Esther’s Banquet

5 Now it happened ^(A)on the third day that Esther put on her royal robes and stood in ^(B)the inner court of the king’s palace, across from the king’s house, while the king sat on his royal throne in the royal house, facing the entrance of the ^[a]house.

²¹ To him who overcomes ^(A)I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.

⁴ So the king said, “Who is in the court?” Now Haman had just entered ^(A)the outer court of the king’s palace ^(B)to suggest that the king hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him.

^3 (A)Do not let your adornment be merely outward—arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel— ⁴ rather let it be ^(B)the hidden person of the heart, with the ^[a]incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God. ⁵ For in this manner, in former times, the holy women who trusted in God also adorned themselves, being submissive to their own husbands,

¹⁶ “Go, gather all the Jews who are present in ^[a]Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for ^(A)three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; ^(B)and if I perish, I perish!”

¹¹ “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that any man or woman who goes into ^(A)the inner court to the king, who has not been called, ^(B)he has but one law: put all to death, except the one ^(C)to whom the king holds out the golden scepter, that he may live. Yet I myself have not been ^(D)called to go in to the king these thirty days.”

¹⁵ So Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal apparel of ^[a]blue and white, with a great crown of gold and a garment of fine linen and purple; and ^(A)the city of ^[b]Shushan rejoiced and was glad.

³⁰ that ^(A)you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, ^(B)and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”

⁶⁴ Therefore command that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples come ^[a]by night and steal Him away, and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead.’ So the last deception will be worse than the first.”