7 So the king and Haman went in to feast with Queen Esther. ² And on the second day, as they were drinking wine after the feast, the king again said to Esther, ^(A)“What is your wish, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? ^(B)Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.” ³ Then Queen Esther answered, ^(C)“If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be granted me for my wish, and my people for my request. ^4 (D)For we have been sold, I and my people, ^(E)to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I would have been silent, for our affliction is not to be compared with the loss to the king.” ⁵ Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who has dared^[a] to do this?” ⁶ And Esther said, ^(F)“A foe and enemy! This wicked Haman!” Then Haman was terrified before the king and the queen.

Haman Is Hanged

⁷ And the king arose in his wrath from the wine-drinking and went into ^(G)the palace garden, but Haman stayed to beg for his life from Queen Esther, for he saw that harm was determined against him by the king. ⁸ And the king returned from ^(H)the palace garden to the place where they were drinking wine, as Haman was falling on ^(I)the couch where Esther was. And the king said, “Will he even assault the queen in my presence, in my own house?” As the word left the mouth of the king, they covered Haman's face. ⁹ Then ^(J)Harbona, one of the eunuchs in attendance on the king, said, “Moreover, ^(K)the gallows^[b] that Haman has prepared for Mordecai, ^(L)whose word saved the king, is standing at Haman's house, fifty cubits^[c] high.” And the king said, “Hang him on that.” ^10 (M)So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. ^(N)Then the wrath of the king abated.

Esther Saves the Jews

8 On that day King Ahasuerus gave to Queen Esther the house of Haman, ^(O)the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told ^(P)what he was to her. ^2 (Q)And the king took off his signet ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.

³ Then Esther spoke again to the king. She fell at his feet and wept and pleaded with him to avert the evil plan of Haman ^(R)the Agagite and the plot that he had devised against the Jews. ^4 (S)When the king held out the golden scepter to Esther, Esther rose and stood before the king. ⁵ And she said, “If it please the king, ^(T)and if I have found favor in his sight, and if the thing seems right before the king, and I am pleasing in his eyes, let an order be written to revoke ^(U)the letters devised by Haman ^(V)the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, which he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all the provinces of the king. ⁶ For how can I bear ^(W)to see the calamity that is coming to my people? Or how can I bear to see the destruction of my kindred?” ⁷ Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Behold, ^(X)I have given Esther the house of Haman, and they have hanged him on the gallows,^[d] because he intended to lay hands on the Jews. ⁸ But you may write as you please with regard to the Jews, in the name of the king, ^(Y)and seal it with the king's ring, for an edict written in the name of the king and sealed with the king's ring ^(Z)cannot be revoked.”

^9 (AA)The king's scribes were summoned at that time, in the third month, which is the month of Sivan, on the twenty-third day. And an edict was written, according to all that Mordecai commanded concerning the Jews, to ^(AB)the satraps and the governors and the officials of the provinces ^(AC)from India to Ethiopia, ^(AD)127 provinces, ^(AE)to each province in its own script and to each people in its own language, and also to the Jews in their script and their language. ^10 (AF)And he wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus ^(AG)and sealed it with the king's signet ring. Then he sent the letters by mounted couriers riding on ^(AH)swift horses that were used in the king's service, bred from the royal stud, ¹¹ saying that the king allowed the Jews who were in every city ^(AI)to gather and defend their lives, ^(AJ)to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate any armed force of any people or province that might attack them, children and women included, ^(AK)and to plunder their goods, ^12 (AL)on one day throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar. ^13 (AM)A copy of what was written was to be issued as a decree in every province, being publicly displayed to all peoples, and the Jews were to be ready on that day to take vengeance on their enemies. ¹⁴ So the couriers, mounted on their ^(AN)swift horses that were used in the king's service, rode out hurriedly, urged by the king's command. And the decree was issued in Susa the citadel.

¹⁵ Then Mordecai went out from the presence of the king ^(AO)in royal robes of blue and white, with a great golden crown^[e] and ^(AP)a robe of fine linen and purple, ^(AQ)and the city of Susa shouted and rejoiced. ¹⁶ The Jews had ^(AR)light and gladness and joy and honor. ¹⁷ And in every province and in every city, wherever the king's command and his edict reached, there was gladness and joy among the Jews, a feast and ^(AS)a holiday. ^(AT)And many from the peoples of the country declared themselves Jews, ^(AU)for fear of the Jews had fallen on them.

Paul in Corinth

18 After this Paul^[a] left Athens and went to Corinth. ² And he found a Jew named ^(A)Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife ^(B)Priscilla, because ^(C)Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them, ³ and ^(D)because he was of the same trade he stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade. ⁴ And ^(E)he reasoned in the synagogue ^(F)every Sabbath, and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks.

^5 (G)When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul ^(H)was occupied with the word, ^(I)testifying to the Jews that the Christ was ^(J)Jesus. ⁶ And when they opposed and reviled him, ^(K)he shook out his garments and said to them, ^(L)“Your blood be on your own heads! ^(M)I am innocent. ^(N)From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” ⁷ And he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius ^(O)Justus, ^(P)a worshiper of God. His house was next door to the synagogue. ^8 (Q)Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together ^(R)with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized. ⁹ And the Lord said to Paul ^(S)one night in ^(T)a vision, ^(U)“Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, ^10 (V)for I am with you, and ^(W)no one will attack you to harm you, for ^(X)I have many in this city who are my people.” ¹¹ And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

¹² But when Gallio was ^(Y)proconsul of Achaia, ^(Z)the Jews^[b] made a united attack on Paul and ^(AA)brought him before the tribunal, ¹³ saying, “This man is persuading people to worship God contrary to ^(AB)the law.” ¹⁴ But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of wrongdoing or vicious ^(AC)crime, O Jews, I would have reason to accept your complaint. ¹⁵ But ^(AD)since it is a matter of questions about words and names and ^(AE)your own law, see to it yourselves. I refuse to be a judge of these things.” ¹⁶ And he drove them from the tribunal. ¹⁷ And they all seized Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the tribunal. But Gallio paid no attention to any of this.

Paul Returns to Antioch

¹⁸ After this, Paul stayed many days longer and then took leave of ^(AF)the brothers^[c] and set sail for Syria, and with him ^(AG)Priscilla and Aquila. At ^(AH)Cenchreae ^(AI)he had cut his hair, for he was under a vow. ¹⁹ And they came to ^(AJ)Ephesus, and he left them there, but ^(AK)he himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. ²⁰ When they asked him to stay for a longer period, he declined. ²¹ But on taking leave of them he said, “I will return to you ^(AL)if God wills,” and he set sail from Ephesus.

²² When he had landed at Caesarea, he ^(AM)went up and greeted the church, and then went down to Antioch. ²³ After spending some time there, he departed and ^(AN)went from one place to the next through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, ^(AO)strengthening all the disciples.

Apollos Speaks Boldly in Ephesus

²⁴ Now a Jew named ^(AP)Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, ^(AQ)competent in the Scriptures. ²⁵ He had been instructed in ^(AR)the way of the Lord. And ^(AS)being fervent in spirit,^[d] he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only ^(AT)the baptism of John. ²⁶ He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when ^(AU)Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him ^(AV)the way of God more accurately. ²⁷ And when he wished to cross to ^(AW)Achaia, ^(AX)the brothers encouraged him and ^(AY)wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, ^(AZ)he greatly helped those who through grace had believed, ²⁸ for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures ^(BA)that the Christ was Jesus.