Esther 1; Esther 2; Acts 5:1-21

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Esther 1

1 From his royal throne in Persia's capital city of Susa, King Xerxes ruled 127 provinces, all the way from India to Ethiopia.
3 In the third year of his reign he gave a banquet for all his officials and administrators. The armies of Persia and Media were present, as well as the governors and noblemen of the provinces.
4 For six whole months he made a show of the riches of the imperial court with all its splendor and majesty.
5 After that, the king gave a banquet for all the people in the capital city of Susa, rich and poor alike. It lasted a whole week and was held in the gardens of the royal palace.
6 The courtyard there was decorated with blue and white cotton curtains, tied by cords of fine purple linen to silver rings on marble columns. Couches made of gold and silver had been placed in the courtyard, which was paved with white marble, red feldspar, shining mother-of-pearl, and blue turquoise.
7 Drinks were served in gold cups, no two of them alike, and the king was generous with the royal wine.
8 There were no limits on the drinks; the king had given orders to the palace servants that everyone could have as much as they wanted.
9 Meanwhile, inside the royal palace Queen Vashti was giving a banquet for the women.
10 On the seventh day of his banquet the king was drinking and feeling happy, so he called in the seven eunuchs who were his personal servants, Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carkas.
11 He ordered them to bring in Queen Vashti, wearing her royal crown. The queen was a beautiful woman, and the king wanted to show off her beauty to the officials and all his guests.
12 But when the servants told Queen Vashti of the king's command, she refused to come. This made the king furious.
13 Now it was the king's custom to ask for expert opinion on questions of law and order, so he called for his advisers, who would know what should be done.
14 Those he most often turned to for advice were Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan - seven officials of Persia and Media who held the highest offices in the kingdom.
15 He said to these men, "I, King Xerxes, sent my servants to Queen Vashti with a command, and she refused to obey it! What does the law say that we should do with her?"
16 Then Memucan declared to the king and his officials: "Queen Vashti has insulted not only the king but also his officials - in fact, every man in the empire!
17 Every woman in the empire will start looking down on her husband as soon as she hears what the queen has done. They'll say, "King Xerxes commanded Queen Vashti to come to him, and she refused.'
18 When the wives of the royal officials of Persia and Media hear about the queen's behavior, they will be telling their husbands about it before the day is out. Wives everywhere will have no respect for their husbands, and husbands will be angry with their wives.
19 If it please Your Majesty, issue a royal proclamation that Vashti may never again appear before the king. Have it written into the laws of Persia and Media, so that it can never be changed. Then give her place as queen to some better woman.
20 When your proclamation is made known all over this huge empire, every woman will treat her husband with proper respect, whether he's rich or poor."
21 The king and his officials liked this idea, and the king did what Memucan suggested.
22 To each of the royal provinces he sent a message in the language and the system of writing of that province, saying that every husband should be the master of his home and speak with final authority.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.

Esther 2

1 Later, even after the king's anger had cooled down, he kept thinking about what Vashti had done and about his proclamation against her.
2 So some of the king's advisers who were close to him suggested, "Why don't you make a search to find some beautiful young virgins?
3 You can appoint officials in every province of the empire and have them bring all these beautiful young women to your harem here in Susa, the capital city. Put them in the care of Hegai, the eunuch who is in charge of your women, and let them be given a beauty treatment.
4 Then take the young woman you like best and make her queen in Vashti's place." The king thought this was good advice, so he followed it.
5 There in Susa lived a Jew named Mordecai son of Jair; he was from the tribe of Benjamin and was a descendant of Kish and Shimei.
6 When King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took King Jehoiachin of Judah into exile from Jerusalem, along with a group of captives, Mordecai was among them.
7 He had a cousin, Esther, whose Hebrew name was Hadassah; she was a beautiful young woman, and had a good figure. At the death of her parents, Mordecai had adopted her and brought her up as his own daughter.
8 When the king had issued his new proclamation and many young women were being brought to Susa, Esther was among them. She too was put in the royal palace in the care of Hegai, who had charge of the harem.
9 Hegai liked Esther, and she won his favor. He lost no time in beginning her beauty treatment of massage and special diet. He gave her the best place in the harem and assigned seven young women specially chosen from the royal palace to serve her.
10 Now, on the advice of Mordecai, Esther had kept it secret that she was Jewish.
11 Every day Mordecai would walk back and forth in front of the courtyard of the harem, in order to find out how she was getting along and what was going to happen to her.
12 The regular beauty treatment for the women lasted a year - massages with oil of myrrh for six months and with oil of balsam for six more. After that, each woman would be taken in turn to King Xerxes.
13 When she went from the harem to the palace, she could wear whatever she wanted.
14 She would go there in the evening, and the next morning she would be taken to another harem and put in the care of Shaashgaz, the eunuch in charge of the king's concubines. She would not go to the king again unless he liked her enough to ask for her by name.
15 The time came for Esther to go to the king. Esther - the daughter of Abihail and the cousin of Mordecai, who had adopted her as his daughter; Esther - admired by everyone who saw her. When her turn came, she wore just what Hegai, the eunuch in charge of the harem, advised her to wear.
16 So in Xerxes' seventh year as king, in the tenth month, the month of Tebeth, Esther was brought to King Xerxes in the royal palace.
17 The king liked her more than any of the other women, and more than any of the others she won his favor and affection. He placed the royal crown on her head and made her queen in place of Vashti.
18 Then the king gave a great banquet in Esther's honor and invited all his officials and administrators. He proclaimed a holiday for the whole empire and distributed gifts worthy of a king.
19 Meanwhile Mordecai had been appointed by the king to an administrative position.
20 As for Esther, she had still not let it be known that she was Jewish. Mordecai had told her not to tell anyone, and she obeyed him in this, just as she had obeyed him when she was a little girl under his care.
21 During the time that Mordecai held office in the palace, Bigthana and Teresh, two of the palace eunuchs who guarded the entrance to the king's rooms, became hostile to King Xerxes and plotted to assassinate him.
22 Mordecai learned about it and told Queen Esther, who then told the king what Mordecai had found out.
23 There was an investigation, and it was discovered that the report was true, so both men were hanged on the gallows. The king ordered an account of this to be written down in the official records of the empire.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.

Acts 5:1-21

1 But there was a man named Ananias, who with his wife Sapphira sold some property that belonged to them.
2 But with his wife's agreement he kept part of the money for himself and turned the rest over to the apostles.
3 Peter said to him, "Ananias, why did you let Satan take control of you and make you lie to the Holy Spirit by keeping part of the money you received for the property?
4 Before you sold the property, it belonged to you; and after you sold it, the money was yours. Why, then, did you decide to do such a thing? You have not lied to people - you have lied to God!"
5 As soon as Ananias heard this, he fell down dead; and all who heard about it were terrified.
6 The young men came in, wrapped up his body, carried him out, and buried him.
7 About three hours later his wife, not knowing what had happened, came in.
8 Peter asked her, "Tell me, was this the full amount you and your husband received for your property?" "Yes," she answered, "the full amount."
9 So Peter said to her, "Why did you and your husband decide to put the Lord's Spirit to the test? The men who buried your husband are at the door right now, and they will carry you out too!"
10 At once she fell down at his feet and died. The young men came in and saw that she was dead, so they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.
11 The whole church and all the others who heard of this were terrified.
12 Many miracles and wonders were being performed among the people by the apostles. All the believers met together in Solomon's Porch.
13 Nobody outside the group dared join them, even though the people spoke highly of them.
14 But more and more people were added to the group - a crowd of men and women who believed in the Lord.
15 As a result of what the apostles were doing, sick people were carried out into the streets and placed on beds and mats so that at least Peter's shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by.
16 And crowds of people came in from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing those who were sick or who had evil spirits in them; and they were all healed.
17 Then the High Priest and all his companions, members of the local party of the Sadducees, became extremely jealous of the apostles; so they decided to take action.
18 They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail.
19 But that night an angel of the Lord opened the prison gates, led the apostles out, and said to them,
20 "Go and stand in the Temple, and tell the people all about this new life."
21 The apostles obeyed, and at dawn they entered the Temple and started teaching. The High Priest and his companions called together all the Jewish elders for a full meeting of the Council; then they sent orders to the prison to have the apostles brought before them.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.