ESTHER 4

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Esther Learns of Haman’s Plot  4:1 When Mordecai learned all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city and wailed loudly and bitterly. 2 He went as far as the king’s gate, for no one was to enter the king’s gate clothed in sackcloth. 3 In each and every province where the command and decree of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and wailing; and many lay on sackcloth and ashes.
    4 Then Esther’s maidens and her eunuchs came and told her, and the queen writhed in great anguish. And she sent garments to clothe Mordecai that he might remove his sackcloth from him, but he did not accept them. 5 Then Esther summoned Hathach from the king’s eunuchs, whom the king had appointed to attend her, and ordered him to go to Mordecai to learn what this was and why it was. 6 So Hathach went out to Mordecai to the city square in front of the king’s gate. 7 Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, and the exact amount of money that Haman had promised to pay to the king’s treasuries for the destruction of the Jews. 8 He also gave him a copy of the text of the edict which had been issued in Susa for their destruction, that he might show Esther and inform her, and to order her to go in to the king to implore his favor and to plead with him for her people.
    9 Hathach came back and related Mordecai’s words to Esther. 10 Then Esther spoke to Hathach and ordered him to reply to Mordecai: 11 “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that for any man or woman who comes to the king to the inner court who is not summoned, he has but one law, that he be put to death, unless the king holds out to him the golden scepter so that he may live. And I have not been summoned to come to the king for these thirty days.” 12 They related Esther’s words to Mordecai.
    13 Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not imagine that you in the king’s palace can escape any more than all the Jews. 14 For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?”
Esther Plans to Intercede15 Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, 16 “Go, assemble all the Jews who are found in Susa, and fast for me; do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maidens also will fast in the same way. And thus I will go in to the king, which is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish.” 17 So Mordecai went away and did just as Esther had commanded him.

PSALM 26

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Protestation of Integrity and Prayer for Protection.A Psalm of David.
26:1 Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have walked in my integrity,

And I have trusted in the LORD without wavering.

2 Examine me, O LORD, and try me;

Test my mind and my heart.

3 For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes,

And I have walked in Your truth.

4 I do not sit with deceitful men,

Nor will I go with pretenders.

5 I hate the assembly of evildoers,

And I will not sit with the wicked.

6 I shall wash my hands in innocence,

And I will go about Your altar, O LORD,

7 That I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving

And declare all Your wonders.

8 O LORD, I love the habitation of Your house

And the place where Your glory dwells.

9 Do not take my soul away along with sinners,

Nor my life with men of bloodshed,

10 In whose hands is a wicked scheme,

And whose right hand is full of bribes.

11 But as for me, I shall walk in my integrity;

Redeem me, and be gracious to me.

12 My foot stands on a level place;

In the congregations I shall bless the LORD.

PSALM 27

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A Psalm of Fearless Trust in God.A Psalm of David.
27:1 The LORD is my light and my salvation;

Whom shall I fear?

The LORD is the defense of my life;

Whom shall I dread?

2 When evildoers came upon me to devour my flesh,

My adversaries and my enemies, they stumbled and fell.

3 Though a host encamp against me,

My heart will not fear;

Though war arise against me,

In spite of this I shall be confident.

4 One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek:

That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life,

To behold the beauty of the LORD

And to meditate in His temple.

5 For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle;

In the secret place of His tent He will hide me;

He will lift me up on a rock.

6 And now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me,

And I will offer in His tent sacrifices with shouts of joy;

I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD.

7 Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice,

And be gracious to me and answer me.

8 When You said, “Seek My face,” my heart said to You,

“Your face, O LORD, I shall seek.”

9 Do not hide Your face from me,

Do not turn Your servant away in anger;

You have been my help;

Do not abandon me nor forsake me,

O God of my salvation!

10 For my father and my mother have forsaken me,

But the LORD will take me up.

11 Teach me Your way, O LORD,

And lead me in a level path

Because of my foes.

12 Do not deliver me over to the desire of my adversaries,

For false witnesses have risen against me,

And such as breathe out violence.

13 I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD

In the land of the living.

14 Wait for the LORD;

Be strong and let your heart take courage;

Yes, wait for the LORD.

PROVERBS 5

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Pitfalls of Immorality5:1 My son, give attention to my wisdom,

Incline your ear to my understanding;

2 That you may observe discretion

And your lips may reserve knowledge.

3 For the lips of an adulteress drip honey

And smoother than oil is her speech;

4 But in the end she is bitter as wormwood,

Sharp as a two-edged sword.

5 Her feet go down to death,

Her steps take hold of Sheol.

6 She does not ponder the path of life;

Her ways are unstable, she does not know it.

7 Now then, my sons, listen to me

And do not depart from the words of my mouth.

8 Keep your way far from her

And do not go near the door of her house,

9 Or you will give your vigor to others

And your years to the cruel one;

10 And strangers will be filled with your strength

And your hard-earned goods will go to the house of an alien;

11 And you groan at your final end,

When your flesh and your body are consumed;

12 And you say, “How I have hated instruction!

And my heart spurned reproof!

13 “I have not listened to the voice of my teachers,

Nor inclined my ear to my instructors!

14 “I was almost in utter ruin

In the midst of the assembly and congregation.”

15 Drink water from your own cistern

And fresh water from your own well.

16 Should your springs be dispersed abroad,

Streams of water in the streets?

17 Let them be yours alone

And not for strangers with you.

18 Let your fountain be blessed,

And rejoice in the wife of your youth.

19 As a loving hind and a graceful doe,

Let her breasts satisfy you at all times;

Be exhilarated always with her love.

20 For why should you, my son, be exhilarated with an adulteress

And embrace the bosom of a foreigner?

21 For the ways of a man are before the eyes of the LORD,

And He watches all his paths.

22 His own iniquities will capture the wicked,

And he will be held with the cords of his sin.

23 He will die for lack of instruction,

And in the greatness of his folly he will go astray.