Esther 8 Cross References - ACV

¹ On that day king Ahasuerus gave the house of Haman the Jews' enemy to Esther the queen. And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told what he was to her. ² And the king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman. ³ And Esther spoke 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. ⁴ Then the king held out to Esther the golden scepter. So Esther arose, and stood before the king. ⁵ And she said, If it please the king, and if I have found favor 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 that are in all the king's provinces. ⁶ For how can I endure to see the evil that shall come to my people? Or how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred? ⁷ Then the king Ahasuerus said to 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. ⁸ Write ye also to the Jews, as it pleases 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. ⁹ Then the king's scribes were called at that time, in the third month Sivan, on the twenty-third day of it. And it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded to the Jews, and to the satraps, and the governors and rulers of the provinces which are from India to Ethiopia, a hundred twenty-seven provinces, to every province according to the writing of it, and to every people after their language, and to the Jews according to their writing, and according to their language. ¹⁰ And he wrote the name of king Ahasuerus, and sealed it with the king's ring, and sent letters by post on horseback, riding on swift steeds that were used in the king's service bred of the stud, ¹¹ in which the king granted the Jews that were in every city to gather themselves together, and to stand for their life, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all the power of the people and province who would assault them, their little ones and women, and to take the spoil of them for a prey, ¹² upon one day in all the provinces of king Ahasuerus, namely, upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar. ¹³ A copy of the writing, that the decree should be given out in every province, was published to all the peoples, and that the Jews should be ready against that day to avenge themselves on their enemies. ¹⁴ So the posts that rode upon swift steeds that were used in the king's service went out, being hastened and pressed on by the king's commandment, and the decree was given out in Shushan the palace. ¹⁵ And Mordecai went forth from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a robe of fine linen and purple. And the city of Shushan shouted and was glad. ¹⁶ The Jews had light and gladness, and joy and honor. ¹⁷ And in every province, and in every city, wherever the king's commandment and his decree came, the Jews had gladness and joy, a feast and a good day. And many from among the peoples of the land became Jews, for the fear of the Jews was fallen upon them.

¹⁴ and next to him were Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven rulers of Persia and Media who saw the king's face, and sat first in the kingdom),

⁷ And he brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle's daughter. For she had neither father nor mother, and the maiden was fair and beautiful. And when her father and mother were dead, Mordecai took her for his own daughter.

¹⁵ Now when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her for his daughter, came to go in to the king, she required nothing but what Hegai the king's chamberlain, the keeper of the women, appointed. And Esther obtained favor in the sight of all those who looked upon her.

⁶ And Esther said, An adversary and an enemy, even this wicked Haman. Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen.

¹⁶ Though he heaps up silver as the dust, and prepares raiment as the clay, ¹⁷ he may prepare it, but the just shall put it on, and the innocent shall divide the silver.

⁶ Surely every man walks in a shadow. Surely they are disquieted in vain. He heaps up, and knows not who shall gather them.

⁶ Those who trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches, ⁷ none can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him ⁸ (for the redemption of their life is costly, and it fails forever), ⁹ that he should still live always, that he should not see corruption. ¹⁰ For he shall see it. Wise men die. The fool and the brutish alike perish, and leave their wealth to others. ¹¹ Their inward thought is that their houses are forever, their dwelling-places to all generations. They call their lands after their own names. ¹² Even a man in splendor does not abide. He is like the beasts that perish. ¹³ This their way is their folly. Yet after them men approve their sayings. Selah.

²² A good man leaves an inheritance to his son's sons, and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the righteous.

⁸ He who augments his substance by interest and increase, gathers it for him who has pity on the poor.

¹⁸ And I hated all my labor in which I labored under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who shall be after me. ¹⁹ And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have rule over all my labor in which I have labored, and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity.

²⁰ But God said to him, Thou foolish man, they demand thy soul from thee this night, and the things that thou prepared, whose will they be?

⁴² And Pharaoh took his signet ring from off his hand, and put it upon Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck.

⁷ And David said to him, Fear not, for I will surely show thee kindness for Jonathan thy father's sake, and will restore to thee all the land of Saul thy father, and thou shall eat bread at my table continually. ⁸ And he did obeisance, and said, What is thy servant that thou should look upon such a dead dog as I am? ⁹ Then the king called to Ziba, Saul's servant, and said to him, All that pertained to Saul and to all his house I have given to thy master's son. ¹⁰ And thou shall till the land for him, thou, and thy sons, and thy servants. And thou shall bring in the fruits that thy master's son may have bread to eat, but Mephibosheth thy master's son shall always eat bread at my table. Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.

¹⁰ And the king took his ring from his hand, and gave it to Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews' enemy.

³⁴ Wait for LORD, and keep his way, and he will exalt thee to inherit the land. When sinners are cut off, thou shall see it.

¹⁸ And I hated all my labor in which I labored under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who shall be after me. ¹⁹ And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have rule over all my labor in which I have labored, and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity. ²⁰ Therefore I turned about to cause my heart to despair concerning all the labor in which I had labored under the sun. ²¹ For there is a man whose labor is with wisdom, and with knowledge, and with skillfulness, yet he shall leave it to a man who has not labored in it for his portion. This also is vanity and a great evil. ²² For what has a man of all his labor, and of the striving of his heart in which he labors under the sun? ²³ For all his days are but sorrows, and his travail is grief, yea, even in the night his heart takes no rest. This also is vanity. ²⁴ There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and make his soul enjoy good in his labor. This also I saw, that it is from the hand of God. ²⁵ For who can eat, or who can have enjoyment, without him? ²⁶ For to the man who pleases him God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he gives travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him who pleases God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.

¹³ There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: Riches were kept by the owner of it to his hurt. ¹⁴ And those riches perish in a bad venture. And if he has begotten a son, there is nothing in his hand.

¹⁹ And I will thrust thee from thine office, and thou shall be pulled down from thy station. ²⁰ And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah. ²¹ And I will clothe him with thy robe, and strengthen him with thy belt. And I will commit thy government into his hand, and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah. ²² And I will lay the key of the house of David upon his shoulder, and he shall open, and none shall shut, and he shall shut, and none shall open.

⁴⁸ Then the king made Daniel great, and gave him many great gifts, and made him to rule over the whole province of Babylon, and to be chief governor over all the wise men of Babylon.

²² But the father said to his bondmen, Bring forth the best robe and clothe him, and give a ring for his hand, and shoes for his feet.

²⁴ And she fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, upon me be the iniquity, and let thy handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine ears, and hear thou the words of thy handmaid.

²⁷ And when she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught hold of his feet. And Gehazi came near to thrust her away, but the man of God said, Let her alone, for her soul is vexed within her, and LORD has hid it from me, and has not told me.

⁸ And Haman said to king Ahasuerus, There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of thy kingdom, and their laws are diverse from those of every people, nor do they keep the king's laws. Therefore it is not for the king's profit to endure them. ⁹ If it please the king, let it be written that they be destroyed. And I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who have the charge of the king's business, to bring it into the king's treasuries. ¹⁰ And the king took his ring from his hand, and gave it to Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews' enemy. ¹¹ And the king said to Haman, The silver is given to thee, the people also, to do with them as it seems good to thee. ¹² Then the king's scribes were called in the first month, on the thirteenth day of it. And there was written according to all that Haman commanded to the king's satraps, and to the governors who were over every province, and to the rulers of every people, to every province according to the writing of it, and to every people after their language, in the name of king Ahasuerus it was written. And it was sealed with the king's ring. ¹³ And letters were sent by posts into all the king's provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little sons and women, in one day, even upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to take the spoil of them for a prey. ¹⁴ A copy of the writing that the decree should be given out in every province was published to all the peoples, that they should be ready against that day. ¹⁵ The posts went forth in haste by the king's commandment, and the decree was given out in Shushan the palace. And the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Shushan was perplexed.

⁴ 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 would have held my peace, although the adversary could not have compensated for the king's damage.

² Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, and prayed to LORD,

⁴ Yea, he had strength over the agent, and prevailed, as he wept, and made supplication to him. He found him at Bethel, and there he spoke with us.

⁷ Who, in the days of his flesh, having offered up both prayers and supplications with strong shouting and tears to him who was able to save him from death, and who was heard because of his reverence,

¹¹ All the king's servants, and the people of the king's provinces, know, that whoever, whether man or woman, shall come to the king into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law for him, that he be put to death, except those to whom the king shall hold out the golden scepter that he may live. But I have not been called to come in to the king these thirty days.

² And it was so, when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, that she obtained favor in his sight, and the king held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. So Esther drew near, and touched the top of the scepter.

¹³ Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found favor in thy sight, show me now thy ways, that I may know thee, to the end that I may find favor in thy sight. And consider that this nation is thy people.

¹⁶ For how shall it now be known that I have found favor in thy sight, I and thy people? Is it not in that thou go with us, so that we are separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth?

²⁹ And he said, Let me go, I pray thee, for our family has a sacrifice in the city, and my brother, he has commanded me. And now, if I have found favor in thine eyes, let me get away, I pray thee, and see my brothers. Therefore he has not come to the king's table.

⁴ and let the maiden who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti. And the thing pleased the king, and he did so.

¹⁷ And the king loved Esther above all the women. And she obtained favor and kindness in his sight more than all the virgins, so that he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti.

¹² Then the king's scribes were called in the first month, on the thirteenth day of it. And there was written according to all that Haman commanded to the king's satraps, and to the governors who were over every province, and to the rulers of every people, to every province according to the writing of it, and to every people after their language, in the name of king Ahasuerus it was written. And it was sealed with the king's ring. ¹³ And letters were sent by posts into all the king's provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little sons and women, in one day, even upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to take the spoil of them for a prey.

⁸ if I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it please the king to grant my petition, and to perform my request, let the king and Haman come to the banquet that I shall prepare for them, and I will do tomorrow as the king has said.

³ Then Esther the queen answered and said, If I have found favor 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.

³⁴ For how shall I go up to my father, if the young man be not with me? Lest I see the evil that shall come on my father.

³ And I said to the king, Let the king live forever. Why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchers, lies waste, and the gates of it are consumed with fire?

¹ Now in the twelfth month, which 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 on the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to have rule over them (whereas it was turned to the contrary, that the Jews had rule over those who hated them),

¹⁹ My anguish, my anguish! I am pained at my very heart. My heart is disquieted in me. I cannot hold my peace, because thou have heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.

¹ Oh that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!

⁴¹ And when he came near, having seen the city, he wept over it, ⁴² saying, If thou knew, even thou, indeed even in this thy day, the things for thy peace. But now they are hidden from thine eyes.

² that great distress is in me, and unceasing sorrow in my heart. ³ For I wished I myself to be accursed from the Christ, for my brothers, my kinsmen according to flesh,

¹ Brothers, truly my heart's desire and my supplication to God for Israel is for salvation.

¹⁰ So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king's wrath was pacified.

¹³ Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written, Cursed is every man who hangs on a tree.

⁸ So she wrote letters in Ahab's name, and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters to the elders and to the nobles who were in his city, and who dwelt with Naboth.

¹⁹ If it please the king, let there go forth a royal commandment from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes, that it be not altered, that Vashti come no more before king Ahasuerus, and let the king give her royal estate to another who is better than she.

¹² Then the king's scribes were called in the first month, on the thirteenth day of it. And there was written according to all that Haman commanded to the king's satraps, and to the governors who were over every province, and to the rulers of every people, to every province according to the writing of it, and to every people after their language, in the name of king Ahasuerus it was written. And it was sealed with the king's ring.

⁵ And she said, If it please the king, and if I have found favor 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 that are in all the king's provinces.

¹⁰ And he wrote the name of king Ahasuerus, and sealed it with the king's ring, and sent letters by post on horseback, riding on swift steeds that were used in the king's service bred of the stud,

⁸ Now, O king, establish the interdict, and sign the writing, that it be not changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which does not alter.

¹² Then they came near, and spoke before the king concerning the king's interdict. Have thou not signed an interdict, that every man who shall make petition to any god or man within thirty days, except to thee, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions? The king answered and said, The thing is true according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which does not alter. ¹³ Then they answered and said before the king, That Daniel, who is of the sons of the captivity of Judah, does not regard thee, O king, nor the interdict that thou have signed, but makes his petition three times a day. ¹⁴ Then the king, when he heard these words, was very displeased, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him. And he labored till the going down of the sun to rescue him. ¹⁵ Then these men assembled together to the king, and said to the king, Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians, that no interdict nor statute which the king establishes may be changed.

¹⁹ Nevertheless the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, The Lord knows those who are his, and, Let every man who names the name of the Lord keep away from unrighteousness.

¹⁷ By which God, wanting to demonstrate more abundantly to the heirs of the promise the immutableness of his resolve, confirmed it by an oath. ¹⁸ So that by two immutable events, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have strong encouragement, having fled for refuge to seize the hope being openly displayed.

²⁶ Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebnah, and Joah, said to Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, to thy servants in the Syrian language, for we understand it. And do not speak with us in the Jews' language, in the ears of the people who are on the wall.

¹ Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus (this is Ahasuerus who reigned from India even to Ethiopia over a hundred and twenty-seven provinces),

²² For he sent letters into all the king's provinces, into every province according to the writing of it, and to every people after their language, that every man should bear rule in his own house, and should speak according to the language of his people.

¹ Nebuchadnezzar the king, to all the peoples, nations, and languages, who dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you.

¹ It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom a hundred and twenty satraps, who should be throughout the whole kingdom,

⁹ So also ye, unless ye give understandable speech by the tongue, how will that which is spoken be known? For ye will be talking into the air. ¹⁰ Since there are perhaps, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is without significance. ¹¹ If therefore I know not the force of the voice, I will be a foreigner to him who speaks, and he who speaks will be a foreigner to me.

²⁸ Barley also and straw for the horses and swift steeds they brought to the place where the officers were, every man according to his charge.

⁶ So the posts went with the letters from the king and his rulers throughout all Israel and Judah, and according to the commandment of the king, saying, Ye sons of Israel, turn again to LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, that he may return to the remnant of you who escaped out of the hand of the kings of Assyria.

²⁵ Now my days are swifter than a runner. They flee away. They see no good,

⁴ For the king's word has power, and who may say to him, What are thou doing?

⁶ The multitude of camels shall cover thee. The dromedaries of Midian and Ephah, all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall proclaim the praises of LORD.

²⁰ And they shall bring all your brothers out of all the nations for an oblation to LORD, upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon dromedaries, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says LORD, as the sons of Israel bring their oblation in a clean vessel into the house of LORD.

²³ How can thou say, I am not defiled; I have not gone after the Baalim? See thy way in the valley. Know what thou have done, a swift dromedary traversing her ways,

²¹ and with thee I will break in pieces the horse and his rider,

¹³ And letters were sent by posts into all the king's provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little sons and women, in one day, even upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to take the spoil of them for a prey.

² 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 the peoples. ³ And all the rulers of the provinces, and the satraps, and the governors, and those who did the king's business, helped the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai fell upon them. ⁴ For Mordecai was great in the king's house, and his fame went forth throughout all the provinces, for the man Mordecai grew greater and greater. ⁵ And the Jews smote all their enemies with the stroke of the sword, and with slaughter and destruction, and did what they would to those who hated them. ⁶ And in Shushan the palace the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men. ⁷ And they killed Parshandatha, and Dalphon, and Aspatha, ⁸ and Poratha, and Adalia, and Aridatha, ⁹ and Parmashta, and Arisai, and Aridai, and Vaizatha, ¹⁰ the ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Jew's enemy, but they did not lay their hand on the spoil. ¹¹ On that day the number of those who were slain in Shushan the palace was brought before the king. ¹² And the king said to Esther the queen, The Jews have slain and destroyed five hundred men in Shushan the palace, and the ten sons of Haman. What then 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. ¹³ Then Esther said, If it please the king, let it be granted to the Jews who are in Shushan to do tomorrow also according to this day's decree, and let Haman's ten sons be hanged upon the gallows. ¹⁴ And the king commanded it so to be done. And a decree was given out in Shushan, and they hanged Haman's ten sons. ¹⁵ And the Jews who were in Shushan gathered themselves together on the fourteenth day also of the month Adar, and killed three hundred men in Shushan, but they did not lay their hand on the spoil. ¹⁶ And the other Jews who were in the king's provinces gathered themselves together, and stood for their lives, and had rest from their enemies, and killed seventy-five thousand of those who hated them. But they did not lay their hand on the spoil.

¹⁴ The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, to kill such as are upright in the way. ¹⁵ Their sword shall enter into their own heart, and their bows shall be broken.

³ But let the righteous be glad. Let them exult before God. Yea, let them rejoice with gladness.

⁸ O daughter of Babylon, who is to be destroyed, happy shall he be who rewards thee as thou have served us.

⁶ who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps truth forever, ⁷ who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry. LORD releases the prisoners. ⁸ LORD opens the eyes of the blind. LORD raises up those who are bowed down. LORD loves the righteous. ⁹ LORD preserves the sojourners. He upholds the fatherless and widow. But the way of the wicked he turns upside down.

⁶ I will send him against a profane nation, and against the people of my wrath. I will give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.

¹⁰ so that they shall take no wood out of the field, nor cut down any out of the forests, for they shall make fires of the weapons. And they shall plunder those who plundered them, and rob those who robbed them, says the lord LORD.

⁹ The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil, my desire shall be satisfied upon them. I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them. ¹⁰ Thou did blow with thy wind, the sea covered them. They sank as lead in the mighty waters.

⁶ But Adoni-bezek fled, and they pursued after him, and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes. ⁷ And Adoni-bezek said, Seventy kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered scraps under my table. As I have done, so God has requited me. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.

²⁸ And Samson called to LORD, and said, O lord LORD, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.

¹⁴ A copy of the writing that the decree should be given out in every province was published to all the peoples, that they should be ready against that day.

²³ that thou may dash thy foot in blood, that the tongue of thy dogs may have its portion from enemies.

¹⁰ But thou have exalted my horn like the wild ox's. I am anointed with fresh oil, ¹¹ and my eye has seen my enemies. My ears have heard of the evildoers who rise up against me.

⁶ The high praises of God are in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand ⁷ to execute vengeance upon the nations, and punishments upon the peoples, ⁸ to bind their kings with chains, and their ranking men with fetters of iron, ⁹ to execute upon them the judgment written. All his sanctified have this honor. Praise ye LORD.

⁷ And God, will he, no, not do the vengeance of his chosen who cry out to him day and night, and yet being patient toward them?

¹⁰ And they cried out in a great voice, saying, Master, Holy and True, how long do thou not judge and avenge our blood from those who dwell on the earth?

⁸ And David said to Ahimelech, And is there not here under thy hand spear or sword? For I have neither brought my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king's business required haste.

¹ The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now it came to pass in the month Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace, ² that in those days, when king Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the palace,

³ And let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, that they may gather together all the fair young virgins to Shushan the palace, to the house of the women, to the custody of Hegai the king's chamberlain, keeper of the women. And let their things for purification be given them,

¹⁵ The posts went forth in haste by the king's commandment, and the decree was given out in Shushan the palace. And the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Shushan was perplexed.

¹⁰ Whatever thy hand finds to do, do with thy might, for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in Sheol, where thou go.

² And I saw in the vision, now it was so, that when I saw, I was in Shushan the palace, which is in the province of Elam, and I saw in the vision, and I was by the river Ulai.

⁶ There were hangings of white cloth, of green, and of blue, fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and pillars of marble. The couches were of gold and silver, upon a pavement of red and white and yellow and black marble.

¹ Now it came to pass on the third day, that Esther put on her royal apparel, and stood in the inner court of the king's house, opposite the king's house. And the king sat upon his royal throne in the royal house, opposite the entrance of the house.

⁸ let royal apparel be brought which the king uses to wear, and the horse that the king rides upon, and on the head of which a royal crown is set.

¹¹ Then Haman took the apparel and the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, and caused him to ride through the street of the city, and proclaimed before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor.

² When the righteous are increased, the people rejoice, but when a wicked man bears rule, the people sigh.

²⁹ yet I say to you, that not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed like one of these.

⁸ But what did ye go out to see? A man clothed in delicate clothes? Behold, those wearing delicate things are in king's houses.

¹⁹ Now there was a certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, faring sumptuously daily.

¹ Now when Mordecai knew all that was done, Mordecai tore his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and cried with a loud and a bitter cry. ² And he came even before the king's gate, for none might enter inside the king's gate clothed with sackcloth. ³ And in every province, wherever the king's commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing, and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

¹⁶ Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day. I also and my maidens will fast in like manner. And so I will go in to the king, which is not according to the law. And if I perish, I perish.

¹⁷ This was done on the thirteenth day of the month Adar. And on the fourteenth day of the same they rested, and made it a day of feasting and gladness.

²⁸ For thou will light my lamp. LORD my God will lighten my darkness.

⁵ For his anger is but for a moment. His favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy is in the morning. ⁶ As for me, I said in my prosperity, I shall never be moved. ⁷ Thou, LORD, of thy favor had made my mountain to stand strong. Thou hid thy face; I was troubled. ⁸ I cried to thee, O LORD, and to LORD I made supplication. ⁹ What profit is there in my blood when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise thee? Shall it declare thy truth? ¹⁰ Hear, O LORD, and have mercy upon me. LORD, be thou my helper. ¹¹ Thou have turned for me my mourning into dancing. Thou have loosed my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness,

¹¹ Light is sown for the righteous man, and gladness for the upright in heart.

⁴ To the upright there arises light in the darkness. He is gracious, and merciful, and righteous.

¹⁸ But the path of the righteous is as the dawning light, that shines more and more to the perfect day. ¹⁹ The way of the wicked is as darkness. They know not at what they stumble.

¹⁰ When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices. And when the wicked perish, there is shouting.

²⁹ Ye shall have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept, and gladness of heart, as he who goes with a pipe to come to the mountain of LORD, to the Rock of Israel. ³⁰ And LORD will cause his glorious voice to be heard, and will show the coming down of his arm with the indignation of his anger, and the flame of a devouring fire, with a blast and tempest and hailstones.

¹⁰ And the ransomed of LORD shall return, and come with singing to Zion. And everlasting joy shall be upon their heads. They shall obtain gladness and joy. And sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

⁵ And they journeyed, and a terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob.

¹⁶ Terror and dread falls upon them. By the greatness of thine arm they are as still as a stone, till thy people pass over, O LORD, till the people pass over whom thou have purchased.

²⁵ This day I will begin to put the dread of thee and the fear of thee upon the peoples who are under the whole heaven, who shall hear the report of thee, and shall tremble, and be in anguish because of thee.

²⁵ There shall no man be able to stand before you. LORD your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that ye shall tread upon, as he has spoken to you.

⁸ Ask thy young men, and they will tell thee. Therefore let the young men find favor in thine eyes, for we come in a good day. Give, I pray thee, whatever comes to thy hand to thy servants, and to thy son David.

¹⁰ Then he said to them, Go your way, eat fat things, and drink sweet things, and send portions to him for whom nothing is prepared. For this day is holy to our Lord; neither be ye grieved, for the joy of LORD is your strength.

² 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 the peoples.

¹⁹ Therefore the Jews of the villages, who dwell in the unwalled towns, make the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of gladness and feasting, and a good day, and of sending portions one to another.

²² as the days in which the Jews had rest from their enemies. And the month which was turned to them from sorrow to gladness, and from mourning into a good day, that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor.

²⁷ the Jews ordained, and took upon them, and upon their seed, and upon all such as joined themselves to them, so that it should not fail, that they would keep these two days according to the writing of it, and according to the appointed time of it, every year.

⁴³ Thou have delivered me from the strivings of the people. Thou have made me the head of the nations. A people whom I have not known shall serve me.

²⁰ Thus says LORD of hosts: Peoples shall yet come, and the inhabitants of many cities. ²¹ And the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to entreat the favor of LORD, and to seek LORD of hosts. I will go also. ²² Yea, many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, and to entreat the favor of LORD. ²³ Thus says LORD of hosts: In those days, ten men shall take hold, out of all the languages of the nations, they shall take hold of the skirt of him who is a Jew, saying, We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.