Day 216 of 730

¹Now it happened on the third day that Esther put on her royal clothing, and stood in the inner court of the king's house, next to the king's house. The king sat on his royal throne in the royal house, next to the entrance of the house.

²When the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, she obtained favor in his sight; and the king held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. So Esther came near, and touched the top of the scepter.

³Then the king asked her, "What would you like, queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given you even to the half of the kingdom."

⁴Esther said, "If it seems good to the king, let the king and Haman come today to the banquet that I have prepared for him."

⁵Then the king said, "Bring Haman quickly, so that it may be done as Esther has said." So the king and Haman came to the banquet that Esther had prepared.

⁶The king said to Esther at the banquet of wine, "What is your petition? It shall be granted you. What is your request? Even to the half of the kingdom it shall be performed."

⁷Then Esther answered and said, "My petition and my request is this.

⁸If I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it please the king to grant my petition and to perform my request, let the king and Haman come to the banquet that I will prepare for them, and I will do tomorrow as the king has said."

⁹Then Haman went out that day joyful and glad of heart, but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king's gate, that he did not stand up nor move for him, he was filled with wrath against Mordecai.

¹⁰Nevertheless Haman restrained himself, and went home. There, he sent and called for his friends and Zeresh his wife.

¹¹Haman recounted to them the glory of his riches, the multitude of his children, all the things in which the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the princes and servants of the king.

¹²Haman also said, "Yes, Esther the queen let no man come in with the king to the banquet that she had prepared but myself; and tomorrow I am also invited by her together with the king.

¹³Yet all this avails me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate."

¹⁴Then Zeresh his wife and all his friends said to him, "Let a gallows be made fifty cubits high, and in the morning speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on it. Then go in merrily with the king to the banquet." This pleased Haman, so he had the gallows made.

¹On that night, the king couldn't sleep. He commanded the book of records of the chronicles to be brought, and they were read to the king.

²It was found written that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's eunuchs, who were doorkeepers, who had tried to lay hands on the King Ahasuerus.

³The king said, "What honor and dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?" Then the king's servants who attended him said, "Nothing has been done for him."

⁴The king said, "Who is in the court?" Now Haman had come into the outer court of the king's house, to speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him.

⁵The king's servants said to him, "Behold, Haman stands in the court." The king said, "Let him come in."

⁶So Haman came in. The king said to him, "What shall be done to the man whom the king delights to honor?" Now Haman said in his heart, "Who would the king delight to honor more than myself?"

⁷Haman said to the king, "For the man whom the king delights to honor,

⁸let royal clothing be brought which the king uses to wear, and the horse that the king rides on, and on the head of which a crown royal is set.

⁹Let the clothing and the horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king's most noble princes, that they may array the man whom the king delights to honor with them, and have him ride on horseback through the city square, and proclaim before him, 'Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor!'"

¹⁰Then the king said to Haman, "Hurry and take the clothing and the horse, as you have said, and do this for Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king's gate. Let nothing fail of all that you have spoken."

¹¹Then Haman took the clothing and the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, and had him ride through the city square, and proclaimed before him, "Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor!"

¹²Mordecai came back to the king's gate, but Haman hurried to his house, mourning and having his head covered.

¹³Haman recounted to Zeresh his wife and all his friends everything that had happened to him. Then his wise men and Zeresh his wife said to him, "If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish descent, you will not prevail against him, but you will surely fall before him."

¹⁴While they were yet talking with him, the king's eunuchs came, and hurried to bring Haman to the banquet that Esther had prepared.

¹Make a joyful shout to God, all the earth!

²Sing to the glory of his name! Offer glory and praise!

³Tell God, "How awesome are your deeds! Through the greatness of your power, your enemies submit themselves to you.

⁴All the earth will worship you, and will sing to you; they will sing to your name." Selah.

⁵Come, and see God's deeds- awesome work on behalf of the children of men.

⁶He turned the sea into dry land. They went through the river on foot. There, we rejoiced in him.

⁷He rules by his might forever. His eyes watch the nations. Do not let the rebellious rise up against him. Selah.

⁸Praise our God, you peoples! Make the sound of his praise heard,

⁹who preserves our life among the living, and doesn't allow our feet to be moved.

¹⁰For you, God, have tested us. You have refined us, as silver is refined.

¹¹You brought us into prison. You laid a burden on our backs.

¹²You allowed men to ride over our heads. We went through fire and through water, but you brought us to the place of abundance.

¹³I will come into your temple with burnt offerings. I will pay my vows to you,

¹⁴which my lips promised, and my mouth spoke, when I was in distress.

¹⁵I will offer to you burnt offerings of fat animals, with the offering of rams, I will offer bulls with goats. Selah.

¹⁶Come, and hear, all you who fear God. I will declare what he has done for my soul.

¹⁷I cried to him with my mouth. He was extolled with my tongue.

¹⁸If I cherished sin in my heart, the Lord wouldn't have listened.

¹⁹But most certainly, God has listened. He has heard the voice of my prayer.

²⁰Blessed be God, who has not turned away my prayer, nor his loving kindness from me.

¹The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, the oracle: the man says to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal:

²"Surely I am the most ignorant man, and do not have a man's understanding.

³I have not learned wisdom, neither do I have the knowledge of the Holy One.

⁴Who has ascended up into heaven, and descended? Who has gathered the wind in his fists? Who has bound the waters in his garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son's name, if you know?

⁵"Every word of God is flawless. He is a shield to those who take refuge in him.

⁶Do not add to his words, lest he reprove you, and you be found a liar.

⁷"Two things I have asked of you; do not deny me before I die:

⁸Remove far from me falsehood and lies. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with the food that is needful for me;

⁹lest I be full, deny you, and say, 'Who is the Lord?' or lest I be poor, and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.

¹⁰"Do not slander a servant to his master, lest he curse you, and you be held guilty.

¹¹There is a generation that curses their father, and doesn't bless their mother.

¹²There is a generation that is pure in their own eyes, yet are not washed from their filthiness.

¹³There is a generation, oh how lofty are their eyes! Their eyelids are lifted up.

¹⁴There is a generation whose teeth are like swords, and their jaws like knives, to devour the poor from the earth, and the needy from among men.

¹⁵"The leach has two daughters: 'Give, give.' "There are three things that are never satisfied; four that do not say, 'Enough:'

¹⁶Sheol, the barren womb; the earth that is not satisfied with water; and the fire that doesn't say, 'Enough.'

¹⁷"The eye that mocks at his father, and scorns obedience to his mother: the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, the young eagles shall eat it.

¹⁸"There are three things which are too amazing for me, four which I do not understand:

¹⁹The way of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent on a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a man with a maiden.

²⁰"So is the way of an adulterous woman: she eats and wipes her mouth, and says, 'I have done nothing wrong.'

²¹"For three things the earth tremble, and under four, it can't bear up:

²²For a servant when he is king; a fool when he is filled with food;

²³for an unloved woman when she is married; and a handmaid who is heir to her mistress.

²⁴"There are four things which are little on the earth, but they are exceedingly wise:

²⁵the ants are not a strong people, yet they provide their food in the summer.

²⁶The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks.

²⁷The locusts have no king, yet they advance in ranks.

²⁸You can catch a lizard with your hands, yet it is in kings' palaces.

²⁹"There are three things which are stately in their march, four which are stately in going:

³⁰The lion, which is mightiest among animals, and doesn't turn away for any;

³¹the greyhound, the male goat also; and the king against whom there is no rising up.

³²"If you have done foolishly in lifting up yourself, or if you have thought evil, put your hand over your mouth.

³³For as the churning of milk brings forth butter, and the wringing of the nose brings forth blood; so the forcing of wrath brings forth strife."