| 001 | Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus (this was the Ahasuerus who reigned over one hundred and twenty-seven provinces, from India to Ethiopia), | 1:1 |
| 002 | when he showed the riches of his glorious kingdom and the splendor of his excellent majesty for many days, one hundred and eighty days in all. | 1:4 |
| 003 | And when these days were completed, the king made a feast lasting seven days for all the people who were present in Shushan the citadel, from great to small, in the court of the garden of the king’s palace. | 1:5 |
| 004 | Queen Vashti also made a feast for the women in the royal palace which belonged to King Ahasuerus. | 1:9 |
| 005 | On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas, seven eunuchs who served in the presence of King Ahasuerus, to bring Queen Vashti before the king, wearing her royal crown, in order to show her beauty to the people and the officials, for she was beautiful to behold. | 1:10-11 |
| 006 | But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s command brought by his eunuchs; therefore, the king was furious, and his anger burned within him. | 1:12 |
| 007 | “What shall we do to Queen Vashti, according to law, because she did not obey the command of King Ahasuerus brought to her by the eunuchs?” | 1:15 |
| 008 | For the queen’s behaviour will become known to all women, so that they will despise their husbands in their eyes, when they report, ‘King Ahasuerus commanded Queen Vashti to be brought in before him, but she did not come.’ | 1:17 |
| 009 | let the king give her royal position to another who is better than she. | 1:19 |
| 010 | When the king’s decree which he will make is proclaimed throughout all his empire (for it is great), all wives will honour their husbands, both great and small.” | 1:20 |
| 011 | In Shushan the citadel there was a certain Jew whose name was Mordecai the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite. | 2:5 |
| 012 | And Mordecai had brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter, for she had neither father nor mother. The young woman was lovely and beautiful. When her father and mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter. | 2:7 |
| 013 | And every day Mordecai paced in front of the court of the women’s quarters, to learn of Esther’s welfare and what was happening to her. | 2:11 |
| 014 | Now when the turn came for Esther the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her as his daughter, to go in to the king, she requested nothing but what Hegai the king’s eunuch, the custodian of the women, advised. And Esther obtained Favor in the sight of all who saw her. | 2:15 |
| 015 | The king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she obtained grace and Favor in his sight more than all the virgins; so he set the royal crown upon her head and made her queen instead of Vashti. | 2:17 |
| 016 | In those days, while Mordecai sat within the king’s gate, two of the king’s eunuchs, Bigthan and Teresh, doorkeepers, became furious and sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. | 2:21 |
| 017 | So, the matter became known to Mordecai, who told Queen Esther, and Esther informed the king in Mordecai’s name. | 2:22 |
| 018 | And when an inquiry was made into the matter, it was confirmed, and both were hanged on gallows; and it was written in the book of the chronicles in the presence of the king. | 2:23 |
| 019 | 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. | 3:1 |
| 020 | And all the king’s servants who were within the king’s gate bowed and paid homage to Haman, for so the king had commanded concerning him. But Mordecai would not bow or pay homage. | 3:2 |
| 021 | When Haman saw that Mordecai did not bow or pay him homage, Haman was filled with wrath. | 3:5 |
| 022 | But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone, for they had told him of the people of Mordecai. Instead, Haman sought to destroy all the Jews who were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus–the people of Mordecai. | 3:6 |
| 023 | Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from all other people, and they do not keep the king’s laws. Therefore, it is not fitting for the king to let them remain. | 3:8 |
| 024 | So, the king took his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews. | 3:10 |
| 025 | A copy of the document was to be issued as law in every province, being published for all people, that they should be ready for that day. | 3:14 |
| 026 | “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that any man or woman who goes into the inner court to the king, who has not been called, he has but one law: put all to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter, that he may live. Yet I myself have not been called to go in to the king these thirty days.” | 4:11 |
| 027 | And Mordecai told them to answer Esther: “Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews. | 4:13 |
| 028 | For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” | 4:14 |
| 029 | Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai: “Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so, I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!” | 4:15-16 |
| 030 | Now it happened on the third day that Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king’s palace, across from the king’s house, while the king sat on his royal throne in the royal house, facing the entrance of the house. So it was, when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, that she found Favor in his sight, and the king held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther went near and touched the top of the scepter. | 5:1-2 |
| 031 | And the king said to her, “What do you wish, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given to you–up to half the kingdom!” So, Esther answered, “If it pleases the king, let the king and Haman come today to the banquet that I have prepared for him.” | 5:3-4 |
| 032 | At the banquet of wine, the king said to Esther, “What is your petition? It shall be granted you. What is your request, up to half the kingdom? It shall be done!” Then Esther answered and said, “My petition and request is this: If I have found Favor in the sight of the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and fulfill my request, then let the king and Haman come to the banquet which I will prepare for them, and tomorrow I will do as the king has said.” So, Haman went out that day joyful and with a glad heart; but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king’s gate, and that he did not stand or tremble before him, he was filled with indignation against Mordecai. | 5:6-9 |
| 033 | Moreover, Haman said, “Besides, Queen Esther invited no one but me to come in with the king to the banquet that she prepared; and tomorrow I am again invited by her, along with the king. Yet all this avails me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.” Then his wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, “Let gallows be made, fifty cubits high, and in the morning suggest to the king that Mordecai be hanged on it; then go merrily with the king to the banquet.” And the thing pleased Haman; so, he had the gallows made.
| 5:12-14 |
| 034 | That night the king could not sleep. So, one was commanded to bring the book of the records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king. And it was found written that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs, the doorkeepers who had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. Then the king said, “What honour or dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?” And the king’s servants who attended him said, “Nothing has been done for him.” | 6:1-3 |
| 035 | So Haman came in, and the king asked him, “What shall be done for the man whom the king delights to honour?” Now Haman thought in his heart, “Whom would the king delight to honour more than me?” And Haman answered the king, “For the man whom the king delights to honour, let a royal robe be brought which the king has worn, and a horse on which the king has ridden, which has a royal crest placed on its head. | 6:6-8 |
| 036 | Then the king said to Haman, “Hurry, take the robe and the horse, as you have suggested, and do so for Mordecai the Jew who sits within the king’s gate! Leave nothing undone of all that you have spoken.” So, Haman took the robe and the horse, arrayed Mordecai and led him on horseback through the city square, and proclaimed before him, “Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honour!” Afterward Mordecai went back to the king’s gate. But Haman hurried to his house, mourning and with his head covered. | 6:10-12 |
| 037 | When Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had happened to him, his wise men and his wife Zeresh said to him, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish descent, you will not prevail against him but will surely fall before him.” | 6:13 |
| 038 | And on the second day, at the banquet of wine, the king again said to Esther, “What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request, up to half the kingdom? It shall be done!” Then Queen Esther answered and said, “If I have found Favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request. | 7:2-3 |
| 039 | So, King Ahasuerus answered and said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who would dare presume in his heart to do such a thing?” And Esther said, “The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman!” So Haman was terrified before the king and queen. | 7:5-6 |
| 040 | Then the king arose in his wrath from the banquet of wine and went into the palace garden; but Haman stood before Queen Esther, pleading for his life, for he saw that evil was determined against him by the king. | 7:7 |
| 041 | When the king returned from the palace garden to the place of the banquet of wine, Haman had fallen across the couch where Esther was. Then the king said, “Will he also assault the queen while I am in the house?” As the word left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face. | 7:8 |
| 042 | Now Harbonah, one of the eunuchs, said to the king, “Look! The gallows, fifty cubits high, which Haman made for Mordecai, who spoke good on the king’s behalf, is standing at the house of Haman.” Then the king said, “Hang him on it!” So, they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s wrath subsided. | 7:9-10 |
| 043 | So, the king took off his signet ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai; and Esther appointed Mordecai over the house of Haman. Now Esther spoke again to the king, fell down at his feet, and implored him with tears to counteract the evil of Haman the Agagite, and the scheme which he had devised against the Jews. | 8:2-3 |
| 044 | and said, “If it pleases the king, and if I have found favor in his sight and the thing seems right to the king and I am pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to revoke the letters devised by Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to annihilate the Jews who are in all the king’s provinces. | 8:5 |
| 045 | You yourselves write a decree concerning the Jews, as you please, in the king’s name, and seal it with the king’s signet ring; for whatever is written in the king’s name and sealed with the king’s signet ring no one can revoke.” | 8:8 |
| 046 | So the king’s scribes were called at that time, in the third month, which is the month of Sivan, on the twenty-third day; and it was written, according to all that Mordecai commanded, to the Jews, the satraps, the governors, and the princes of the provinces from India to Ethiopia, one hundred and twenty-seven provinces in all, to every province in its own script, to every people in their own language, and to the Jews in their own script and language. | 8:9 |
| 047 | By these letters the king permitted the Jews who were in every city to gather together and protect their lives–to destroy, kill, and annihilate all the forces of any people or province that would assault them, both little children and women, and to plunder their possessions, | 8:11 |
| 048 | So, Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white, with a great crown of gold and a garment of fine linen and purple; and the city of Shushan rejoiced and was glad. The Jews had light and gladness, joy and honour. And in every province and city, wherever the king’s command and decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a holiday. Then many of the people of the land became Jews, because fear of the Jews fell upon them. | 8:15-17 |
| 049 | For Mordecai was great in the king’s palace, and his fame spread throughout all the provinces; for this man Mordecai became increasingly prominent. Thus, the Jews defeated all their enemies with the stroke of the sword, with slaughter and destruction, and did what they pleased with those who hated them. | 9:4-5 |
| 050 | the ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews–they killed; but they did not lay a hand on the plunder. | 9:10 |
| 051 | Jews killed seventy-five thousand of their enemies; but they did not lay a hand on the plunder. | 9:16 |
| 052 | but when Esther came before the king, he commanded by letter that this wicked plot which Haman had devised against the Jews should return on his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows. | 9:25 |
| 053 | Now all the acts of his power and his might, and the account of the greatness of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia? | 10:2 |
| 054 | For Mordecai the Jew was second to King Ahasuerus, and was great among the Jews and well received by the multitude of his brethren, seeking the good of his people and speaking peace to all his countrymen. | 10:3 |
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