Esther Plans a Banquet

5 Now it came about ^(A)on the third day that Esther put on her royal robes and stood ^(B)in the inner courtyard of the king’s palace in front of the king’s ^[a]rooms, and the king was sitting on his royal throne in the ^[b]throne room, opposite the entrance to the palace. ² When the king saw Esther the queen standing in the courtyard, ^(C)she obtained favor in his sight; and ^(D)the king extended to Esther the golden scepter which was in his hand. So Esther approached and touched the top of the scepter. ³ Then the king said to her, “What is troubling you, Queen Esther? And what is your request? ^(E)Up to half of the kingdom it shall be given to you.” ⁴ Esther said, “If it pleases the king, may the king and Haman come this day to the banquet that I have prepared for him.”

⁵ Then the king said, “^(F)Bring Haman quickly so that we may do ^[c]as Esther desires.” So the king and Haman came to the banquet which Esther had prepared. ^6 [d]As they drank their wine at the banquet, ^(G)the king said to Esther, “^(H)What is your request, for it shall be granted to you. And what is your wish? Up to half of the kingdom it shall be done.” ⁷ So Esther replied, “My request and my wish is: ^8 (I)if I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my request and do ^[e]what I wish, may the king and Haman come to ^(J)the banquet which I will prepare for them, and tomorrow I will do ^[f]as the king says.”

Haman’s Pride

⁹ Then Haman went out that day joyful and pleased of heart; but when Haman saw Mordecai ^(K)at the king’s gate and ^(L)that he did not stand up or tremble before him, Haman was filled with anger against Mordecai. ¹⁰ Haman controlled himself, however, and went to his house. But he ^[g]sent for his friends and his wife ^(M)Zeresh. ¹¹ Then Haman told them of the glory of his riches, and his ^(N)many sons, and every occasion on which the king had honored him and how he had ^[h](O)promoted him above the officials and servants of the king. ¹² Haman also said, “Even Esther the queen let no one except me come with the king to the banquet which she had prepared; and ^(P)tomorrow also I am invited by her with the king. ¹³ Yet all of this ^[i]does not satisfy me every time I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at ^(Q)the king’s gate.” ¹⁴ Then Zeresh his wife and all his friends said to him, “^(R)Have a wooden gallows ^[j]fifty cubits high made, and in the morning ask the king to have Mordecai hanged on it; then go joyfully with the king to the banquet.” And the ^[k]advice pleased Haman, so he had the wooden gallows made.

Safe at Malta

28 When ^(A)they had been brought safely through, ^(B)then we found out that ^(C)the island was called ^[a]Malta. ^2 (D)The ^[b]natives showed us extraordinary kindness, for they kindled a fire and ^(E)took us all in because of the rain that had started and because of the cold. ³ But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out ^[c]because of the heat and fastened itself on his hand. ⁴ When ^(F)the ^[d]natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they began saying to one another, “^(G)Undoubtedly this man is a murderer, and though he has been saved from the sea, ^[e]justice has not allowed him to live.” ⁵ However, ^[f](H)Paul shook the creature off into the fire and suffered no harm. ⁶ Now they were expecting that he was going to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had waited a long time and had seen nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and ^(I)began to say that he was a god.

⁷ Now in the neighboring parts of that place were lands belonging to the ^[g]leading man of the island, named Publius, who welcomed us and entertained us warmly for three days. ⁸ And it happened that the father of Publius was lying in bed afflicted with a recurring fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him, and after he ^(J)prayed, he ^(K)laid his hands on him and healed him. ⁹ After this happened, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases were coming to him and being cured. ¹⁰ They also showed us many honors, and when we were about to set sail, they ^[h]supplied us with ^[i]everything we needed.

Paul Arrives in Rome

¹¹ After three months we set sail on ^(L)an Alexandrian ship which had wintered at the island, and which had ^[j]the Twin Brothers for its figurehead. ¹² After we put in at Syracuse, we stayed there for three days. ¹³ From there we sailed around and arrived at Rhegium, and a day later a south wind came up, and on the second day we came to Puteoli. ^14 [k]There we found some ^(M)brothers and sisters, and were invited to stay with them for seven days; and that is how we came to Rome. ¹⁵ And from there the ^(N)brothers and sisters, when they heard about us, came as far as the ^[l]Market of Appius and the ^[m]Three Inns to meet us; and when Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage.

¹⁶ When we entered Rome, Paul was ^(O)allowed to stay by himself, with the soldier who was guarding him.

¹⁷ After three days ^[n]Paul called together those who were ^(P)the leading men of the Jews, and when they came together, he began saying to them, “^(Q)Brothers, ^(R)though I had done nothing against our people or ^(S)the customs of our ^[o]fathers, yet I was handed over to the Romans as a prisoner from Jerusalem. ¹⁸ And when they had ^(T)examined me, they ^(U)were willing to release me because there were ^(V)no grounds ^[p]for putting me to death. ¹⁹ But when the Jews ^[q]objected, I was forced to ^(W)appeal to Caesar, not that I had any accusation against my nation. ²⁰ For this reason, therefore, I ^[r]requested to see you and to speak with you, since I am wearing ^(X)this chain for ^(Y)the sake of the hope of Israel.” ²¹ They said to him, “We have neither received letters from Judea concerning you, nor has any of ^(Z)the brothers come here and reported or spoken anything bad about you. ²² But we desire to hear from you what ^[s]your views are; for regarding this ^(AA)sect, it is known to us that ^(AB)it is spoken against everywhere.”

²³ When they had set a day for ^[t]Paul, people came to him at ^(AC)his lodging in large numbers; and he was explaining to them by solemnly ^(AD)testifying about the kingdom of God and trying to persuade them concerning Jesus, ^(AE)from both the Law of Moses and from the Prophets, from morning until evening. ^24 (AF)Some were being persuaded by the things said by Paul, but others would not believe. ²⁵ And when they disagreed with one another, they began leaving after Paul said one parting statement: “The Holy Spirit rightly spoke through Isaiah the prophet to your fathers, ²⁶ saying,

²⁸ Therefore, let it be known to you that ^(AJ)this salvation of God has been sent ^(AK)to the Gentiles; they will also listen.”^[y]

³⁰ Now Paul stayed two full years ^[z]in his own rented lodging and welcomed all who came to him, ^31 [aa](AL)preaching the kingdom of God and teaching things about the Lord Jesus Christ ^(AM)with all openness, unhindered.