Paul Reveals His Heart

7 Therefore, having these promises, ^(A)beloved, ^(B)let’s cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

^2 (C)Make room for us in your hearts; we have wronged no one, we corrupted no one, we have taken advantage of no one. ³ I do not speak to condemn you, for I have said ^(D)before that you are ^(E)in our hearts, to die together and to live together. ⁴ My ^(F)confidence ^[a]in you is great; my ^(G)boasting in your behalf is great. I am filled with ^(H)comfort; I am overflowing with ^(I)joy in all our affliction.

⁵ For even when we came into ^(J)Macedonia our flesh had no rest, but we were ^(K)afflicted on every side: ^(L)conflicts on the outside, fears inside. ⁶ But ^(M)God, who comforts the ^[b]discouraged, ^(N)comforted us by the arrival of ^(O)Titus; ⁷ and not only by his arrival, but also by the comfort with which he was comforted among you, as he reported to us your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me; so that I rejoiced even more. ⁸ For though I ^(P)caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it—for I see that that letter caused you sorrow, though only for a while— ⁹ I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything ^[c]through us. ¹⁰ For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a ^(Q)repentance ^[d]without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death. ¹¹ For behold what earnestness this very thing, this ^[e]godly sorrow, has produced in you: what vindication of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what ^(R)longing, what zeal, what ^(S)punishment of wrong! In everything you ^(T)demonstrated yourselves to be innocent in the matter. ¹² So although ^(U)I wrote to you, it was not for the sake of ^(V)the offender nor for the sake of the one offended, but that your earnestness in our behalf might be made known to you in the sight of God. ¹³ Because of this, we have been ^(W)comforted.

And besides our comfort, we rejoiced even much more for the joy of ^(X)Titus, because his ^(Y)spirit has been refreshed by you all. ¹⁴ For if I have ^(Z)boasted to him about you regarding anything, I was not put to shame. But as we spoke all things to you in truth, so also our boasting before ^(AA)Titus proved to be the truth. ¹⁵ His ^[f]affection abounds all the more toward you, as he remembers the ^(AB)obedience of you all, how you received him with ^(AC)fear and trembling. ¹⁶ I rejoice that in everything ^(AD)I have confidence in you.

Praise the Lord’s Wonderful Works. Futility of Idols.

Haman’s Plot against the Jews

3 After these events King Ahasuerus ^(A)honored Haman, the son of Hammedatha ^(B)the Agagite, and ^(C)promoted him and ^[a]established his authority over all the officials who were with him. ² All the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate bowed down and paid ^[b]homage to Haman; for so the king had commanded regarding him. But ^(D)Mordecai neither bowed down nor paid ^[c]homage. ³ Then the king’s servants who were at ^(E)the king’s gate said to Mordecai, “^(F)Why are you violating the king’s command?” ⁴ Now it was when they had spoken daily to him and he would not listen to them, that they told Haman to see whether Mordecai’s reason would ^[d]stand; for he had told them that he was a Jew. ⁵ When Haman saw that ^(G)Mordecai neither bowed down nor paid ^[e]homage to him, Haman was filled with rage. ⁶ But he ^[f]considered it beneath his dignity to ^[g]kill Mordecai alone, for they had told him who the people of Mordecai were; so Haman ^(H)sought to annihilate all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, who were found throughout the kingdom of Ahasuerus.

⁷ In the first month, which is the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, ^[h]Pur, that is the lot, was ^(I)cast before Haman from day to day and from month to month, ^[i]until the twelfth month, that is ^(J)the month Adar. ⁸ Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom; ^(K)their laws are different from those of all other people and they do not ^[j]comply with the king’s laws, so it is not in the king’s interest to let them remain. ⁹ If it is pleasing to the king, let it be ^[k]decreed that they be eliminated, and I will pay ^[l]ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who carry out the king’s business, to put into the king’s treasuries.” ¹⁰ Then ^(L)the king took his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman, the son of Hammedatha ^(M)the Agagite, ^(N)the enemy of the Jews. ¹¹ And the king said to Haman, “The silver is ^[m]yours, and the people also, to do with them as you please.”

^12 (O)Then the king’s scribes were summoned on the thirteenth day of the first month, and it was written just as Haman commanded to ^(P)the king’s satraps, to the governors who were over each province and to the officials of each people, each province according to its script, each people according to its language, being written ^(Q)in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with the king’s signet ring. ¹³ Letters were sent by ^(R)couriers to all the king’s provinces ^(S)to annihilate, kill, and destroy all the Jews, both young and old, women and children, ^(T)in one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to ^(U)seize their possessions as plunder. ^14 (V)A copy of the edict to be ^[n]issued as law in every province was published to all the peoples so that they would be ready for this day. ¹⁵ The couriers went out, speeded by the king’s ^[o]order while the decree was ^[p]issued at the citadel in Susa; and while the king and Haman sat down to drink, ^(W)the city of Susa was agitated.

Esther Learns of Haman’s Plot

4 When Mordecai learned of ^(X)everything that had been done, ^[q]he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city and wailed loudly and bitterly. ² And he came as far as the king’s gate, for no one was to enter the king’s gate clothed in sackcloth. ³ In each and every province where the command and decree of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with ^(Y)fasting, weeping, and mourning rites; and many had sackcloth and ashes spread out as a bed.

⁴ Then Esther’s attendants and her eunuchs came and informed her, and the queen was seized by great fear. And she sent garments to clothe Mordecai so that he would remove his sackcloth from him, but he did not accept them. ⁵ Then Esther summoned Hathach from the king’s eunuchs, whom ^[r]the king had appointed to attend her, and ordered him to go to Mordecai to learn what this mourning was and why it was happening. ⁶ So Hathach went out to Mordecai in the city square, in front of the king’s gate. ⁷ Mordecai told him everything that had happened to him, and ^(Z)the exact amount of money that Haman had promised to pay to the king’s treasuries for the elimination of the Jews. ⁸ He also gave him ^(AA)a copy of the text of the edict which had been issued in Susa for their annihilation, so that he might show Esther and inform her, and to order her to go in to the king to implore his favor and plead with him for her people.

⁹ So Hathach came back and reported Mordecai’s words to Esther. ¹⁰ Then Esther spoke to Hathach and ordered him to reply to Mordecai: ¹¹ “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that for any man or woman who ^(AB)comes to the king in the inner courtyard, who is not summoned, ^(AC)he has only one law, that he be put to death, unless the king holds out ^(AD)to him the golden scepter so that he may live. And I have not been summoned to come to the king for these thirty days.” ¹² And they reported Esther’s words to Mordecai.

¹³ Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not imagine that you in the king’s palace can escape any more than all the other Jews. ¹⁴ For if you keep silent at this time, liberation and ^(AE)rescue will arise for the Jews from another place, and you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?”

Esther Plans to Intercede

¹⁵ Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, ¹⁶ “Go, gather all the Jews who are found in Susa, and fast for me; ^(AF)do not eat or drink for ^(AG)three days, night or day. I and my attendants also will fast in the same way. And then I will go in to the king, which is not in accordance with the law; and if I perish, I perish.” ¹⁷ So Mordecai went away and did just as Esther had commanded him.