Good God!

Purpose in the Pause: Finding Hope in the Waiting

Hearing God When It Seems Impossible

How to Read the Bible

Everyone Plays a Part

The Adversity Gospel: Trading Prosperity Promises and Deep Disappointment for Unsinkable Hope

SHEMA: Hear and Obey

New Morning Mercies for Teens: A 10-Day Gospel Devotional

Blessed: Unlocking the Power of the Beatitudes

Led by the Spirit: Journey Through the Book of Acts Part 2

The Listener’s Bible®: NIV Edition

New International Version™  (Anglicised), Audio Edition

Holy Bible, New International Version™ (Anglicised), South Asian Audio Edition

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkEST">
      <div class="chapter ch8" data-usfm="EST.8">
         <div class="label">8</div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">The King&#8217;s Edict in Behalf of the Jews</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="EST.8.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">That same day King Xerxes gave Queen Esther the estate of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came into the presence of the king, for Esther had told how he was related to her. </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="EST.8.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">The king took off his signet ring, which he had reclaimed from Haman, and presented it to Mordecai. And Esther appointed him over Haman&#8217;s estate.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="EST.8.2"></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="EST.8.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">Esther again pleaded with the king, falling at his feet and weeping. She begged him to put an end to the evil plan of Haman the Agagite, which he had devised against the Jews. </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="EST.8.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">Then the king extended the gold scepter to Esther and she arose and stood before him.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="EST.8.4"></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="EST.8.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">&#8220;If it pleases the king,&#8221; she said, &#8220;and if he regards me with favor and thinks it the right thing to do, and if he is pleased with me, let an order be written overruling the dispatches that Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, devised and wrote to destroy the Jews in all the king&#8217;s provinces. </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="EST.8.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">For how can I bear to see disaster fall on my people? How can I bear to see the destruction of my family?&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="EST.8.6"></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="EST.8.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">King Xerxes replied to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, &#8220;Because Haman attacked the Jews, I have given his estate to Esther, and they have impaled him on the pole he set up. </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="EST.8.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">Now write another decree in the king&#8217;s name in behalf of the Jews as seems best to you, and seal it with the king&#8217;s signet ring&#8212;for no document written in the king&#8217;s name and sealed with his ring can be revoked.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="EST.8.8"></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="EST.8.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">At once the royal secretaries were summoned&#8212;on the twenty-third day of the third month, the month of Sivan. They wrote out all Mordecai&#8217;s orders to the Jews, and to the satraps, governors and nobles of the 127 provinces stretching from India to Cush.</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class="body"><span class="fr">8:9 </span><span class="ft">That is, the upper Nile region</span></span></span><span class="content"> These orders were written in the script of each province and the language of each people and also to the Jews in their own script and language. </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="EST.8.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">Mordecai wrote in the name of King Xerxes, sealed the dispatches with the king&#8217;s signet ring, and sent them by mounted couriers, who rode fast horses especially bred for the king.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="EST.8.10"></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="EST.8.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">The king&#8217;s edict granted the Jews in every city the right to assemble and protect themselves; to destroy, kill and annihilate the armed men of any nationality or province who might attack them and their women and children,</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class="body"><span class="fr">8:11 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">province, together with their women and children, who might attack them;</span></span></span><span class="content"> and to plunder the property of their enemies. </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="EST.8.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">The day appointed for the Jews to do this in all the provinces of King Xerxes was the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar. </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="EST.8.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">A copy of the text of the edict was to be issued as law in every province and made known to the people of every nationality so that the Jews would be ready on that day to avenge themselves on their enemies.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="EST.8.13"></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="EST.8.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">The couriers, riding the royal horses, went out, spurred on by the king&#8217;s command, and the edict was issued in the citadel of Susa.</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">The Triumph of the Jews</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="EST.8.14"></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="EST.8.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">When Mordecai left the king&#8217;s presence, he was wearing royal garments of blue and white, a large crown of gold and a purple robe of fine linen. And the city of Susa held a joyous celebration. </span></span><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="EST.8.16"><span class="label">16</span><span class="content">For the Jews it was a time of happiness and joy, gladness and honor. </span></span><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="EST.8.17"><span class="label">17</span><span class="content">In every province and in every city to which the edict of the king came, there was joy and gladness among the Jews, with feasting and celebrating. And many people of other nationalities became Jews because fear of the Jews had seized them.</span></span></div>
      </div>
   </div>
</div>

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkEST">
      <div class="chapter ch9" data-usfm="EST.9">
         <div class="label">9</div><div class="p"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="EST.9.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, the edict commanded by the king was to be carried out. On this day the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, but now the tables were turned and the Jews got the upper hand over those who hated them. </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="EST.9.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">The Jews assembled in their cities in all the provinces of King Xerxes to attack those determined to destroy them. No one could stand against them, because the people of all the other nationalities were afraid of them. </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="EST.9.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">And all the nobles of the provinces, the satraps, the governors and the king&#8217;s administrators helped the Jews, because fear of Mordecai had seized them. </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="EST.9.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">Mordecai was prominent in the palace; his reputation spread throughout the provinces, and he became more and more powerful.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="EST.9.4"></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="EST.9.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">The Jews struck down all their enemies with the sword, killing and destroying them, and they did what they pleased to those who hated them. </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="EST.9.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">In the citadel of Susa, the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men. </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="EST.9.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">They also killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="EST.9.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="EST.9.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai and Vaizatha, </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="EST.9.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">the ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews. But they did not lay their hands on the plunder.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="EST.9.10"></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="EST.9.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">The number of those killed in the citadel of Susa was reported to the king that same day. </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="EST.9.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">The king said to Queen Esther, &#8220;The Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men and the ten sons of Haman in the citadel of Susa. What have they done in the rest of the king&#8217;s provinces? Now what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? It will also be granted.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="EST.9.12"></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="EST.9.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">&#8220;If it pleases the king,&#8221; Esther answered, &#8220;give the Jews in Susa permission to carry out this day&#8217;s edict tomorrow also, and let Haman&#8217;s ten sons be impaled on poles.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="EST.9.13"></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="EST.9.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">So the king commanded that this be done. An edict was issued in Susa, and they impaled the ten sons of Haman. </span></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="EST.9.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">The Jews in Susa came together on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, and they put to death in Susa three hundred men, but they did not lay their hands on the plunder.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="EST.9.15"></span><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="EST.9.16"><span class="label">16</span><span class="content">Meanwhile, the remainder of the Jews who were in the king&#8217;s provinces also assembled to protect themselves and get relief from their enemies. They killed seventy-five thousand of them but did not lay their hands on the plunder. </span></span><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="EST.9.17"><span class="label">17</span><span class="content">This happened on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth they rested and made it a day of feasting and joy.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="EST.9.17"></span><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="EST.9.18"><span class="label">18</span><span class="content">The Jews in Susa, however, had assembled on the thirteenth and fourteenth, and then on the fifteenth they rested and made it a day of feasting and joy.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="EST.9.18"></span><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="EST.9.19"><span class="label">19</span><span class="content">That is why rural Jews&#8212;those living in villages&#8212;observe the fourteenth of the month of Adar as a day of joy and feasting, a day for giving presents to each other.</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Purim Established</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="EST.9.19"></span><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="EST.9.20"><span class="label">20</span><span class="content">Mordecai recorded these events, and he sent letters to all the Jews throughout the provinces of King Xerxes, near and far, </span></span><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="EST.9.21"><span class="label">21</span><span class="content">to have them celebrate annually the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar </span></span><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="EST.9.22"><span class="label">22</span><span class="content">as the time when the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month when their sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning into a day of celebration. He wrote them to observe the days as days of feasting and joy and giving presents of food to one another and gifts to the poor.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="EST.9.22"></span><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="EST.9.23"><span class="label">23</span><span class="content">So the Jews agreed to continue the celebration they had begun, doing what Mordecai had written to them. </span></span><span class="verse v24" data-usfm="EST.9.24"><span class="label">24</span><span class="content">For Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them and had cast the </span><span class="tl"><span class="content">pur</span></span><span class="content"> (that is, the lot) for their ruin and destruction. </span></span><span class="verse v25" data-usfm="EST.9.25"><span class="label">25</span><span class="content">But when the plot came to the king&#8217;s attention,</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class="body"><span class="fr">9:25 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">when Esther came before the king</span></span></span><span class="content"> he issued written orders that the evil scheme Haman had devised against the Jews should come back onto his own head, and that he and his sons should be impaled on poles. </span></span><span class="verse v26" data-usfm="EST.9.26"><span class="label">26</span><span class="content">(Therefore these days were called Purim, from the word </span><span class="tl"><span class="content">pur</span></span><span class="content">.) Because of everything written in this letter and because of what they had seen and what had happened to them, </span></span><span class="verse v27" data-usfm="EST.9.27"><span class="label">27</span><span class="content">the Jews took it on themselves to establish the custom that they and their descendants and all who join them should without fail observe these two days every year, in the way prescribed and at the time appointed. </span></span><span class="verse v28" data-usfm="EST.9.28"><span class="label">28</span><span class="content">These days should be remembered and observed in every generation by every family, and in every province and in every city. And these days of Purim should never fail to be celebrated by the Jews&#8212;nor should the memory of these days die out among their descendants.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v28" data-usfm="EST.9.28"></span><span class="verse v29" data-usfm="EST.9.29"><span class="label">29</span><span class="content">So Queen Esther, daughter of Abihail, along with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm this second letter concerning Purim. </span></span><span class="verse v30" data-usfm="EST.9.30"><span class="label">30</span><span class="content">And Mordecai sent letters to all the Jews in the 127 provinces of Xerxes&#8217; kingdom&#8212;words of goodwill and assurance&#8212; </span></span><span class="verse v31" data-usfm="EST.9.31"><span class="label">31</span><span class="content">to establish these days of Purim at their designated times, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had decreed for them, and as they had established for themselves and their descendants in regard to their times of fasting and lamentation. </span></span><span class="verse v32" data-usfm="EST.9.32"><span class="label">32</span><span class="content">Esther&#8217;s decree confirmed these regulations about Purim, and it was written down in the records.</span></span></div>
      </div>
   </div>
</div>

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkEST">
      <div class="chapter ch10" data-usfm="EST.10">
         <div class="label">10</div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">The Greatness of Mordecai</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="EST.10.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">King Xerxes imposed tribute throughout the empire, to its distant shores. </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="EST.10.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">And all his acts of power and might, together with a full account of the greatness of Mordecai, whom the king had promoted, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Media and Persia? </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="EST.10.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">Mordecai the Jew was second in rank to King Xerxes, preeminent among the Jews, and held in high esteem by his many fellow Jews, because he worked for the good of his people and spoke up for the welfare of all the Jews.</span></span></div>
      </div>
   </div>
</div>

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkPSA">
      <div class="chapter ch111" data-usfm="PSA.111">
         <div class="label">111</div><div class="cl"><span class="heading">Psalm 111</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class="body"><span class="ft"><span class="heading">This psalm is an acrostic poem, the lines of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.</span></span></span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="PSA.111.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">Praise the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content">.</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class="body"><span class="fr">111:1 </span><span class="ft">Hebrew </span><span class="fqa">Hallelu Yah</span></span></span></span></div><div class="b"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="PSA.111.1"></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="PSA.111.1"><span class="content">I will extol the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> with all my heart</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="PSA.111.1"><span class="content">in the council of the upright and in the assembly.</span></span></div><div class="b"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="PSA.111.1"></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="PSA.111.1"></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="PSA.111.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">Great are the works of the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content">;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="PSA.111.2"><span class="content">they are pondered by all who delight in them.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="PSA.111.2"></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="PSA.111.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">Glorious and majestic are his deeds,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="PSA.111.3"><span class="content">and his righteousness endures forever.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="PSA.111.3"></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="PSA.111.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">He has caused his wonders to be remembered;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="PSA.111.4"><span class="content">the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> is gracious and compassionate.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="PSA.111.4"></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="PSA.111.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">He provides food for those who fear him;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="PSA.111.5"><span class="content">he remembers his covenant forever.</span></span></div><div class="b"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="PSA.111.5"></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="PSA.111.5"></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="PSA.111.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">He has shown his people the power of his works,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="PSA.111.6"><span class="content">giving them the lands of other nations.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="PSA.111.6"></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="PSA.111.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">The works of his hands are faithful and just;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="PSA.111.7"><span class="content">all his precepts are trustworthy.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="PSA.111.7"></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="PSA.111.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">They are established for ever and ever,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="PSA.111.8"><span class="content">enacted in faithfulness and uprightness.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="PSA.111.8"></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="PSA.111.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">He provided redemption for his people;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="PSA.111.9"><span class="content">he ordained his covenant forever&#8212;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="PSA.111.9"><span class="content">holy and awesome is his name.</span></span></div><div class="b"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="PSA.111.9"></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="PSA.111.9"></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="PSA.111.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">The fear of the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> is the beginning of wisdom;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="PSA.111.10"><span class="content">all who follow his precepts have good understanding.</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="PSA.111.10"><span class="content">To him belongs eternal praise.</span></span></div>
      </div>
   </div>
</div>

Reading the Bible in Historical Sequence Part 9Sample

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