Reading the Bible in Historical Sequence Part 10

Reading the Bible in Historical Sequence Part 11

Reading the Bible in Historical Sequence Part 12

BibleProject | Living in Exile

Book of Ezra

BibleProject | Jesus & The Jesus Movement

Book of Nehemiah

Read the Book: July - September

Book of Esther

TRUSTING GOD WITHOUT a TRACE: A Place of Full Surrender

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 bkZEC">
        <div class="chapter ch3" data-usfm="ZEC.3">
            <div class="label">3</div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Clean Garments for the High Priest</span></div><div class="p"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ZEC.3.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content">, and Satan</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">3:1 </span><span class="ft">Hebrew <span class="tl">satan</span> means </span><span class="fqa">adversary.</span></span></span><span class="content"> standing at his right side to accuse him. </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ZEC.3.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">The </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> said to Satan, &#8220;The </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> rebuke you, Satan! The </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content">, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ZEC.3.2"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ZEC.3.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ZEC.3.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">The angel said to those who were standing before him, &#8220;Take off his filthy clothes.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ZEC.3.4"><span class="content">Then he said to Joshua, &#8220;See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put fine garments on you.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ZEC.3.4"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ZEC.3.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">Then I said, &#8220;Put a clean turban on his head.&#8221; So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> stood by.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ZEC.3.5"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ZEC.3.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">The angel of the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> gave this charge to Joshua: </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ZEC.3.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">&#8220;This is what the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> Almighty says: &#8216;If you will walk in obedience to me and keep my requirements, then you will govern my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you a place among these standing here.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ZEC.3.7"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ZEC.3.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;Listen, High Priest Joshua, you and your associates seated before you, who are men symbolic of things to come: I am going to bring my servant, the Branch. </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ZEC.3.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">See, the stone I have set in front of Joshua! There are seven eyes</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">3:9 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">facets</span></span></span><span class="content"> on that one stone, and I will engrave an inscription on it,&#8217; says the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> Almighty, &#8216;and I will remove the sin of this land in a single day.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ZEC.3.9"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ZEC.3.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;In that day each of you will invite your neighbor to sit under your vine and fig tree,&#8217; declares the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> Almighty.&#8221;</span></span></div>
        </div>
    </div>
</div>

New International Version

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
    <div class="book bkEZR">
        <div class="chapter ch6" data-usfm="EZR.6.1+EZR.6.2+EZR.6.3+EZR.6.4+EZR.6.5+EZR.6.6+EZR.6.7+EZR.6.8+EZR.6.9+EZR.6.10+EZR.6.11+EZR.6.12">
            <div class="p"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="EZR.6.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">King Darius then issued an order, and they searched in the archives stored in the treasury at Babylon. </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="EZR.6.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">A scroll was found in the citadel of Ecbatana in the province of Media, and this was written on it:</span></span></div><div class="pmo"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="EZR.6.2"><span class="content">Memorandum:</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="pm"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="EZR.6.2"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="EZR.6.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">In the first year of King Cyrus, the king issued a decree concerning the temple of God in Jerusalem:</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="pm"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="EZR.6.3"><span class="content">Let the temple be rebuilt as a place to present sacrifices, and let its foundations be laid. It is to be sixty cubits</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">6:3 </span><span class="ft">That is, about 90 feet or about 27 meters</span></span></span><span class="content"> high and sixty cubits wide, </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="EZR.6.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">with three courses of large stones and one of timbers. The costs are to be paid by the royal treasury. </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="EZR.6.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">Also, the gold and silver articles of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, are to be returned to their places in the temple in Jerusalem; they are to be deposited in the house of God.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="pm"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="EZR.6.5"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="EZR.6.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">Now then, Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and you other officials of that province, stay away from there. </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="EZR.6.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">Do not interfere with the work on this temple of God. Let the governor of the Jews and the Jewish elders rebuild this house of God on its site.</span></span></div><div class="pm"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="EZR.6.7"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="EZR.6.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">Moreover, I hereby decree what you are to do for these elders of the Jews in the construction of this house of God:</span></span></div><div class="pm"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="EZR.6.8"><span class="content">Their expenses are to be fully paid out of the royal treasury, from the revenues of Trans-Euphrates, so that the work will not stop. </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="EZR.6.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">Whatever is needed&#8212;young bulls, rams, male lambs for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, and wheat, salt, wine and olive oil, as requested by the priests in Jerusalem&#8212;must be given them daily without fail, </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="EZR.6.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">so that they may offer sacrifices pleasing to the God of heaven and pray for the well-being of the king and his sons.</span></span></div><div class="pm"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="EZR.6.10"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="EZR.6.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">Furthermore, I decree that if anyone defies this edict, a beam is to be pulled from their house and they are to be impaled on it. And for this crime their house is to be made a pile of rubble. </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="EZR.6.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">May God, who has caused his Name to dwell there, overthrow any king or people who lifts a hand to change this decree or to destroy this temple in Jerusalem.</span></span></div><div class="pm"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="EZR.6.12"><span class="content">I Darius have decreed it. Let it be carried out with diligence.</span></span></div>
        </div>
    </div>
</div>

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
    <div class="book bkPSA">
        <div class="chapter ch129" data-usfm="PSA.129">
            <div class="label">129</div><div class="cl"><span class="heading">Psalm 129</span></div><div class="d"><span class="content">A song of ascents.</span></div><div class="q1"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="PSA.129.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">&#8220;They have greatly oppressed me from my youth,&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="PSA.129.1"><span class="content">let Israel say;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="PSA.129.1"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="PSA.129.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">&#8220;they have greatly oppressed me from my youth,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="PSA.129.2"><span class="content">but they have not gained the victory over me.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="PSA.129.2"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="PSA.129.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">Plowmen have plowed my back</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="PSA.129.3"><span class="content">and made their furrows long.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="PSA.129.3"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="PSA.129.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">But the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> is righteous;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="PSA.129.4"><span class="content">he has cut me free from the cords of the wicked.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="PSA.129.4"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="PSA.129.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">May all who hate Zion</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="PSA.129.5"><span class="content">be turned back in shame.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="PSA.129.5"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="PSA.129.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">May they be like grass on the roof,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="PSA.129.6"><span class="content">which withers before it can grow;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="PSA.129.6"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="PSA.129.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">a reaper cannot fill his hands with it,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="PSA.129.7"><span class="content">nor one who gathers fill his arms.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="PSA.129.7"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="PSA.129.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">May those who pass by not say to them,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="PSA.129.8"><span class="content">&#8220;The blessing of the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> be on you;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="PSA.129.8"><span class="content">we bless you in the name of the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content">.&#8221;</span></span></div>
        </div>
    </div>
</div>

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
    <div class="book bkPSA">
        <div class="chapter ch87" data-usfm="PSA.87">
            <div class="label">87</div><div class="cl"><span class="heading">Psalm 87</span></div><div class="d"><span class="content">Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm. A song.</span></div><div class="q1"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="PSA.87.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">He has founded his city on the holy mountain.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="PSA.87.1"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="PSA.87.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">The </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> loves the gates of Zion</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="PSA.87.2"><span class="content">more than all the other dwellings of Jacob.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="PSA.87.2"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="PSA.87.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">Glorious things are said of you,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="PSA.87.3"><span class="content">city of God:</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">87:3 </span><span class="ft">The Hebrew has </span><span class="fqa">Selah </span><span class="ft">(a word of uncertain meaning) here and at the end of verse 6.</span></span></span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="PSA.87.3"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="PSA.87.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">&#8220;I will record Rahab</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">87:4 </span><span class="ft">A poetic name for Egypt</span></span></span><span class="content"> and Babylon</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="PSA.87.4"><span class="content">among those who acknowledge me&#8212;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="PSA.87.4"><span class="content">Philistia too, and Tyre, along with Cush</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">87:4 </span><span class="ft">That is, the upper Nile region</span></span></span><span class="content">&#8212;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="PSA.87.4"><span class="content">and will say, &#8216;This one was born in Zion.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">87:4 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">&#8220;I will record concerning those who acknowledge me: / &#8216;This one was born in Zion.&#8217; / Hear this, Rahab and Babylon, / and you too, Philistia, Tyre and Cush.&#8221;</span></span></span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="PSA.87.4"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="PSA.87.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">Indeed, of Zion it will be said,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="PSA.87.5"><span class="content">&#8220;This one and that one were born in her,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="PSA.87.5"><span class="content">and the Most High himself will establish her.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="PSA.87.5"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="PSA.87.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">The </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> will write in the register of the peoples:</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="PSA.87.6"><span class="content">&#8220;This one was born in Zion.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="PSA.87.6"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="PSA.87.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">As they make music they will sing,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="PSA.87.7"><span class="content">&#8220;All my fountains are in you.&#8221;</span></span></div>
        </div>
    </div>
</div>

<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>
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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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