Esther 8:1-17 NIV
The King’s Edict in Behalf of
the Jews
1That
same day King Xerxes gave Queen Esther the estate of Haman, the enemy of the
Jews. And Mordecai came into the presence of the king, for Esther had told how
he was related to her. 2The
king took off his signet ring, which he had reclaimed from Haman, and presented
it to Mordecai. And Esther appointed him over Haman’s estate.
3Esther
again pleaded with the king, falling at his feet and weeping. She begged him to
put an end to the evil plan of Haman the Agagite, which he had devised against
the Jews. 4Then
the king extended the gold scepter to Esther and she arose and stood before
him.
5“If it
pleases the king,” she said, “and if he regards me with favor and thinks it the
right thing to do, and if he is pleased with me, let an order be written
overruling the dispatches that Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, devised
and wrote to destroy the Jews in all the king’s provinces. 6For how
can I bear to see disaster fall on my people? How can I bear to see the
destruction of my family?”
7King
Xerxes replied to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Because Haman attacked
the Jews, I have given his estate to Esther, and they have impaled him on the
pole he set up. 8Now
write another decree in the king’s name in behalf of the Jews as seems best to
you, and seal it with the king’s signet ring—for no document written in the
king’s name and sealed with his ring can be revoked.”
9At once
the royal secretaries were summoned—on the twenty-third day of the third month,
the month of Sivan. They wrote out all Mordecai’s orders to the Jews, and to
the satraps, governors and nobles of the 127 provinces stretching from India to
Cush.a These orders were written in the script of
each province and the language of each people and also to the Jews in their own
script and language. 10Mordecai
wrote in the name of King Xerxes, sealed the dispatches with the king’s signet
ring, and sent them by mounted couriers, who rode fast horses especially bred
for the king.
11The
king’s edict granted the Jews in every city the right to assemble and protect
themselves; to destroy, kill and annihilate the armed men of any nationality or
province who might attack them and their women and children,b and to plunder the property of their
enemies. 12The day
appointed for the Jews to do this in all the provinces of King Xerxes was the
thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar. 13A copy
of the text of the edict was to be issued as law in every province and made
known to the people of every nationality so that the Jews would be ready on
that day to avenge themselves on their enemies.
14The
couriers, riding the royal horses, went out, spurred on by the king’s command,
and the edict was issued in the citadel of Susa.
The Triumph of the Jews
15When
Mordecai left the king’s presence, he was wearing royal garments of blue and
white, a large crown of gold and a purple robe of fine linen. And the city of
Susa held a joyous celebration. 16For the
Jews it was a time of happiness and joy, gladness and honor. 17In
every province and in every city to which the edict of the king came, there was
joy and gladness among the Jews, with feasting and celebrating. And many people
of other nationalities became Jews because fear of the Jews had seized them.
Lesson from Esther 8
I. IN THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD, THE WEALTH WHICH
WORLDLY MEN WOULD USE IN OPPOSITION TO THE INTERESTS OF GOD'S CAUSE CAN BE MADE
AVAILABLE FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF THESE INTERESTS.
The conclusion which we draw from all this
is, that the best and happiest arrangement which a man can make with respect to
the good things which have been bestowed upon him is that in his lifetime he
seek to be personally the dispenser of good to others. If he lives and acts in
this spirit, then he will have the less anxiety as to the disposal of what he
may be able to leave behind him.
II. The peculiar providence which we see exercised in the case of Mordecai teaches us THAT MEN MAY BE WELL CONTENT TO WAIT, WHILE THEY ARE IN THE WAY OF WELL-DOING, UNTIL THEY RECEIVE THEIR RECOMPENSE.
Worth and faithfulness and humility, after they have been long neglected, are brought into the light, and are honored in proportion to the neglect which they formerly experienced.
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