The Daily Audio Bible
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4 Now when Mordecai learned all that was done, [he] rent his clothes and put on sackcloth with ashes and went out into the midst of the city and cried with a loud and bitter cry.
2 He came and stood before the king’s gate, for no one might enter the king’s gate clothed with sackcloth.
3 And in every province, wherever the king’s commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping, and wailing, and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.
4 When Esther’s maids and her attendants came and told it to her, the queen was exceedingly grieved and distressed. She sent garments to clothe Mordecai, with orders to take his sackcloth from off him, but he would not receive them.
5 Then Esther called for Hathach, one of the king’s attendants whom he had appointed to attend her, and ordered him to go to Mordecai to learn what this was and why it was.
6 So Hathach went out to Mordecai in the open square of the city, which was in front of the king’s gate.
7 And Mordecai told him of all that had happened to him, and the exact sum of money that Haman had promised to pay to the king’s treasuries for the Jews to be destroyed.
8 [Mordecai] also gave him a copy of the decree to destroy them, that was given out in Shushan, that he might show it to Esther, explain it to her, and charge her to go to the king, make supplication to him, and plead with him for the lives of her people.
9 And Hathach came and told Esther the words of Mordecai.
10 Then Esther spoke to Hathach and gave him a message for Mordecai, saying,
11 All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that any person, be it man or woman, who shall go into the inner court to the king without being called shall be put to death; there is but one law for him, except [him] to whom the king shall hold out the golden scepter, that he may live. But I have not been called to come to the king for these thirty days.
12 And they told Mordecai what Esther said.
13 Then Mordecai told them to return this answer to Esther, Do not flatter yourself that you shall escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews.
14 For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance shall arise for the Jews from elsewhere, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows but that you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this and for this very occasion?
15 Then Esther told them to give this answer to Mordecai,
16 Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast for me; and neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. I also and my maids will fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law; and if I perish, I perish.
17 So Mordecai went away and did all that Esther had commanded him.
5 On the third day [of the fast] Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the royal or inner court of the king’s palace opposite his [throne room]. The king was sitting on his throne, facing the main entrance of the palace.
2 And when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, she obtained favor in his sight, and he held out to [her] the golden scepter that was in his hand. So Esther drew near and touched the tip of the scepter.
3 Then the king said to her, What will you have, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given you, even to the half of the kingdom.
4 And Esther said, If it seems good to the king, let the king and Haman come this day to the dinner that I have prepared for the king.
5 Then the king said, Cause Haman to come quickly, that what Esther has said may be done.
6 So the king and Haman came to the dinner that Esther had prepared.
7 And during the serving of wine, the king said to Esther, What is your petition? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the half of the kingdom, it shall be performed.
8 Then Esther said, My petition and my request is: If I have found favor in the sight of the king and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and to perform my request, let the king and Haman come tomorrow to the dinner that I shall prepare for them; and I will do tomorrow as the king has said.
9 Haman went away that day joyful and elated in heart. But when he saw Mordecai at the king’s gate refusing to stand up or show fear before him, he was filled with wrath against Mordecai.
10 Nevertheless, Haman restrained himself and went home. There he sent and called for his friends and Zeresh his wife.
11 And Haman recounted to them the glory of his riches, the abundance of his [ten] sons, all the things in which the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the princes and servants of the king.
12 Haman added, Yes, and today Queen Esther did not let any man come with the king to the dinner she had prepared but myself; and tomorrow also I am invited by her together with the king.
13 Yet all this benefits me nothing as long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.
14 Then Zeresh his wife and all his friends said to him, Let a gallows be made, fifty cubits [seventy-five feet] high, and in the morning speak to the king, that Mordecai may be hanged on it; then you go in merrily with the king to the dinner. And the thing pleased Haman, and he caused the gallows to be made.
6 On that night the king could not sleep; and he ordered that the book of memorable deeds, the chronicles, be brought, and they were read before the king.
2 And it was found written there how Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s attendants who guarded the door, who had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus.
3 And the king said, What honor or distinction has been given Mordecai for this? Then the king’s servants who ministered to him said, Nothing has been done for him.
4 The king said, Who is in the court? Now Haman had just come into the outer court of the king’s palace to ask the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows he had prepared for him.
5 And the king’s servants said to him, Behold, Haman is standing in the court. And the king said, Let him come in.
6 So Haman came in. And the king said to him, What shall be done to the man whom the king delights to honor? Now Haman said to himself, To whom would the king delight to do honor more than to me?
7 And Haman said to the king, For the man whom the king delights to honor,
8 Let royal apparel be brought which the king has worn and the horse which the king has ridden, and a royal crown be set on his head.
9 And let the apparel and the horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king’s most noble princes. Let him array the man whom the king delights to honor, and conduct him on horseback through the open square of the city, and proclaim before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor.
10 Then the king said to Haman, Make haste and take the apparel and the horse, as you have said, and do so to Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king’s gate. Leave out nothing that you have spoken.
11 Then Haman took the apparel and the horse and conducted Mordecai on horseback through the open square of the city, proclaiming before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor.
12 Then Mordecai came again to the king’s gate. But Haman hastened to his house, mourning and having his head covered.
13 And Haman recounted to Zeresh his wife and all his friends everything that had happened to him. Then his wise men and Zeresh his wife said to him, If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of the offspring of the Jews, you cannot prevail against him, but shall surely fall before him.
14 While they were yet talking with him, the king’s attendants came and hastily brought Haman to the dinner that Esther had prepared.
7 So the king and Haman came to dine with Esther the queen.
2 And the king said again to Esther on the second day when wine was being served, What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted. And what is your request? Even to the half of the kingdom, it shall be performed.
3 Then Queen Esther said, If I have found favor in your sight, O king and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me at my petition and my people at my request.
4 For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, slain, and wiped out of existence! But if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I would have held my tongue, for our affliction is not to be compared with the damage this will do to the king.
5 Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, Who is he, and where is he who dares presume in his heart to do that?
6 And Esther said, An adversary and an enemy, even this wicked Haman. Then Haman was afraid before the king and queen.
7 And the king arose from the feast in his wrath and went into the palace garden; and Haman stood up to make request for his life to Queen Esther, for he saw that there was evil determined against him by the king.
8 When the king returned out of the palace garden into the place of the drinking of wine, Haman was falling upon the couch where Esther was. Then said the king, Will he even forcibly assault the queen in my presence, in my own palace? As the king spoke the words, [the servants] covered Haman’s face.
9 Then said Harbonah, one of the attendants serving the king, Behold, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman has made for Mordecai, whose warning saved the king, stands at the house of Haman. And the king said, Hang him on it!
10 So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s wrath was pacified.
12 Now about the spiritual gifts (the special endowments of supernatural energy), brethren, I do not want you to be misinformed.
2 You know that when you were heathen, you were led off after idols that could not speak [habitually] as impulse directed and whenever the occasion might arise.
3 Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking under the power and influence of the [Holy] Spirit of God can [ever] say, Jesus be cursed! And no one can [really] say, Jesus is [my] Lord, except by and under the power and influence of the Holy Spirit.
4 Now there are distinctive varieties and distributions of endowments (gifts, [a]extraordinary powers distinguishing certain Christians, due to the power of divine grace operating in their souls by the Holy Spirit) and they vary, but the [Holy] Spirit remains the same.
5 And there are distinctive varieties of service and ministration, but it is the same Lord [Who is served].
6 And there are distinctive varieties of operation [of working to accomplish things], but it is the same God Who inspires and energizes them all in all.
7 But to each one is given the manifestation of the [Holy] Spirit [the evidence, the spiritual illumination of the Spirit] for good and profit.
8 To one is given in and through the [Holy] Spirit [the power to speak] a message of wisdom, and to another [the power to express] a word of knowledge and understanding according to the same [Holy] Spirit;
9 To another [[b]wonder-working] faith by the same [Holy] Spirit, to another the extraordinary powers of healing by the one Spirit;
10 To another the working of miracles, to another prophetic insight ([c]the gift of interpreting the divine will and purpose); to another the ability to discern and distinguish between [the utterances of true] spirits [and false ones], to another various kinds of [unknown] tongues, to another the ability to interpret [such] tongues.
11 All these [gifts, achievements, abilities] are inspired and brought to pass by one and the same [Holy] Spirit, Who apportions to each person individually [exactly] as He chooses.
12 For just as the body is a unity and yet has many parts, and all the parts, though many, form [only] one body, so it is with Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).
13 For by [[d]means of the personal agency of] one [Holy] Spirit we were all, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, baptized [and [e]by baptism united together] into one body, and all made to drink of one [Holy] Spirit.
14 For the body does not consist of one limb or organ but of many.
15 If the foot should say, Because I am not the hand, I do not belong to the body, would it be therefore not [a part] of the body?
16 If the ear should say, Because I am not the eye, I do not belong to the body, would it be therefore not [a part] of the body?
17 If the whole body were an eye, where [would be the sense of] hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where [would be the sense of] smell?
18 But as it is, God has placed and arranged the limbs and organs in the body, each [particular one] of them, just as He wished and saw fit and with the best adaptation.
19 But if [the whole] were all a single organ, where would the body be?
20 And now there are [certainly] many limbs and organs, but a single body.
21 And the eye is not able to say to the hand, I have no need of you, nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.
22 But instead, there is [absolute] necessity for the parts of the body that are considered the more weak.
23 And those [parts] of the body which we consider rather ignoble are [the very parts] which we invest with additional honor, and our unseemly parts and those unsuitable for exposure are treated with seemliness (modesty and decorum),
24 Which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so adjusted (mingled, harmonized, and subtly proportioned the parts of) the whole body, giving the greater honor and richer endowment to the inferior parts which lack [apparent importance],
25 So that there should be no division or discord or lack of adaptation [of the parts of the body to each other], but the members all alike should have a mutual interest in and care for one another.
26 And if one member suffers, all the parts [share] the suffering; if one member is honored, all the members [share in] the enjoyment of it.
Psalm 36
To the Chief Musician. [A Psalm] of David the servant of the Lord.
1 Transgression [like an oracle] speaks to the wicked deep in his heart. There is no fear or dread of God before his eyes.(A)
2 For he flatters and deceives himself in his own eyes that his iniquity will not be found out and be hated.
3 The words of his mouth are wrong and deceitful; he has ceased to be wise and to do good.
4 He plans wrongdoing on his bed; he sets himself in a way that is not good; he does not reject or despise evil.
5 Your mercy and loving-kindness, O Lord, extend to the skies, and Your faithfulness to the clouds.
6 Your righteousness is like the mountains of God, Your judgments are like the great deep. O Lord, You preserve man and beast.
7 How precious is Your steadfast love, O God! The children of men take refuge and put their trust under the shadow of Your wings.
8 They relish and feast on the abundance of Your house; and You cause them to drink of the stream of Your pleasures.
9 For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light do we see light.(B)
10 O continue Your loving-kindness to those who know You, Your righteousness (salvation) to the upright in heart.
11 Let not the foot of pride overtake me, and let not the hand of the wicked drive me away.
12 There the workers of iniquity fall and lie prostrate; they are thrust down and shall not be able to rise.
21 He who earnestly seeks after and craves righteousness, mercy, and loving-kindness will find life in addition to righteousness (uprightness and right standing with God) and honor.(A)
22 A wise man scales the city walls of the mighty and brings down the stronghold in which they trust.
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