Old/New Testament

The Feasts of the King and Queen

1 Now it happened in the days of ^(A)Ahasuerus, the Ahasuerus who reigned ^(B)from India to ^[a]Ethiopia over ^(C)127 provinces, ² in those days as King Ahasuerus ^(D)sat on his royal throne which was at the citadel in ^(E)Susa, ³ in the third year of his reign, ^(F)he held a feast for all his princes and servants, the military officers of Persia and Media, the nobles and the princes of his provinces being in his presence, ^4 [b]while he displayed the riches of his royal glory and the splendor of his great majesty for many days, 180 days.

⁵ And when these days were fulfilled, the king held a feast lasting seven days for all the people who were present at the citadel in Susa, from the greatest to the least, in the court of ^(G)the garden of the king’s palace. ⁶ There were hangings of fine white and ^[c]blue linen held by cords of fine purple linen on silver rings and marble pillars, and ^(H)couches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl, and precious stones. ⁷ And drinks were served in golden vessels of various kinds, and the royal wine was plentiful ^(I)according to the king’s hand. ⁸ And the drinking was done according to the law; there was no compulsion, for so the king had established it for each official of his household—that he should do according to what pleased each person. ⁹ Queen Vashti also held a feast for the women in the royal house which belonged to King Ahasuerus.

Queen Vashti’s Refusal

¹⁰ On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was ^(J)merry with wine, he said for Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carkas, the seven eunuchs who attended to the presence of King Ahasuerus, ¹¹ to bring Queen Vashti before the king with her royal ^(K)crown in order to display her beauty to the people and the princes, for she was ^[d]beautiful in appearance. ¹² But Queen Vashti refused to come at the word of the king which was delivered by the hand of the eunuchs. Then the king became exceedingly furious, and his wrath burned within him.

¹³ Then the king said to ^(L)the wise men ^(M)who knew the times—for it was the custom of the king thus to speak before all who knew law and justice ¹⁴ and were close to him: Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven princes of Persia and Media ^(N)who ^[e]had access to the king’s presence and sat in the first place in the kingdom— ¹⁵ “According to law, what is to be done with Queen Vashti, because she did not do the declaration of King Ahasuerus delivered by the hand of the eunuchs?” ¹⁶ Then in the presence of the king and the princes, Memucan said, “Queen Vashti has committed iniquity against not only the king but also against all the princes and all the peoples who are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus. ¹⁷ For the word about the queen will get out to all the women causing them to despise their husbands in their eyes by saying, ‘King Ahasuerus said for Queen Vashti to be brought in to his presence, but she did not come.’ ¹⁸ This day the ladies of Persia and Media who have heard of the word about the queen will speak in the same way to all the king’s princes, and there will be plenty of spite and indignation. ¹⁹ If it seems good to the king, let a royal word go forth from him, and let it be written in the laws of Persia and Media so ^(O)that it cannot ^[f]be repealed, that Vashti may no longer come into the presence of King Ahasuerus, and let the king give her royal position to ^[g]another who is better than she. ²⁰ And the king’s sentence, which he will make, will be heard throughout all his kingdom, for it is ^[h]vast, and ^(P)all women will give respect to their husbands, great and small.”

²¹ And this word was good in the eyes of the king and the princes, and the king did according to the word of Memucan. ²² So he sent letters to all the king’s provinces, ^(Q)to each province according to its script and to every people according to their tongue, that every man should ^(R)be the ruler in his own house and the one who speaks in the tongue of his own people.

A Queen in Place of Vashti

2 After these things ^(S)when the wrath of King Ahasuerus had subsided, he remembered Vashti and what she had done and ^(T)what had been decided against her. ² Then the young men of the king, who attended to him, said, “^(U)Let young virgins, beautiful in appearance, be sought for the king. ³ And let the king appoint overseers in ^(V)all the provinces of his kingdom that they may gather every young virgin, beautiful in appearance, to the citadel of Susa, to the harem, into the hand of ^(W)Hegai, the king’s eunuch, who keeps charge of the women; and ^(X)let their cosmetics be given to them. ⁴ Then let the young lady who is good in the eyes of the king be queen in place of Vashti.” And the word was good in the eyes of the king, and he did so.

⁵ Now there was at the citadel in Susa a Jew. And his name was ^(Y)Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite, ^6 (Z)who had been taken away into exile from Jerusalem with the exiles who had been taken away into exile with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had taken away into exile. ⁷ And he was bringing up Hadassah, that is ^(AA)Esther, his uncle’s daughter, for she had no father or mother. Now the young lady was beautiful in form and beautiful in appearance, and when her father and her mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter.

Esther Advances in Favor

⁸ Now it happened that when the word and law of the king were heard and ^(AB)many young ladies were gathered to the citadel of Susa into the hand of ^(AC)Hegai, that Esther was taken to the king’s ^[i]house into the hand of Hegai, who kept charge of the women. ⁹ And the young lady was good in his eyes, and she advanced in lovingkindness before him. So he hurried to give her ^(AD)cosmetics and portions of food to her, and to give to her seven choice young women from the king’s ^[j]house. And he transferred her and her young women to the best place in the harem. ^10 (AE)Esther did not tell anyone about her people or her kinsmen, for Mordecai had commanded her that she should not tell anyone about them. ¹¹ And every day Mordecai walked back and forth in front of the court of the harem to know the well-being of Esther and ^[k]how she fared.

¹² Now when it reached the turn of each young lady to go in to King Ahasuerus, after the end of her twelve months under the regulations for the women—for the days of their cosmetic treatment were fulfilled as follows: six months with oil of myrrh and six months with spices and the cosmetics for women— ¹³ then the young lady would go in to the king in this way: anything that she said she desired was given to her to come with her from the harem to the king’s house. ¹⁴ In the evening she would go in, and in the morning she would return to the second harem, to the hand of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch who kept charge of the concubines. She would not again go in to the king unless the king delighted in her and she was summoned by name.

¹⁵ Now when it reached the turn of Esther, ^(AF)the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai who had taken her as his daughter, to go in to the king, she did not seek anything except what ^(AG)Hegai, the king’s eunuch who kept charge of the women, said. And Esther advanced in favor in the eyes of all who saw her. ¹⁶ So Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus to his royal house in the tenth month which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.

Esther Is Made Queen

¹⁷ And the king loved Esther more than all the women, and she advanced in favor and lovingkindness before him more than all the virgins, so that ^(AH)he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen in place of Vashti. ¹⁸ Then ^(AI)the king held a great feast, Esther’s feast, for all his princes and his servants; he also held a remission of taxes for the provinces and gave gifts ^(AJ)according to the king’s hand.

^19 (AK)And when the virgins were gathered together the second time, then Mordecai ^(AL)was sitting at the king’s gate. ^20 (AM)Esther had not yet told anyone about her kinsmen or her people, just as Mordecai had commanded her; indeed Esther was doing ^[l]what Mordecai declared that she do, just as she had done ^(AN)when she was being brought up by him.

Two of the King’s Eunuchs Are Hanged

²¹ In those days, while Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, ^(AO)Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs from those who were doorkeepers, became furious and sought to send forth their hand against King Ahasuerus. ²² But the matter became known to Mordecai, and ^(AP)he told it to Queen Esther, and Esther said it to the king in Mordecai’s name. ²³ Then the matter was sought out and found to be true, so they were both hanged on a ^[m]gallows; and it was written in ^(AQ)the book of the chronicles in the king’s presence.

Ananias and Sapphira

5 But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, ² and ^(A)kept back some of the price for himself, with his wife’s ^[a]full knowledge. And bringing a portion of it, he ^(B)laid it at the apostles’ feet. ³ But Peter said, “Ananias, why has ^(C)Satan filled your heart to lie ^(D)to the Holy Spirit and to ^(E)keep back some of the price of the land? ⁴ While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not ^[b]under your authority? Why is it that you laid this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but ^(F)to God.” ⁵ And as he heard these words, Ananias ^(G)fell down and breathed his last; and ^(H)great fear came over all who heard. ⁶ And the young men rose up and ^(I)wrapped him up, and after carrying him out, they buried him.

⁷ Now there was an interval of about three hours, and his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. ⁸ And Peter responded to her, “Tell me whether you were paid ^(J)this much for the land?” And she said, “Yes, that much.” ⁹ Then Peter said to her, “Why is it that you have agreed together to ^(K)put ^(L)the Spirit of the ^[c]Lord to the test? Behold, the feet of those who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out as well.” ¹⁰ And immediately she ^(M)fell at his feet and breathed her last, and the young men came in and found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. ¹¹ And ^(N)great fear came over the whole church, and over all who heard these things.

¹² Now ^[d]at the hands of the apostles many ^(O)signs and wonders were happening among the people, and they were all with one accord in ^(P)Solomon’s Portico. ¹³ But none of the rest dared to associate with them; however, ^(Q)the people were holding them in high esteem. ¹⁴ And more than ever ^(R)believers in the Lord were ^(S)added to their number, multitudes of men and women, ¹⁵ to such an extent that they even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, so that when Peter came by ^(T)at least his shadow might fall on any one of them. ¹⁶ Also the multitude from the cities in the vicinity of Jerusalem were coming together, bringing people who were sick ^[e]or afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all being healed.

The Apostles Jailed and Freed

¹⁷ But the high priest rose up and those with him (that is ^(U)the sect of ^(V)the Sadducees), and they were filled with jealousy. ¹⁸ And they laid hands on the apostles and ^(W)put them in a public jail. ¹⁹ But during the night ^(X)an angel of the ^[f]Lord opened the doors of the prison, and taking them out, he said, ²⁰ “Go, stand and ^[g]speak to the people in the temple ^[h](Y)the whole message of this Life.” ²¹ Upon hearing this, they entered into the temple ^(Z)about daybreak and began to teach.

Now when ^(AA)the high priest and those with him came, they called ^(AB)the Sanhedrin together, even all the Council of the sons of Israel, and sent orders to the jailhouse for them to be brought.