Good News [1976], GOOD NEWS BIBLE WITH DEUTEROCANONICALS / APOCRYPHA Today's English Version (AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY, New York) [word count] [B15000].
To look up a word in a dictionary, select the word with your mouse and press 'd' on your keyboard.
The Jews Are Told to Fight Back
1 That same day King Xerxes
gave Queen Esther all the property
of Haman, the enemy of the
Jews. Esther told the king that Mordecai
was related to her, and from
then on Mordecai was allowed to enter
the king's presence.
2 The king
took off his ring with his seal on it
(which he had taken back from Haman)
and gave it to Mordecai. Esther
put Mordecai in charge of Haman's
property.
3 Then Esther spoke to the king
again, throwing herself at his feet
and crying. She begged him to do
something to stop the evil plot that
Haman, the descendant of Agag, note
had made against the Jews.
4 The
king held out the gold scepter to her,
so she stood up and said,
5 “If it
please Your Majesty, and if you care
about me and if it seems right to
you, please issue a proclamation to
keep Haman's orders from being
carried out—those orders that the
son of Hammedatha the descendant
of Agag gave for the destruction of
all the Jews in the empire.
6 How can
I endure it if this disaster comes on
my people, and my own relatives are
killed?”
7 King Xerxes then said to Queen
Esther and Mordecai, the Jew,
“Look, I have hanged Haman for his
plot against the Jews, and I have given
Esther his property.
8 But a proclamation
issued in the king's name
and stamped with the royal seal cannot
be revoked. You may, however,
write to the Jews whatever you like;
and you may write it in my name
and stamp it with the royal seal.”
9 This happened on the twenty-third
day of the third month, the
month of Sivan. Mordecai called the
king's secretaries and dictated letters
to the Jews and to the governors,
administrators, and officials of
all the 127 provinces from India to
-- --
Sudan. The letters were written to
each province in its own language
and system of writing and to the
Jews in their language and system of
writing.
10 Mordecai had the letters
written in the name of King Xerxes,
and he stamped them with the royal
seal. They were delivered by riders
mounted on fast horses from the
royal stables.
11 These letters explained that the
king would allow the Jews in every
city to organize for self-defense. If
armed men of any nationality in any
province attacked the Jewish men,
their children, or their women, the
Jews could fight back and destroy
the attackers; they could slaughter
them to the last man and take their
possessions.
12 This decree was to
take effect throughout the Persian
Empire on the day set for the slaughter
of the Jews, the thirteenth of
Adar, the twelfth month.
13 It was to
be proclaimed as law and made
known to everyone in every province,
so that the Jews would be
ready to take revenge on their enemies
when that day came.
14 At the
king's command the riders mounted
royal horses and rode off at top
speed. The decree was also made
public in Susa, the capital city.
15 Mordecai left the palace, wearing
royal robes of blue and white, a
cloak of fine purple linen, and a
magnificent gold crown. Then the
streets of Susa rang with cheers and
joyful shouts.
16 For the Jews there
was joy and relief, happiness and a
sense of victory.
17 In every city and
province, wherever the king's proclamation
was read, the Jews held a
joyful holiday with feasting and happiness.
In fact, many other people
became Jews, because they were
afraid of them now.
Good News [1976], GOOD NEWS BIBLE WITH DEUTEROCANONICALS / APOCRYPHA Today's English Version (AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY, New York) [word count] [B15000].
|