I Love the Lord
1 I ylove the Lord, because he has zheard
my voice and my pleas for mercy.
2 Because he ainclined his ear to me,
therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
3 bThe snares of death encompassed me;
the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;
I suffered distress and anguish.
4 Then cI called on the name of the Lord:
“O Lord, I pray, deliver my soul!”
5 dGracious is the Lord, and erighteous;
our God is fmerciful.
6 The Lord preserves gthe simple;
when hI was brought low, he saved me.
7 Return, O my soul, to your irest;
for the Lord has jdealt bountifully with you.
8 For kyou have delivered my soul from death,
my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling;
9 I will walk before the Lord
lin the land of the living.
10 mI believed, neven when1 I spoke:
“I am greatly afflicted”;
11 oI said in my alarm,
p“All mankind are liars.”
12 What shall I qrender to the Lord
for all his benefits to me?
13 I will lift up rthe cup of salvation
and scall on the name of the Lord,
14 I will tpay my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people.
15 uPrecious in the sight of the Lord
is the death of his vsaints.
16 O Lord, I am your wservant;
I am your servant, xthe son of your maidservant.
You have yloosed my bonds.
17 I will zoffer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving
and scall on the name of the Lord.
18 I will tpay my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people,
19 in athe courts of the house of the Lord,
in your midst, O Jerusalem.
bPraise the Lord!
Esther Chosen Queen
1 After these things, twhen the anger of King Ahasuerus had abated, he remembered Vashti uand what she had done and what had been decreed against her. 2 Then the king’s young men who attended him said, “Let beautiful young virgins be sought out for the king. 3 And let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom to gather all the beautiful young virgins to the harem in Susa the citadel, under custody of vHegai, the king’s eunuch, who is in charge of the women. wLet their cosmetics be given them. 4 And let the young woman who pleases the king1 be queen instead of Vashti.” This pleased the king, and he did so.
5 Now there was a Jew in Susa the citadel whose name was xMordecai, the son of Jair, son of Shimei, son of Kish, a Benjaminite, 6 ywho had been carried away from Jerusalem among the captives carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away. 7 He was bringing up Hadassah, that is Esther, zthe daughter of his uncle, for she had neither father nor mother. The young woman had a beautiful figure and was lovely to look at, and when her father and her mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter. 8 So when the king’s order and his edict were proclaimed, and awhen many young women were gathered in Susa the citadel in custody of bHegai, Esther also was taken into the king’s palace and put in custody of Hegai, who had charge of the women. 9 And the young woman pleased him and won his favor. And he quickly provided her cwith her cosmetics and her portion of food, and with seven chosen young women from the king’s palace, and advanced her and her young women to the best place in the harem. 10 dEsther had not made known her people or kindred, for Mordecai had commanded her not to make it known. 11 And every day Mordecai walked in front of the court of the harem to learn how Esther was and what was happening to her.
12 Now when the turn came for each young woman to go in to King Ahasuerus, after being twelve months under the regulations for the women, since this was the regular period of their beautifying, six months with oil of myrrh and six months with spices and ointments for women— 13 when the young woman went in to the king in this way, she was given whatever she desired to take with her from the harem to the king’s palace. 14 In the evening she would go in, and in the morning she would return to the second harem in custody of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch, who was in charge of the concubines. She would not go in to the king again, unless the king delighted in her and she was summoned by name.
15 When the turn came for Esther ethe daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her as his own daughter, to go in to the king, she asked for nothing except what fHegai the king’s eunuch, who had charge of the women, advised. Now Esther was winning favor in the eyes of all who saw her. 16 And when Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus, into his royal palace, in the tenth month, which is the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign, 17 the king loved Esther more than all the women, and she won grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins, so that he set gthe royal crown2 on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti. 18 Then the king hgave a great feast for all his officials and servants; it was Esther’s feast. He also granted a remission of taxes to the provinces and gave gifts with royal generosity.
Mordecai Discovers a Plot
19 Now when the virgins were gathered together ithe second time, Mordecai was sitting jat the king’s gate. 20 kEsther had not made known her kindred or her people, as Mordecai had commanded her, for Esther obeyed Mordecai just las when she was brought up by him. 21 In those days, as Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, mBigthan and nTeresh, two of the king’s eunuchs, who guarded the threshold, became angry and sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. 22 And this came to the knowledge of Mordecai, oand he told it to Queen Esther, and Esther told the king in the name of Mordecai. 23 When the affair was investigated and found to be so, the men were both hanged on the gallows.3 And it was recorded in pthe book of the chronicles in the presence of the king.
