1 So the king and Haman went in to feast with Queen Esther. 2 And on the second day, as they were drinking wine after the feast, the king again said to Esther, b“What is your wish, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.” 3 Then Queen Esther answered, c“If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be granted me for my wish, and my people for my request. 4 For we have been dsold, I and my people, to be edestroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I would have been silent, for our affliction is not to be compared with the loss to the king.” 5 Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who has dared1 to do this?” 6 And Esther said, “A foe and enemy! This wicked Haman!” Then Haman was terrified before the king and the queen.
Haman Is Hanged
7 And the king arose in his fwrath from the wine-drinking and went into the gpalace garden, but Haman stayed to beg for his life from Queen Esther, for he saw that harm was determined against him by the king. 8 And the king returned from the palace garden to the place where they were drinking wine, as Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was. And the king said, “Will he even assault the queen in my presence, in my own house?” As the word left the mouth of the king, they covered Haman’s face. 9 Then hHarbona, one of the eunuchs in attendance on the king, said, “Moreover, the igallows2 that Haman has prepared for Mordecai, jwhose word saved the king, is standing at Haman’s house, fifty cubits3 high.” And the king said, “Hang him on that.” 10 So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the wrath of the king abated.
Esther Saves the Jews
1 On that day King Ahasuerus gave to Queen Esther the house of Haman, kthe enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told lwhat he was to her. 2 And the king mtook off his signet ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.
3 Then Esther spoke again to the king. She fell at his feet and wept and pleaded with him to avert the evil plan of Haman the Agagite and the plot that he had devised against the Jews. 4 When the king nheld out the golden scepter to Esther, Esther rose and stood before the king. 5 And she said, “If it please the king, and oif I have found favor in his sight, and if the thing seems right before the king, and I am pleasing in his eyes, let an order be written to revoke the pletters devised by Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, which he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all the provinces of the king. 6 For how can I bear to see the calamity that is coming to my people? Or how can I bear to see the destruction of my kindred?” 7 Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and they have hanged him on the gallows,4 because he intended to lay hands on the Jews. 8 But you may write as you please with regard to the Jews, in the name of the king, and qseal it with the king’s ring, for an edict written in the name of the king and sealed with the king’s ring rcannot be revoked.”
9 The king’s scribes were summoned at that time, in the third month, which is the month of Sivan, on the twenty-third day. And an edict was written, according to all that Mordecai commanded concerning the Jews, to the satraps and the governors and the officials of the provinces from India to Ethiopia, s127 provinces, tto each province in its own script and to each people in its own language, and also to the Jews in their script and their language. 10 And he wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed it with the king’s signet ring. Then he sent the letters by mounted couriers riding on swift horses that were used in the king’s service, bred from the royal stud, 11 saying that the king allowed the Jews who were in every city to gather and defend their lives, to udestroy, to kill, and to annihilate any armed force of any people or province that might attack them, children and women included, and to vplunder their goods, 12 on one day throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the wthirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar. 13 xA copy of what was written was to be issued as a decree in every province, being publicly displayed to all peoples, and the Jews were to be ready on that day to take vengeance on their enemies. 14 So the couriers, mounted on their swift horses that were used in the king’s service, rode out hurriedly, urged by the king’s command. And ythe decree was issued in Susa the citadel.
15 Then Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal robes of blue and white, with a great golden crown5 and a robe of fine linen and purple, and zthe city of Susa shouted and rejoiced. 16 The Jews had alight and gladness and joy and honor. 17 And in every province and in every city, wherever the king’s command and his edict reached, there was gladness and joy among the Jews, a feast and a holiday. And many from the peoples of the country declared themselves Jews, for fear of the Jews had fallen on them.
The Blessings of Wisdom
1 jDoes not wisdom call?
Does not understanding raise her voice?
2 kOn the heights beside the way,
at the crossroads she takes her stand;
3 beside the gates in front of the town,
at the entrance of the portals she cries aloud:
4 “To you, O men, I call,
and my cry is to the children of man.
5 O lsimple ones, learn prudence;
O fools, mlearn sense.
6 Hear, for I will speak noble things,
and from my lips will come what is right,
7 for my mouth will utter truth;
wickedness is an abomination to my lips.
8 All the words of my mouth are righteous;
there is nothing twisted or ncrooked in them.
9 They are all straight to him who understands,
and right to those who find knowledge.
10 oTake my pinstruction instead of qsilver,
and knowledge rather than choice gold,
11 for wisdom is rbetter than jewels,
and sall that you may desire cannot compare with her.
12 “I, wisdom, dwell with prudence,
and I find knowledge and discretion.
13 tThe fear of the Lord is uhatred of evil.
Pride and arrogance and the way of evil
and vperverted speech I hate.
14 I have counsel and sound wisdom;
I have insight; I have strength.
15 By me kings reign,
and rulers decree what is just;
16 by me princes rule,
and nobles, all who govern justly.1
17 I love those who love me,
and those who wseek me diligently find me.
18 Riches and honor are with me,
enduring wealth and righteousness.
19 My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold,
and my yield than xchoice silver.
20 I walk in the yway of righteousness,
in the paths of justice,
21 granting an inheritance to those who love me,
and filling their treasuries.
22 z“The Lord apossessed2 me bat the beginning of his work,3
the first of his acts of old.
23 Ages ago I was set up,
at the first, cbefore the beginning of the earth.
24 When there were no depths I was brought forth,
when there were no springs abounding with water.
25 dBefore the mountains had been shaped,
before the hills, I was brought forth,
26 before he had made the earth with its fields,
or ethe first of the dust of the world.
27 When he festablished the heavens, I was there;
when he gdrew a circle on the face of the deep,
28 hwhen he made firm the skies above,
when he established4 the ifountains of the deep,
29 jwhen he kassigned to the sea its limit,
so that the waters might not transgress his command,
when he marked out the foundations of the earth,
30 then I was lbeside him, like a master workman,
and I was daily his5 delight,
rejoicing before him always,
31 rejoicing in his inhabited world
and delighting in the children of man.
32 “And now, O sons, listen to me:
blessed are those who keep my ways.
33 Hear instruction and be wise,
and do not mneglect it.
34 nBlessed is the one who listens to me,
watching daily at my gates,
waiting beside my doors.
35 For whoever finds me finds olife
and obtains favor from the Lord,
36 but he who fails to find me injures himself;
all who hate me love death.”
