Reading With the People of God #14 Proverbs

The Last Half Hour: When Waiting Becomes Glory

Write Your Faith: 3 Days of Journaling

The Radiant Mom: 10 Days to a More Joyful, Christ-Centered Home

Celebrate

Forgive Them Too??

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Pain to Peace: A Man's Path Past Pitfalls

Healing the Wounds of Rejection

Lessons From Ezra

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 ch1" data-usfm="EST.1">
 <div class="label">1</div><div class="s1">Queen Vashti Deposed</div><div class="p"> 1This is what happened during the time of Xerxes,#1:1 Hebrew Ahasuerus; here and throughout Esther the Xerxes who ruled over 127 provinces stretching from India to Cush#1:1 That is, the upper Nile region: 2At that time King Xerxes reigned from his royal throne in the citadel of Susa, 3and in the third year of his reign he gave a banquet for all his nobles and officials. The military leaders of Persia and Media, the princes, and the nobles of the provinces were present.</div><div class="p"> 4For a full 180 days he displayed the vast wealth of his kingdom and the splendor and glory of his majesty. 5When these days were over, the king gave a banquet, lasting seven days, in the enclosed garden of the king&#8217;s palace, for all the people from the least to the greatest who were in the citadel of Susa. 6The garden had hangings of white and blue linen, fastened with cords of white linen and purple material to silver rings on marble pillars. There were couches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl and other costly stones. 7Wine was served in goblets of gold, each one different from the other, and the royal wine was abundant, in keeping with the king&#8217;s liberality. 8By the king&#8217;s command each guest was allowed to drink with no restrictions, for the king instructed all the wine stewards to serve each man what he wished.</div><div class="p"> 9Queen Vashti also gave a banquet for the women in the royal palace of King Xerxes.</div><div class="p"> 10On the seventh day, when King Xerxes was in high spirits from wine, he commanded the seven eunuchs who served him&#8212;Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar and Karkas&#8212; 11to bring before him Queen Vashti, wearing her royal crown, in order to display her beauty to the people and nobles, for she was lovely to look at. 12But when the attendants delivered the king&#8217;s command, Queen Vashti refused to come. Then the king became furious and burned with anger.</div><div class="p"> 13Since it was customary for the king to consult experts in matters of law and justice, he spoke with the wise men who understood the times 14and were closest to the king&#8212;Karshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena and Memukan, the seven nobles of Persia and Media who had special access to the king and were highest in the kingdom.</div><div class="p"> 15&#8220;According to law, what must be done to Queen Vashti?&#8221; he asked. &#8220;She has not obeyed the command of King Xerxes that the eunuchs have taken to her.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 16Then Memukan replied in the presence of the king and the nobles, &#8220;Queen Vashti has done wrong, not only against the king but also against all the nobles and the peoples of all the provinces of King Xerxes. 17For the queen&#8217;s conduct will become known to all the women, and so they will despise their husbands and say, &#8216;King Xerxes commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him, but she would not come.&#8217; 18This very day the Persian and Median women of the nobility who have heard about the queen&#8217;s conduct will respond to all the king&#8217;s nobles in the same way. There will be no end of disrespect and discord.</div><div class="p"> 19&#8220;Therefore, if it pleases the king, let him issue a royal decree and let it be written in the laws of Persia and Media, which cannot be repealed, that Vashti is never again to enter the presence of King Xerxes. Also let the king give her royal position to someone else who is better than she. 20Then when the king&#8217;s edict is proclaimed throughout all his vast realm, all the women will respect their husbands, from the least to the greatest.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 21The king and his nobles were pleased with this advice, so the king did as Memukan proposed. 22He sent dispatches to all parts of the kingdom, to each province in its own script and to each people in their own language, proclaiming that every man should be ruler over his own household, using his native tongue.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkEST">
 <div class="chapter ch2" data-usfm="EST.2">
 <div class="label">2</div><div class="s1">Esther Made Queen</div><div class="p"> 1Later when King Xerxes&#8217; fury had subsided, he remembered Vashti and what she had done and what he had decreed about her. 2Then the king&#8217;s personal attendants proposed, &#8220;Let a search be made for beautiful young virgins for the king. 3Let the king appoint commissioners in every province of his realm to bring all these beautiful young women into the harem at the citadel of Susa. Let them be placed under the care of Hegai, the king&#8217;s eunuch, who is in charge of the women; and let beauty treatments be given to them. 4Then let the young woman who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti.&#8221; This advice appealed to the king, and he followed it.</div><div class="p"> 5Now there was in the citadel of Susa a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin, named Mordecai son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, 6who had been carried into exile from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, among those taken captive with Jehoiachin#2:6 Hebrew Jeconiah, a variant of Jehoiachin king of Judah. 7Mordecai had a cousin named Hadassah, whom he had brought up because she had neither father nor mother. This young woman, who was also known as Esther, had a lovely figure and was beautiful. Mordecai had taken her as his own daughter when her father and mother died.</div><div class="p"> 8When the king&#8217;s order and edict had been proclaimed, many young women were brought to the citadel of Susa and put under the care of Hegai. Esther also was taken to the king&#8217;s palace and entrusted to Hegai, who had charge of the harem. 9She pleased him and won his favor. Immediately he provided her with her beauty treatments and special food. He assigned to her seven female attendants selected from the king&#8217;s palace and moved her and her attendants into the best place in the harem.</div><div class="p"> 10Esther had not revealed her nationality and family background, because Mordecai had forbidden her to do so. 11Every day he walked back and forth near the courtyard of the harem to find out how Esther was and what was happening to her.</div><div class="p"> 12Before a young woman&#8217;s turn came to go in to King Xerxes, she had to complete twelve months of beauty treatments prescribed for the women, six months with oil of myrrh and six with perfumes and cosmetics. 13And this is how she would go to the king: Anything she wanted was given her to take with her from the harem to the king&#8217;s palace. 14In the evening she would go there and in the morning return to another part of the harem to the care of Shaashgaz, the king&#8217;s eunuch who was in charge of the concubines. She would not return to the king unless he was pleased with her and summoned her by name.</div><div class="p"> 15When the turn came for Esther (the young woman Mordecai had adopted, the daughter of his uncle Abihail) to go to the king, she asked for nothing other than what Hegai, the king&#8217;s eunuch who was in charge of the harem, suggested. And Esther won the favor of everyone who saw her. 16She was taken to King Xerxes in the royal residence in the tenth month, the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.</div><div class="p"> 17Now the king was attracted to Esther more than to any of the other women, and she won his favor and approval more than any of the other virgins. So he set a royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti. 18And the king gave a great banquet, Esther&#8217;s banquet, for all his nobles and officials. He proclaimed a holiday throughout the provinces and distributed gifts with royal liberality.</div><div class="s1">Mordecai Uncovers a Conspiracy</div><div class="p"> 19When the virgins were assembled a second time, Mordecai was sitting at the king&#8217;s gate. 20But Esther had kept secret her family background and nationality just as Mordecai had told her to do, for she continued to follow Mordecai&#8217;s instructions as she had done when he was bringing her up.</div><div class="p"> 21During the time Mordecai was sitting at the king&#8217;s gate, Bigthana#2:21 Hebrew Bigthan, a variant of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king&#8217;s officers who guarded the doorway, became angry and conspired to assassinate King Xerxes. 22But Mordecai found out about the plot and told Queen Esther, who in turn reported it to the king, giving credit to Mordecai. 23And when the report was investigated and found to be true, the two officials were impaled on poles. All this was recorded in the book of the annals in the presence of the king.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
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 <div class="chapter ch108" data-usfm="PSA.108">
 <div class="label">108</div><div class="cl">Psalm 108#In Hebrew texts 108:1-13 is numbered 108:2-14.</div><div class="d">A song. A psalm of David.</div><div class="q1"> 1My heart, O God, is steadfast;</div><div class="q2">I will sing and make music with all my soul.</div><div class="q1"> 2Awake, harp and lyre!</div><div class="q2">I will awaken the dawn.</div><div class="q1"> 3I will praise you, Lord, among the nations;</div><div class="q2">I will sing of you among the peoples.</div><div class="q1"> 4For great is your love, higher than the heavens;</div><div class="q2">your faithfulness reaches to the skies.</div><div class="q1"> 5Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;</div><div class="q2">let your glory be over all the earth.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 6Save us and help us with your right hand,</div><div class="q2">that those you love may be delivered.</div><div class="q1"> 7God has spoken from his sanctuary:</div><div class="q2">&#8220;In triumph I will parcel out Shechem</div><div class="q2">and measure off the Valley of Sukkoth.</div><div class="q1"> 8Gilead is mine, Manasseh is mine;</div><div class="q2">Ephraim is my helmet,</div><div class="q2">Judah is my scepter.</div><div class="q1"> 9Moab is my washbasin,</div><div class="q2">on Edom I toss my sandal;</div><div class="q2">over Philistia I shout in triumph.&#8221;</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 10Who will bring me to the fortified city?</div><div class="q2">Who will lead me to Edom?</div><div class="q1"> 11Is it not you, God, you who have rejected us</div><div class="q2">and no longer go out with our armies?</div><div class="q1"> 12Give us aid against the enemy,</div><div class="q2">for human help is worthless.</div><div class="q1"> 13With God we will gain the victory,</div><div class="q2">and he will trample down our enemies.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkHEB">
 <div class="chapter ch12" data-usfm="HEB.12">
 <div class="label">12</div><div class="p"> 1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.</div><div class="s1">God Disciplines His Children</div><div class="p"> 4In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,</div><div class="q1">&#8220;My son, do not make light of the Lord&#8217;s discipline,</div><div class="q2">and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,</div><div class="q1"> 6because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,</div><div class="q2">and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.&#8221;#12:5,6 Prov. 3:11,12 (see Septuagint)</div><div class="p"> 7Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 8If you are not disciplined&#8212;and everyone undergoes discipline&#8212;then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. 9Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! 10They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 11No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.</div><div class="p"> 12Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. 13&#8220;Make level paths for your feet,&#8221;#12:13 Prov. 4:26 so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.</div><div class="s1">Warning and Encouragement</div><div class="p"> 14Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. 15See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. 16See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. 17Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. Even though he sought the blessing with tears, he could not change what he had done.</div><div class="s1">The Mountain of Fear and the Mountain of Joy</div><div class="p"> 18You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; 19to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, 20because they could not bear what was commanded: &#8220;If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.&#8221;#12:20 Exodus 19:12,13 21The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, &#8220;I am trembling with fear.&#8221;#12:21 See Deut. 9:19.</div><div class="p"> 22But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, 23to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.</div><div class="p"> 25See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? 26At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, &#8220;Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.&#8221;#12:26 Haggai 2:6 27The words &#8220;once more&#8221; indicate the removing of what can be shaken&#8212;that is, created things&#8212;so that what cannot be shaken may remain.</div><div class="p"> 28Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, 29for our &#8220;God is a consuming fire.&#8221;#12:29 Deut. 4:24</div>
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