|
| |
Esther
Chapters: 6 7
8 9 10
| On that night could not the king sleep, and he
commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles; and they were
read before the king. |
| And it was found written, that Mordecai had told of
Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's chamberlains, the keepers of the
door, who sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus. |
| And the king said, What honour and dignity hath been
done to Mordecai for this? Then said the king's servants that ministered
unto him, There is nothing done for him. |
| And the king said, Who is in the court? Now Haman
was come into the outward court of the king's house, to speak unto the
king to hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him. |
| And the king's servants said unto him, Behold, Haman
standeth in the court. And the king said, Let him come in. |
| So Haman came in. And the king said unto him, What
shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour? Now Haman
thought in his heart, To whom would the king delight to do honour more
than to myself? |
| And Haman answered the king, For the man whom the
king delighteth to honour, |
| Let the royal apparel be brought which the king
useth to wear, and the horse that the king rideth upon, and the crown
royal which is set upon his head: |
| And let this apparel and horse be delivered to the
hand of one of the king's most noble princes, that they may array the
man withal whom the king delighteth to honour, and bring him on
horseback through the street of the city, and proclaim before him, Thus
shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honour. |
| Then the king said to Haman, Make haste, and take
the apparel and the horse, as thou hast said, and do even so to Mordecai
the Jew, that sitteth at the king's gate: let nothing fail of all that
thou hast spoken. |
| Then took Haman the apparel and the horse, and
arrayed Mordecai, and brought him on horseback through the street of the
city, and proclaimed before him, Thus shall it be done unto the man whom
the king delighteth to honour. |
| And Mordecai came again to the king's gate. But
Haman hasted to his house mourning, and having his head covered. |
| And Haman told Zeresh his wife and all his friends
every thing that had befallen him. Then said his wise men and Zeresh his
wife unto him, If Mordecai be of the seed of the Jews, before whom thou
hast begun to fall, thou shalt not prevail against him, but shalt surely
fall before him. |
| And while they were yet talking with him, came the
king's chamberlains, and hasted to bring Haman unto the banquet that
Esther had prepared. |
| So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther
the queen. |
| And the king said again unto Esther on the second
day at the banquet of wine, What is thy petition, queen Esther? and it
shall be granted thee: and what is thy request? and it shall be
performed, even to the half of the kingdom. |
| Then Esther the queen answered and said, If I have
found favour in thy sight, O king, and if it please 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 bondmen and
bondwomen, I had held my tongue, although the enemy could not
countervail the king's damage. |
| Then the king Ahasuerus answered and said unto
Esther the queen, Who is he, and where is he, that durst presume in his
heart to do so? |
| And Esther said, The adversary and enemy is this
wicked Haman. Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen. |
| And the king arising from the banquet of wine in his
wrath went into the palace garden: and 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 was fallen upon the bed
whereon Esther was. Then said the king, Will he force the queen also
before me in the house? As the word went out of the king's mouth, they
covered Haman's face. |
| And Harbonah, one of the chamberlains, said before
the king, Behold also, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman had
made for Mordecai, who had spoken good for the king, standeth in the
house of Haman. Then the king said, Hang him thereon. |
| So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had
prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king's wrath pacified. |
| On that day did the king Ahasuerus give the house of
Haman the Jews' enemy unto Esther the queen. And Mordecai came before
the king; for Esther had told what he was unto her. |
| And the king took off his ring, which he had taken
from Haman, and gave it unto Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the
house of Haman. |
| And Esther spake yet again before the king, and fell
down at his feet, and besought him with tears to put away the mischief
of Haman the Agagite, and his device that he had devised against the
Jews. |
| Then the king held out the golden sceptre toward
Esther. So Esther arose, and stood before the king, |
| And said, If it please the king, and if I have found
favour in his sight, and the thing seem right before the king, and I be
pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to reverse the letters devised
by Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy
the Jews which are in all the king's provinces: |
| For how can I endure to see the evil that shall come
unto my people? or how can I endure to see the destruction of my
kindred? |
| Then the king Ahasuerus said unto Esther the queen
and to Mordecai the Jew, Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman,
and him they have hanged upon the gallows, because he laid his hand upon
the Jews. |
| Write ye also for the Jews, as it liketh you, in the
king's name, and seal it with the king's ring: for the writing which is
written in the king's name, and sealed with the king's ring, may no man
reverse. |
| Then were the king's scribes called at that time in
the third month, that is, the month Sivan, on the three and twentieth
day thereof; and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded
unto the Jews, and to the lieutenants, and the deputies and rulers of
the provinces which are from India unto Ethiopia, an hundred twenty and
seven provinces, unto every province according to the writing thereof,
and unto every people after their language, and to the Jews according to
their writing, and according to their language. |
| And he wrote in the king Ahasuerus' name, and sealed
it with the king's ring, and sent letters by posts on horseback, and
riders on mules, camels, and young dromedaries: |
| Wherein the king granted the Jews which were in
every city to gather themselves together, and to stand for their life,
to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish, all the power of the people
and province that would assault them, both little ones and women, and to
take the spoil of them for a prey, |
| Upon one day in all the provinces of king Ahasuerus,
namely, upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month
Adar. |
| The copy of the writing for a commandment to be
given in every province was published unto all people, and that the Jews
should be ready against that day to avenge themselves on their enemies. |
| So the posts that rode upon mules and camels went
out, being hastened and pressed on by the king's commandment. And the
decree was given at Shushan the palace. |
| And Mordecai went out from the presence of the king
in royal apparel of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and
with a garment of fine linen and purple: and the city of Shushan
rejoiced and was glad. |
| The Jews had light, and gladness, and joy, and
honour. |
| And in every province, and in every city,
whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came, the Jews had
joy and gladness, a feast and a good day. And many of the people of the
land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews fell upon them. |
| Now in the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar,
on the thirteenth day of the same, when the king's commandment and his
decree drew near to be put in execution, in the day that the enemies of
the Jews hoped to have power over them, (though it was turned to the
contrary, that the Jews had rule over them that hated them;) |
| The Jews gathered themselves together in their
cities throughout all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, to lay hand
on such as sought their hurt: and no man could withstand them; for the
fear of them fell upon all people. |
| And all the rulers of the provinces, and the
lieutenants, and the deputies, and officers of the king, helped the
Jews; because the fear of Mordecai fell upon them. |
| For Mordecai was great in the king's house, and his
fame went out throughout all the provinces: for this man Mordecai waxed
greater and greater. |
| Thus the Jews smote all their enemies with the
stroke of the sword, and slaughter, and destruction, and did what they
would unto those that hated them. |
| And in Shushan the palace the Jews slew and
destroyed five hundred men. |
| And Parshandatha, and Dalphon, and Aspatha, |
| And Poratha, and Adalia, and Aridatha, |
| And Parmashta, and Arisai, and Aridai, and Vajezatha, |
| The ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the
enemy of the Jews, slew they; but on the spoil laid they not their hand. |
| On that day the number of those that were slain in
Shushan the palace was brought before the king. |
| And the king said unto Esther the queen, The Jews
have slain and destroyed five hundred men in Shushan the palace, and the
ten sons of Haman; what have they done in the rest of the king's
provinces? now what is thy petition? and it shall be granted thee: or
what is thy request further? and it shall be done. |
| Then said Esther, If it please the king, let it be
granted to the Jews which are in Shushan to do to morrow also according
unto this day's decree, and let Haman's ten sons be hanged upon the
gallows. |
| And the king commanded it so to be done: and the
decree was given at Shushan; and they hanged Haman's ten sons. |
| For the Jews that were in Shushan gathered
themselves together on the fourteenth day also of the month Adar, and
slew three hundred men at Shushan; but on the prey they laid not their
hand. |
| But the other Jews that were in the king's provinces
gathered themselves together, and stood for their lives, and had rest
from their enemies, and slew of their foes seventy and five thousand,
but they laid not their hands on the prey, |
| On the thirteenth day of the month Adar; and on the
fourteenth day of the same rested they, and made it a day of feasting
and gladness. |
| But the Jews that were at Shushan assembled together
on the thirteenth day thereof, and on the fourteenth thereof; and on the
fifteenth day of the same they rested, and made it a day of feasting and
gladness. |
| Therefore the Jews of the villages, that dwelt in
the unwalled towns, made the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of
gladness and feasting, and a good day, and of sending portions one to
another. |
| And Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters
unto all the Jews that were in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus,
both nigh and far, |
| To stablish this among them, that they should keep
the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same,
yearly, |
| As the days wherein the Jews rested from their
enemies, and the month which was turned unto them from sorrow to joy,
and from mourning into a good day: that they should make them days of
feasting and joy, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to
the poor. |
| And the Jews undertook to do as they had begun, and
as Mordecai had written unto them; |
| Because Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite,
the enemy of all the Jews, had devised against the Jews to destroy them,
and had cast Pur, that is, the lot, to consume them, and to destroy
them; |
| But when Esther came before the king, he commanded
by letters that his wicked device, which he devised against the Jews,
should return upon his own head, and that he and his sons should be
hanged on the gallows. |
| Wherefore they called these days Purim after the
name of Pur. Therefore for all the words of this letter, and of that
which they had seen concerning this matter, and which had come unto
them, |
| The Jews ordained, and took upon them, and upon
their seed, and upon all such as joined themselves unto them, so as it
should not fail, that they would keep these two days according to their
writing, and according to their appointed time every year; |
| And that these days should be remembered and kept
throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every
city; and that these days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews,
nor the memorial of them perish from their seed. |
| Then Esther the queen, the daughter of Abihail, and
Mordecai the Jew, wrote with all authority, to confirm this second
letter of Purim. |
| And he sent the letters unto all the Jews, to the
hundred twenty and seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, with
words of peace and truth, |
| To confirm these days of Purim in their times
appointed, according as Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen had
enjoined them, and as they had decreed for themselves and for their
seed, the matters of the fastings and their cry. |
| And the decree of Esther confirmed these matters of
Purim; and it was written in the book. |
| And the king Ahasuerus laid a tribute upon the land,
and upon the isles of the sea. |
| And all the acts of his power and of his might, and
the declaration of the greatness of Mordecai, whereunto the king
advanced him, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the
kings of Media and Persia? |
| For Mordecai the Jew was next unto king Ahasuerus,
and great among the Jews, and accepted of the multitude of his brethren,
seeking the wealth of his people, and speaking peace to all his seed. |
Next Book
Next Chapter Top Index Prev
Chapter Prev Book
|
Our purpose is to promote and support divine and Christian worship as
taught in
the examples and teachings contained in the Holy scriptures of
the Bible excluding additions and subtractions!
