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Esther chapter 3

1
Some time later King Xerxes promoted a man named Haman to the position of prime minister. Haman was the son of Hammedatha, a descendant of Agag.
2
The king ordered all the officials in his service to show their respect for Haman by kneeling and bowing to him. They all did so, except for Mordecai, who refused to do it.
3
The other officials in the royal service asked him why he was disobeying the king's command;
4
day after day they urged him to give in, but he would not listen to them. "I am a Jew," he explained, "and I cannot bow to Haman." So they told Haman about this, wondering if he would tolerate Mordecai's conduct.
5
Haman was furious when he realized that Mordecai was not going to kneel and bow to him,
6
and when he learned that Mordecai was a Jew, he decided to do more than punish Mordecai alone. He made plans to kill every Jew in the whole Persian Empire.
7
In the twelfth year of King Xerxes' rule, in the first month, the month of Nisan, Haman ordered the lots to be cast ("purim," they were called) to find out the right day and month to carry out his plot. The thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, was decided on.
8
So Haman told the king, "There is a certain race of people scattered all over your empire and found in every province. They observe customs that are not like those of any other people. Moreover, they do not obey the laws of the empire, so it is not in your best interests to tolerate them.
9
If it please Your Majesty, issue a decree that they are to be put to death. If you do, I guarantee that I will be able to put 375 tons of silver into the royal treasury for the administration of the empire."
10
The king took off his ring, which was used to stamp proclamations and make them official, and gave it to the enemy of the Jewish people, Haman son of Hammedatha, the descendant of Agag.
11
The king told him, "The people and their money are yours; do as you like with them."
12
So on the thirteenth day of the first month Haman called the king's secretaries and dictated a proclamation to be translated into every language and system of writing used in the empire and to be sent to all the rulers, governors, and officials. It was issued in the name of King Xerxes and stamped with his ring.
13
Runners took this proclamation to every province of the empire. It contained the instructions that on a single day, the thirteenth day of Adar, all Jews---young and old, women and children---were to be killed. They were to be slaughtered without mercy and their belongings were to be taken.
14
The contents of the proclamation were to be made public in every province, so that everyone would be prepared when that day came.
15
At the king's command the decree was made public in the capital city of Susa, and runners carried the news to the provinces. The king and Haman sat down and had a drink while the city of Susa was being thrown into confusion.

Esther chapter 4

1
When Mordecai learned of all that had been done, he tore his clothes in anguish. Then he dressed in sackcloth, covered his head with ashes, and walked through the city, wailing loudly and bitterly,
2
until he came to the entrance of the palace. He did not go in because no one wearing sackcloth was allowed inside.
3
Throughout all the provinces, wherever the king's proclamation was made known, there was loud mourning among the Jews. They fasted, wept, wailed, and most of them put on sackcloth and lay in ashes.
4
When Esther's servant women and eunuchs told her what Mordecai was doing, she was deeply disturbed. She sent Mordecai some clothes to put on instead of the sackcloth, but he would not accept them.
5
Then she called Hathach, one of the palace eunuchs appointed as her servant by the king, and told him to go to Mordecai and find out what was happening and why.
6
Hathach went to Mordecai in the city square at the entrance of the palace.
7
Mordecai told him everything that had happened to him and just how much money Haman had promised to put into the royal treasury if all the Jews were killed.
8
He gave Hathach a copy of the proclamation that had been issued in Susa, ordering the destruction of the Jews. Mordecai asked him to take it to Esther, explain the situation to her, and have her go and plead with the king and beg him to have mercy on her people.
9
Hathach did this,
10
and Esther gave him this message to take back to Mordecai:
11
"If anyone, man or woman, goes to the inner courtyard and sees the king without being summoned, that person must die. That is the law; everyone, from the king's advisers to the people in the provinces, knows that. There is only one way to get around this law: if the king holds out his gold scepter to someone, then that person's life is spared. But it has been a month since the king sent for me."
12
When Mordecai received Esther's message,
13
he sent her this warning: "Don't imagine that you are safer than any other Jew just because you are in the royal palace.
14
If you keep quiet at a time like this, help will come from heaven to the Jews, and they will be saved, but you will die and your father's family will come to an end. Yet who knows---maybe it was for a time like this that you were made queen!"
15
Esther sent Mordecai this reply:
16
"Go and get all the Jews in Susa together; hold a fast and pray for me. Don't eat or drink anything for three days and nights. My servant women and I will be doing the same. After that, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. If I must die for doing it, I will die."
17
Mordecai then left and did everything that Esther had told him to do.

Esther chapter 5

1
On the third day of her fast Esther put on her royal robes and went and stood in the inner courtyard of the palace, facing the throne room. The king was inside, seated on the royal throne, facing the entrance.
2
When the king saw Queen Esther standing outside, she won his favor, and he held out to her the gold scepter. She then came up and touched the tip of it.
3
"What is it, Queen Esther?" the king asked. "Tell me what you want, and you shall have it---even if it is half my empire."
4
Esther replied, "If it please Your Majesty, I would like you and Haman to be my guests tonight at a banquet I am preparing for you."
5
The king then ordered Haman to come quickly, so that they could be Esther's guests. So the king and Haman went to Esther's banquet.
6
Over the wine the king asked her, "Tell me what you want, and you shall have it. I will grant your request, even if you ask for half my empire."
7
Esther replied,
8
"If Your Majesty is kind enough to grant my request, I would like you and Haman to be my guests tomorrow at another banquet that I will prepare for you. At that time I will tell you what I want."
9
When Haman left the banquet he was happy and in a good mood. But then he saw Mordecai at the entrance of the palace, and when Mordecai did not rise or show any sign of respect as he passed, Haman was furious with him.
10
But he controlled himself and went on home. Then he invited his friends to his house and asked his wife Zeresh to join them.
11
He boasted to them about how rich he was, how many sons he had, how the king had promoted him to high office, and how much more important he was than any of the king's other officials.
12
"What is more," Haman went on, "Queen Esther gave a banquet for no one but the king and me, and we are invited back tomorrow.
13
But none of this means a thing to me as long as I see that Jew Mordecai sitting at the entrance of the palace."
14
So his wife and all his friends suggested, "Why don't you have a gallows built, seventy-five feet tall? Tomorrow morning you can ask the king to have Mordecai hanged on it, and then you can go to the banquet happy." Haman thought this was a good idea, so he had the gallows built.

Esther chapter 6

1
That same night the king could not get to sleep, so he had the official records of the empire brought and read to him.
2
The part they read included the account of how Mordecai had uncovered a plot to assassinate the king---the plot made by Bigthana and Teresh, the two palace eunuchs who had guarded the king's rooms.
3
The king asked, "How have we honored and rewarded Mordecai for this?" His servants answered, "Nothing has been done for him."
4
"Are any of my officials in the palace?" the king asked. Now Haman had just entered the courtyard; he had come to ask the king to have Mordecai hanged on the gallows that was now ready.
5
So the servants answered, "Haman is here, waiting to see you." "Show him in," said the king.
6
So Haman came in, and the king said to him, "There is someone I wish very much to honor. What should I do for this man?" Haman thought to himself, "Now who could the king want to honor so much? Me, of course."
7
So he answered the king, "Have royal robes brought for this man---robes that you yourself wear. Have a royal ornament put on your own horse.
8
(SEE 6:7)
9
Then have one of your highest noblemen dress the man in these robes and lead him, mounted on the horse, through the city square. Have the nobleman announce as they go: 'See how the king rewards someone he wishes to honor!' "
10
Then the king said to Haman, "Hurry and get the robes and the horse, and provide these honors for Mordecai the Jew. Do everything for him that you have suggested. You will find him sitting at the entrance of the palace."
11
So Haman got the robes and the horse, and he put the robes on Mordecai. Mordecai got on the horse, and Haman led him through the city square, announcing to the people as they went: "See how the king rewards a man he wishes to honor!"
12
Mordecai then went back to the palace entrance while Haman hurried home, covering his face in embarrassment.
13
He told his wife and all his friends everything that had happened to him. Then she and those wise friends of his told him, "You are beginning to lose power to Mordecai. He is a Jew, and you cannot overcome him. He will certainly defeat you."
14
While they were still talking, the palace eunuchs arrived in a hurry to take Haman to Esther's banquet.

Esther chapter 7

1
And so the king and Haman went to eat with Esther
2
for a second time. Over the wine the king asked her again, "Now, Queen Esther, what do you want? Tell me and you shall have it. I'll even give you half the empire."
3
Queen Esther answered, "If it please Your Majesty to grant my humble request, my wish is that I may live and that my people may live.
4
My people and I have been sold for slaughter. If it were nothing more serious than being sold into slavery, I would have kept quiet and not bothered you about it; but we are about to be destroyed---exterminated!"
5
Then King Xerxes asked Queen Esther, "Who dares to do such a thing? Where is this man?"
6
Esther answered, "Our enemy, our persecutor, is this evil man Haman!" Haman faced the king and queen with terror.
7
The king got up in a fury, left the room, and went outside to the palace gardens. Haman could see that the king was determined to punish him for this, so he stayed behind to beg Queen Esther for his life.
8
He had just thrown himself down on Esther's couch to beg for mercy, when the king came back into the room from the gardens. Seeing this, the king cried out, "Is this man going to rape the queen right here in front of me, in my own palace?" The king had no sooner said this than the eunuchs covered Haman's head.
9
Then one of them, who was named Harbonah, said, "Haman even went so far as to build a gallows at his house so that he could hang Mordecai, who saved Your Majesty's life. And it's seventy-five feet tall!" "Hang Haman on it!" the king commanded.
10
So Haman was hanged on the gallows that he had built for Mordecai. Then the king's anger cooled down.

Esther chapter 8

1
That same day King Xerxes gave Queen Esther all the property of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. Esther told the king that Mordecai was related to her, and from then on Mordecai was allowed to enter the king's presence.
2
The king took off his ring with his seal on it (which he had taken back from Haman) and gave it to Mordecai. Esther put Mordecai in charge of Haman's property.
3
Then Esther spoke to the king again, throwing herself at his feet and crying. She begged him to do something to stop the evil plot that Haman, the descendant of Agag, had made against the Jews.
4
The king held out the gold scepter to her, so she stood up and said,
5
"If it please Your Majesty, and if you care about me and if it seems right to you, please issue a proclamation to keep Haman's orders from being carried out---those orders that the son of Hammedatha the descendant of Agag gave for the destruction of all the Jews in the empire.
6
How can I endure it if this disaster comes on my people, and my own relatives are killed?"
7
King Xerxes then said to Queen Esther and Mordecai, the Jew, "Look, I have hanged Haman for his plot against the Jews, and I have given Esther his property.
8
But a proclamation issued in the king's name and stamped with the royal seal cannot be revoked. You may, however, write to the Jews whatever you like; and you may write it in my name and stamp it with the royal seal."
9
This happened on the twenty-third day of the third month, the month of Sivan. Mordecai called the king's secretaries and dictated letters to the Jews and to the governors, administrators, and officials of all the 127 provinces from India to Ethiopia. The letters were written to each province in its own language and system of writing and to the Jews in their language and system of writing.
10
Mordecai had the letters written in the name of King Xerxes, and he stamped them with the royal seal. They were delivered by riders mounted on fast horses from the royal stables.
11
These letters explained that the king would allow the Jews in every city to organize for self-defense. If armed men of any nationality in any province attacked the Jewish men, their children, or their women, the Jews could fight back and destroy the attackers; they could slaughter them to the last man and take their possessions.
12
This decree was to take effect throughout the Persian Empire on the day set for the slaughter of the Jews, the thirteenth of Adar, the twelfth month.
13
It was to be proclaimed as law and made known to everyone in every province, so that the Jews would be ready to take revenge on their enemies when that day came.
14
At the king's command the riders mounted royal horses and rode off at top speed. The decree was also made public in Susa, the capital city.
15
Mordecai left the palace, wearing royal robes of blue and white, a cloak of fine purple linen, and a magnificent gold crown. Then the streets of Susa rang with cheers and joyful shouts.
16
For the Jews there was joy and relief, happiness and a sense of victory.
17
In every city and province, wherever the king's proclamation was read, the Jews held a joyful holiday with feasting and happiness. In fact, many other people became Jews, because they were afraid of them now.

Luke chapter 18

1
Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to teach them that they should always pray and never become discouraged.
2
"In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected people.
3
And there was a widow in that same town who kept coming to him and pleading for her rights, saying, 'Help me against my opponent!'
4
For a long time the judge refused to act, but at last he said to himself, 'Even though I don't fear God or respect people,
5
yet because of all the trouble this widow is giving me, I will see to it that she gets her rights. If I don't, she will keep on coming and finally wear me out!' "
6
And the Lord continued, "Listen to what that corrupt judge said.
7
Now, will God not judge in favor of his own people who cry to him day and night for help? Will he be slow to help them?
8
I tell you, he will judge in their favor and do it quickly. But will the Son of Man find faith on earth when he comes?"
9
Jesus also told this parable to people who were sure of their own goodness and despised everybody else.
10
"Once there were two men who went up to the Temple to pray: one was a Pharisee, the other a tax collector.
11
The Pharisee stood apart by himself and prayed, 'I thank you, God, that I am not greedy, dishonest, or an adulterer, like everybody else. I thank you that I am not like that tax collector over there.
12
I fast two days a week, and I give you one tenth of all my income.'
13
But the tax collector stood at a distance and would not even raise his face to heaven, but beat on his breast and said, 'God, have pity on me, a sinner!'
14
I tell you," said Jesus, "the tax collector, and not the Pharisee, was in the right with God when he went home. For those who make themselves great will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be made great."
15
Some people brought their babies to Jesus for him to place his hands on them. The disciples saw them and scolded them for doing so,
16
but Jesus called the children to him and said, "Let the children come to me and do not stop them, because the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
17
Remember this! Whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it."
18
A Jewish leader asked Jesus, "Good Teacher, what must I do to receive eternal life?"
19
"Why do you call me good?" Jesus asked him. "No one is good except God alone.
20
You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery; do not commit murder; do not steal; do not accuse anyone falsely; respect your father and your mother.' "
21
The man replied, "Ever since I was young, I have obeyed all these commandments."
22
When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "There is still one more thing you need to do. Sell all you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven; then come and follow me."
23
But when the man heard this, he became very sad, because he was very rich.
24
Jesus saw that he was sad and said, "How hard it is for rich people to enter the Kingdom of God!
25
It is much harder for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle."
26
The people who heard him asked, "Who, then, can be saved?"
27
Jesus answered, "What is humanly impossible is possible for God."
28
Then Peter said, "Look! We have left our homes to follow you."
29
"Yes," Jesus said to them, "and I assure you that anyone who leaves home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the Kingdom of God
30
will receive much more in this present age and eternal life in the age to come."
31
Jesus took the twelve disciples aside and said to them, "Listen! We are going to Jerusalem where everything the prophets wrote about the Son of Man will come true.
32
He will be handed over to the Gentiles, who will make fun of him, insult him, and spit on him.
33
They will whip him and kill him, but three days later he will rise to life."
34
But the disciples did not understand any of these things; the meaning of the words was hidden from them, and they did not know what Jesus was talking about.
35
As Jesus was coming near Jericho, there was a blind man sitting by the road, begging.
36
When he heard the crowd passing by, he asked, "What is this?"
37
"Jesus of Nazareth is passing by," they told him.
38
He cried out, "Jesus! Son of David! Have mercy on me!"
39
The people in front scolded him and told him to be quiet. But he shouted even more loudly, "Son of David! Have mercy on me!"
40
So Jesus stopped and ordered the blind man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him,
41
"What do you want me to do for you?" "Sir," he answered, "I want to see again."
42
Jesus said to him, "Then see! Your faith has made you well."
43
At once he was able to see, and he followed Jesus, giving thanks to God. When the crowd saw it, they all praised God.

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