahasuerus, and great
among the Jews, and accepted by the multitude of his brothers,
seeking the good of his people, and speaking peace to all his
descendants.
Aug.
15, 16
Acts
26
Act
26:1 Agrippa said to Paul, "You may speak for yourself."
Then Paul stretched out his hand, and made his defense.
Act
26:2 "I think myself happy, King Agrippa, that I am to make my
defense before you this day concerning all the things that I am
accused by the Jews,
Act
26:3 especially because you are expert in all customs and questions
which are among the Jews. Therefore I beg you to hear me patiently.
Act
26:4 "Indeed, all the Jews know my way of life from my youth
up, which was from the beginning among my own nation and at
Jerusalem;
Act
26:5 having known me from the first, if they are willing to testify,
that after the strictest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.
Act
26:6 Now I stand here to be judged for the hope of the promise made
by God to our fathers,
Act
26:7 which our twelve tribes, earnestly serving night and day, hope
to attain. Concerning this hope I am accused by the Jews, King
Agrippa!
Act
26:8 Why is it judged incredible with you, if God does raise the
dead?
Act
26:9 "I myself most certainly thought that I ought to do many
things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
Act
26:10 This I also did in Jerusalem. I both shut up many of the
saints in prisons, having received authority from the chief priests,
and when they were put to death I gave my vote against them.
Act
26:11 Punishing them often in all the synagogues, I tried to make
them blaspheme. Being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted
them even to foreign cities.
Act
26:12 "Whereupon as I traveled to Damascus with the authority
and commission from the chief priests,
Act
26:13 at noon, O King, I saw on the way a light from the sky,
brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who traveled with
me.
Act
26:14 When we had all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice saying to
me in the Hebrew language, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?
It is hard for you to kick against the goads.'
Act
26:15 "I said, 'Who are you, Lord?' "He said, 'I am Jesus,
whom you are persecuting.
Act
26:16 But arise, and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you
for this purpose: to appoint you a servant and a witness both of the
things which you have seen, and of the things which I will reveal to
you;
Act
26:17 delivering you from the people, and from the Gentiles, to whom
I send you,
Act
26:18 to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light
and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive remission
of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in
me.'
Act
26:19 "Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the
heavenly vision,
Act
26:20 but declared first to them of Damascus, at Jerusalem, and
throughout all the country of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that
they should repent and turn to God, doing works worthy of repentance.
Act
26:21 For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple, and tried to
kill me.
Act
26:22 Having therefore obtained the help that is from God, I stand
to this day testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but
what the prophets and Moses said would happen,
Act
26:23 how the Christ must suffer, and how, by the resurrection of
the dead, he would be first to proclaim light both to these people
and to the Gentiles."
Act
26:24 As he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice,
"Paul, you are crazy! Your great learning is driving you
insane!"
Act
26:25 But he said, "I am not crazy, most excellent Festus, but
boldly declare words of truth and reasonableness.
Act
26:26 For the king knows of these things, to whom also I speak
freely. For I am persuaded that none of these things is hidden from
him, for this has not been done in a corner.
Act
26:27 King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you
believe."
Act
26:28 Agrippa said to Paul, "With a little persuasion are you
trying to make me a Christian?"
Act
26:29 Paul said, "I pray to God, that whether with little or
with much, not only you, but also all that hear me this day, might
become such as I am, except for these bonds."
Act
26:30 The king rose up with the governor, and Bernice, and those who
sat with them.
Act
26:31 When they had withdrawn, they spoke one to another, saying,
"This man does nothing worthy of death or of bonds."
Act
26:32 Agrippa said to Festus, "This man might have been set
free if he had not appealed to Caesar."
It
is not uncommon to hear people discussing the end of time and
delineating the “signs” that, they say, are proof that Christ’s return
is imminent. These signs include “wars and rumors of wars,”
“earthquakes,” and various political/military events that one observes
on the evening news. These loud proponents of gloom claim to be
representing the Bible in their calculations and forecasts. Of course,
to date, every attempt to pinpoint the date of Christ’s return has
failed.