Esther 7 - 8 - Legacy Standard Bible

Esther 7 - 8

Esther’s Petition to the King

Then the king and Haman came to drink wine with Esther the queen. 2 And the king said to Esther on the second day also as they drank their wine at the feast, “What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be given you. And what is your request? Even to half of the kingdom it shall be done.” 3 Then Queen Esther answered and said, “If I have found favor in your eyes, O king, and if it seems good to the king, let my life be given to me as my petition, and my people as my request; 4 for we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be caused to perish. Now if we had only been sold as slaves, men and women, I would have remained silent, for the adversity would not be worth the annoyance to the king.” 5 Then King Ahasuerus said—he said to Esther the Queen, “Who is this one, and where is this one, who fills his heart to do thus?” 6 So Esther said, “An adversary and an enemy is this evil Haman!” Then Haman became terrified before the king and queen.

Haman Is Hanged

7 And the king arose in his wrath from drinking wine and went into the garden of his palace; but Haman stayed to seek for his life from Queen Esther, for he saw that calamity had been determined against him by the king. 8 Now the king returned from the garden of his palace into the place where they were drinking wine. And Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was. So the king said, “Will he even assault the queen with me in the house?” As the word went out of the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face. 9 Then Harbonah, one of the eunuchs who were before the king, said, “Behold indeed, the gallows—which Haman made for Mordecai who spoke good on behalf of the king—are standing at Haman’s house fifty cubits high!” And the king said, “Hang him on it.” 10 So they hanged Haman on the gallows which he had set up for Mordecai, and the king’s wrath subsided.

Esther Saves the Jews

On that day King Ahasuerus gave the house of Haman, the adversary of the Jews, to Queen Esther; and Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told what he was to her. 2 And the king removed his signet ring, which he had taken away from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman. 3 Then Esther spoke again to the king, fell at his feet, wept, and implored him to repeal the evil scheme of Haman the Agagite and his scheme which he had devised against the Jews. 4 And the king extended the golden scepter to Esther. So Esther arose and stood before the king. 5 Then she said, “If it seems good to the king, and if I have found favor before him and the matter seems proper to the king and I am good in his eyes, let it be written to turn back the letters devised by Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to cause the Jews who are in all the king’s provinces to perish. 6 For how can I endure to see the calamity which will befall my people, and how can I endure to see the perishing of my kinsmen?”

The King’s Decree Avenges the Jews

7 So King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Behold, I have given the house of Haman to Esther, and him they have hanged on the gallows because he had sent forth his hand against the Jews. 8 Now you write to the Jews, according to what is good in your eyes, in the king’s name, and seal it with the king’s signet ring; for a written decree which is written in the name of the king and sealed with the king’s signet ring may not be turned back.” 9 So the king’s scribes were called at that time in the third month (that is, the month 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 which extended from India to Ethiopia, 127 provinces, to every province according to its script, and to every people according to their tongue as well as to the Jews according to their script and their tongue. 10 And he wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed it with the king’s signet ring and sent letters by the hand of couriers on horses, riding on steeds sired by the royal stud. 11 In them the king gave the Jews who were in each and every city the right to assemble and to make a stand for their lives, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish the entire military force of any people or province which would act as their adversaries, including little ones and women, and to plunder their spoil, 12 on one day in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month (that is, the month Adar). 13 A copy of that which was written down to be given as law in each and every province was revealed to all the peoples, so that the Jews would be ready for this day to avenge themselves on their enemies. 14 The couriers, hurried and hastened by the king’s word, went out, riding on the royal steeds; and the law was given out at the citadel in Susa. 15 Then Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal robes of blue and fine white, with a large crown of gold and a garment of fine linen and purple; and the city of Susa cried aloud and was glad. 16 For the Jews there was light and gladness and joy and honor. 17 And in each and every province and in each and every city, wherever the king’s word and his law reached, there was gladness and joy for the Jews, a feast and a holiday. And many among the peoples of the land became Jews, for the dread of the Jews had fallen on them.

2 Peter 3

The Day of the Lord Will Come

This is now, beloved, the second letter I am writing to you in which I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, 2 that you should remember the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles, 3 knowing this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.” 5 For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water, 6 through which the world at that time was destroyed, being deluged with water. 7 But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. 8 But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. 9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some consider slowness, but is patient toward you, not willing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be found out. 11 Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens burning will be destroyed, and the elements will melt with intense heat! 13 But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.

Be on Your Guard

14 Therefore, beloved, since you are looking for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, 15 and consider the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, 16 as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. 17 You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard lest you, having been carried away by the error of unprincipled men, fall from your own steadfastness, 18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

Proverbs 26

Like snow in summer and like rain in harvest,

So glory is not fitting for a fool.

Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in flying,

So a curse without cause does not come to pass.

A whip is for the horse, a bridle for the donkey,

And a rod for the back of fools.

Do not answer a fool according to his folly,

Lest you yourself also be like him.

Answer a fool according to his folly,

Lest he be wise in his own eyes.

He cuts off his own feet and drinks violence

Who sends words by the hand of a fool.

Like the legs which hang limp on the lame,

So is a proverb in the mouth of fools.

Like one who binds a stone in a sling,

So is he who gives glory to a fool.

Like a thorn which goes up into the hand of a drunkard,

So is a proverb in the mouth of fools.

Like an archer who wounds everyone,

So is he who hires a fool or who hires those who pass by.

Like a dog that returns to its vomit

Is a fool who repeats his folly.

Do you see a man wise in his own eyes?

There is more hope for a fool than for him.

The sluggard says, “There is a fierce lion in the road!

A lion is among the streets!”

As the door turns on its hinges,

So does the sluggard on his bed.

The sluggard buries his hand in the dish;

He is too weary to return it to his mouth.

The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes

Than seven men who can respond with a discreet answer.

Like one who seizes a dog by the ears

Is he who passes by and becomes passionate about strife not belonging to him.

Like a madman who shoots

Firebrands, arrows, and death,

So is the man who deceives his neighbor,

And says, “Am I not joking?”

With no wood the fire goes out,

And where there is no whisperer, strife quiets down.

Like charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire,

So is a contentious man to kindle strife.

The words of a whisperer are like dainty morsels,

And they go down into the innermost parts of the stomach.

Like an earthen vessel overlaid with silver dross

Are fiery lips and an evil heart.

He who hates disguises it with his lips,

But he sets up deceit within himself.

When he makes his voice gracious, do not believe him,

For there are seven abominations in his heart.

Though his hatred covers itself with guile,

His evil will be revealed in the assembly.

He who digs a pit will fall into it,

And he who rolls a stone, it will turn back on him.

A lying tongue hates those it crushes,

And a flattering mouth works ruin.