Esther’s Banquet

5 On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king’s palace, opposite the king’s hall. The king was sitting on his royal throne inside the palace opposite the entrance to the palace.^{(A) 2} As soon as the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, she won his favor, and he held out to her the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther approached and touched the top of the scepter.^{(B) 3} The king said to her, “What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? Even to half of my kingdom, it shall be given you.”^{(C) 4} Then Esther said, “If it pleases the king, let the king and Haman come today to a banquet that I have prepared for the king.” ⁵ Then the king said, “Bring Haman quickly, so that we may do as Esther desires.” So the king and Haman came to the banquet that Esther had prepared.^{(D) 6} While they were drinking wine, the king said to Esther, “What is your petition? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.”^{(E) 7} Then Esther answered, “This is my petition and request: ⁸ If I have won the king’s favor, and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and fulfill my request, let the king and Haman come tomorrow to the banquet that I will prepare for them, and then I will do as the king has said.”^(F)

Haman Plans to Have Mordecai Hung

⁹ Haman went out that day happy and in good spirits, but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king’s gate and observed that he neither rose nor trembled before him, he was infuriated with Mordecai;^{(G) 10} nevertheless, Haman restrained himself and went home. Then he sent and called for his friends and his wife Zeresh,^{(H) 11} and Haman recounted to them the splendor of his riches, the number of his sons, all the promotions with which the king had honored him, and how he had advanced him above the officials and the ministers of the king.^{(I) 12} Haman added, “Even Queen Esther let no one but myself come with the king to the banquet that she prepared. Tomorrow also I am invited by her, together with the king.^{(J) 13} Yet all this does me no good so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.”^{(K) 14} Then his wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, “Let a pole fifty cubits high be made, and in the morning tell the king to have Mordecai hung on it; then go with the king to the banquet in good spirits.” This advice pleased Haman, and he had the pole made.^(L)

Good Stewards of God’s Grace

4 Since, therefore, Christ suffered in the flesh,^[a] arm yourselves also with the same intention (for whoever has suffered in the flesh has finished with sin),^{(A) 2} so as to live for the rest of your time in the flesh no longer by human desires but by the will of God.^{(B) 3} You have already spent enough time in doing what the gentiles like to do, living in debauchery, passions, drunkenness, revels, carousing, and lawless idolatry.^{(C) 4} They are surprised that you no longer join them in the same excesses of dissipation, and so they blaspheme.^{[b](D) 5} But they will have to give an accounting to him who stands ready to judge the living and the dead.^{(E) 6} For this is the reason the gospel was proclaimed even to the dead, so that, though they had been judged in the flesh as everyone is judged, they might live in the spirit as God does.

⁷ The end of all things is near;^[c] therefore be serious and discipline yourselves for the sake of your prayers.^{(F) 8} Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins.^{(G) 9} Be hospitable to one another without complaining. ¹⁰ Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received.^{(H) 11} Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God; whoever serves must do so with the strength that God supplies, so that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ. To him belong the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.^(I)

The King Honors Mordecai

6 On that night the king could not sleep, and he gave orders to bring the book of records, the annals, and they were read to the king.^{(A) 2} It was found written how Mordecai had told about Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs who guarded the threshold and who had conspired to kill^[a] King Ahasuerus.^{(B) 3} Then the king said, “What honor or distinction has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?” The king’s servants who attended him said, “Nothing has been done for him.” ⁴ The king said, “Who is in the court?” Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the king’s palace to speak to the king about having Mordecai hung on the pole that he had prepared for him.^{(C) 5} So the king’s servants told him, “Haman is there, standing in the court.” The king said, “Let him come in.” ⁶ So Haman came in, and the king said to him, “What shall be done for the man whom the king wishes to honor?” Haman said to himself, “Whom would the king wish to honor more than me?”^{(D) 7} So Haman said to the king, “For the man whom the king wishes to honor, ⁸ let royal robes be brought, which the king has worn, and a horse that the king has ridden, with a royal crown on its head.^{(E) 9} Let the robes and the horse be handed over to one of the king’s most noble officials; let him^[b] robe the man whom the king wishes to honor, and let him^[c] conduct the man on horseback through the open square of the city, proclaiming before him: ‘Thus shall it be done for the man whom the king wishes to honor.’ ”^{(F) 10} Then the king said to Haman, “Quickly, take the robes and the horse, as you have said, and do so to Mordecai the Jew who sits at the king’s gate. Leave out nothing that you have mentioned.” ¹¹ So Haman took the robes and the horse and robed Mordecai and led him riding through the open square of the city, proclaiming, “Thus shall it be done for the man whom the king wishes to honor.”

¹² Then Mordecai returned to the king’s gate, but Haman hurried to his house, mourning and with his head covered.^{(G) 13} When Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had happened to him, his advisers and his wife Zeresh said to him, “If Mordecai, before whom your downfall has begun, is of the Jewish people, you will not prevail against him but will surely fall before him.”^(H)

Haman’s Downfall and Mordecai’s Advancement

¹⁴ While they were still talking with him, the king’s eunuchs arrived and hurried Haman off to the banquet that Esther had prepared.^(I) 7 ¹ So the king and Haman went in to feast with Queen Esther. ² On the second day, as they were drinking wine, the king again said to Esther, “What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.”^{(J) 3} Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have won your favor, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me—that is my petition—and the lives of my people—that is my request.^{(K) 4} For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I would have held my peace, but no enemy can compensate for this damage to the king.”^{[d](L) 5} Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who has presumed to do this?” ⁶ Esther said, “A foe and an enemy, this wicked Haman!” Then Haman was terrified before the king and the queen.^{(M) 7} The king rose from the feast in wrath and went into the palace garden, but Haman stayed to beg his life from Queen Esther, for he saw that the king had determined to destroy him. ⁸ When the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall, Haman had thrown himself on the couch where Esther was reclining, and the king said, “Will he even violate the queen in my presence, in my own house?” As the words left the mouth of the king, they covered Haman’s face.^{(N) 9} Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs in attendance on the king, said, “Look, the very pole that Haman has prepared for Mordecai, whose word saved the king,^[e] stands at Haman’s house, fifty cubits high.” And the king said, “Hang him on that.”^{(O) 10} So they hung Haman on the pole that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the anger of the king abated.

Suffering as a Christian

¹² Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. ¹³ But rejoice insofar as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed.^{(A) 14} If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory,^[a] which is the Spirit of God,^[b] is resting on you.^{[c](B) 15} But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, a criminal, or even as a mischief maker.^{[d](C) 16} Yet if any of you suffers as a Christian, do not consider it a disgrace, but glorify God because you bear this name.^{[e] 17} For the time has come for judgment to begin with the household of God; if it begins with us, what will be the end for those who do not obey the gospel of God?^{(D) 18} And

¹⁹ Therefore, let those suffering in accordance with God’s will entrust their lives to a faithful Creator, while continuing to do good.