Read the Bible Effectively

When You Are the Problem: The Courage to Look in the Mirror When Your Church Is in Crisis

BE a PILLAR

Believing God Even When It's Hard

When Tithing Feels Impossible: 3 Truths That Free You From Financial Guilt

The Holy Spirit: God Through Us

The Creator's Battle: Winning the Inner War for Your Art

What Is "The Way of Christ?"

Journey Through Esther

Fatherless No More: Discovering God’s Father-Heart

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 ch6" data-usfm="EST.6">
         <div class="label">6</div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Mordecai Honored</span></div><div class="p"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="EST.6.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">That night the king could not sleep; so he ordered the book of the chronicles, the record of his reign, to be brought in and read to him. </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="EST.6.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">It was found recorded there that Mordecai had exposed Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king&#8217;s officers who guarded the doorway, who had conspired to assassinate King Xerxes.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="EST.6.2"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="EST.6.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">&#8220;What honor and recognition has Mordecai received for this?&#8221; the king asked.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="EST.6.3"><span class="content">&#8220;Nothing has been done for him,&#8221; his attendants answered.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="EST.6.3"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="EST.6.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">The king said, &#8220;Who is in the court?&#8221; Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the palace to speak to the king about impaling Mordecai on the pole he had set up for him.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="EST.6.4"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="EST.6.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">His attendants answered, &#8220;Haman is standing in the court.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="EST.6.5"><span class="content">&#8220;Bring him in,&#8221; the king ordered.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="EST.6.5"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="EST.6.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">When Haman entered, the king asked him, &#8220;What should be done for the man the king delights to honor?&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="EST.6.6"><span class="content">Now Haman thought to himself, &#8220;Who is there that the king would rather honor than me?&#8221; </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="EST.6.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">So he answered the king, &#8220;For the man the king delights to honor, </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="EST.6.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">have them bring a royal robe the king has worn and a horse the king has ridden, one with a royal crest placed on its head. </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="EST.6.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">Then let the robe and horse be entrusted to one of the king&#8217;s most noble princes. Let them robe the man the king delights to honor, and lead him on the horse through the city streets, proclaiming before him, &#8216;This is what is done for the man the king delights to honor!&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="EST.6.9"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="EST.6.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">&#8220;Go at once,&#8221; the king commanded Haman. &#8220;Get the robe and the horse and do just as you have suggested for Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king&#8217;s gate. Do not neglect anything you have recommended.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="EST.6.10"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="EST.6.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">So Haman got the robe and the horse. He robed Mordecai, and led him on horseback through the city streets, proclaiming before him, &#8220;This is what is done for the man the king delights to honor!&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="EST.6.11"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="EST.6.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">Afterward Mordecai returned to the king&#8217;s gate. But Haman rushed home, with his head covered in grief, </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="EST.6.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">and told Zeresh his wife and all his friends everything that had happened to him.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="EST.6.13"><span class="content">His advisers and his wife Zeresh said to him, &#8220;Since Mordecai, before whom your downfall has started, is of Jewish origin, you cannot stand against him&#8212;you will surely come to ruin!&#8221; </span></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="EST.6.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">While they were still talking with him, the king&#8217;s eunuchs arrived and hurried Haman away to the banquet Esther had prepared.</span></span></div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkEST">
      <div class="chapter ch7" data-usfm="EST.7">
         <div class="label">7</div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Haman Impaled</span></div><div class="p"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="EST.7.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">So the king and Haman went to Queen Esther&#8217;s banquet, </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="EST.7.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">and as they were drinking wine on the second day, the king again asked, &#8220;Queen Esther, what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be granted.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="EST.7.2"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="EST.7.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">Then Queen Esther answered, &#8220;If I have found favor with you, Your Majesty, and if it pleases you, grant me my life&#8212;this is my petition. And spare my people&#8212;this is my request. </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="EST.7.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">For I and my people have been sold to be destroyed, killed and annihilated. If we had merely been sold as male and female slaves, I would have kept quiet, because no such distress would justify disturbing the king.</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">7:4 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">quiet, but the compensation our adversary offers cannot be compared with the loss the king would suffer</span></span></span><span class="content">&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="EST.7.4"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="EST.7.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">King Xerxes asked Queen Esther, &#8220;Who is he? Where is he&#8212;the man who has dared to do such a thing?&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="EST.7.5"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="EST.7.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">Esther said, &#8220;An adversary and enemy! This vile Haman!&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="EST.7.6"><span class="content">Then Haman was terrified before the king and queen. </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="EST.7.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">The king got up in a rage, left his wine and went out into the palace garden. But Haman, realizing that the king had already decided his fate, stayed behind to beg Queen Esther for his life.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="EST.7.7"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="EST.7.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">Just as the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall, Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was reclining.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="EST.7.8"><span class="content">The king exclaimed, &#8220;Will he even molest the queen while she is with me in the house?&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="EST.7.8"><span class="content">As soon as the word left the king&#8217;s mouth, they covered Haman&#8217;s face. </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="EST.7.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs attending the king, said, &#8220;A pole reaching to a height of fifty cubits</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">7:9 </span><span class="ft">That is, about 75 feet or about 23 meters</span></span></span><span class="content"> stands by Haman&#8217;s house. He had it set up for Mordecai, who spoke up to help the king.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="EST.7.9"><span class="content">The king said, &#8220;Impale him on it!&#8221; </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="EST.7.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">So they impaled Haman on the pole he had set up for Mordecai. Then the king&#8217;s fury subsided.</span></span></div>
      </div>
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<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="content">  </span><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 class="content">  </span></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 class="content">  </span></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 class="content">  </span></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 class="content">  </span></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 class="content">  </span></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 class="content">  </span></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 class="content">  </span></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>

New International Version

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkEST">
      <div class="chapter ch9" data-usfm="EST.9.1+EST.9.2+EST.9.3+EST.9.4+EST.9.5+EST.9.6+EST.9.7+EST.9.8+EST.9.9+EST.9.10+EST.9.11+EST.9.12+EST.9.13+EST.9.14+EST.9.15+EST.9.16+EST.9.17+EST.9.18+EST.9.19">
         <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 class="content">  </span></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 class="content">  </span></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 class="content">  </span></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 class="content">  </span></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 class="content">  </span></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 class="content">  </span></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 class="content">  </span></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>
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