Paul Defends His Ministry

10 ^(A)I, Paul, myself entreat you, by the ^(B)meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away!— ² I beg of you ^(C)that when I am present I may not have to show ^(D)boldness with such confidence as I count on showing against some who suspect us of walking according to the flesh. ³ For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. ⁴ For the ^(E)weapons of ^(F)our warfare are not of the flesh but have ^(G)divine power ^(H)to destroy strongholds. ⁵ We destroy arguments and ^(I)every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to ^(J)obey Christ, ^6 (K)being ready to punish every disobedience, ^(L)when your obedience is complete.

^7 (M)Look at what is before your eyes. ^(N)If anyone is confident that he is Christ's, let him remind himself that just as ^(O)he is Christ's, ^(P)so also are we. ⁸ For even if I boast a little too much of ^(Q)our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for destroying you, I will not be ashamed. ⁹ I do not want to appear to be frightening you with my letters. ¹⁰ For they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but ^(R)his bodily presence is weak, and ^(S)his speech of no account.” ¹¹ Let such a person understand that what we say by letter when absent, we do when present. ¹² Not that we dare to classify or ^(T)compare ourselves with some of those who ^(U)are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are ^(V)without understanding.

¹³ But we will not boast ^(W)beyond limits, but will ^(X)boast only with regard to the area of influence God assigned to us, ^(Y)to reach even to you. ¹⁴ For we are not overextending ourselves, as though we did not reach you. ^(Z)For we were the first to come all the way to you with the gospel of Christ. ¹⁵ We do not boast beyond limit in the labors of others. But our hope is that ^(AA)as your faith increases, our area of influence among you may be ^(AB)greatly enlarged, ¹⁶ so that we may preach the gospel in lands beyond you, without boasting of work already done in another's area of influence. ¹⁷ “Let ^(AC)the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” ¹⁸ For it is ^(AD)not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one ^(AE)whom the Lord commends.

Give Thanks to the Lord

Of David.

The Jews Destroy Their Enemies

9 ^(A)Now in the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, ^(B)on the thirteenth day of the same, ^(C)when the king's command and edict were about to be carried out, ^(D)on the very day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain the mastery over them, the reverse occurred: the Jews gained mastery over those who hated them. ^2 (E)The Jews gathered in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to lay hands on those who sought their harm. And no one could stand against them, ^(F)for the fear of them had fallen on all peoples. ³ All the officials of the provinces and ^(G)the satraps and the governors and the royal agents also helped the Jews, for the fear of Mordecai had fallen on them. ⁴ For Mordecai was great in the king's house, and his fame spread throughout all the provinces, for the man Mordecai grew ^(H)more and more powerful. ⁵ The Jews struck all their enemies with the sword, killing and destroying them, and did as they pleased to those who hated them. ⁶ In Susa the citadel itself the Jews killed and destroyed 500 men, ⁷ and also killed Parshandatha and Dalphon and Aspatha ⁸ and Poratha and Adalia and Aridatha ⁹ and Parmashta and Arisai and Aridai and Vaizatha, ^10 (I)the ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, ^(J)the enemy of the Jews, ^(K)but they laid no hand on the plunder.

¹¹ That very day the number of those killed in Susa the citadel was reported to the king. ¹² And the king said to Queen Esther, “In Susa the citadel the Jews have killed and destroyed 500 men and also the ten sons of Haman. What then have they done in the rest of the king's provinces! ^(L)Now what is your wish? It shall be granted you. And what further is your request? It shall be fulfilled.” ¹³ And Esther said, “If it please the king, let the Jews who are in Susa be allowed ^(M)tomorrow also to do according to this day's edict. And let the ten sons of Haman be hanged on the gallows.”^{[a] 14} So the king commanded this to be done. A decree was issued in Susa, and the ten sons of Haman were hanged. ¹⁵ The Jews who were in Susa gathered also on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar and they killed 300 men in Susa, but they laid no hands on the plunder.

^16 (N)Now the rest of the Jews who were in the king's provinces also ^(O)gathered to defend their lives, and got relief from their enemies and killed 75,000 of those who hated them, but they laid no hands on the plunder. ¹⁷ This was ^(P)on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth day they rested and made that a day of feasting and gladness. ¹⁸ But the Jews who were in Susa gathered ^(Q)on the thirteenth day and on the fourteenth, and rested ^(R)on the fifteenth day, making that a day of feasting and gladness. ¹⁹ Therefore the Jews of the villages, who live in ^(S)the rural towns, hold the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a day for gladness and feasting, as ^(T)a holiday, and ^(U)as a day on which they send gifts of food to one another.

The Feast of Purim Inaugurated

²⁰ And Mordecai recorded these things and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far, ²¹ obliging them to keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar and also the fifteenth day of the same, year by year, ²² as the days on which the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month that had been turned for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into ^(V)a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, days for sending gifts of food to one another and gifts to the poor.

²³ So the Jews accepted what they had started to do, and what Mordecai had written to them. ²⁴ For Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, ^(W)the enemy of all the Jews, ^(X)had plotted against the Jews to destroy them, and ^(Y)had cast Pur (that is, cast lots), to crush and to destroy them. ²⁵ But when it came before the king, he gave orders in writing ^(Z)that his evil plan that he had devised against the Jews ^(AA)should return on his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows. ²⁶ Therefore they called these days Purim, after the term ^(AB)Pur. Therefore, because of all that was written in ^(AC)this letter, and of what they had faced in this matter, and of what had happened to them, ²⁷ the Jews firmly obligated themselves and their offspring and ^(AD)all who joined them, that without fail they would keep ^(AE)these two days according to what was written and at the time appointed every year, ²⁸ that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, in every clan, province, and city, and that these days of Purim should never fall into disuse among the Jews, nor should the commemoration of these days cease among their descendants.

²⁹ Then Queen Esther, ^(AF)the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew gave full written authority, confirming ^(AG)this second letter about Purim. ³⁰ Letters were sent to all the Jews, ^(AH)to the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, in words of peace and truth, ³¹ that these days of Purim should be observed at their appointed seasons, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther obligated them, and as they had obligated themselves and their offspring, with regard to ^(AI)their fasts and their lamenting. ³² The command of Esther confirmed these practices of ^(AJ)Purim, and it was recorded in writing.

The Greatness of Mordecai

10 King Ahasuerus imposed tax on the land and on ^(AK)the coastlands of the sea. ² And all the acts of his power and might, and the full account of the high honor of Mordecai, ^(AL)to which the king advanced him, are they not written in ^(AM)the Book of the Chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia? ³ For Mordecai the Jew was ^(AN)second in rank to King Ahasuerus, and he was great among the Jews and popular with the multitude of his brothers, for he ^(AO)sought the welfare of his people and spoke peace to all his people.