Page 802 - The MacArthur Daily Bible

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AUGUST 3
3 Now Esther spoke again to the king, fell 15 So Mordecai went out from the presence
down at his feet, and implored him with tears to of the king in royal apparel of blue and white,
counteract the evil of Haman the Agagite, and with a great crown of gold and a garment of
the scheme which he had devised against the fine linen and purple; and the city of Shushan
Jews. And the king held out the golden scepter rejoiced and was glad. The Jews had light
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toward Esther. So Esther arose and stood and gladness, joy and honor. And in every
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before the king, and said, “If it pleases the king, province and city, wherever the king’s com-
and if I have found favor in his sight and the mand and decree came, the Jews had joy and
thing seems right to the king and I am pleasing gladness, a feast and a holiday. Then many of
in his eyes, let it be written to revoke the letters the people of the land became Jews, because
devised by Haman, the son of Hammedatha the fear of the Jews fell upon them.
Agagite, which he wrote to annihilate the Jews
who are in all the king’s provinces. For how
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can I endure to see the evil that will come to my
people? Or how can I endure to see the 8:17 many…people…Jews. The population
destruction of my countrymen?” realized that the God of the Jews greatly
7 Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Es- exceeded anything that the pantheon of
ther and Mordecai the Jew, “Indeed, I have Persian deities could offer (Ex. 15:14–16; Ps.
given Esther the house of Haman, and they 105:38; Acts 5:11), especially in contrast to
have hanged him on the gallows because he their recent defeat by the Greeks.
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tried to lay his hand on the Jews. You your-
selves write a decree concerning the Jews, as
you please, in the king’s name, and seal it with
the king’s signet ring; for whatever is written Psalm 90:7–17
in the king’s name and sealed with the king’s 7 For we have been consumed by Your
signet ring no one can revoke.” anger,
9 So the king’s scribes were called at that And by Your wrath we are terrified.
time, in the third month, which is the month of 8 You have set our iniquities before You,
Sivan, on the twenty-third day; and it was writ- Our secret sins in the light of Your
ten, according to all that Mordecai command- countenance.
ed, to the Jews, the satraps, the governors, 9 For all our days have passed away in
and the princes of the provinces from India to Your wrath;
Ethiopia, one hundred and twenty-seven We finish our years like a sigh.
provinces in all, to every province in its own 10 The days of our lives are seventy years;
script, to every people in their own language, And if by reason of strength they are
and to the Jews in their own script and lan- eighty years,
guage. And he wrote in the name of King Yet their boast is only labor and
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Ahasuerus, sealed it with the king’s signet sorrow;
ring, and sent letters by couriers on horse- For it is soon cut off, and we fly away.
back, riding on royal horses bred from swift 11 Who knows the power of Your anger?
steeds. For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath.
11 By these letters the king permitted the 12 So teach us to number our days,
Jews who were in every city to gather togeth- That we may gain a heart of wisdom.
er and protect their lives—to destroy, kill, and
annihilate all the forces of any people or 13 Return, O LORD!
province that would assault them, both little How long?
children and women, and to plunder their pos- And have compassion on Your
sessions, on one day in all the provinces of servants.
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King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day of the 14 Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy,
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twelfth month, which is the month of Adar. A That we may rejoice and be glad all
copy of the document was to be issued as a our days!
decree in every province and published for all 15 Make us glad according to the days in
people, so that the Jews would be ready on which You have afflicted us,
that day to avenge themselves on their ene- The years in which we have seen evil.
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mies. The couriers who rode on royal horses 16 Let Your work appear to Your servants,
went out, hastened and pressed on by the And Your glory to their children.
king’s command. And the decree was issued 17 And let the beauty of the LORD our God
in Shushan the citadel. be upon us,

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