Esther’s Plea

7 Now the king and Haman came to drink wine with Esther the queen. ² And the king said to Esther on the second day also ^[a]as they drank their wine at the banquet, “^(A)What is your request, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your wish? ^(B)Up to half of the kingdom it shall be done.” ³ Then Queen Esther replied, “^(C)If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me as my request, and my people as my wish; ⁴ for ^(D)we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, ^(E)killed, and eliminated. Now if we had only been sold as slaves, men and women, I would have kept silent, because the distress would not be sufficient reason to burden the king.” ⁵ Then King Ahasuerus ^[b]asked Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, ^[c]who would presume to do such a thing?” ⁶ And Esther said, “^(F)A foe and an enemy is this wicked Haman!” Then Haman became terrified before the king and queen.

Haman Is Hanged

⁷ The king then got up ^(G)in his anger from ^[d]drinking wine and went into ^(H)the palace garden; but Haman stayed to beg for his life from Queen Esther, for he saw that harm had been determined against him by the king. ⁸ Now when the king returned from the palace garden into the ^[e]place where they had been drinking wine, Haman was falling on ^(I)the couch where Esther was. Then the king said, “Will he even assault the queen with me in the house?” As the word went out of the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face. ⁹ Then Harbonah, one of the eunuchs who stood before the king, said, “Indeed, behold, ^(J)the wooden gallows standing at Haman’s house ^[f]fifty cubits high, which Haman made for Mordecai ^(K)who spoke good in behalf of the king!” And the king said, “Hang him on it.” ^10 (L)So they hanged Haman on the wooden gallows which he had prepared for Mordecai, ^(M)and the king’s anger subsided.

The Impartiality of God

2 Therefore you have ^(A)no excuse, ^[a]you foolish person, ^(B)everyone of you who passes judgment; for ^[b]in that matter in which ^(C)you judge someone else, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. ² And we know that the judgment of God ^[c]rightly falls upon those who practice such things. ³ But do you suppose this, ^[d](D)you foolish person who passes judgment on those who practice such things, and yet does them as well, that you will escape the judgment of God? ⁴ Or do you think lightly of ^(E)the riches of His ^(F)kindness and ^[e](G)restraint and ^(H)patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? ⁵ But ^[f]because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart ^(I)you are storing up wrath for yourself ^(J)on the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, ^6 (K)who will repay each person according to his deeds: ⁷ to those who by ^(L)perseverance in doing good seek ^(M)glory, honor, and ^(N)immortality, He will give ^(O)eternal life; ⁸ but to those who are ^(P)self-serving and ^(Q)do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, He will give wrath and indignation. ⁹ There will be ^(R)tribulation and distress ^[g]for every soul of mankind who does evil, ^[h]for the Jew ^(S)first and also ^[i]for the Greek, ¹⁰ but ^(T)glory, honor, and peace to everyone who does what is good, to the Jew ^(U)first and also to the Greek. ¹¹ For ^(V)there is no partiality with God.

¹² For all who have sinned ^[j](W)without the Law will also perish ^[k]without the Law, and all who have sinned ^[l]under the Law will be judged ^[m]by the Law; ¹³ for it is ^(X)not the hearers ^[n]of the Law who are ^[o]righteous before God, but the doers ^[p]of the Law who will be justified. ¹⁴ For when Gentiles who do not have ^[q]the Law ^[r](Y)instinctively perform the requirements of the Law, these, though not having ^[s]the Law, are a law to themselves, ¹⁵ in that they show ^(Z)the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience testifying and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, ¹⁶ on the day when, ^(AA)according to my gospel, ^(AB)God will judge the secrets of mankind through Christ Jesus.

The Jews under the Law

¹⁷ But if you call yourself a ^[t]Jew and ^(AC)rely ^[u]upon the Law and boast in God, ¹⁸ and know His will and ^[v](AD)distinguish the things that matter, being instructed from the Law, ¹⁹ and are confident that you yourself are a guide to people who are blind, a light to those in darkness, ²⁰ a ^[w]corrector of the foolish, a teacher of ^[x]the immature, possessing in the Law ^(AE)the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth— ²¹ you, therefore, ^(AF)who teach someone else, do you not teach yourself? You who ^[y]preach that one is not to steal, do you steal? ²² You who say that one is not to commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who loathe idols, do you ^(AG)rob temples? ²³ You who ^(AH)boast ^[z]in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God? ²⁴ For “^(AI)the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles ^(AJ)because of you,” just as it is written.

²⁵ For indeed circumcision is of value if you ^(AK)practice ^[aa]the Law; but if you are a violator ^[ab]of the Law, ^(AL)your circumcision has turned into uncircumcision. ^26 (AM)So if ^(AN)the ^[ac]uncircumcised man ^(AO)keeps the requirements of the Law, will his uncircumcision not be regarded as circumcision? ²⁷ And ^(AP)he who is physically uncircumcised, if he keeps the Law, will he not ^(AQ)judge you who ^[ad]though having the letter of the Law and circumcision are a violator ^[ae]of the Law? ²⁸ For ^(AR)he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. ²⁹ But ^(AS)he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and ^(AT)circumcision is of the heart, by the ^(AU)Spirit, not by the letter; ^(AV)and his praise is not from people, but from God.