Old/New Testament
6 On that night the king could not sleep; and he ordered that the book of memorable deeds, the chronicles, be brought, and they were read before the king.
2 And it was found written there how Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s attendants who guarded the door, who had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus.
3 And the king said, What honor or distinction has been given Mordecai for this? Then the king’s servants who ministered to him said, Nothing has been done for him.
4 The king said, Who is in the court? Now Haman had just come into the outer court of the king’s palace to ask the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows he had prepared for him.
5 And the king’s servants said to him, Behold, Haman is standing in the court. And the king said, Let him come in.
6 So Haman came in. And the king said to him, What shall be done to the man whom the king delights to honor? Now Haman said to himself, To whom would the king delight to do honor more than to me?
7 And Haman said to the king, For the man whom the king delights to honor,
8 Let royal apparel be brought which the king has worn and the horse which the king has ridden, and a royal crown be set on his head.
9 And let the apparel and the horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king’s most noble princes. Let him array the man whom the king delights to honor, and conduct him on horseback through the open square of the city, and proclaim before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor.
10 Then the king said to Haman, Make haste and take the apparel 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 spoken.
11 Then Haman took the apparel and the horse and conducted Mordecai on horseback through the open square of the city, proclaiming before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor.
12 Then Mordecai came again to the king’s gate. But Haman hastened to his house, mourning and having his head covered.
13 And Haman recounted to Zeresh his wife and all his friends everything that had happened to him. Then his wise men and Zeresh his wife said to him, If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of the offspring of the Jews, you cannot prevail against him, but shall surely fall before him.
14 While they were yet talking with him, the king’s attendants came and hastily brought Haman to the dinner that Esther had prepared.
7 So the king and Haman came to dine with Esther the queen.
2 And the king said again to Esther on the second day when wine was being served, What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted. And what is your request? Even to the half of the kingdom, it shall be performed.
3 Then Queen Esther said, If I have found favor in your sight, O king and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me at my petition and my people at my request.
4 For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, slain, and wiped out of existence! But if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I would have held my tongue, for our affliction is not to be compared with the damage this will do to the king.
5 Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, Who is he, and where is he who dares presume in his heart to do that?
6 And Esther said, An adversary and an enemy, even this wicked Haman. Then Haman was afraid before the king and queen.
7 And the king arose from the feast in his wrath and went into the palace garden; and Haman stood up to make request for his life to Queen Esther, for he saw that there was evil determined against him by the king.
8 When the king returned out of the palace garden into the place of the drinking of wine, Haman was falling upon the couch where Esther was. Then said the king, Will he even forcibly assault the queen in my presence, in my own palace? As the king spoke the words, [the servants] covered Haman’s face.
9 Then said Harbonah, one of the attendants serving the king, Behold, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman has made for Mordecai, whose warning saved the king, stands at the house of Haman. And the king said, Hang him on it!
10 So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s wrath was pacified.
8 On that day King Ahasuerus gave the house of Haman, the Jews’ enemy, to Queen Esther. And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told what he was to her.
2 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 And Esther spoke yet again to the king and fell down at his feet and besought him with tears to avert the evil plot of Haman the Agagite and his scheme that he had devised against the Jews.
4 Then the king held out to Esther the golden scepter. So Esther arose and stood before the king.
5 And she said, If it pleases the king and if I have found favor in his sight and the thing seems right before the king and I am pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to reverse the letters devised by Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all the king’s provinces.
6 For how can I endure to see the evil that shall come upon my people? Or how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?
7 Then the King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and him they have hanged upon the gallows because he laid his hand upon the Jews.
8 Write also concerning the Jews as it pleases you in the king’s name, and seal it with the king’s [signet] ring—for writing which is in the king’s name and sealed with the king’s ring no man can reverse.
9 Then the king’s scribes were called, in the third month, the month of Sivan, on the twenty-third day, and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded to the Jews, to the chief rulers, and the governors and princes of the provinces from India to Ethiopia, 127 provinces, to every province in its own script and to every people in their own language and to the Jews according to their writing and according to their language.
10 He wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed it with the king’s ring and sent letters by messengers on horseback, riding on swift steeds, mules, and young dromedaries used in the king’s service, bred from the [royal] stud.
11 In it the king granted the Jews who were in every city to gather and defend their lives; to destroy, to slay, and to wipe out any armed force that might attack them, their little ones, and women; and to take the enemies’ goods for spoil.
12 On one day in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar,
13 A copy of the writing was to be issued as a decree in every province and as a proclamation to all peoples, and the Jews should be ready on that day to avenge themselves upon their enemies.
14 So the couriers, who were mounted on swift beasts that were used in the king’s service, went out, being hurried and urged on by the king’s command; and the decree was released in Shushan, the capital.
15 And Mordecai went forth from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white, with a great crown of gold and with a robe of fine linen and purple; and the city of Shushan shouted and rejoiced.
16 The Jews had light [a dawn of new hope] and gladness and joy and honor.
17 And in every province and in every city, wherever the king’s command and his decree came, the Jews had gladness and joy, a feast and a holiday. And many from among the peoples of the land [submitted themselves to Jewish rite and] became Jews, for the fear of the Jews had fallen upon them.
6 Now about this time, when the number of the disciples was greatly increasing, complaint was made by the Hellenists (the Greek-speaking Jews) against the [native] Hebrews because their widows were being overlooked and neglected in the daily ministration (distribution of relief).
2 So the Twelve [apostles] convened the multitude of the disciples and said, It is not seemly or desirable or right that we should have to give up or neglect [preaching] the Word of God in order to attend to serving at tables and superintending the distribution of food.
3 Therefore select out from among yourselves, brethren, seven men of good and attested character and repute, full of the [Holy] Spirit and wisdom, whom we may assign to look after this business and duty.
4 But we will continue to devote ourselves steadfastly to prayer and the ministry of the Word.
5 And the suggestion pleased the whole assembly, and they selected Stephen, a man full of faith (a strong and welcome belief that Jesus is the Messiah) and full of and controlled by the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte (convert) from Antioch.
6 These they presented to the apostles, who after prayer laid their hands on them.
7 And the message of God kept on spreading, and the number of disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem; and [besides] a large number of the priests were obedient to the faith [in Jesus as the Messiah, through Whom is obtained eternal salvation in the kingdom of God].
8 Now Stephen, full of grace (divine blessing and favor) and power (strength and ability) worked great wonders and signs (miracles) among the people.
9 However, some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (freed Jewish slaves), as it was called, and [of the synagogues] of the Cyrenians and of the Alexandrians and of those from Cilicia and [the province of] Asia, arose [and undertook] to debate and dispute with Stephen.
10 But they were not able to resist the intelligence and the wisdom and [the inspiration of] the Spirit with which and by Whom he spoke.
11 So they [secretly] instigated and instructed men to say, We have heard this man speak, using slanderous and abusive and blasphemous language against Moses and God.
12 [Thus] they incited the people as well as the elders and the scribes, and they came upon Stephen and arrested him and took him before the council (Sanhedrin).
13 And they brought forward false witnesses who asserted, This man never stops making statements against this sacred place and the Law [of Moses];
14 For we have heard him say that this Jesus the Nazarene will tear down and destroy this place, and will alter the institutions and usages which Moses transmitted to us.
15 Then all who sat in the council (Sanhedrin), as they gazed intently at Stephen, saw that his face had the appearance of the face of an angel.
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation