Mordecai Promoted

8 On that day King Ahasuerus gave the house of Haman, ^(A)the enemy of the Jews, to Queen Esther; and Mordecai came before the king, because Esther had disclosed ^(B)what he was to her. ² Then ^(C)the king took off his signet ring, which he had taken away from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.

³ Then Esther spoke again ^[a]to the king, fell at his feet, wept, and pleaded for his compassion to avert the evil scheme of Haman the Agagite and his plot which he had devised against the Jews. ⁴ And ^(D)the king extended the golden scepter to Esther. So Esther got up and stood before the king. ⁵ Then she said, “^(E)If it pleases the king and if I have found favor before him, and the matter seems proper to the king and I am pleasing in his sight, let it be written to revoke the ^(F)letters devised by Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to eliminate the Jews who are in all the king’s provinces. ⁶ For ^(G)how can I endure to see the disaster which will happen to my people, and how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?” ⁷ So King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Behold, ^(H)I have given the house of Haman to Esther, and they have hanged him on the wooden gallows because he had reached out with his hand against the Jews.

The King’s Decree Avenges the Jews

⁸ Now you write to the Jews ^[b]as you see fit, in the king’s name, and ^(I)seal it with the king’s signet ring; for a decree which is written in the name of the king and sealed with the king’s signet ring ^(J)may not be revoked.”

^9 (K)So the king’s scribes were summoned at that time in the third month (that is, the month Sivan), on the twenty-third ^[c]day; and it was written in accordance with everything that Mordecai commanded the Jews, the satraps, the governors, and the officials of the provinces which extended ^(L)from India to ^[d]Cush, 127 provinces, to ^(M)every province according to its script, and to every people according to their language, as well as to the Jews according to their script and their language. ¹⁰ He wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus, and sealed it with the king’s signet ring, and sent letters by couriers on ^(N)horses, riding on royal relay horses, offspring of racing mares. ^11 [e]In the letters the king granted the Jews who were in each and every city the right ^(O)to assemble and to defend their lives, ^(P)to destroy, kill, and eliminate the entire army of any people or province which was going to attack them, including children and women, and ^(Q)to plunder their spoils, ¹² on ^(R)one day in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month (that is, the month Adar). ^13 (S)A copy of the edict to be ^[f]issued as law in each and every province was published to all the peoples, so that the Jews would be ready for this day to avenge themselves on their enemies. ¹⁴ The couriers, hurrying and speeded by the king’s command, left, riding on the royal relay horses; and the decree was issued at the citadel in Susa.

¹⁵ Then Mordecai went out from the presence of the king ^(T)in a royal robe of violet and white, with a large crown of gold and ^(U)a garment of fine linen and purple; and ^(V)the city of Susa shouted and rejoiced. ¹⁶ For the Jews there was ^(W)light, joy, jubilation, and honor. ¹⁷ In each and every province and in each and every city, wherever the king’s commandment and his decree arrived, there was joy and jubilation for the Jews, a feast and a ^[g](X)holiday. And ^(Y)many among the peoples of the land ^[h]became Jews, because the dread of the Jews had fallen on them.

All the World Guilty

3 Then what ^[a]advantage does the Jew have? Or what is the benefit of circumcision? ² Great in every respect. First, that ^(A)they were entrusted with the ^(B)actual words of God. ³ What then? If ^(C)some ^[b]did not believe, their ^[c]unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it? ^4 [d](D)Far from it! Rather, God must prove to be true, though every person be found ^(E)a liar, as it is written:

⁵ But if our unrighteousness ^[f](G)demonstrates the righteousness of God, ^(H)what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is He? (^(I)I am speaking from a human viewpoint.) ^6 (J)Far from it! For otherwise, how will ^(K)God judge the world? ⁷ But if through my lie ^(L)the truth of God abounded to His glory, ^(M)why am I also still being judged as a sinner? ⁸ And why not say (just as we are slanderously reported and as some claim that we say), “^(N)Let’s do evil that good may come of it”? ^[g]Their condemnation is deserved.

⁹ What then? ^[h](O)Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both ^(P)Jews and ^(Q)Greeks are ^(R)all under sin; ¹⁰ as it is written:

¹⁹ Now we know that whatever the ^(Y)Law says, it speaks to ^(Z)those who are ^[k]under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and ^(AA)all the world may become accountable to God; ²⁰ because ^(AB)by the works ^[l]of the Law ^[m]none of mankind will be justified in His sight; for ^[n](AC)through the Law comes ^[o]knowledge of sin.

Justification by Faith

²¹ But now apart ^[p]from the Law ^(AD)the righteousness of God has been revealed, being ^(AE)witnessed by the ^[q]Law and the Prophets, ²² but it is the ^(AF)righteousness of God through ^(AG)faith ^(AH)in Jesus Christ for ^(AI)all those ^[r]who believe; for ^(AJ)there is no distinction, ²³ for all ^[s](AK)have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ being justified as a gift ^(AL)by His grace through ^(AM)the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵ whom God displayed publicly as ^(AN)a ^[t]propitiation ^[u](AO)in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, ^[v]because in God’s merciful ^(AP)restraint He ^(AQ)let the sins previously committed go unpunished; ²⁶ for the demonstration, that is, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who ^[w]has faith in Jesus.

²⁷ Where then is ^(AR)boasting? It has been excluded. By ^(AS)what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. ^28 [x]For ^(AT)we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from works ^[y]of the Law. ²⁹ Or ^(AU)is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, ³⁰ since indeed ^(AV)God ^(AW)who will justify the ^[z]circumcised ^[aa]by faith and the ^[ab]uncircumcised through faith ^(AX)is one.

³¹ Do we then nullify ^[ac]the Law through faith? ^(AY)Far from it! On the contrary, we ^(AZ)establish the Law.