Study Desk

So the attendants replied to the king, "Haman is out in the court." "Bring him in," the king ordered.

So Haman came in, and the king said, "What should I do to honor a man who truly pleases me?" Haman thought to himself, "Whom would the king wish to honor more than me?"

So he replied, "If the king wishes to honor someone,

So Haman took the robes and put them on Mordecai, placed him on the king's own horse, and led him through the city square, shouting, "This is what the king does for someone he wishes to honor!"

So the king and Haman went to Queen Esther's banquet.

"Who would do such a thing?" King Xerxes demanded. "Who would be so presumptuous as to touch you?"

So they impaled Haman on the pole he had set up for Mordecai, and the king's anger subsided.

Again the king held out the gold scepter to Esther. So she rose and stood before him.

So on June 25 the king's secretaries were summoned, and a decree was written exactly as Mordecai dictated. It was sent to the Jews and to the highest officers, the governors, and the nobles of all the 127 provinces stretching from India to Ethiopia. The decree was written in the scripts and languages of all the peoples of the empire, including that of the Jews.

A copy of this decree was to be issued as law in every province and proclaimed to all peoples, so that the Jews would be ready to take revenge on their enemies on the appointed day.

So urged on by the king's command, the messengers rode out swiftly on fast horses bred for the king's service. The same decree was also proclaimed in the fortress of Susa.

So on March 7 the two decrees of the king were put into effect. On that day, the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, but quite the opposite happened. It was the Jews who overpowered their enemies.

So the Jews went ahead on the appointed day and struck down their enemies with the sword. They killed and annihilated their enemies and did as they pleased with those who hated them.

So the king agreed, and the decree was announced in Susa. And they impaled the bodies of Haman's ten sons.

So to this day, rural Jews living in remote villages celebrate an annual festival and holiday on the appointed day in late winter, when they rejoice and send gifts of food to each other.

So the Jews accepted Mordecai's proposal and adopted this annual custom.

That is why this celebration is called Purim, because it is the ancient word for casting lots. So because of Mordecai's letter and because of what they had experienced,

So the command of Esther confirmed the practices of Purim, and it was all written down in the records.

"All right, you may test him," the Lord said to Satan. "Do whatever you want with everything he possesses, but don't harm him physically." So Satan left the Lord 's presence.

So Satan left the Lord 's presence, and he struck Job with terrible boils from head to foot.