Legacy Standard Bible

Esther 7 - 8

Esther’s Petition to the King

7Then the king and Haman came to drink wine with Esther the queen. 2And the king said to Esther on the second day also 1as they drank their wine at the feast, “aWhat is 2your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be given you. And what is 3your request? bEven to half of the kingdom it shall be done.” 3Then Queen Esther answered and said, “aIf 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 1my petition, and my people as 2my request; 4for awe have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, bto 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 1adversity would not be worth the 2annoyance to the king.” 5Then 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?” 6So Esther said, “aAn adversary and an enemy is this evil Haman!” Then Haman became terrified before the king and queen.

Haman Is Hanged

7And the king arose ain his wrath from 1drinking wine and went into bthe 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. 8Now the king returned from the garden of his palace into the 1place where they were drinking wine. And Haman was falling on athe 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. 9Then Harbonah, one of the eunuchs who were before the king, said, “Behold indeed, athe gallows—which Haman made for Mordecai bwho spoke good on behalf of the king—are standing at Haman’s house fifty cubits high!” And the king said, “Hang him on it.” 10aSo they hanged Haman on the 1gallows which he had set up for Mordecai, band the king’s wrath subsided.

Esther Saves the Jews

8On that day King Ahasuerus gave the house of Haman, athe adversary of the Jews, to Queen Esther; and Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told bwhat he was to her. 2aAnd 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.
3Then Esther spoke again to the king, fell at his feet, wept, and implored him to 1repeal the evil scheme of Haman the Agagite and his scheme which he had devised against the Jews. 4aAnd the king extended the golden scepter to Esther. So Esther arose and stood before the king. 5Then she said, “aIf 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 bletters 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 ahow 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

7So King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Behold, aI have given the house of Haman to Esther, and him they have hanged on the 1gallows 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 aseal 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 bmay not be turned back.”
9aSo the king’s scribes were called at that time in the third month (that is, the month Sivan), on the twenty-third 1day; 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 bfrom India to 2Ethiopia, 127 provinces, to cevery 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. 10And 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 ahorses, riding on steeds sired by the 1royal stud. 111In them the king gave the Jews who were in each and every city the right ato assemble and to make a stand for their lives, bto 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 cto plunder their spoil, 12on aone day in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month (that is, the month Adar). 13aA 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. 14The 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.
15Then Mordecai went out from the presence of the king ain royal robes of 1blue and fine white, with a large crown of gold and ba garment of fine linen and purple; and cthe city of Susa cried aloud and was glad. 16For the Jews there was alight and gladness and joy and honor. 17And 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 1,aholiday. And bmany 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

3This is now, abeloved, the second letter I am writing to you in which I am bstirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, 2that you should aremember the words spoken beforehand by bthe holy prophets and cthe commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles, 3aknowing this first of all, that bin the last days cmockers will come with their mocking, dfollowing after their own lusts, 4and saying, “aWhere is the promise of His bcoming? For since the fathers cfell asleep, all continues just as it was dfrom the beginning of creation.” 5For 1when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that aby the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was bformed out of water and by water, 6through which athe world at that time was bdestroyed, being deluged with water. 7But by His word athe present heavens and earth are being reserved for bfire, being kept for cthe day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
8But do not let this one fact escape your notice, abeloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and ba thousand years like one day. 9aThe Lord is not slow about His promise, as some consider slowness, but bis patient toward you, cnot willing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. 10But athe day of the Lord bwill come like a thief, in which cthe heavens dwill pass away with a roar and the eelements will be destroyed with intense heat, and fthe earth and 1its works will be 2found out.
11Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12alooking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which bthe heavens burning will be destroyed, and the celements will melt with intense heat! 13But according to His apromise we are looking for bnew heavens and a new earth, cin which righteousness dwells.

Be on Your Guard

14aTherefore, bbeloved, since you are looking for these things, be diligent to be cfound by Him in peace, dspotless and blameless, 15and consider the apatience of our Lord as salvation, just as also bour beloved brother Paul, caccording to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, 16as also in all his letters, speaking in them of athese things, bin which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and cunstable distort, as they do also dthe rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. 17You therefore, abeloved, knowing this beforehand, bbe on your guard lest you, having been carried away by cthe error of dunprincipled men, efall from your own steadfastness, 18but grow in the grace and aknowledge of our bLord and Savior Jesus Christ. cTo Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

Proverbs 26

26Like snow in summer and like arain in harvest,So glory is not bfitting for a fool.2Like a asparrow in its 1flitting, like a swallow in flying,So a bcurse without cause does not come to pass.3A awhip is for the horse, a bridle for the donkey,And a brod for the back of fools.4aDo not answer a fool according to his folly,Lest you yourself also be like him.5aAnswer a fool according to his folly,Lest he be bwise in his own eyes.6He cuts off his own feet and drinks violenceWho sends words by the hand of a fool.7Like the legs which hang limp on the lame,So is a proverb in the mouth of fools.8Like 1one who binds a stone in a sling,So is he who gives glory to a fool.9Like a thorn which goes up into the hand of a drunkard,So is a proverb in the mouth of fools.101Like an archer who wounds everyone,So is he who hires a fool or who hires those who pass by.11Like aa dog that returns to its vomitIs a fool who brepeats 1his folly.12Do you see a man awise in his own eyes?bThere is more hope for a fool than for him.13The asluggard says, “There is a fierce lion in the road!A lion is 1among the streets!”14As the door turns on its hinges,So does the asluggard on his bed.15The asluggard buries his hand in the dish;He is too weary to return it to his mouth.16The sluggard is awiser in his own eyesThan seven men who can respond with a discreet answer.17Like one who seizes a dog by the earsIs he who passes by and becomes passionate about astrife not belonging to him.18Like a madman who shootsaFirebrands, arrows, and death,19So is the man who adeceives his neighbor,And says, “bAm I not joking?”20With no wood the fire goes out,And where there is no awhisperer, bstrife quiets down.21Like charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire,So is a acontentious man to kindle strife.22The awords of a whisperer are like dainty morsels,And they go down into the innermost parts of the stomach.23Like an earthen avessel overlaid with silver bdrossAre fiery lips and an evil heart.24He who ahates disguises it with his lips,But he sets up bdeceit within himself.25When he amakes his voice gracious, do not believe him,For there are seven abominations in his heart.26Though his hatred acovers itself with guile,His evil will be brevealed in the assembly.27He who adigs a pit will fall into it,And he who rolls a stone, it will turn back on him.28A lying tongue hates 1those it crushes,And a aflattering mouth works ruin.