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16 But I, I shall call upon God,
    and by His word, the Eternal shall save me.
17 Evening, morning, and noon I will plead;
    I will grumble and moan before Him
    until He hears my voice.
18 And He will rescue my soul, untouched,
    plucked safely from the battle,
    despite the many who are warring against me.
19 God, enthroned from ancient times through eternity,
    will hear my prayers and strike them down.

[pause]

For they have refused change;
    they supply their every need and have no fear of God.

20 My friend has become a foe, breaking faith, tearing down peace.
    He’s betrayed our covenant.
21 Oh, how his pleasant voice is smoother than butter,
    while his heart is enchanted by war.
Oh, how his words are smoother than oil,
    and yet each is a sword drawn in his hand.

22 Cast your troubles upon the Eternal;
    His care is unceasing!
He will not allow
    His righteous to be shaken.

23 But You, O God, You will drive them
    into the lowest[a] pit—
Violent, lying people
    won’t live beyond their middle years.
But I place my trust in You.

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Notas al pie

  1. 55:23 Greek manuscripts read, “pit of destruction.” The idea is the grave or place of death.

16 As for me, I call to God,
    and the Lord saves me.
17 Evening,(A) morning(B) and noon(C)
    I cry out in distress,
    and he hears my voice.
18 He rescues me unharmed
    from the battle waged against me,
    even though many oppose me.
19 God, who is enthroned from of old,(D)
    who does not change—
he will hear(E) them and humble them,
    because they have no fear of God.(F)

20 My companion attacks his friends;(G)
    he violates his covenant.(H)
21 His talk is smooth as butter,(I)
    yet war is in his heart;
his words are more soothing than oil,(J)
    yet they are drawn swords.(K)

22 Cast your cares on the Lord
    and he will sustain you;(L)
he will never let
    the righteous be shaken.(M)
23 But you, God, will bring down the wicked
    into the pit(N) of decay;
the bloodthirsty and deceitful(O)
    will not live out half their days.(P)

But as for me, I trust in you.(Q)

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The Persians have a particularly grisly way of humiliating and killing those they hate. A tree is cut down and sharpened to a point at one end. In some cases, the condemned are killed, and their lifeless bodies are impaled on it. Others are hung on the pole as a mode of torture and execution. It is erected in some public place as an example for others, and the 75-foot pole described here is high enough to be seen over most buildings and small trees. Soon birds and insects begin eating away at the dead or dying. Political enemies, criminals, and dissidents often end their lives this way. The threat of public death and humiliation has kept many from disobeying the law, but not Mordecai.

That same night the king was unable to sleep, so he ordered the official records of his reign to be brought and read before him. As the record was read, the king was reminded of the time when Mordecai saved his life. Mordecai had been the one who reported that Bigthana and Teresh, two of the royal eunuchs who guarded the doors, were plotting to assassinate the king.[a]

King Ahasuerus (to his servants): Did Mordecai receive any recognition for this action? Was he honored in any way?

Servants: He received no recognition for this.

King Ahasuerus: Is anyone out in the court now?

Haman had just arrived at the outer court of King Ahasuerus’ palace. He hoped to speak with the king about executing Mordecai and hanging him on the pole he had prepared.

Servants: Haman is here waiting in the court to see you.

King Ahasuerus: Allow him to come in.

So Haman entered the king’s chambers. He waited for the king to speak first.

King Ahasuerus: Haman, I want to ask you something. What do you believe is the proper manner in which to honor a man who has pleased me?

Then Haman thought to himself, “There is no one the king wishes to honor more than me.”

Haman: If you desire to honor a man, I believe you should do this: First, have your servants bring one of the robes you have worn and one of the horses you have ridden that has worn the royal crown on its head. Then, you should give the robe and horse to one of your most noble officials. Have him robe the man whom you want to honor and then lead the man on horseback throughout the center of the city. It should be announced that this is what happens for the man whom the king wants to honor.

King Ahasuerus: 10 Your idea is perfect, Haman. I want you to go and do this immediately. Take one of my robes and one of my horses and do exactly what you have suggested to Mordecai, the Jewish man who sits at my gate. Do everything you have said, and don’t leave out one single detail. Not one!

The situation is now reversed, and Haman is forced to honor the man he has sought to kill.

11 Haman was mortified. He took the robe and horse; he dressed Mordecai in the king’s robe and led him throughout the square of the city.

Haman (shouting): This is what happens for the man whom the king desires to honor!

12 When it was done, Mordecai returned to the king’s gate. But Haman fled to his home, mourning and covering his head in humiliation. 13 He told his wife, Zeresh, and all his friends everything that had happened to him. They offered him a bit of wise advice.

Zeresh and His Friends: You must be very careful with how you handle Mordecai! If he really is a Jew, a descendant of the nation that defeated your ancestors, then you won’t be able to succeed. In fact, you will most certainly be destroyed! Look, you’ve already begun to bow to him.

14 In the middle of their conversation, the king’s eunuchs arrived at Haman’s house and rushed him off to have dinner with Esther and the king.

King Ahasuerus and Haman came to dine with Queen Esther; and while they were drinking wine, the king posed his question once again.

King Ahasuerus: What is your request, Queen Esther? I’m willing to give you anything you want. Just make your request. Even if it’s half the kingdom you desire, I will make it happen!

Queen Esther: If you favor me, my king, and if it pleases you, spare my life. That’s all I’m asking for—that my people and I be spared. That is my wish. There are some, my king, who wish to rid your kingdom of us. For my people and I have been sold, marked for destruction and massacre. Now if the plan were simply to sell our men and women into slavery, I would have kept my mouth closed because that would not have been important enough to disturb you, my king.

Esther’s plea to Ahasuerus echoes the words of Moses to Pharaoh: “Let my people go.”

King Ahasuerus: Who has targeted your people? Where is this man who dares to do this?

Queen Esther (pointing to Haman): The man responsible for these actions is wicked Haman. He is vile, and an enemy to my people.

In that moment, Haman’s joy turned to terror before the king and queen.

Notas al pie

  1. 6:2 Esther 2:21–22

Mordecai Honored

That night the king could not sleep;(A) so he ordered the book of the chronicles,(B) the record of his reign, to be brought in and read to him. It was found recorded there that Mordecai had exposed Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s officers who guarded the doorway, who had conspired to assassinate King Xerxes.(C)

“What honor and recognition has Mordecai received for this?” the king asked.

“Nothing has been done for him,”(D) his attendants answered.

The king said, “Who is in the court?” Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the palace to speak to the king about impaling Mordecai on the pole he had set up for him.

His attendants answered, “Haman is standing in the court.”

“Bring him in,” the king ordered.

When Haman entered, the king asked him, “What should be done for the man the king delights to honor?”

Now Haman thought to himself, “Who is there that the king would rather honor than me?” So he answered the king, “For the man the king delights to honor, have them bring a royal robe(E) the king has worn and a horse(F) the king has ridden, one with a royal crest placed on its head. Then let the robe and horse be entrusted to one of the king’s most noble princes. Let them robe the man the king delights to honor, and lead him on the horse through the city streets, proclaiming before him, ‘This is what is done for the man the king delights to honor!(G)’”

10 “Go at once,” the king commanded Haman. “Get the robe and the horse and do just as you have suggested for Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king’s gate. Do not neglect anything you have recommended.”

11 So Haman got(H) the robe and the horse. He robed Mordecai, and led him on horseback through the city streets, proclaiming before him, “This is what is done for the man the king delights to honor!”

12 Afterward Mordecai returned to the king’s gate. But Haman rushed home, with his head covered(I) in grief, 13 and told Zeresh(J) his wife and all his friends everything that had happened to him.

His advisers and his wife Zeresh said to him, “Since Mordecai, before whom your downfall(K) has started, is of Jewish origin, you cannot stand against him—you will surely come to ruin!”(L) 14 While they were still talking with him, the king’s eunuchs arrived and hurried Haman away to the banquet(M) Esther had prepared.

Haman Impaled

So the king and Haman went to Queen Esther’s banquet,(N) and as they were drinking wine(O) on the second day, the king again asked, “Queen Esther, what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom,(P) it will be granted.(Q)

Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor(R) with you, Your Majesty, and if it pleases you, grant me my life—this is my petition. And spare my people—this is my request. For I and my people have been sold to be destroyed, killed and annihilated.(S) If we had merely been sold as male and female slaves, I would have kept quiet, because no such distress would justify disturbing the king.[a]

King Xerxes asked Queen Esther, “Who is he? Where is he—the man who has dared to do such a thing?”

Esther said, “An adversary and enemy! This vile Haman!”

Then Haman was terrified before the king and queen.

Notas al pie

  1. Esther 7:4 Or quiet, but the compensation our adversary offers cannot be compared with the loss the king would suffer

For Paul, the astonishing truth of the gospel has to do with what God is now doing with the non-Jews. Apparently God’s plan all along is to make those who are not His people into His people. All those who never experienced God’s love are now experiencing it as they enter into the life of the Spirit through faith. But what does this mean for Israel? Israel, too, is included in the people of God; but again, this does not mean all of Israel. Pedigree is not what counts; faith is. As it was in the days of the prophets, so it is again. Divine judgment is falling on disobedience, but a remnant of faithful Jews—a fraction of the whole—is being saved.

30 So what does all of this mean? Did the non-Jews stumble into a right standing with God without chasing after it? Yes, they found it through faith. 31 And has Israel, who pursued the law to secure a right standing with God, failed to keep the law? Yes again. 32 And why is that? Because Israel did not follow the path of faith. They thought that whatever they needed to be right with God could be accomplished by doing the works of the law; they tripped over the stumbling stone. 33 As the Scriptures say,

Look what I am going to do in Zion.
I’ll put in place a stone that makes them stumble, a rock that trips them up,
    and those who trust in it will not be disgraced.[a]

10 My brothers and sisters, I pray constantly to God for the salvation of my people; it is the deep desire of my heart. What I can say about them is that they are enthusiastic about God, but that won’t lead them to Him because their zeal is not based on true knowledge. In their ignorance about how God is working to make things right, they have been trying to establish their own right standing with God through the law. But they are not operating under God’s saving, restorative justice. You see, God’s purpose for the law reaches its climax when the Anointed One arrives; now all who trust in Him can have their lives made right with God.

Notas al pie

  1. 9:33 Isaiah 8:14; 28:16

Israel’s Unbelief

30 What then shall we say?(A) That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith;(B) 31 but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness,(C) have not attained their goal.(D) 32 Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone.(E) 33 As it is written:

“See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes people to stumble
    and a rock that makes them fall,
    and the one who believes in him will never be put to shame.”[a](F)

10 Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire(G) and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. For I can testify about them that they are zealous(H) for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.(I) Christ is the culmination of the law(J) so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.(K)

Notas al pie

  1. Romans 9:33 Isaiah 8:14; 28:16