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.

How Shall We Sing the Lord's Song?

The Collection for Christians in Jerusalem

9 Now ^(A)it is superfluous for me to write to you about ^(B)the ministry for the saints, ² for I know your readiness, ^(C)of which I boast about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that Achaia has been ready ^(D)since last year. And your zeal has stirred up most of them. ³ But ^(E)I am sending^[a] the brothers so that our boasting about you may not prove empty in this matter, so that you may be ready, ^(F)as I said you would be. ⁴ Otherwise, if some Macedonians ^(G)come with me and find that you are not ready, we would be humiliated—to say nothing of you—for being so confident. ⁵ So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance for the ^(H)gift^[b] you have promised, so that it may be ready ^(I)as a willing gift, ^(J)not as an exaction.^[c]

The Cheerful Giver

⁶ The point is this: ^(K)whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully^[d] will also reap bountifully. ⁷ Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, ^(L)not reluctantly or under compulsion, for ^(M)God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸ And ^(N)God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency^[e] in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. ⁹ As it is written,

¹⁰ He who supplies ^(P)seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and ^(Q)increase the harvest of your righteousness. ^11 (R)You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which ^(S)through us will produce thanksgiving to God. ¹² For the ministry of this service is not only supplying ^(T)the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. ¹³ By their approval of this service, ^(U)they^[f] will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your ^(V)confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others, ¹⁴ while they long for you and pray for you, because of the surpassing grace of God upon you. ^15 (W)Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!