ESTHER 9

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The Jews Destroy Their Enemies  9:1 Now in the twelfth month (that is, the month Adar), on the thirteenth day when the king’s command and edict were about to be executed, on the day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain the mastery over them, it was turned to the contrary so that the Jews themselves gained the mastery over those who hated them. 2 The Jews assembled in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to lay hands on those who sought their harm; and no one could stand before them, for the dread of them had fallen on all the peoples. 3 Even all the princes of the provinces, the satraps, the governors and those who were doing the king’s business assisted the Jews, because the dread of Mordecai had fallen on them. 4 Indeed, Mordecai was great in the king’s house, and his fame spread throughout all the provinces; for the man Mordecai became greater and greater. 5 Thus the Jews struck all their enemies with the sword, killing and destroying; and they did what they pleased to those who hated them. 6 At the citadel in Susa the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men, 7 and Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, 8 Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, 9 Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai and Vaizatha, 10 the ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Jews’ enemy; but they did not lay their hands on the plunder.
    11 On that day the number of those who were killed at the citadel in Susa was reported to the king. 12 The king said to Queen Esther, “The Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men and the ten sons of Haman at the citadel in Susa. What then have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces! Now what is your petition? It shall even be granted you. And what is your further request? It shall also be done.” 13 Then said Esther, “If it pleases the king, let tomorrow also be granted to the Jews who are in Susa to do according to the edict of today; and let Haman’s ten sons be hanged on the gallows.” 14 So the king commanded that it should be done so; and an edict was issued in Susa, and Haman’s ten sons were hanged. 15 The Jews who were in Susa assembled also on the fourteenth day of the month Adar and killed three hundred men in Susa, but they did not lay their hands on the plunder.
    16 Now the rest of the Jews who were in the king’s provinces assembled, to defend their lives and rid themselves of their enemies, and kill 75,000 of those who hated them; but they did not lay their hands on the plunder. 17 This was done on the thirteenth day of the month Adar, and on the fourteenth day they rested and made it a day of feasting and rejoicing.
    18 But the Jews who were in Susa assembled on the thirteenth and the fourteenth of the same month, and they rested on the fifteenth day and made it a day of feasting and rejoicing. 19 Therefore the Jews of the rural areas, who live in the rural towns, make the fourteenth day of the month Adar a holiday for rejoicing and feasting and sending portions of food to one another.
The Feast of Purim Instituted    20 Then Mordecai recorded these events, and he sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far, 21 obliging them to celebrate the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same month, annually, 22 because on those days the Jews rid themselves of their enemies, and it was a month which was turned for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and rejoicing and sending portions of food to one another and gifts to the poor.
    23 Thus the Jews undertook what they had started to do, and what Mordecai had written to them. 24 For Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the adversary of all the Jews, had schemed against the Jews to destroy them and had cast Pur, that is the lot, to disturb them and destroy them. 25 But when it came to the king’s attention, he commanded by letter that his wicked scheme which he had devised against the Jews, should return on his own head and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows. 26 Therefore they called these days Purim after the name of Pur. And because of the instructions in this letter, both what they had seen in this regard and what had happened to them, 27 the Jews established and made a custom for themselves and for their descendants and for all those who allied themselves with them, so that they would not fail to celebrate these two days according to their regulation and according to their appointed time annually. 28 So these days were to be remembered and celebrated throughout every generation, every family, every province and every city; and these days of Purim were not to fail from among the Jews, or their memory fade from their descendants.
    29 Then Queen Esther, daughter of Abihail, with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm this second letter about Purim. 30 He sent letters to all the Jews, to the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, namely, words of peace and truth, 31 to establish these days of Purim at their appointed times, just as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had established for them, and just as they had established for themselves and for their descendants with instructions for their times of fasting and their lamentations. 32 The command of Esther established these customs for Purim, and it was written in the book.

ESTHER 10

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Mordecai’s Greatness  10:1 Now King Ahasuerus laid a tribute on the land and on the coastlands of the sea. 2 And all the accomplishments of his authority and strength, and the full account of the greatness of Mordecai to which the king advanced him, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Media and Persia? 3 For Mordecai the Jew was second only to King Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews and in favor with his many kinsmen, one who sought the good of his people and one who spoke for the welfare of his whole nation.

PROVERBS 1

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The Usefulness of Proverbs  1:1 The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel:

2 To know wisdom and instruction,

To discern the sayings of understanding,

3 To receive instruction in wise behavior,

Righteousness, justice and equity;

4 To give prudence to the naive,

To the youth knowledge and discretion,

5 A wise man will hear and increase in learning,

And a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel,

6 To understand a proverb and a figure,

The words of the wise and their riddles.

7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge;

Fools despise wisdom and instruction.

The Enticement of Sinners8 Hear, my son, your father’s instruction

And do not forsake your mother’s teaching;

9 Indeed, they are a graceful wreath to your head

And ornaments about your neck.

10 My son, if sinners entice you,

Do not consent.

11 If they say, “Come with us,

Let us lie in wait for blood,

Let us ambush the innocent without cause;

12 Let us swallow them alive like Sheol,

Even whole, as those who go down to the pit;

13 We will find all kinds of precious wealth,

We will fill our houses with spoil;

14 Throw in your lot with us,

We shall all have one purse,”

15 My son, do not walk in the way with them.

Keep your feet from their path,

16 For their feet run to evil

And they hasten to shed blood.

17 Indeed, it is useless to spread the baited net

In the sight of any bird;

18 But they lie in wait for their own blood;

They ambush their own lives.

19 So are the ways of everyone who gains by violence;

It takes away the life of its possessors.

Wisdom Warns20 Wisdom shouts in the street,

She lifts her voice in the square;

21 At the head of the noisy streets she cries out;

At the entrance of the gates in the city she utters her sayings:

22 “How long, O naive ones, will you love being simple-minded?

And scoffers delight themselves in scoffing

And fools hate knowledge?

23 “Turn to my reproof,

Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you;

I will make my words known to you.

24 “Because I called and you refused,

I stretched out my hand and no one paid attention;

25 And you neglected all my counsel

And did not want my reproof;

26 I will also laugh at your calamity;

I will mock when your dread comes,

27 When your dread comes like a storm

And your calamity comes like a whirlwind,

When distress and anguish come upon you.

28 “Then they will call on me, but I will not answer;

They will seek me diligently but they will not find me,

29 Because they hated knowledge

And did not choose the fear of the LORD.

30 “They would not accept my counsel,

They spurned all my reproof.

31 “So they shall eat of the fruit of their own way

And be satiated with their own devices.

32 “For the waywardness of the naive will kill them,

And the complacency of fools will destroy them.

33 “But he who listens to me shall live securely

And will be at ease from the dread of evil.”

PSALM 89

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The LORD’S Covenant with David, and Israel’s Afflictions.A Maskil of Ethan the Ezrahite.
89:1 I will sing of the lovingkindness of the LORD forever;

To all generations I will make known Your faithfulness with my mouth.

2 For I have said, “Lovingkindness will be built up forever;

In the heavens You will establish Your faithfulness.”

3 “I have made a covenant with My chosen;

I have sworn to David My servant,

4 I will establish your seed forever

And build up your throne to all generations.” Selah.

5 The heavens will praise Your wonders, O LORD;

Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones.

6 For who in the skies is comparable to the LORD?

Who among the sons of the mighty is like the LORD,

7 A God greatly feared in the council of the holy ones,

And awesome above all those who are around Him?

8 O LORD God of hosts, who is like You, O mighty LORD?

Your faithfulness also surrounds You.

9 You rule the swelling of the sea;

When its waves rise, You still them.

10 You Yourself crushed Rahab like one who is slain;

You scattered Your enemies with Your mighty arm.

11 The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours;

The world and all it contains, You have founded them.

12 The north and the south, You have created them;

Tabor and Hermon shout for joy at Your name.

13 You have a strong arm;

Your hand is mighty, Your right hand is exalted.

14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne;

Lovingkindness and truth go before You.

15 How blessed are the people who know the joyful sound!

O LORD, they walk in the light of Your countenance.

16 In Your name they rejoice all the day,

And by Your righteousness they are exalted.

17 For You are the glory of their strength,

And by Your favor our horn is exalted.

18 For our shield belongs to the LORD,

And our king to the Holy One of Israel.

19 Once You spoke in vision to Your godly ones,

And said, “I have given help to one who is mighty;

I have exalted one chosen from the people.

20 “I have found David My servant;

With My holy oil I have anointed him,

21 With whom My hand will be established;

My arm also will strengthen him.

22 “The enemy will not deceive him,

Nor the son of wickedness afflict him.

23 “But I shall crush his adversaries before him,

And strike those who hate him.

24 “My faithfulness and My lovingkindness will be with him,

And in My name his horn will be exalted.

25 “I shall also set his hand on the sea

And his right hand on the rivers.

26 “He will cry to Me, ‘You are my Father,

My God, and the rock of my salvation.’

27 “I also shall make him My firstborn,

The highest of the kings of the earth.

28 “My lovingkindness I will keep for him forever,

And My covenant shall be confirmed to him.

29 “So I will establish his descendants forever

And his throne as the days of heaven.

30 “If his sons forsake My law

And do not walk in My judgments,

31 If they violate My statutes

And do not keep My commandments,

32 Then I will punish their transgression with the rod

And their iniquity with stripes.

33 “But I will not break off My lovingkindness from him,

Nor deal falsely in My faithfulness.

34 “My covenant I will not violate,

Nor will I alter the utterance of My lips.

35 “Once I have sworn by My holiness;

I will not lie to David.

36 “His descendants shall endure forever

And his throne as the sun before Me.

37 “It shall be established forever like the moon,

And the witness in the sky is faithful.” Selah.

38 But You have cast off and rejected,

You have been full of wrath against Your anointed.

39 You have spurned the covenant of Your servant;

You have profaned his crown in the dust.

40 You have broken down all his walls;

You have brought his strongholds to ruin.

41 All who pass along the way plunder him;

He has become a reproach to his neighbors.

42 You have exalted the right hand of his adversaries;

You have made all his enemies rejoice.

43 You also turn back the edge of his sword

And have not made him stand in battle.

44 You have made his splendor to cease

And cast his throne to the ground.

45 You have shortened the days of his youth;

You have covered him with shame. Selah.

46 How long, O LORD?

Will You hide Yourself forever?

Will Your wrath burn like fire?

47 Remember what my span of life is;

For what vanity You have created all the sons of men!

48 What man can live and not see death?

Can he deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah.

49 Where are Your former lovingkindnesses, O Lord,

Which You swore to David in Your faithfulness?

50 Remember, O Lord, the reproach of Your servants;

How I bear in my bosom the reproach of all the many peoples,

51 With which Your enemies have reproached, O LORD,

With which they have reproached the footsteps of Your anointed.

52 Blessed be the LORD forever!

Amen and Amen.

PSALM 90

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God’s Eternity and Man’s Transitoriness.A Prayer of Moses, the man of God.
90:1 Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.

2 Before the mountains were born

Or You gave birth to the earth and the world,

Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.

3 You turn man back into dust

And say, “Return, O children of men.”

4 For a thousand years in Your sight

Are like yesterday when it passes by,

Or as a watch in the night.

5 You have swept them away like a flood, they fall asleep;

In the morning they are like grass which sprouts anew.

6 In the morning it flourishes and sprouts anew;

Toward evening it fades and withers away.

7 For we have been consumed by Your anger

And by Your wrath we have been dismayed.

8 You have placed our iniquities before You,

Our secret sins in the light of Your presence.

9 For all our days have declined in Your fury;

We have finished our years like a sigh.

10 As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years,

Or if due to strength, eighty years,

Yet their pride is but labor and sorrow;

For soon it is gone and we fly away.

11 Who understands the power of Your anger

And Your fury, according to the fear that is due You?

12 So teach us to number our days,

That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.

13 Do return, O LORD; how long will it be?

And be sorry for Your servants.

14 O satisfy us in the morning with Your lovingkindness,

That we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

15 Make us glad according to the days You have afflicted us,

And the years we have seen evil.

16 Let Your work appear to Your servants

And Your majesty to their children.

17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us;

And confirm for us the work of our hands;

Yes, confirm the work of our hands.