ESTHER 7

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  7:1 So the king and Haman went in to feast with Queen Esther. 2 And on the second day, as they were drinking wine after the feast, the king again said to Esther, “What is your wish, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.” 3 Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be granted me for my wish, and my people for my request. 4 For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I would have been silent, for our affliction is not to be compared with the loss to the king.” 5 Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who has dared to do this?” 6 And Esther said, “A foe and enemy! This wicked Haman!” Then Haman was terrified before the king and the queen. Haman Is Hanged7 And the king arose in his wrath from the wine-drinking and went into the palace garden, but Haman stayed to beg for his life from Queen Esther, for he saw that harm was determined against him by the king. 8 And the king returned from the palace garden to the place where they were drinking wine, as Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was. And the king said, “Will he even assault the queen in my presence, in my own house?” As the word left the mouth of the king, they covered Haman’s face. 9 Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs in attendance on the king, said, “Moreover, the gallows that Haman has prepared for Mordecai, whose word saved the king, is standing at Haman’s house, fifty cubits high.” And the king said, “Hang him on that.” 10 So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the wrath of the king abated.

ESTHER 8

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Esther Saves the Jews  8:1 On that day King Ahasuerus gave to Queen Esther the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told what he was to her. 2 And the king took off his signet ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.
    3 Then Esther spoke again to the king. She fell at his feet and wept and pleaded with him to avert the evil plan of Haman the Agagite and the plot that he had devised against the Jews. 4 When the king held out the golden scepter to Esther, Esther rose and stood before the king. 5 And she said, “If it please the king, and if I have found favor in his sight, and if the thing seems right before the king, and I am pleasing in his eyes, let an order be written to revoke the letters devised by Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, which he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all the provinces of the king. 6 For how can I bear to see the calamity that is coming to my people? Or how can I bear to see the destruction of my kindred?” 7 Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and they have hanged him on the gallows, because he intended to lay hands on the Jews. 8 But you may write as you please with regard to the Jews, in the name of the king, and seal it with the king’s ring, for an edict written in the name of the king and sealed with the king’s ring cannot be revoked.”
    9 The king’s scribes were summoned at that time, in the third month, which is the month of Sivan, on the twenty-third day. And an edict was written, according to all that Mordecai commanded concerning the Jews, to the satraps and the governors and the officials of the provinces from India to Ethiopia, 127 provinces, to each province in its own script and to each people in its own language, and also to the Jews in their script and their language. 10 And he wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed it with the king’s signet ring. Then he sent the letters by mounted couriers riding on swift horses that were used in the king’s service, bred from the royal stud, 11 saying that the king allowed the Jews who were in every city to gather and defend their lives, to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate any armed force of any people or province that might attack them, children and women included, and to plunder their goods, 12 on one day throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar. 13 A copy of what was written was to be issued as a decree in every province, being publicly displayed to all peoples, and the Jews were to be ready on that day to take vengeance on their enemies. 14 So the couriers, mounted on their swift horses that were used in the king’s service, rode out hurriedly, urged by the king’s command. And the decree was issued in Susa the citadel.
    15 Then Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal robes of blue and white, with a great golden crown and a robe of fine linen and purple, and the city of Susa shouted and rejoiced. 16 The Jews had light and gladness and joy and honor. 17 And in every province and in every city, wherever the king’s command and his edict reached, there was gladness and joy among the Jews, a feast and a holiday. And many from the peoples of the country declared themselves Jews, for fear of the Jews had fallen on them.

PROVERBS 31

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The Words of King Lemuel  31:1 The words of King Lemuel. An oracle that his mother taught him:
2

What are you doing, my son? What are you doing, son of my womb?

What are you doing, son of my vows? 3

Do not give your strength to women,

your ways to those who destroy kings. 4

It is not for kings, O Lemuel,

it is not for kings to drink wine,

or for rulers to take strong drink, 5

lest they drink and forget what has been decreed

and pervert the rights of all the afflicted. 6

Give strong drink to the one who is perishing,

and wine to those in bitter distress; 7

let them drink and forget their poverty

and remember their misery no more. 8

Open your mouth for the mute,

for the rights of all who are destitute. 9

Open your mouth, judge righteously,

defend the rights of the poor and needy. The Woman Who Fears the Lord10

An excellent wife who can find?

She is far more precious than jewels. 11

The heart of her husband trusts in her,

and he will have no lack of gain. 12

She does him good, and not harm,

all the days of her life. 13

She seeks wool and flax,

and works with willing hands. 14

She is like the ships of the merchant;

she brings her food from afar. 15

She rises while it is yet night

and provides food for her household

and portions for her maidens. 16

She considers a field and buys it;

with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard. 17

She dresses herself with strength

and makes her arms strong. 18

She perceives that her merchandise is profitable.

Her lamp does not go out at night. 19

She puts her hands to the distaff,

and her hands hold the spindle. 20

She opens her hand to the poor

and reaches out her hands to the needy. 21

She is not afraid of snow for her household,

for all her household are clothed in scarlet. 22

She makes bed coverings for herself;

her clothing is fine linen and purple. 23

Her husband is known in the gates

when he sits among the elders of the land. 24

She makes linen garments and sells them;

she delivers sashes to the merchant. 25

Strength and dignity are her clothing,

and she laughs at the time to come. 26

She opens her mouth with wisdom,

and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. 27

She looks well to the ways of her household

and does not eat the bread of idleness. 28

Her children rise up and call her blessed;

her husband also, and he praises her: 29

“Many women have done excellently,

but you surpass them all.” 30

Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,

but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. 31

Give her of the fruit of her hands,

and let her works praise her in the gates.

PSALM 88

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I Cry Out Day and Night Before YouA Song. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. To the choirmaster: according to Mahalath Leannoth. A Maskil of Heman the Ezrahite.
88:1

O Lord, God of my salvation,

I cry out day and night before you. 2

Let my prayer come before you;

incline your ear to my cry!
3

For my soul is full of troubles,

and my life draws near to Sheol. 4

I am counted among those who go down to the pit;

I am a man who has no strength, 5

like one set loose among the dead,

like the slain that lie in the grave,

like those whom you remember no more,

for they are cut off from your hand. 6

You have put me in the depths of the pit,

in the regions dark and deep. 7

Your wrath lies heavy upon me,

and you overwhelm me with all your waves. Selah
8

You have caused my companions to shun me;

you have made me a horror to them.

I am shut in so that I cannot escape; 9

my eye grows dim through sorrow.

Every day I call upon you, O Lord;

I spread out my hands to you. 10

Do you work wonders for the dead?

Do the departed rise up to praise you? Selah 11

Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,

or your faithfulness in Abaddon? 12

Are your wonders known in the darkness,

or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
13

But I, O Lord, cry to you;

in the morning my prayer comes before you. 14

O Lord, why do you cast my soul away?

Why do you hide your face from me? 15

Afflicted and close to death from my youth up,

I suffer your terrors; I am helpless. 16

Your wrath has swept over me;

your dreadful assaults destroy me. 17

They surround me like a flood all day long;

they close in on me together. 18

You have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me;

my companions have become darkness.