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Listen to today's reading by Tom Dooley Š MasterMedia Ministries/Tyndale.
This content from World English Bible (public domain)
Now when Mordecai found out all that was done, Mordecai tore his clothes and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the middle of the city, and wailed loudly and bitterly. He came even before the kingâs gate, for no one is allowed inside the kingâs gate clothed with sackcloth. In every province, wherever the kingâs 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.
Estherâs 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 didnât receive it. Then Esther called for Hathach, one of the kingâs 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. So Hathach went out to Mordecai, to the city square which was before the kingâs gate. 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 kingâs treasuries for the destruction of the Jews. He also gave him the copy of the writing of the decree that was given out in Susa 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.
Hathach came and told Esther the words of Mordecai. Then Esther spoke to Hathach, and gave him a message to Mordecai: âAll the kingâs servants and the people of the kingâs 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.â
They told Estherâs words to Mordecai. Then Mordecai asked them to return this answer to Esther: âDonât think to yourself that you will escape in the kingâs house any more than all the Jews. For if you remain silent now, then relief and deliverance will come to the Jews from another place, but you and your fatherâs house will perish. Who knows if you havenât come to the kingdom for such a time as this?â
Then Esther asked them to answer Mordecai, âGo, gather together all the Jews who are present in Susa, 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.â So Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that Esther had commanded him.
Now on the third day, Esther put on her royal clothing and stood in the inner court of the kingâs house, next to the kingâs house. The king sat on his royal throne in the royal house, next to the entrance of the house. 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.
Then the king asked her, âWhat would you like, queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given you even to the half of the kingdom.â
Esther said, âIf it seems good to the king, let the king and Haman come today to the banquet that I have prepared for him.â
Then the king said, âBring Haman quickly, so that it may be done as Esther has said.â So the king and Haman came to the banquet that Esther had prepared.
The king said to Esther at the banquet of wine, âWhat is your petition? It shall be granted you. What is your request? Even to the half of the kingdom it shall be performed.â
Then Esther answered and said, âMy petition and my 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 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.â
Then Haman went out that day joyful and glad of heart, but when Haman saw Mordecai in the kingâs gate, that he didnât stand up nor move for him, he was filled with wrath against Mordecai. Nevertheless Haman restrained himself, and went home. There, he sent and called for his friends and Zeresh his wife. 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.
Haman also said, âYes, 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. Yet all this avails me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the kingâs gate.â
Then Zeresh his wife and all his friends said to him, âLet a gallows be made fifty cubits [A cubit is the length from the tip of the middle finger to the elbow on a manâs arm, or about 18 inches or 46 centimeters. ]high, and in the morning speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on it. Then go in merrily with the king to the banquet.â This pleased Haman, so he had the gallows made.
On that night, the king couldnât sleep. He commanded the book of records of the chronicles to be brought, and they were read to the king. It was found written that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the kingâs eunuchs, who were doorkeepers, who had tried to lay hands on the King Ahasuerus. The king said, âWhat honor and dignity has been given to Mordecai for this?â
Then the kingâs servants who attended him said, âNothing has been done for him.â
The king said, âWho is in the court?â Now Haman had come into the outer court of the kingâs house, to speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him.
The kingâs servants said to him, âBehold, [âBeholdâ, from â×Ö´× ÖľÖź×â, means look at, take notice, observe, see, or gaze at. It is often used as an interjection. ]Haman stands in the court.â
The king said, âLet him come in.â So Haman came in. The king said to him, âWhat shall be done to the man whom the king delights to honor?â
Now Haman said in his heart, âWho would the king delight to honor more than myself?â Haman said to the king, âFor the man whom the king delights to honor, 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 royal crown is set. Let the clothing and the horse be delivered to the hand of one of the kingâs 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, âThus it shall be done to the man whom the king delights to honor !ââ
Then the king said to Haman, âHurry and take the clothing and the horse, as you have said, and do this for Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the kingâs gate. Let nothing fail of all that you have spoken.â
Then Haman took the clothing and the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, and had him ride through the city square, and proclaimed before him, âThus it shall be done to the man whom the king delights to honor!â
Mordecai came back to the kingâs gate, but Haman hurried to his house, mourning and having his head covered. 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, âIf 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.â While they were yet talking with him, the kingâs eunuchs came, and hurried to bring Haman to the banquet that Esther had prepared.
So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen. The king said again to Esther on the second day at the banquet of wine, âWhat 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.â
Then Esther the queen answered, âIf 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. For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for male and female slaves, I would have held my peace, although the adversary could not have compensated for the kingâs loss.â
Then King Ahasuerus said to Esther the queen, âWho is he, and where is he who dared presume in his heart to do so?â
Esther said, âAn adversary and an enemy, even this wicked Haman!â
Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen. 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. 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, âWill he even assault the queen in front of me in the house?â As the word went out of the kingâs mouth, they covered Hamanâs face.
Then Harbonah, one of the eunuchs who were with the king, said, âBehold, the gallows fifty cubits [A cubit is the length from the tip of the middle finger to the elbow on a manâs arm, or about 18 inches or 46 centimeters. ]high, which Haman has made for Mordecai, who spoke good for the king, is standing at Hamanâs house.â
The king said, âHang him on it!â
So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the kingâs wrath was pacified. (WEB)
This content from Berean Standard Bible (public domain)
Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans, you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. Therefore I inform you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, âJesus be cursed,â and no one can say, âJesus is Lord,â except by the Holy Spirit.
There are different gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different ministries, but the same Lord. There are different ways of working, but the same God works all things in all people.
Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in various tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, who apportions them to each one as He determines.
The body is a unit, though it is composed of many parts. And although its parts are many, they all form one body. So it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free, and we were all given one Spirit to drink.
For the body does not consist of one part, but of many. If the foot should say, âBecause I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,â that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, âBecause I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,â that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?
But in fact, God has arranged the members of the body, every one of them, according to His design. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
The eye cannot say to the hand, âI do not need you.â Nor can the head say to the feet, âI do not need you.â On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts we consider less honorable, we treat with greater honor. And our unpresentable parts are treated with special modesty, whereas our presentable parts have no such need.
But God has composed the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its members should have mutual concern for one another. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
(BSB)
This content from World English Bible (public domain)
A revelation is within my heart about the disobedience of the wicked:
There is no fear of God before his eyes.
For he flatters himself in his own eyes,
too much to detect and hate his sin.
The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit.
He has ceased to be wise and to do good.
He plots iniquity on his bed.
He sets himself in a way that is not good.
He doesnât abhor evil.
Your loving kindness, Yahweh, is in the heavens.
Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
Your righteousness is like the mountains of God.
Your judgments are like a great deep.
Yahweh, you preserve man and animal.
How precious is your loving kindness, God!
The children of men take refuge under the shadow of your wings.
They shall be abundantly satisfied with the abundance of your house.
You will make them drink of the river of your pleasures.
For with you is the spring of life.
In your light we will see light.
Oh continue your loving kindness to those who know you,
your righteousness to the upright in heart.
Donât let the foot of pride come against me.
Donât let the hand of the wicked drive me away.
There the workers of iniquity are fallen.
They are thrust down, and shall not be able to rise. (WEB)
This content pulled from bible.org.
The one who pursues righteousness and love finds life, bounty, and honor. A wise man went up against the city of the mightyand brought down the stronghold in which they trust.
(NET)