Bible Reading for August 13-15
World English Bible
Aug.
13
Esther
1-3
Est
1:1 Now it happened in the days of Ahasuerus (this is Ahasuerus who
reigned from India even to Ethiopia, over one hundred twenty-seven
provinces),
Est
1:2 that in those days, when the King Ahasuerus sat on the throne of
his kingdom, which was in Shushan the palace,
Est
1:3 in the third year of his reign, he made a feast for all his
princes and his servants; the power of Persia and Media, the nobles
and princes of the provinces, being before him.
Est
1:4 He displayed the riches of his glorious kingdom and the honor of
his excellent majesty many days, even one hundred eighty days.
Est
1:5 When these days were fulfilled, the king made a seven day feast
for all the people who were present in Shushan the palace, both great
and small, in the court of the garden of the king's palace.
Est
1:6 There were hangings of white, green, and blue material, fastened
with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and marble
pillars. The couches were of gold and silver, on a pavement of red,
white, yellow, and black marble.
Est
1:7 They gave them drinks in golden vessels of various kinds,
including royal wine in abundance, according to the bounty of the
king.
Est
1:8 In accordance with the law, the drinking was not compulsory; for
so the king had instructed all the officials of his house, that they
should do according to every man's pleasure.
Est
1:9 Also Vashti the queen made a feast for the women in the royal
house which belonged to King Ahasuerus.
Est
1:10 On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with
wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, and Abagtha,
Zethar, and Carcass, the seven eunuchs who served in the presence of
Ahasuerus the king,
Est
1:11 to bring Vashti the queen before the king with the royal crown,
to show the people and the princes her beauty; for she was beautiful.
Est
1:12 But the queen Vashti refused to come at the king's commandment
by the eunuchs. Therefore the king was very angry, and his anger
burned in him.
Est
1:13 Then the king said to the wise men, who knew the times, (for
it was the king's custom to consult those who knew law and judgment;
Est
1:14 and the next to him were Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish,
Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven princes of Persia and Media,
who saw the king's face, and sat first in the kingdom),
Est
1:15 "What shall we do to the queen Vashti according to law,
because she has not done the bidding of the King Ahasuerus by the
eunuchs?"
Est
1:16 Memucan answered before the king and the princes, "Vashti
the queen has not done wrong to just the king, but also to all the
princes, and to all the people who are in all the provinces of the
King Ahasuerus.
Est
1:17 For this deed of the queen will become known to all women,
causing them to show contempt for their husbands, when it is
reported, 'King Ahasuerus commanded Vashti the queen to be brought in
before him, but she didn't come.'
Est
1:18 Today, the princesses of Persia and Media who have heard of the
queen's deed will tell all the king's princes. This will cause much
contempt and wrath.
Est
1:19 If it please the king, let a royal commandment go from him, and
let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes, so
that it cannot be altered, that Vashti may never again come before
King Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal estate to another who
is better than she.
Est
1:20 When the king's decree which he shall make is published
throughout all his kingdom (for it is great), all the wives will
give their husbands honor, both great and small."
Est
1:21 This advice pleased the king and the princes, and the king did
according to the word of Memucan:
Est
1:22 for he sent letters into all the king's provinces, into every
province according to its writing, and to every people in their
language, that every man should rule his own house, speaking in the
language of his own people.
Est
2:1 After these things, when the wrath of King Ahasuerus was
pacified, he remembered Vashti, and what she had done, and what was
decreed against her.
Est
2:2 Then the king's servants who served him said, "Let
beautiful young virgins be sought for the king.
Est
2:3 Let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his
kingdom, that they may gather together all the beautiful young
virgins to the citadel of Susa, to the women's house, to the custody
of Hegai the king's eunuch, keeper of the women. Let cosmetics be
given them;
Est
2:4 and let the maiden who pleases the king be queen instead of
Vashti." The thing pleased the king, and he did so.
Est
2:5 There was a certain Jew in the citadel of Susa, whose name was
Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a
Benjamite,
Est
2:6 who had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captives who
had been carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom
Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away.
Est
2:7 He brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle's daughter;
for she had neither father nor mother. The maiden was fair and
beautiful; and when her father and mother were dead, Mordecai took
her for his own daughter.
Est
2:8 So it happened, when the king's commandment and his decree was
heard, and when many maidens were gathered together to the citadel of
Susa, to the custody of Hegai, that Esther was taken into the king's
house, to the custody of Hegai, keeper of the women.
Est
2:9 The maiden pleased him, and she obtained kindness from him. He
quickly gave her cosmetics and her portions of food, and the seven
choice maidens who were to be given her out of the king's house. He
moved her and her maidens to the best place in the women's house.
Est
2:10 Esther had not made known her people nor her relatives, because
Mordecai had instructed her that she should not make it known.
Est
2:11 Mordecai walked every day in front of the court of the women's
house, to find out how Esther did, and what would become of her.
Est
2:12 Each young woman's turn came to go in to King Ahasuerus after
her purification for twelve months (for so were the days of their
purification accomplished, six months with oil of myrrh, and six
months with sweet fragrances and with preparations for beautifying
women).
Est
2:13 The young woman then came to the king like this: whatever she
desired was given her to go with her out of the women's house to the
king's house.
Est
2:14 In the evening she went, and on the next day she returned into
the second women's house, to the custody of Shaashgaz, the king's
eunuch, who kept the concubines. She came in to the king no more,
unless the king delighted in her, and she was called by name.
Est
2:15 Now when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abihail the uncle
of Mordecai, who had taken her for his daughter, came to go in to the
king, she required nothing but what Hegai the king's eunuch, the
keeper of the women, advised. Esther obtained favor in the sight of
all those who looked at her.
Est
2:16 So Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus into his royal house in
the tenth month, which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of
his reign.
Est
2:17 The king loved Esther more than all the women, and she obtained
favor and kindness in his sight more than all the virgins; so that he
set the royal crown on her head, and made her queen instead of
Vashti.
Est
2:18 Then the king made a great feast for all his princes and his
servants, even Esther's feast; and he proclaimed a holiday in the
provinces, and gave gifts according to the king's bounty.
Est
2:19 When the virgins were gathered together the second time,
Mordecai was sitting in the king's gate.
Est
2:20 Esther had not yet made known her relatives nor her people, as
Mordecai had commanded her; for Esther obeyed Mordecai, like she did
when she was brought up by him.
Est
2:21 In those days, while Mordecai was sitting in the king's gate,
two of the king's eunuchs, Bigthan and Teresh, who were doorkeepers,
were angry, and sought to lay hands on the King Ahasuerus.
Est
2:22 This thing became known to Mordecai, who informed Esther the
queen; and Esther informed the king in Mordecai's name.
Est
2:23 When this matter was investigated, and it was found to be so,
they were both hanged on a tree; and it was written in the book of
the chronicles in the king's presence.
Est
3:1 After these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman the son of
Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat above all
the princes who were with him.
Est
3:2 All the king's servants who were in the king's gate bowed down,
and paid homage to Haman; for the king had so commanded concerning
him. But Mordecai didn't bow down or pay him homage.
Est
3:3 Then the king's servants, who were in the king's gate, said to
Mordecai, "Why do you disobey the king's commandment?"
Est
3:4 Now it came to pass, when they spoke daily to him, and he didn't
listen to them, that they told Haman, to see whether Mordecai's
reason would stand; for he had told them that he was a Jew.
Est
3:5 When Haman saw that Mordecai didn't bow down, nor pay him
homage, Haman was full of wrath.
Est
3:6 But he scorned the thought of laying hands on Mordecai alone,
for they had made known to him Mordecai's people. Therefore Haman
sought to destroy all the Jews who were throughout the whole kingdom
of Ahasuerus, even the Mordecai's people.
Est
3:7 In the first month, which is the month Nisan, in the twelfth
year of King Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that is, the lot, before Haman
from day to day, and from month to month, and chose the twelfth
month, which is the month Adar.
Est
3:8 Haman said to King Ahasuerus, "There is a certain people
scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces
of your kingdom, and their laws are different than other people's.
They don't keep the king's laws. Therefore it is not for the king's
profit to allow them to remain.
Est
3:9 If it pleases the king, let it be written that they be
destroyed; and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the
hands of those who are in charge of the king's business, to bring it
into the king's treasuries."
Est
3:10 The king took his ring from his hand, and gave it to Haman the
son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews' enemy.
Est
3:11 The king said to Haman, "The silver is given to you, the
people also, to do with them as it seems good to you."
Est
3:12 Then the king's scribes were called in on the first month, on
the thirteenth day of the month; and all that Haman commanded was
written to the king's satraps, and to the governors who were over
every province, and to the princes of every people, to every province
according its writing, and to every people in their language. It was
written in the name of King Ahasuerus, and it was sealed with the
king's ring.
Est
3:13 Letters were sent by couriers into all the king's provinces, to
destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and
old, little children and women, in one day, even on the thirteenth
day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to plunder
their possessions.
Est
3:14 A copy of the letter, that the decree should be given out in
every province, was published to all the peoples, that they should be
ready against that day.
Est
3:15 The couriers went forth in haste by the king's commandment, and
the decree was given out in the citadel of Susa. The king and Haman
sat down to drink; but the city of Shushan was perplexed.
Aug.
14
Esther
4-6
Est
4:1 Now when Mordecai found out all that was done, Mordecai tore his
clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst
of the city, and wailed loudly and a bitterly.
Est
4:2 He came even before the king's gate, for no one is allowed
inside the king's gate clothed with sackcloth.
Est
4:3 In every province, wherever the king's commandment and his
decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting,
and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.
Est
4:4 Esther's maidens and her eunuchs came and told her this, and the
queen was exceedingly grieved. She sent clothing to Mordecai, to
replace his sackcloth; but he didn't receive it.
Est
4:5 Then Esther called for Hathach, one of the king's eunuchs, whom
he had appointed to attend her, and commanded him to go to Mordecai,
to find out what this was, and why it was.
Est
4:6 So Hathach went out to Mordecai, to city square which was before
the king's gate.
Est
4:7 Mordecai told him of all that had happened to him, and the exact
sum of the money that Haman had promised to pay to the king's
treasuries for the destruction of the Jews.
Est
4:8 He also gave him the copy of the writing of the decree that was
given out in Shushan to destroy them, to show it to Esther, and to
declare it to her, and to urge her to go in to the king, to make
supplication to him, and to make request before him, for her people.
Est
4:9 Hathach came and told Esther the words of Mordecai.
Est
4:10 Then Esther spoke to Hathach, and gave him a message to
Mordecai:
Est
4:11 "All the king's servants, and the people of the king's
provinces, know, that whoever, whether man or woman, comes to the
king into the inner court without being called, there is one law for
him, that he be put to death, except those to whom the king might
hold out the golden scepter, that he may live. I have not been called
to come in to the king these thirty days."
Est
4:12 They told to Mordecai Esther's words.
Est
4:13 Then Mordecai asked them return answer to Esther, "Don't
think to yourself that you will escape in the king's house any more
than all the Jews.
Est
4:14 For if you remain silent now, then relief and deliverance will
come to the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house
will perish. Who knows if you haven't come to the kingdom for such a
time as this?"
Est
4:15 Then Esther asked them to answer Mordecai,
Est
4:16 "Go, gather together all the Jews who are present in
Shushan, and fast for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night
or day. I and my maidens will also fast the same way. Then I will go
in to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish."
Est
4:17 So Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that Esther
had commanded him.
Est
5:1 Now it happened on the third day that Esther put on her royal
clothing, and stood in the inner court of the king's house, next to
the king's house. The king sat on his royal throne in the royal
house, next to the entrance of the house.
Est
5:2 When the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, she
obtained favor in his sight; and the king held out to Esther the
golden scepter that was in his hand. So Esther came near, and touched
the top of the scepter.
Est
5:3 Then the king asked her, "What would you like, queen
Esther? What is your request? It shall be given you even to the half
of the kingdom."
Est
5:4 Esther said, "If it seems good to the king, let the king
and Haman come today to the banquet that I have prepared for him."
Est
5:5 Then the king said, "Bring Haman quickly, so that it may be
done as Esther has said." So the king and Haman came to the
banquet that Esther had prepared.
Est
5:6 The king said to Esther at the banquet of wine, "What is
your petition? It shall be granted you. What is your request? Even to
the half of the kingdom it shall be performed."
Est
5:7 Then Esther answered and said, "My petition and my request
is this.
Est
5:8 If I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it please
the king to grant my petition and to perform my request, let the king
and Haman come to the banquet that I will prepare for them, and I
will do tomorrow as the king has said."
Est
5:9 Then Haman went out that day joyful and glad of heart, but when
Haman saw Mordecai in the king's gate, that he didn't stand up nor
move for him, he was filled with wrath against Mordecai.
Est
5:10 Nevertheless Haman restrained himself, and went home. There, he
sent and called for his friends and Zeresh his wife.
Est
5:11 Haman recounted to them the glory of his riches, the multitude
of his children, all the things in which the king had promoted him,
and how he had advanced him above the princes and servants of the
king.
Est
5:12 Haman also said, "Yes, Esther the queen let no man come in
with the king to the banquet that she had prepared but myself; and
tomorrow I am also invited by her together with the king.
Est
5:13 Yet all this avails me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the
Jew sitting at the king's gate."
Est
5:14 Then Zeresh his wife and all his friends said to him, "Let
a gallows be made fifty cubits high, and in the morning speak to the
king about hanging Mordecai on it. Then go in merrily with the king
to the banquet." This pleased Haman, so he had the gallows made.
Est
6:1 On that night, the king couldn't sleep. He commanded the book of
records of the chronicles to be brought, and they were read to the
king.
Est
6:2 It was found written that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and
Teresh, two of the king's eunuchs, who were doorkeepers, who had
tried to lay hands on the King Ahasuerus.
Est
6:3 The king said, "What honor and dignity has been bestowed on
Mordecai for this?" Then the king's servants who attended him
said, "Nothing has been done for him."
Est
6:4 The king said, "Who is in the court?" Now Haman had
come into the outer court of the king's house, to speak to the king
about hanging Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him.
Est
6:5 The king's servants said to him, "Behold, Haman stands in
the court." The king said, "Let him come in."
Est
6:6 So Haman came in. The king said to him, "What shall be done
to the man whom the king delights to honor?" Now Haman said in
his heart, "Who would the king delight to honor more than
myself?"
Est
6:7 Haman said to the king, "For the man whom the king delights
to honor,
Est
6:8 let royal clothing be brought which the king uses to wear, and
the horse that the king rides on, and on the head of which a crown
royal is set.
Est
6:9 Let the clothing and the horse be delivered to the hand of one
of the king's most noble princes, that they may array the man whom
the king delights to honor with them, and have him ride on horseback
through the city square, and proclaim before him, 'Thus shall it be
done to the man whom the king delights to honor!' "
Est
6:10 Then the king said to Haman, "Hurry and take the clothing
and the horse, as you have said, and do this for Mordecai the Jew,
who sits at the king's gate. Let nothing fail of all that you have
spoken."
Est
6:11 Then Haman took the clothing and the horse, and arrayed
Mordecai, and had him ride through the city square, and proclaimed
before him, "Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king
delights to honor!"
Est
6:12 Mordecai came back to the king's gate, but Haman hurried to his
house, mourning and having his head covered.
Est
6:13 Haman recounted to Zeresh his wife and all his friends
everything that had happened to him. Then his wise men and Zeresh his
wife said to him, "If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to
fall, is of Jewish descent, you will not prevail against him, but you
will surely fall before him."
Est
6:14 While they were yet talking with him, the king's eunuchs came,
and hurried to bring Haman to the banquet that Esther had prepared.
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.
13, 14
Acts 25
Act
25:1 Festus therefore, having come into the province, after three
days went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea.
Act
25:2 Then the high priest and the principal men of the Jews informed
him against Paul, and they begged him,
Act
25:3 asking a favor against him, that he would summon him to
Jerusalem; plotting to kill him on the way.
Act
25:4 However Festus answered that Paul should be kept in custody at
Caesarea, and that he himself was about to depart shortly.
Act
25:5 "Let them therefore," said he, "that are in
power among you go down with me, and if there is anything wrong in
the man, let them accuse him."
Act
25:6 When he had stayed among them more than ten days, he went down
to Caesarea, and on the next day he sat on the judgment seat, and
commanded Paul to be brought.
Act
25:7 When he had come, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem
stood around him, bringing against him many and grievous charges
which they could not prove,
Act
25:8 while he said in his defense, "Neither against the law of
the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar, have I sinned
at all."
Act
25:9 But Festus, desiring to gain favor with the Jews, answered Paul
and said, "Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem, and be judged
by me there concerning these things?"
Act
25:10 But Paul said, "I am standing before Caesar's judgment
seat, where I ought to be tried. I have done no wrong to the Jews, as
you also know very well.
Act
25:11 For if I have done wrong, and have committed anything worthy
of death, I don't refuse to die; but if none of those things is true
that they accuse me of, no one can give me up to them. I appeal to
Caesar!"
Act
25:12 Then Festus, when he had conferred with the council, answered,
"You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you shall go."
Act
25:13 Now when some days had passed, Agrippa the King and Bernice
arrived at Caesarea, and greeted Festus.
Act
25:14 As he stayed there many days, Festus laid Paul's case before
the king, saying, "There is a certain man left a prisoner by
Felix;
Act
25:15 about whom, when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the
elders of the Jews informed me, asking for a sentence against him.
Act
25:16 To whom I answered that it is not the custom of the Romans to
give up any man to destruction, before the accused has met the
accusers face to face, and has had opportunity to make his defense
concerning the matter laid against him.
Act
25:17 When therefore they had come together here, I didn't delay,
but on the next day sat on the judgment seat, and commanded the man
to be brought.
Act
25:18 Concerning whom, when the accusers stood up, they brought no
charge of such things as I supposed;
Act
25:19 but had certain questions against him about their own
religion, and about one Jesus, who was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be
alive.
Act
25:20 Being perplexed how to inquire concerning these things, I
asked whether he was willing to go to Jerusalem and there be judged
concerning these matters.
Act
25:21 But when Paul had appealed to be kept for the decision of the
emperor, I commanded him to be kept until I could send him to
Caesar."
Act
25:22 Agrippa said to Festus, "I also would like to hear the
man myself." "Tomorrow," he said, "you shall hear
him."
Act
25:23 So on the next day, when Agrippa and Bernice had come with
great pomp, and they had entered into the place of hearing with the
commanding officers and principal men of the city, at the command of
Festus, Paul was brought in.
Act
25:24 Festus said, "King Agrippa, and all men who are here
present with us, you see this man, about whom all the multitude of
the Jews petitioned me, both at Jerusalem and here, crying that he
ought not to live any longer.
Act
25:25 But when I found that he had committed nothing worthy of
death, and as he himself appealed to the emperor I determined to send
him.
Act
25:26 Of whom I have no certain thing to write to my lord. Therefore
I have brought him forth before you, and especially before you, King
Agrippa, that, after examination, I may have something to write.
Act
25:27 For it seems to me unreasonable, in sending a prisoner, not to
also specify the charges against him."
Aug.
15
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."
