The Daily Audio Bible
Today's audio is from the EHV. Switch to the EHV to read along with the audio.
Mordecai is Promoted
8 On that day King Ahasuerus gave Queen Esther the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews; and Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told what he was to her. 2 And the king removed his signet ring that he had taken away from Haman, and he gave it to Mordecai. So Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.
3 And Esther again spoke before the king, and she fell before his feet and wept, pleading for his grace to avert Haman the Agagite’s evil plan and the plot that he devised against the Jews. 4 And the king held out to Esther the scepter of gold, and Esther rose and stood before the king, 5 and she said, “If it is good to the king, and if I have found favor before him,[a] and if the king is pleased with this matter, and I have his approval,[b] let an edict be written to revoke the letters of the plans of Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews that are in all the provinces of the king. 6 For how can I bear[c] to look on the disaster that will find my people, and how can I bear[d] to look on the destruction of my family?” 7 And King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Look, I have given Haman’s house to Esther, and they have hanged him on the gallows because he plotted against[e] the Jews. 8 Write as you see fit[f] concerning the Jews in the name of the king, and seal it with the king’s signet ring; for a decree that is written in the name of the king and sealed with the king’s signet ring cannot be revoked.”
9 And the secretaries of the king were summoned[g] at that time, in the third month, which is in the month of Sivan on the twenty-third day, and an edict was written according to all that Mordecai commanded, to the Jews and to the governors and satraps and officials of the provinces from India to Cush[h]—one hundred and twenty-seven provinces[i]—each province according to its own script and to every people in their own language,[j] and to the Jews in their own script and language. 10 And he wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus, and he sealed the letters with the king’s signet ring and sent them[k] by couriers on horses, riding on royal horses bred by[l] racing mares.[m] 11 In them the king allowed the Jews who were in every city to assemble and defend their lives,[n] to destroy and kill and annihilate any army of any people or province attacking them, including women and children, and to plunder their spoil, 12 in one day in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar. 13 A copy of the edict[o] was to be given as law in each province to inform all the people, so that the Jews would be ready[p] on that day to avenge themselves from their enemies. 14 The mounted couriers on the royal horses went out without delay, urged by the king’s word. The law was given in the citadel of Susa.
15 Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal clothing[q] of blue cloth and white linen, and a great crown of gold and a robe of fine white linen and purple, and the city of Susa was shouting and rejoicing. 16 For the Jews, there was light and gladness, joy and honor. 17 In every province and city, wherever the king’s edict and his law came, there was gladness and joy for the Jews, a banquet and a holiday,[r] and many of the people from the country were posing as Jews because the fear of the Jews had fallen on them.
The Jews Destroy Their Enemies
9 In the twelfth month, that is the month of Adar, on the thirteenth day, on which the edict of the king arrived and his law was enacted, on the day in which the enemies of the Jews had hoped to gain power over them but was overturned, and the Jews gained power against their enemies, 2 the Jews gathered in their cities in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to strike against[s] those who sought their destruction, and no one could withstand them,[t] as the fear of them fell on all the people. 3 All the officials of the provinces, the satraps, governors, and those who did the work of the king[u] were supporting the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai had fallen on them. 4 For Mordecai was high-ranking in the king’s palace[v] and his fame spread throughout all the provinces as Mordecai grew more and more powerful.[w] 5 The Jews struck down all their enemies with the sword,[x] killing and destroying them; and they did as they pleased with those that hated them. 6 And in the citadel of Susa the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men, 7 and Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, 8 Portha, Adalia, Aridatha, 9 Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha, 10 the ten sons of Haman, the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews; but they did not touch[y] the plunder.
11 On that day the number of those being killed in the citadel of Susa was reported to[z] the king. 12 And the king said to Queen Esther, “In the citadel of Susa the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men and the ten sons of Haman. What have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces? What is your petition? It will be granted to you. And what further is your request? It will be done.” 13 Esther replied, “If it is good to the king, let tomorrow also be granted to the Jews who are in Susa to do according to the edict of today; and let them hang Haman’s ten sons on the gallows.” 14 And the king said to do so. And a decree was issued in Susa and Haman’s ten sons were hanged. 15 And the Jews were gathered who were in Susa, and on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar and they killed in Susa three hundred men, but they did not touch[aa] the plunder.
16 The rest of the Jews who were in the king’s provinces gathered and defended their lives[ab] and found repose[ac] from their enemies. And they killed seventy-five thousand of those that hated them, but they did not touch[ad] the plunder. 17 This was on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar. They rested on the fourteenth day and made it a day of feasting and joy. 18 But the Jews who were in Susa gathered on the thirteenth and on the fourteenth day, and rested on the fifteenth day. And they made it a day of feasting and joy. 19 Therefore the Jews in the rural areas, living in the rural towns, made the fourteenth month of Adar a day of joy and feasting, a festive day of giving gifts to each other.
The Feast of Purim
20 Mordecai wrote down these things and he sent letters to all the Jews who were in all of the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far, 21 to impose on them to keep the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, and the fifteenth day, every year,[ae] 22 as the day that the Jews found relief[af] from their enemies, and the month which changed for them from sorrow to joy, and from a mourning ceremony to a festive day;[ag] to make them days of feasting and joy, and giving gifts to each other and to the poor. 23 And the Jews adopted what they had begun to do and what Mordecai had written to them.
24 For Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews had plotted against the Jews to destroy them, and he had cast pur, that is the lot, to rout them out and destroy them. 25 But when it came[ah] to the attention of[ai] the king, he gave orders in writing[aj] that his evil plot that he had devised against the Jews should return on his head, and they hung him and his sons on the gallows. 26 Therefore they called these days Purim, because of the name Pur. Thus because of all the words of this letter, and of what they faced concerning this, and of what had happened to them, 27 the Jews established and adopted it for themselves and for their offspring, and for all who joined them. They did not neglect to observe[ak] these two days every year as it was written and appointed to them. 28 These days are to be remembered and are to be kept in every generation, and in family, province, and city; and these days of Purim are not to be neglected among the Jews, and their memory shall not come to an end among their offspring.
29 So Queen Esther the daughter of Abihail and Mordecai the Jew wrote in full authority to confirm this second letter of Purim. 30 He sent letters of words of peace and truth to all the Jews, to the one hundred and twenty-seven provinces[al] of Ahasuerus’ kingdom, 31 to establish these days of Purim at their appointed times, just as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had imposed, and just as they had imposed on themselves and their offspring regulations of the fast and their lament. 32 And the command of Esther established these practices of Purim, and it was written on the scroll.
Title
10 King Ahasuerus imposed forced labor on the land and islands of the sea. 2 All the work of his authority and his powerful deeds,[am] and the full accounting of the greatness of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him, are they not written on the scroll of the chronicles[an] of the kings of Media and Persia? 3 For Mordecai the Jew was second-in-command to King Ahasuerus. He was great for the Jews and popular with many of his brothers, for he sought good for his people, interceding for the welfare of all his descendants.[ao]
27 Now you are the body of Christ, and members of it individually[a], 28 and whom God has appointed in the church: first, apostles, second, prophets, third, teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helps, administrations, kinds of tongues. 29 Not all are apostles, are they?[b] Not all are prophets, are they?[c] Not all are teachers, are they?[d] Not all are workers of miracles, are they?[e] 30 Not all have gifts of healing, do they?[f] Not all speak with tongues, do they?[g] Not all interpret, do they?[h] 31 But strive[i] for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.
Love, the More Excellent Way
13 If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a ringing brass gong or a clashing cymbal. 2 And if I have the gift of prophecy and I know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that I can remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 And if I parcel out all my possessions, and if I hand over my body in order that I will be burned,[j] but do not have love, it benefits me nothing.
4 Love is patient, love is kind, love is not jealous, it does not boast, it does not become conceited, 5 it does not behave dishonorably, it is not selfish[k], it does not become angry, it does not keep a record of wrongs, 6 it does not rejoice at unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth, 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never ends. But if there are prophecies, they will pass away. If there are tongues, they will cease. If there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but whenever the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I set aside the things of a child. 12 For now we see through a mirror indirectly[l], but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know completely, just as I have also been completely known. 13 And now these three things remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.
The Protection of the Righteous and the Destruction of the Wicked
Of David.[a]
37 Do not fret because of evildoers;
do not be envious of doers of wickedness.
2 For like the grass they will dry up quickly,
and like green vegetation they will wither.
3 Trust Yahweh and do good.
Abide in the land and feed on faithfulness.[b]
4 Take pleasure in Yahweh as well,
and he will give to you the requests of your heart.
5 Commit to[c] Yahweh your way;
Trust also on him and he will act.
6 Then he will bring forth your righteousness like the light,
and your justice like the noonday.
7 Be quiet before Yahweh and wait for him.
Do not fret about one who succeeds in his way,
about a man making plots.
8 Refrain from anger and forsake wrath.
Do not fret; it only brings evil.
9 For evildoers will be cut off,
but those who wait for Yahweh—
they will possess the land.
10 And[d] yet a little while and the wicked will not be,
and you will look carefully upon his place, but he will not be.
11 But the afflicted will possess the land,
and they will take pleasure in an abundance of peace.
23 He who guards his mouth and his tongue,
he guards his life[a] from danger.
24 The proud, haughty one: “scoffer” is his name;
he acts with arrogance of pride.
2012 by Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software