The King's Banquets

1 Now in the days of Ahasuerus, the Ahasuerus who reigned ^(A)from India to Ethiopia over ^(B)127 provinces, ² in those days when King Ahasuerus ^(C)sat on his royal throne in ^(D)Susa, the citadel, ³ in the third year of his reign ^(E)he gave a feast for all his officials and servants. The army of Persia and Media and the nobles and governors of the provinces were before him, ⁴ while he showed the riches of his royal glory and the splendor and pomp of his greatness for many days, 180 days. ⁵ And when these days were completed, the king gave for all the people present in Susa the citadel, both great and small, a feast lasting for seven days in the court of ^(F)the garden of the king's palace. ⁶ There were white cotton curtains and violet hangings fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rods^[a] and marble pillars, and also ^(G)couches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl, and precious stones. ⁷ Drinks were served in golden vessels, vessels of different kinds, and the royal wine was lavished according to the bounty of the king. ⁸ And drinking was according to this edict: “There is no compulsion.” For the king had given orders to all the staff of his palace to do as each man desired. ⁹ Queen Vashti also gave a feast for the women in the palace that belonged to King Ahasuerus.

Queen Vashti's Refusal

¹⁰ On the seventh day, ^(H)when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, ^(I)Harbona, ^(J)Bigtha and Abagtha, Zethar and Carkas, the seven eunuchs who served in the presence of King Ahasuerus, ¹¹ to bring Queen Vashti before the king with ^(K)her royal crown,^[b] in order to show the peoples and the princes her beauty, for she was lovely to look at. ¹² But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king's command delivered by the eunuchs. At this the king became enraged, and his anger burned within him.

¹³ Then the king said to ^(L)the wise men ^(M)who knew the times (for this was the king's procedure toward all who were versed in law and judgment, ¹⁴ the men next to him being Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and ^(N)Memucan, ^(O)the seven princes of Persia and Media, ^(P)who saw the king's face, and sat first in the kingdom): ¹⁵ “According to the law, what is to be done to Queen Vashti, because she has not performed the command of King Ahasuerus delivered by the eunuchs?” ¹⁶ Then Memucan said in the presence of the king and the officials, “Not only against the king has Queen Vashti done wrong, but also against all the officials and all the peoples who are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus. ¹⁷ For the queen's behavior will be made known to all women, causing them to look at their husbands with contempt,^[c] since they will say, ‘King Ahasuerus commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him, and she did not come.’ ¹⁸ This very day the noble women of Persia and Media who have heard of the queen's behavior will say the same to all the king's officials, and there will be contempt and wrath in plenty. ¹⁹ If it please the king, let a royal order go out from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes so ^(Q)that it may not be repealed, that Vashti is never again to come before King Ahasuerus. And let the king give her royal position to another who is better than she. ²⁰ So when the decree made by the king is proclaimed throughout all his kingdom, for it is vast, ^(R)all women will give honor to their husbands, high and low alike.” ²¹ This advice pleased the king and the princes, and the king did as Memucan proposed. ²² He sent letters to all the royal provinces, ^(S)to every province in its own script and to every people in its own language, that every man be master in his own household and speak according to the language of his people.

Esther Chosen Queen

2 After these things, ^(T)when the anger of King Ahasuerus had abated, he remembered Vashti ^(U)and what she had done and what had been decreed against her. ² Then the king's young men who attended him said, “Let beautiful young virgins be sought out for the king. ³ And let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom to gather all the beautiful young virgins to the harem in Susa the citadel, under custody of ^(V)Hegai, the king's eunuch, who is in charge of the women. ^(W)Let their cosmetics be given them. ⁴ And let the young woman who pleases the king^[d] be queen instead of Vashti.” This pleased the king, and he did so.

⁵ Now there was a Jew in Susa the citadel whose name was ^(X)Mordecai, the son of Jair, son of Shimei, son of Kish, a Benjaminite, ^6 (Y)who had been carried away from Jerusalem among the captives carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away. ⁷ He was bringing up Hadassah, that is Esther, ^(Z)the daughter of his uncle, for she had neither father nor mother. The young woman had a beautiful figure and was lovely to look at, and when her father and her mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter. ⁸ So when the king's order and his edict were proclaimed, and ^(AA)when many young women were gathered in Susa the citadel in custody of ^(AB)Hegai, Esther also was taken into the king's palace and put in custody of Hegai, who had charge of the women. ⁹ And the young woman pleased him and won his favor. And he quickly provided her ^(AC)with her cosmetics and her portion of food, and with seven chosen young women from the king's palace, and advanced her and her young women to the best place in the harem. ^10 (AD)Esther had not made known her people or kindred, for Mordecai had commanded her not to make it known. ¹¹ And every day Mordecai walked in front of the court of the harem to learn how Esther was and what was happening to her.

¹² Now when the turn came for each young woman to go in to King Ahasuerus, after being twelve months under the regulations for the women, since this was the regular period of their beautifying, six months with oil of myrrh and six months with spices and ointments for women— ¹³ when the young woman went in to the king in this way, she was given whatever she desired to take with her from the harem to the king's palace. ¹⁴ In the evening she would go in, and in the morning she would return to the second harem in custody of Shaashgaz, the king's eunuch, who was in charge of the concubines. She would not go in to the king again, unless the king delighted in her and she was summoned by name.

¹⁵ When the turn came for Esther ^(AE)the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her as his own daughter, to go in to the king, she asked for nothing except what ^(AF)Hegai the king's eunuch, who had charge of the women, advised. Now Esther was winning favor in the eyes of all who saw her. ¹⁶ And when Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus, into his royal palace, in the tenth month, which is the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign, ¹⁷ the king loved Esther more than all the women, and she won grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins, so that he set ^(AG)the royal crown^[e] on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti. ¹⁸ Then the king ^(AH)gave a great feast for all his officials and servants; it was Esther's feast. He also granted a remission of taxes to the provinces and gave gifts with royal generosity.

Mordecai Discovers a Plot

¹⁹ Now when the virgins were gathered together ^(AI)the second time, Mordecai was sitting ^(AJ)at the king's gate. ^20 (AK)Esther had not made known her kindred or her people, as Mordecai had commanded her, for Esther obeyed Mordecai just ^(AL)as when she was brought up by him. ²¹ In those days, as Mordecai was sitting at the king's gate, ^(AM)Bigthan and ^(AN)Teresh, two of the king's eunuchs, who guarded the threshold, became angry and sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. ²² And this came to the knowledge of Mordecai, ^(AO)and he told it to Queen Esther, and Esther told the king in the name of Mordecai. ²³ When the affair was investigated and found to be so, the men were both hanged on the gallows.^[f] And it was recorded in ^(AP)the book of the chronicles in the presence of the king.

Let Everything Praise the Lord

Temptations to Sin

17 And he said to his disciples, ^(A)“Temptations to sin^[a] are ^(B)sure to come, but ^(C)woe to the one through whom they come! ^2 (D)It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.^{[b] 3} Pay attention to yourselves! ^(E)If your brother sins, ^(F)rebuke him, and if he repents, ^(G)forgive him, ⁴ and if he sins against you ^(H)seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

Increase Our Faith

^5 (I)The apostles said to the Lord, ^(J)“Increase our faith!” ⁶ And the Lord said, ^(K)“If you had faith like ^(L)a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this ^(M)mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

Unworthy Servants

⁷ “Will any one of you who has a servant^[c] plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’? ⁸ Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and ^(N)dress properly,^[d] and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’? ⁹ Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? ¹⁰ So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are ^(O)unworthy servants;^[e] we have only done what was our duty.’”

Jesus Cleanses Ten Lepers

^11 (P)On the way to Jerusalem ^(Q)he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. ¹² And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers,^{[f] (R)}who stood at a distance ¹³ and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” ¹⁴ When he saw them he said to them, “Go and ^(S)show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. ¹⁵ Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, ^(T)praising God with a loud voice; ¹⁶ and ^(U)he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was ^(V)a Samaritan. ¹⁷ Then Jesus answered, “Were not ^(W)ten cleansed? Where are the nine? ¹⁸ Was no one found to return and ^(X)give praise to God except this ^(Y)foreigner?” ¹⁹ And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; ^(Z)your faith has ^(AA)made you well.”^[g]

The Coming of the Kingdom

²⁰ Being asked by the Pharisees ^(AB)when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God ^(AC)is not coming in ways that can be observed, ²¹ nor ^(AD)will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”^[h]

²² And he said to the disciples, ^(AE)“The days are coming when you will desire ^(AF)to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. ^23 (AG)And they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them. ^24 (AH)For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be ^(AI)in his day.^{[i] 25} But first ^(AJ)he must suffer many things and ^(AK)be rejected by this generation. ^26 (AL)Just as it was in the days of ^(AM)Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. ^27 (AN)They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. ²⁸ Likewise, just as it was in the days of ^(AO)Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, ^29 (AP)but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— ³⁰ so will it be ^(AQ)on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. ³¹ On that day, ^(AR)let the one who is on ^(AS)the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. ^32 (AT)Remember Lot's wife. ^33 (AU)Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will ^(AV)keep it. ³⁴ I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. ^35 (AW)There will be two women ^(AX)grinding together. One will be taken and the other left.”^{[j] 37} And they said to him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, ^(AY)“Where the corpse^[k] is, there the vultures^[l] will gather.”