Friday in Season after Pentecost

1Verse 1. Some time later, when the anger of King Xerxes had subsided, he remembered Vashti and what she had done, and what had been decreed against her. 2Verse 2. Then the king’s attendants proposed, “Let a search be made for beautiful young virgins for the king, 3Verse 3. and let the king appoint commissioners in each province of his kingdom to assemble all the beautiful young women into the harem at the citadel of Susa. Let them be placed under the care of Hegai, the king’s eunuch in charge of the women, and let them be given beauty treatments. 4Verse 4. Then let the young woman who pleases the king become queen in place of Vashti.” This suggestion pleased the king, and he acted accordingly. 5Verse 5. Now there was at the citadel of Susa a Jewish man from the tribe of Benjamin named Mordecai son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish. 6Verse 6. He had been carried into exile from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon among those taken captive with Jeconiah king of Judah. 7Verse 7. And Mordecai had brought up Hadassah (that is, Esther), the daughter of his uncle, because she did not have a father or mother. The young woman was lovely in form and appearance, and when her father and mother had died, Mordecai had taken her as his own daughter. 8Verse 8. When the king’s command and edict had been proclaimed, many young women gathered at the citadel of Susa under the care of Hegai. Esther was also taken to the palace and placed under the care of Hegai, the custodian of the women. 9Verse 9. And the young woman pleased him and obtained his favor, so he quickly provided her with beauty treatments and the special diet. He assigned to her seven select maidservants from the palace and transferred her with them to the best place in the harem. 10Verse 10. Esther did not reveal her people or her lineage, because Mordecai had instructed her not to do so. 11Verse 11. And every day Mordecai would walk back and forth in front of the court of the harem to learn about Esther’s welfare and what was happening to her. 12Verse 12. In the twelve months before her turn to go to King Xerxes, the harem regulation required each young woman to receive beauty treatments with oil of myrrh for six months, and then with perfumes and cosmetics for another six months. 13Verse 13. When the young woman would go to the king, she was given whatever she requested to take with her from the harem to the king’s palace. 14Verse 14. She would go there in the evening, and in the morning she would return to a second harem under the care of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch in charge of the concubines. She would not return to the king unless he delighted in her and summoned her by name. 15Verse 15. Now Esther was the daughter of Abihail, the uncle from whom Mordecai had adopted her as his own daughter. And when it was her turn to go to the king, she did not ask for anything except what Hegai, the king’s trusted official in charge of the harem, had advised. And Esther found favor in the eyes of everyone who saw her. 16Verse 16. She was taken to King Xerxes in the royal palace in the tenth month, the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign. 17Verse 17. And the king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she found grace and favor in his sight more than all of the other virgins. So he placed the royal crown upon her head and made her queen in place of Vashti. 18Verse 18. Then the king held a great banquet, Esther’s banquet, for all his officials and servants. He proclaimed a tax holiday in the provinces and gave gifts worthy of the king’s bounty. 19Verse 19. When the virgins were assembled a second time, Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate. 20Verse 20. Esther still had not revealed her lineage or her people, just as Mordecai had instructed. She obeyed Mordecai’s command, as she had done under his care. 21Verse 21. In those days, while Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs who guarded the entrance, grew angry and conspired to assassinate King Xerxes. 22Verse 22. When Mordecai learned of the plot, he reported it to Queen Esther, and she informed the king on Mordecai’s behalf. 23Verse 23. After the report had been investigated and verified, both officials were hanged on the gallows. And all this was recorded in the Book of the Chronicles in the presence of the king.

1Verse 1. These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel in the wilderness east of the Jordan — in the Arabah opposite Suph — between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab. 2Verse 2. It is an eleven-day journey from Horeb to Kadesh-barnea by way of Mount Seir. 3Verse 3. In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses proclaimed to the Israelites all that the LORD had commanded him concerning them. 4Verse 4. This was after he had defeated Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and then at Edrei had defeated Og king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth. 5Verse 5. On the east side of the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses began to explain this law, saying: 6Verse 6. The LORD our God said to us at Horeb: “You have stayed at this mountain long enough. 7Verse 7. Resume your journey and go to the hill country of the Amorites; go to all the neighboring peoples in the Arabah, in the hill country, in the foothills, in the Negev, and along the seacoast to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great River Euphrates. 8Verse 8. See, I have placed the land before you. Enter and possess the land that the LORD swore He would give to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to their descendants after them.” 9Verse 9. At that time I said to you, “I cannot carry the burden for you alone. 10Verse 10. The LORD your God has multiplied you, so that today you are as numerous as the stars in the sky. 11Verse 11. May the LORD, the God of your fathers, increase you a thousand times over and bless you as He has promised. 12Verse 12. But how can I bear your troubles, burdens, and disputes all by myself? 13Verse 13. Choose for yourselves wise, understanding, and respected men from each of your tribes, and I will appoint them as your leaders.” 14Verse 14. And you answered me and said, “What you propose to do is good.” 15Verse 15. So I took the leaders of your tribes, wise and respected men, and appointed them as leaders over you — as commanders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens, and as officers for your tribes. 16Verse 16. At that time I charged your judges: “Hear the disputes between your brothers, and judge fairly between a man and his brother or a foreign resident. 17Verse 17. Show no partiality in judging; hear both small and great alike. Do not be intimidated by anyone, for judgment belongs to God. And bring to me any case too difficult for you, and I will hear it.” 18Verse 18. And at that time I commanded you all the things you were to do.