Psalm 2 - Reimagining Power

Art in Scripture: Be Anxious for Nothing

Leading Wholeheartedly

FruitFULL : Living Out the Fruit of the Spirit - From Theory to Practice

The Lord Speaks to Samuel

One New Humanity: Mission in Ephesians

Rescue Breaths

Season of Renewal

Managing Your Anger

What Does God Want Me to Do Next?

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 bkPRO">
      <div class="chapter ch21" data-usfm="PRO.21">
         <div class="label">21</div><div class="q1"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="PRO.21.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">In the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content">&#8217;s hand the king&#8217;s heart is a stream of water</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="PRO.21.1"><span class="content">that he channels toward all who please him.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="PRO.21.1"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="PRO.21.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">A person may think their own ways are right,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="PRO.21.2"><span class="content">but the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> weighs the heart.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="PRO.21.2"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="PRO.21.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">To do what is right and just</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="PRO.21.3"><span class="content">is more acceptable to the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> than sacrifice.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="PRO.21.3"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="PRO.21.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">Haughty eyes and a proud heart&#8212;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="PRO.21.4"><span class="content">the unplowed field of the wicked&#8212;produce sin.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="PRO.21.4"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="PRO.21.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">The plans of the diligent lead to profit</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="PRO.21.5"><span class="content">as surely as haste leads to poverty.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="PRO.21.5"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="PRO.21.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">A fortune made by a lying tongue</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="PRO.21.6"><span class="content">is a fleeting vapor and a deadly snare.</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">21:6 </span><span class="ft">Some Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint and Vulgate; most Hebrew manuscripts </span><span class="fqa">vapor for those who seek death</span></span></span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="PRO.21.6"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="PRO.21.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">The violence of the wicked will drag them away,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="PRO.21.7"><span class="content">for they refuse to do what is right.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="PRO.21.7"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="PRO.21.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">The way of the guilty is devious,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="PRO.21.8"><span class="content">but the conduct of the innocent is upright.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="PRO.21.8"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="PRO.21.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">Better to live on a corner of the roof</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="PRO.21.9"><span class="content">than share a house with a quarrelsome wife.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="PRO.21.9"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="PRO.21.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">The wicked crave evil;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="PRO.21.10"><span class="content">their neighbors get no mercy from them.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="PRO.21.10"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="PRO.21.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">When a mocker is punished, the simple gain wisdom;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="PRO.21.11"><span class="content">by paying attention to the wise they get knowledge.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="PRO.21.11"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="PRO.21.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">The Righteous One</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">21:12 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">The righteous person</span></span></span><span class="content"> takes note of the house of the wicked</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="PRO.21.12"><span class="content">and brings the wicked to ruin.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="PRO.21.12"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="PRO.21.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">Whoever shuts their ears to the cry of the poor</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="PRO.21.13"><span class="content">will also cry out and not be answered.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="PRO.21.13"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="PRO.21.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">A gift given in secret soothes anger,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="PRO.21.14"><span class="content">and a bribe concealed in the cloak pacifies great wrath.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="PRO.21.14"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="PRO.21.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">When justice is done, it brings joy to the righteous</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="PRO.21.15"><span class="content">but terror to evildoers.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="PRO.21.15"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="PRO.21.16"><span class="label">16</span><span class="content">Whoever strays from the path of prudence</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="PRO.21.16"><span class="content">comes to rest in the company of the dead.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="PRO.21.16"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="PRO.21.17"><span class="label">17</span><span class="content">Whoever loves pleasure will become poor;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="PRO.21.17"><span class="content">whoever loves wine and olive oil will never be rich.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="PRO.21.17"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="PRO.21.18"><span class="label">18</span><span class="content">The wicked become a ransom for the righteous,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="PRO.21.18"><span class="content">and the unfaithful for the upright.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="PRO.21.18"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="PRO.21.19"><span class="label">19</span><span class="content">Better to live in a desert</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="PRO.21.19"><span class="content">than with a quarrelsome and nagging wife.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="PRO.21.19"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="PRO.21.20"><span class="label">20</span><span class="content">The wise store up choice food and olive oil,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="PRO.21.20"><span class="content">but fools gulp theirs down.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="PRO.21.20"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="PRO.21.21"><span class="label">21</span><span class="content">Whoever pursues righteousness and love</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="PRO.21.21"><span class="content">finds life, prosperity</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">21:21 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">righteousness</span></span></span><span class="content"> and honor.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="PRO.21.21"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="PRO.21.22"><span class="label">22</span><span class="content">One who is wise can go up against the city of the mighty</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="PRO.21.22"><span class="content">and pull down the stronghold in which they trust.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="PRO.21.22"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="PRO.21.23"><span class="label">23</span><span class="content">Those who guard their mouths and their tongues</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="PRO.21.23"><span class="content">keep themselves from calamity.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="PRO.21.23"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v24" data-usfm="PRO.21.24"><span class="label">24</span><span class="content">The proud and arrogant person&#8212;&#8220;Mocker&#8221; is his name&#8212;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v24" data-usfm="PRO.21.24"><span class="content">behaves with insolent fury.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v24" data-usfm="PRO.21.24"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v25" data-usfm="PRO.21.25"><span class="label">25</span><span class="content">The craving of a sluggard will be the death of him,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v25" data-usfm="PRO.21.25"><span class="content">because his hands refuse to work.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v25" data-usfm="PRO.21.25"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v26" data-usfm="PRO.21.26"><span class="label">26</span><span class="content">All day long he craves for more,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v26" data-usfm="PRO.21.26"><span class="content">but the righteous give without sparing.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v26" data-usfm="PRO.21.26"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v27" data-usfm="PRO.21.27"><span class="label">27</span><span class="content">The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable&#8212;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v27" data-usfm="PRO.21.27"><span class="content">how much more so when brought with evil intent!</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v27" data-usfm="PRO.21.27"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v28" data-usfm="PRO.21.28"><span class="label">28</span><span class="content">A false witness will perish,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v28" data-usfm="PRO.21.28"><span class="content">but a careful listener will testify successfully.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v28" data-usfm="PRO.21.28"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v29" data-usfm="PRO.21.29"><span class="label">29</span><span class="content">The wicked put up a bold front,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v29" data-usfm="PRO.21.29"><span class="content">but the upright give thought to their ways.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v29" data-usfm="PRO.21.29"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v30" data-usfm="PRO.21.30"><span class="label">30</span><span class="content">There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v30" data-usfm="PRO.21.30"><span class="content">that can succeed against the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content">.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v30" data-usfm="PRO.21.30"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v31" data-usfm="PRO.21.31"><span class="label">31</span><span class="content">The horse is made ready for the day of battle,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v31" data-usfm="PRO.21.31"><span class="content">but victory rests with the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content">.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div>
      </div>
   </div>
</div>

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkPSA">
      <div class="chapter ch91" data-usfm="PSA.91">
         <div class="label">91</div><div class="cl"><span class="heading">Psalm 91</span></div><div class="q1"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="PSA.91.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="PSA.91.1"><span class="content">will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">91:1 </span><span class="ft">Hebrew </span><span class="fqa">Shaddai</span></span></span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="PSA.91.1"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="PSA.91.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">I will say of the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content">, &#8220;He is my refuge and my fortress,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="PSA.91.2"><span class="content">my God, in whom I trust.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="PSA.91.2"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="PSA.91.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">Surely he will save you</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="PSA.91.3"><span class="content">from the fowler&#8217;s snare</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="PSA.91.3"><span class="content">and from the deadly pestilence.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="PSA.91.3"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="PSA.91.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">He will cover you with his feathers,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="PSA.91.4"><span class="content">and under his wings you will find refuge;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="PSA.91.4"><span class="content">his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="PSA.91.4"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="PSA.91.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">You will not fear the terror of night,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="PSA.91.5"><span class="content">nor the arrow that flies by day,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="PSA.91.5"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="PSA.91.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="PSA.91.6"><span class="content">nor the plague that destroys at midday.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="PSA.91.6"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="PSA.91.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">A thousand may fall at your side,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="PSA.91.7"><span class="content">ten thousand at your right hand,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="PSA.91.7"><span class="content">but it will not come near you.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="PSA.91.7"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="PSA.91.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">You will only observe with your eyes</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="PSA.91.8"><span class="content">and see the punishment of the wicked.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="PSA.91.8"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="PSA.91.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">If you say, &#8220;The </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> is my refuge,&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="PSA.91.9"><span class="content">and you make the Most High your dwelling,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="PSA.91.9"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="PSA.91.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">no harm will overtake you,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="PSA.91.10"><span class="content">no disaster will come near your tent.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="PSA.91.10"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="PSA.91.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">For he will command his angels concerning you</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="PSA.91.11"><span class="content">to guard you in all your ways;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="PSA.91.11"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="PSA.91.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">they will lift you up in their hands,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="PSA.91.12"><span class="content">so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="PSA.91.12"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="PSA.91.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">You will tread on the lion and the cobra;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="PSA.91.13"><span class="content">you will trample the great lion and the serpent.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="PSA.91.13"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="PSA.91.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">&#8220;Because he</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">91:14 </span><span class="ft">That is, probably the king</span></span></span><span class="content"> loves me,&#8221; says the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content">, &#8220;I will rescue him;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="PSA.91.14"><span class="content">I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="PSA.91.14"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="PSA.91.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">He will call on me, and I will answer him;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="PSA.91.15"><span class="content">I will be with him in trouble,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="PSA.91.15"><span class="content">I will deliver him and honor him.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="PSA.91.15"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="PSA.91.16"><span class="label">16</span><span class="content">With long life I will satisfy him</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="PSA.91.16"><span class="content">and show him my salvation.&#8221;</span></span></div>
      </div>
   </div>
</div>

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkREV">
      <div class="chapter ch16" data-usfm="REV.16">
         <div class="label">16</div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">The Seven Bowls of God&#8217;s Wrath</span></div><div class="p"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="REV.16.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, &#8220;Go, pour out the seven bowls of God&#8217;s wrath on the earth.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="REV.16.1"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="REV.16.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the land, and ugly, festering sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="REV.16.2"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="REV.16.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a dead person, and every living thing in the sea died.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="REV.16.3"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="REV.16.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="REV.16.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">Then I heard the angel in charge of the waters say:</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="REV.16.5"><span class="content">&#8220;You are just in these judgments, O Holy One,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="REV.16.5"><span class="content">you who are and who were;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="REV.16.5"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="REV.16.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">for they have shed the blood of your holy people and your prophets,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="REV.16.6"><span class="content">and you have given them blood to drink as they deserve.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="m"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="REV.16.6"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="REV.16.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">And I heard the altar respond:</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="REV.16.7"><span class="content">&#8220;Yes, Lord God Almighty,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="REV.16.7"><span class="content">true and just are your judgments.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="REV.16.7"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="REV.16.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and the sun was allowed to scorch people with fire. </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="REV.16.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="REV.16.9"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="REV.16.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in agony </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="REV.16.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they refused to repent of what they had done.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="REV.16.11"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="REV.16.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East. </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="REV.16.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">Then I saw three impure spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. </span></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="REV.16.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">They are demonic spirits that perform signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="mi"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="REV.16.14"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="REV.16.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">  </span><span class="wj"><span class="content">&#8220;Look, I come like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and remains clothed, so as not to go naked and be shamefully exposed.&#8221;</span></span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="m"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="REV.16.15"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="REV.16.16"><span class="label">16</span><span class="content">Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="REV.16.16"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="REV.16.17"><span class="label">17</span><span class="content">The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne, saying, &#8220;It is done!&#8221; </span></span><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="REV.16.18"><span class="label">18</span><span class="content">Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since mankind has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake. </span></span><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="REV.16.19"><span class="label">19</span><span class="content">The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath. </span></span><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="REV.16.20"><span class="label">20</span><span class="content">Every island fled away and the mountains could not be found. </span></span><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="REV.16.21"><span class="label">21</span><span class="content">From the sky huge hailstones, each weighing about a hundred pounds,</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">16:21 </span><span class="ft">Or about 45 kilograms</span></span></span><span class="content"> fell on people. And they cursed God on account of the plague of hail, because the plague was so terrible.</span></span></div>
      </div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkNEH">
      <div class="chapter ch13" data-usfm="NEH.13">
         <div class="label">13</div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Nehemiah&#8217;s Final Reforms</span></div><div class="p"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="NEH.13.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">On that day the Book of Moses was read aloud in the hearing of the people and there it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever be admitted into the assembly of God, </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="NEH.13.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">because they had not met the Israelites with food and water but had hired Balaam to call a curse down on them. (Our God, however, turned the curse into a blessing.) </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="NEH.13.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">When the people heard this law, they excluded from Israel all who were of foreign descent.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="NEH.13.3"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="NEH.13.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">Before this, Eliashib the priest had been put in charge of the storerooms of the house of our God. He was closely associated with Tobiah, </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="NEH.13.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">and he had provided him with a large room formerly used to store the grain offerings and incense and temple articles, and also the tithes of grain, new wine and olive oil prescribed for the Levites, musicians and gatekeepers, as well as the contributions for the priests.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="NEH.13.5"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="NEH.13.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">But while all this was going on, I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I had returned to the king. Some time later I asked his permission </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="NEH.13.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">and came back to Jerusalem. Here I learned about the evil thing Eliashib had done in providing Tobiah a room in the courts of the house of God. </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="NEH.13.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">I was greatly displeased and threw all Tobiah&#8217;s household goods out of the room. </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="NEH.13.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">I gave orders to purify the rooms, and then I put back into them the equipment of the house of God, with the grain offerings and the incense.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="NEH.13.9"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="NEH.13.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">I also learned that the portions assigned to the Levites had not been given to them, and that all the Levites and musicians responsible for the service had gone back to their own fields. </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="NEH.13.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">So I rebuked the officials and asked them, &#8220;Why is the house of God neglected?&#8221; Then I called them together and stationed them at their posts.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="NEH.13.11"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="NEH.13.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">All Judah brought the tithes of grain, new wine and olive oil into the storerooms. </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="NEH.13.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">I put Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and a Levite named Pedaiah in charge of the storerooms and made Hanan son of Zakkur, the son of Mattaniah, their assistant, because they were considered trustworthy. They were made responsible for distributing the supplies to their fellow Levites.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="NEH.13.13"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="NEH.13.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">Remember me for this, my God, and do not blot out what I have so faithfully done for the house of my God and its services.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="NEH.13.14"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="NEH.13.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">In those days I saw people in Judah treading winepresses on the Sabbath and bringing in grain and loading it on donkeys, together with wine, grapes, figs and all other kinds of loads. And they were bringing all this into Jerusalem on the Sabbath. Therefore I warned them against selling food on that day. </span></span><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="NEH.13.16"><span class="label">16</span><span class="content">People from Tyre who lived in Jerusalem were bringing in fish and all kinds of merchandise and selling them in Jerusalem on the Sabbath to the people of Judah. </span></span><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="NEH.13.17"><span class="label">17</span><span class="content">I rebuked the nobles of Judah and said to them, &#8220;What is this wicked thing you are doing&#8212;desecrating the Sabbath day? </span></span><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="NEH.13.18"><span class="label">18</span><span class="content">Didn&#8217;t your ancestors do the same things, so that our God brought all this calamity on us and on this city? Now you are stirring up more wrath against Israel by desecrating the Sabbath.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="NEH.13.18"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="NEH.13.19"><span class="label">19</span><span class="content">When evening shadows fell on the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I ordered the doors to be shut and not opened until the Sabbath was over. I stationed some of my own men at the gates so that no load could be brought in on the Sabbath day. </span></span><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="NEH.13.20"><span class="label">20</span><span class="content">Once or twice the merchants and sellers of all kinds of goods spent the night outside Jerusalem. </span></span><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="NEH.13.21"><span class="label">21</span><span class="content">But I warned them and said, &#8220;Why do you spend the night by the wall? If you do this again, I will arrest you.&#8221; From that time on they no longer came on the Sabbath. </span></span><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="NEH.13.22"><span class="label">22</span><span class="content">Then I commanded the Levites to purify themselves and go and guard the gates in order to keep the Sabbath day holy.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="NEH.13.22"><span class="content">Remember me for this also, my God, and show mercy to me according to your great love.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="NEH.13.22"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="NEH.13.23"><span class="label">23</span><span class="content">Moreover, in those days I saw men of Judah who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon and Moab. </span></span><span class="verse v24" data-usfm="NEH.13.24"><span class="label">24</span><span class="content">Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod or the language of one of the other peoples, and did not know how to speak the language of Judah. </span></span><span class="verse v25" data-usfm="NEH.13.25"><span class="label">25</span><span class="content">I rebuked them and called curses down on them. I beat some of the men and pulled out their hair. I made them take an oath in God&#8217;s name and said: &#8220;You are not to give your daughters in marriage to their sons, nor are you to take their daughters in marriage for your sons or for yourselves. </span></span><span class="verse v26" data-usfm="NEH.13.26"><span class="label">26</span><span class="content">Was it not because of marriages like these that Solomon king of Israel sinned? Among the many nations there was no king like him. He was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel, but even he was led into sin by foreign women. </span></span><span class="verse v27" data-usfm="NEH.13.27"><span class="label">27</span><span class="content">Must we hear now that you too are doing all this terrible wickedness and are being unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women?&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v27" data-usfm="NEH.13.27"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v28" data-usfm="NEH.13.28"><span class="label">28</span><span class="content">One of the sons of Joiada son of Eliashib the high priest was son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite. And I drove him away from me.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v28" data-usfm="NEH.13.28"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v29" data-usfm="NEH.13.29"><span class="label">29</span><span class="content">Remember them, my God, because they defiled the priestly office and the covenant of the priesthood and of the Levites.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v29" data-usfm="NEH.13.29"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v30" data-usfm="NEH.13.30"><span class="label">30</span><span class="content">So I purified the priests and the Levites of everything foreign, and assigned them duties, each to his own task. </span></span><span class="verse v31" data-usfm="NEH.13.31"><span class="label">31</span><span class="content">I also made provision for contributions of wood at designated times, and for the firstfruits.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v31" data-usfm="NEH.13.31"><span class="content">Remember me with favor, my God.</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 ch1" data-usfm="EST.1">
         <div class="label">1</div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Queen Vashti Deposed</span></div><div class="p"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="EST.1.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">This is what happened during the time of Xerxes,</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">1:1 </span><span class="ft">Hebrew </span><span class="fqa">Ahasuerus</span><span class="ft">; here and throughout Esther</span></span></span><span class="content"> the Xerxes who ruled over 127 provinces stretching from India to Cush</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">1:1 </span><span class="ft">That is, the upper Nile region</span></span></span><span class="content">: </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="EST.1.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">At that time King Xerxes reigned from his royal throne in the citadel of Susa, </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="EST.1.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">and 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.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="EST.1.3"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="EST.1.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">For a full 180 days he displayed the vast wealth of his kingdom and the splendor and glory of his majesty. </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="EST.1.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">When 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. </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="EST.1.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">The 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. </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="EST.1.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">Wine 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. </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="EST.1.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">By 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.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="EST.1.8"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="EST.1.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">Queen Vashti also gave a banquet for the women in the royal palace of King Xerxes.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="EST.1.9"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="EST.1.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">On 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; </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="EST.1.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">to 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. </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="EST.1.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">But when the attendants delivered the king&#8217;s command, Queen Vashti refused to come. Then the king became furious and burned with anger.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="EST.1.12"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="EST.1.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">Since 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 </span></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="EST.1.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">and 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.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="EST.1.14"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="EST.1.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">&#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;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="EST.1.15"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="EST.1.16"><span class="label">16</span><span class="content">Then 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. </span></span><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="EST.1.17"><span class="label">17</span><span class="content">For 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; </span></span><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="EST.1.18"><span class="label">18</span><span class="content">This 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.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="EST.1.18"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="EST.1.19"><span class="label">19</span><span class="content">&#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. </span></span><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="EST.1.20"><span class="label">20</span><span class="content">Then 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;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="EST.1.20"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="EST.1.21"><span class="label">21</span><span class="content">The king and his nobles were pleased with this advice, so the king did as Memukan proposed. </span></span><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="EST.1.22"><span class="label">22</span><span class="content">He 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.</span></span></div>
      </div>
   </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"><span class="heading">Esther Made Queen</span></div><div class="p"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="EST.2.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">Later when King Xerxes&#8217; fury had subsided, he remembered Vashti and what she had done and what he had decreed about her. </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="EST.2.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">Then the king&#8217;s personal attendants proposed, &#8220;Let a search be made for beautiful young virgins for the king. </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="EST.2.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">Let 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. </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="EST.2.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">Then let the young woman who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti.&#8221; This advice appealed to the king, and he followed it.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="EST.2.4"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="EST.2.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">Now 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, </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="EST.2.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">who had been carried into exile from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, among those taken captive with Jehoiachin</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">2:6 </span><span class="ft">Hebrew </span><span class="fqa">Jeconiah, </span><span class="ft">a variant of </span><span class="fq">Jehoiachin</span></span></span><span class="content"> king of Judah. </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="EST.2.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">Mordecai 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.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="EST.2.7"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="EST.2.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">When 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. </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="EST.2.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">She 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.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="EST.2.9"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="EST.2.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">Esther had not revealed her nationality and family background, because Mordecai had forbidden her to do so. </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="EST.2.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">Every day he walked back and forth near the courtyard of the harem to find out how Esther was and what was happening to her.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="EST.2.11"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="EST.2.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">Before 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. </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="EST.2.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">And 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. </span></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="EST.2.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">In 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.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="EST.2.14"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="EST.2.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">When 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. </span></span><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="EST.2.16"><span class="label">16</span><span class="content">She was taken to King Xerxes in the royal residence in the tenth month, the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="EST.2.16"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="EST.2.17"><span class="label">17</span><span class="content">Now 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. </span></span><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="EST.2.18"><span class="label">18</span><span class="content">And 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.</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Mordecai Uncovers a Conspiracy</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="EST.2.18"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="EST.2.19"><span class="label">19</span><span class="content">When the virgins were assembled a second time, Mordecai was sitting at the king&#8217;s gate. </span></span><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="EST.2.20"><span class="label">20</span><span class="content">But 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.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="EST.2.20"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="EST.2.21"><span class="label">21</span><span class="content">During the time Mordecai was sitting at the king&#8217;s gate, Bigthana</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">2:21 </span><span class="ft">Hebrew </span><span class="fqa">Bigthan, </span><span class="ft">a variant of </span><span class="fq">Bigthana</span></span></span><span class="content"> and Teresh, two of the king&#8217;s officers who guarded the doorway, became angry and conspired to assassinate King Xerxes. </span></span><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="EST.2.22"><span class="label">22</span><span class="content">But Mordecai found out about the plot and told Queen Esther, who in turn reported it to the king, giving credit to Mordecai. </span></span><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="EST.2.23"><span class="label">23</span><span class="content">And 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.</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 ch3" data-usfm="EST.3">
         <div class="label">3</div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Haman&#8217;s Plot to Destroy the Jews</span></div><div class="p"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="EST.3.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">After these events, King Xerxes honored Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, elevating him and giving him a seat of honor higher than that of all the other nobles. </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="EST.3.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">All the royal officials at the king&#8217;s gate knelt down and paid honor to Haman, for the king had commanded this concerning him. But Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="EST.3.2"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="EST.3.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">Then the royal officials at the king&#8217;s gate asked Mordecai, &#8220;Why do you disobey the king&#8217;s command?&#8221; </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="EST.3.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">Day after day they spoke to him but he refused to comply. Therefore they told Haman about it to see whether Mordecai&#8217;s behavior would be tolerated, for he had told them he was a Jew.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="EST.3.4"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="EST.3.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">When Haman saw that Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor, he was enraged. </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="EST.3.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">Yet having learned who Mordecai&#8217;s people were, he scorned the idea of killing only Mordecai. Instead Haman looked for a way to destroy all Mordecai&#8217;s people, the Jews, throughout the whole kingdom of Xerxes.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="EST.3.6"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="EST.3.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">In the twelfth year of King Xerxes, in the first month, the month of Nisan, the </span><span class="tl"><span class="content">pur</span></span><span class="content"> (that is, the lot) was cast in the presence of Haman to select a day and month. And the lot fell on</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">3:7 </span><span class="ft">Septuagint; Hebrew does not have </span><span class="fq">And the lot fell on</span><span class="fqa">.</span></span></span><span class="content"> the twelfth month, the month of Adar.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="EST.3.7"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="EST.3.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">Then Haman said to King Xerxes, &#8220;There is a certain people dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom who keep themselves separate. Their customs are different from those of all other people, and they do not obey the king&#8217;s laws; it is not in the king&#8217;s best interest to tolerate them. </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="EST.3.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">If it pleases the king, let a decree be issued to destroy them, and I will give ten thousand talents</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">3:9 </span><span class="ft">That is, about 375 tons or about 340 metric tons</span></span></span><span class="content"> of silver to the king&#8217;s administrators for the royal treasury.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="EST.3.9"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="EST.3.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">So the king took his signet ring from his finger and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews. </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="EST.3.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">&#8220;Keep the money,&#8221; the king said to Haman, &#8220;and do with the people as you please.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="EST.3.11"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="EST.3.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">Then on the thirteenth day of the first month the royal secretaries were summoned. They wrote out in the script of each province and in the language of each people all Haman&#8217;s orders to the king&#8217;s satraps, the governors of the various provinces and the nobles of the various peoples. These were written in the name of King Xerxes himself and sealed with his own ring. </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="EST.3.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">Dispatches were sent by couriers to all the king&#8217;s provinces with the order to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews&#8212;young and old, women and children&#8212;on a single day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods. </span></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="EST.3.14"><span class="label">14</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 they would be ready for that day.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="EST.3.14"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="EST.3.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">The couriers went out, spurred on by the king&#8217;s command, and the edict was issued in the citadel of Susa. The king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was bewildered.</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 ch4" data-usfm="EST.4">
         <div class="label">4</div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Mordecai Persuades Esther to Help</span></div><div class="p"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="EST.4.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">When Mordecai learned of all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the city, wailing loudly and bitterly. </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="EST.4.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">But he went only as far as the king&#8217;s gate, because no one clothed in sackcloth was allowed to enter it. </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="EST.4.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">In every province to which the edict and order of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and wailing. Many lay in sackcloth and ashes.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="EST.4.3"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="EST.4.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">When Esther&#8217;s eunuchs and female attendants came and told her about Mordecai, she was in great distress. She sent clothes for him to put on instead of his sackcloth, but he would not accept them. </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="EST.4.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">Then Esther summoned Hathak, one of the king&#8217;s eunuchs assigned to attend her, and ordered him to find out what was troubling Mordecai and why.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="EST.4.5"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="EST.4.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">So Hathak went out to Mordecai in the open square of the city in front of the king&#8217;s gate. </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="EST.4.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">Mordecai told him everything that had happened to him, including the exact amount of money Haman had promised to pay into the royal treasury for the destruction of the Jews. </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="EST.4.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">He also gave him a copy of the text of the edict for their annihilation, which had been published in Susa, to show to Esther and explain it to her, and he told him to instruct her to go into the king&#8217;s presence to beg for mercy and plead with him for her people.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="EST.4.8"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="EST.4.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">Hathak went back and reported to Esther what Mordecai had said. </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="EST.4.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">Then she instructed him to say to Mordecai, </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="EST.4.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">&#8220;All the king&#8217;s officials and the people of the royal provinces know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned the king has but one law: that they be put to death unless the king extends the gold scepter to them and spares their lives. But thirty days have passed since I was called to go to the king.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="EST.4.11"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="EST.4.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">When Esther&#8217;s words were reported to Mordecai, </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="EST.4.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">he sent back this answer: &#8220;Do not think that because you are in the king&#8217;s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. </span></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="EST.4.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father&#8217;s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="EST.4.14"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="EST.4.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: </span></span><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="EST.4.16"><span class="label">16</span><span class="content">&#8220;Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="EST.4.16"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="EST.4.17"><span class="label">17</span><span class="content">So Mordecai went away and carried out all of Esther&#8217;s instructions.</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 ch5" data-usfm="EST.5">
         <div class="label">5</div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Esther&#8217;s Request to the King</span></div><div class="p"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="EST.5.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the palace, in front of the king&#8217;s hall. The king was sitting on his royal throne in the hall, facing the entrance. </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="EST.5.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">When he saw Queen Esther standing in the court, he was pleased with her and held out to her the gold scepter that was in his hand. So Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="EST.5.2"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="EST.5.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">Then the king asked, &#8220;What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be given you.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="EST.5.3"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="EST.5.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">&#8220;If it pleases the king,&#8221; replied Esther, &#8220;let the king, together with Haman, come today to a banquet I have prepared for him.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="EST.5.4"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="EST.5.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">&#8220;Bring Haman at once,&#8221; the king said, &#8220;so that we may do what Esther asks.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="EST.5.5"><span class="content">So the king and Haman went to the banquet Esther had prepared. </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="EST.5.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">As they were drinking wine, the king again asked Esther, &#8220;Now what is your petition? It will be given you. And what is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be granted.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="EST.5.6"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="EST.5.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">Esther replied, &#8220;My petition and my request is this: </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="EST.5.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">If the king regards me with favor and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and fulfill my request, let the king and Haman come tomorrow to the banquet I will prepare for them. Then I will answer the king&#8217;s question.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Haman&#8217;s Rage Against Mordecai</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="EST.5.8"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="EST.5.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">Haman went out that day happy and in high spirits. But when he saw Mordecai at the king&#8217;s gate and observed that he neither rose nor showed fear in his presence, he was filled with rage against Mordecai. </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="EST.5.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">Nevertheless, Haman restrained himself and went home.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="EST.5.10"><span class="content">Calling together his friends and Zeresh, his wife, </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="EST.5.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">Haman boasted to them about his vast wealth, his many sons, and all the ways the king had honored him and how he had elevated him above the other nobles and officials. </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="EST.5.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">&#8220;And that&#8217;s not all,&#8221; Haman added. &#8220;I&#8217;m the only person Queen Esther invited to accompany the king to the banquet she gave. And she has invited me along with the king tomorrow. </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="EST.5.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">But all this gives me no satisfaction as long as I see that Jew Mordecai sitting at the king&#8217;s gate.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="EST.5.13"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="EST.5.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">His wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, &#8220;Have a pole set up, reaching to a height of fifty cubits,</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">5:14 </span><span class="ft">That is, about 75 feet or about 23 meters</span></span></span><span class="content"> and ask the king in the morning to have Mordecai impaled on it. Then go with the king to the banquet and enjoy yourself.&#8221; This suggestion delighted Haman, and he had the pole set up.</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 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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