A Walk Through The Word

8 That day King Xerxes gave Queen Esther the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. Mordecai came and appeared before the king, because Esther had told him what Mordecai’s relationship to her was.

² The king took off his signet ring that he had taken from Haman and gave it to Mordecai. Esther put Mordecai in charge of the house of Haman.

³ In addition, Esther spoke to the king. She fell at his feet, wept, and requested that he put an end to the evil plan that Haman the Agagite had devised against the Jews.

⁴ The king held out the golden scepter to Esther. Esther rose and stood in the presence of the king.

⁵ She said, “If it is acceptable to the king, if I have found favor before him, if this idea seems right to the king, and if I am acceptable to him, a decree should be written to nullify the letters for the plot of Haman, son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews in all of the provinces of the king. ⁶ For how can I watch the disaster that is about to come on my people! How can I watch the destruction of my relatives!”

⁷ King Xerxes said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Look. I have given Haman’s house to Esther. They have hanged him on the gallows because he raised his hand against the Jews. ⁸ You can write concerning the Jews whatever seems good to you and seal it with the king’s signet ring, because a document written in the name of the king and sealed with the king’s signet ring cannot be changed.”

⁹ The king’s scribes were summoned at once, on the twenty-third day of Sivan, the third month. Whatever Mordecai commanded concerning the Jews was written to the satraps, governors, and the officials of the provinces from India to Cush, one hundred twenty-seven provinces in all. They wrote to each province in its own writing system and to each people in its own language (including to the Jews in their writing system and in their language). ¹⁰ He wrote in the name of King Xerxes and sealed it with the king’s signet ring. He sent letters by messengers mounted on the king’s fastest thoroughbreds.^[a]

The Content and Effect of the Letters

¹¹ The king gave the Jews in every city the right to gather together to defend their own lives and to destroy, kill, and annihilate any military force of any people or province that might attack them, along with their children and their wives, and to plunder their goods.

¹² In all the provinces of King Xerxes, ¹³ a copy of the writing, which was issued as a law for every province, proclaimed to all the peoples that on one day (the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, Adar), the Jews would be ready to avenge themselves on their enemies.

¹⁴ The couriers riding their swift horses went out quickly, spurred on by the word of the king. The decree originated in Susa, the citadel.

¹⁵ Mordecai went out from the king’s presence, dressed in blue and white royal clothing, with a large gold crown and a purple linen cape. The city of Susa shouted and rejoiced. ¹⁶ It was a time of light, gladness, joy, and honor for the Jews.

¹⁷ In every province and in every city which the message of the king reached, his edict brought gladness and joy to the Jews. There was a feast and a holiday. Many of the peoples of the land declared themselves Jews because the fear of the Jews had fallen upon them.

9 On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month (Adar), the day which the king’s proclamation had specified for his decree to be carried out, the day on which the enemies of the Jews hoped to obtain power over them, the situation was reversed so that the Jews would gain power over those who hated them.

² The Jews gathered in their cities in all the provinces of King Xerxes, to strike against those seeking to hurt them. No one opposed them because the fear of the Jews had fallen upon all the people. ³ All the officials of the provinces, the satraps, the governors, and the people who did the work of the king were helping the Jews because the fear of Mordecai had fallen on them, ⁴ because he was important in the king’s house. His reputation was spreading in all the provinces because this man Mordecai was becoming more and more influential.

⁵ The Jews struck all their enemies with the sword, slaughtering and destroying them. They did whatever they pleased against their enemies.

⁶ In Susa, the citadel, the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men, ⁷ including Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, ⁸ Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, ⁹ Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha. ¹⁰ They killed the ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, who had been persecuting the Jews, but they did not seize any plunder.

¹¹ On that day the number of those killed in Susa, the citadel, was reported to the king. ¹² The king said to Queen Esther, “In Susa, the citadel, the Jews have killed five hundred men, including the ten sons of Haman. What have they done in the rest of the provinces of the king? What is your request? It will be granted. What you are still seeking will be done.”

¹³ Esther said, “If it seems good to the king, let permission be given to the Jews who are in Susa to carry out today’s order also tomorrow and that the ten sons of Haman be hanged on the gallows.”

¹⁴ The king said that this would be done. The command was given in Susa. The ten sons of Haman were hanged.

¹⁵ The Jews in Susa gathered again on the fourteenth day of Adar. In Susa they killed three hundred men, but they did not seize any plunder.

¹⁶ The rest of the Jews who were in the provinces of the king also gathered and defended themselves, getting relief from their enemies. They killed seventy-five thousand of those who hated them, but they did not seize any plunder. ¹⁷ This happened on the thirteenth day of Adar. They rested on the fourteenth and had a day of feasting^[b] and joyful celebration.

¹⁸ But the Jews who were in Susa gathered on the thirteenth and on the fourteenth. They rested on the fifteenth and made it a day of feasting and joyful celebration. ¹⁹ Therefore the Jews of the villages, who live in the unwalled towns of the open countryside, have their day of joyful celebration and feasting on the fourteenth of Adar. It is a holiday, and they send portions of food to their neighbors.

²⁰ Mordecai wrote these things down. Then he sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Xerxes, both near and far, ²¹ to call upon them to celebrate the fourteenth and fifteenth days of Adar every year, ²² because those were the days on which the Jews gained relief from their enemies. This was the month which was changed from sorrow to gladness for them and from a day of mourning to a holiday. They were to make those days into days of feasting and joyful celebration, sending portions of food to their neighbors and gifts to the poor.

²³ So the Jews completed what they had begun to do and what Mordecai had written to them, ²⁴ because Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the one opposed to all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them and had cast pur (that is, they had cast lots) to crush them and to destroy them.

²⁵ However, because Esther came into the presence of the king, he said in writing that Haman’s wicked plot, which he had devised against the Jews, was to return on his own head, and they should hang him and his sons on the gallows.

²⁶ That is why they called these days Purim (lots) because of the word pur. Therefore, because of all the words of this letter, because of what they had observed, and because of what had happened to them, ²⁷ the Jews established this festival and made a commitment that they, their descendants, and all those associated with them would never fail to observe these two days according to these directions and at their proper time every year.

²⁸ These days are to be remembered and preserved in every generation, in every family, province, and city. The Jews should never stop celebrating the days of Purim. Their commemoration should never be set aside by their descendants.

²⁹ Then Queen Esther, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew used their authority to publish this second communication about Purim. ³⁰ He sent letters to all the Jews in one hundred twenty-seven provinces of the kingdom of Xerxes containing words of true peace, ³¹ telling them to observe the days of Purim at their appointed times, just as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had given them the responsibility to do, and telling them to carry out the directions about their fasts and their lamentation just as they and their descendants had agreed to do.

³² The command of Esther established the directions about Purim, and they were written in a book.

10 King Xerxes imposed taxes on the land and on the islands and coasts of the sea. ² All his powerful and mighty acts and the account of the greatness of Mordecai, whom the king promoted, are they not written in the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia?

³ This was written there because Mordecai the Jew, second in command to King Xerxes, was important for the Jews and popular with large numbers of his brother Israelites, because he sought the welfare of his people and spoke peace to all their descendants.

²⁷ You are the body of Christ, and individually you are members of it. ²⁸ And God appointed in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then miracles, healing gifts, helpful acts, leadership abilities, kinds of tongues. ²⁹ Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all miracle workers? ³⁰ Do all have healing gifts? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? ³¹ But eagerly seek the greater gifts. And now, I am going to show you a more excellent way.

Love Matters More Than the Other Gifts

13 If I speak in the tongues^[a] of men and of angels but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy and know all the mysteries and have all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give away everything I own, and if I give up my body that I may be burned^[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.

⁴ Love is patient. Love is kind. Love does not envy. It does not brag. It is not arrogant. ⁵ It does not behave indecently. It is not selfish. It is not irritable. It does not keep a record of wrongs. ⁶ It does not rejoice over unrighteousness but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It bears^[c] all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.^[d]

⁸ Love never comes to an end. But if there are prophetic gifts, they will be done away with; if tongues, they will cease; if knowledge, it will be done away with. ⁹ For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part, ¹⁰ but when that which is complete has come, that which is partial will be done away with. ¹¹ When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put away childish things. ¹² Now we see indirectly using a mirror, but then we will see face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, just as I was fully known.

¹³ So now these three remain: faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.

Psalm 37

Do Not Fret Because of Evildoers

Heading
By David.

Do Not Be Frustrated by the Wicked

Trust in God’s Goodness

Consider the Final Destiny of the Wicked

4 When Mordecai became aware of everything that had happened, he ripped his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, went out into the middle of the city, and let out a loud, bitter cry. ² He went right up to the king’s gate, even though no one clothed with sackcloth was allowed to enter it.

³ In every single province that was reached by the proclamation of the king and where his decree was posted, there was great mourning, fasting, weeping, and lamenting among the Jews. Many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

⁴ When Esther’s female attendants and her eunuchs came and told her what had happened, the queen agonized over it. She sent garments to clothe Mordecai so that he could take off his sackcloth, but he did not accept them. ⁵ Esther summoned Hathak, who had been assigned from among the king’s eunuchs to attend to her. She ordered him to go to Mordecai to learn what was happening and why.

⁶ Hathak went out to Mordecai in the public square in front of the king’s gate. ⁷ Mordecai told him everything that had happened and the exact amount of silver that Haman had said he would put into the treasuries of the king to destroy the Jews. ⁸ Mordecai also gave Hathak a copy of the written decree which had been issued in Susa to destroy the Jews, so that he could show it to Esther. Hathak was to place the responsibility upon her to go to the king to beg for mercy and plead with him for her people.

⁹ So Hathak went and told Esther what Mordecai had said.

¹⁰ Esther spoke to Hathak and gave him directions to pass on to Mordecai: ¹¹ “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that it is the law that any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned will be put to death, unless the king holds out the golden scepter to him. Then he will live. But I have not been called to go to the king for thirty days.”

¹² They told Mordecai what Esther had said.

¹³ Mordecai responded, “Take this message to Esther: Do not imagine that of all the Jews, you alone will escape because you are part of the king’s household. ¹⁴ If at this time you keep totally silent, relief and deliverance for the Jews will spring up from somewhere, but you and the house of your father will perish. Who knows whether you have become queen for a time like this!”

¹⁵ Esther responded to Mordecai, ¹⁶ “Go. Gather all the Jews who are found in Susa. Fast on my behalf. Do not eat and drink for three days and nights. I and my young women also will fast in the same way. After that I will go to the king, contrary to the law. And then, if I perish, I perish!”

¹⁷ Mordecai went away and did everything Esther had ordered him to do.

5 On the third day Esther dressed in the queen’s royal clothing and stood in the inner court of the king’s palace, opposite the quarters of the king. The king was sitting on the throne in the reception hall, opposite the entrance.

² When the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, she pleased him. The king held out to Esther the golden scepter, which was in his hand. Esther approached and touched the head of the scepter.

³ The king said to her, “What concerns you, Queen Esther? Whatever you are seeking (up to half of the kingdom) will be given to you.”

⁴ Esther said, “If it is agreeable to the king, the king and Haman should come today to a banquet that I have made for him.”

⁵ The king said, “Hurry! Get Haman so that we can do what Esther has said.” So the king and Haman came to the banquet that Esther had prepared.

⁶ While the king was drinking wine, he said to Esther, “What is your request? It will be given to you. What are you seeking? Up to half of the kingdom—it’s yours.”

⁷ Esther answered, “This is my request. This is what I seek. ⁸ If I have found favor in the eyes of the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my request, let the king and Haman come to a banquet, which I will make for them tomorrow. Then I will give the answers requested by the king.”

⁹ Haman went out that day full of joy, with a happy heart. But when Haman saw Mordecai at the king’s gate, and Mordecai did not stand and tremble before him, Haman was filled with rage against Mordecai. ¹⁰ But Haman restrained himself from any action.

He went to his house and called together his friends and his wife Zeresh. ¹¹ Haman reviewed for them the glory of his wealth, the number of his sons, all the details about how the king had made him great, and how the king had elevated him over all the officials and the king’s administrators. ¹² Haman said, “What’s more, Queen Esther did not invite anyone except me to come with the king to the banquet that she prepared. I have been invited again for her banquet with the king tomorrow. ¹³ But none of this means anything to me whenever I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.”

¹⁴ Zeresh his wife and all his friends said to him, “Make a gallows^[a] seventy-five feet high. In the morning tell the king that Mordecai should be hanged^[b] on it. Then go happily with the king to the banquet.” In Haman’s opinion this was good advice, so he had the gallows made.

6 That night the king could not sleep, so he ordered that the chronicles,^[c] the record of the memorable events of his reign, be brought to him. These accounts were read to the king.

² They found the account about the incident when Mordecai had reported Bigthan^[d] and Teresh, the king’s two eunuchs who had controlled access to the entrance to the palace, who had tried to assassinate King Xerxes.

³ The king said, “What honor and recognition has been given to Mordecai for this?”

Then the servants of the king who were attending him said, “Nothing has been done for him.”

⁴ The king said, “Who is in the court?” Just then Haman had come to the outer court of the king’s palace to speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him.

⁵ The king’s servants said to him, “Look, Haman is standing in the court.” The king said, “Have him come in.”

⁶ When Haman came in, the king said to him, “What should be done to honor the man with whom the king is pleased?”

Haman said in his heart, “Who could there be that the king would be more pleased to honor than me?”

⁷ Haman said to the king, “The man whom the king is pleased to honor ⁸ should be clothed with garments that the king has worn. He should be given a horse on which the king has ridden, and crowned with a crown that has been on the king’s head. ⁹ These clothes and this horse should be delivered by one of the highest ranking noblemen of the king. They should dress up the man whom the king is pleased to honor and let him ride on the horse in the public square of the city. Walking in front of him, they will proclaim, “This is what is done for the man whom the king is pleased to honor.”

¹⁰ The king said to Haman, “Hurry! Take the clothing and the horse just as you have said, and do this for Mordecai the Jew, who sits in the gatehouse of the king. Do not leave out a thing from whatever you have said.”

¹¹ Haman took the clothing and the horse, clothed Mordecai, had him ride through the public square of the city, and proclaimed before him, “This is what is done for the man whom the king is pleased to honor.”

¹² Mordecai returned to the king’s gate, but Haman hurried to his home, mourning, with his head covered. ¹³ Haman reported all this to Zeresh his wife and to all his friends.

His advisors and Zeresh his wife said to him, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish descent,^[e] you will not overcome him. Instead, you will surely fall before him.”

¹⁴ While they were still talking with him, the king’s eunuchs arrived and rushed Haman to the banquet that Esther had prepared.

7 So the king and Haman went to the feast with Queen Esther.

² On the second day, when they were again drinking wine, the king said to Esther, “What is your request, Queen Esther? It will be given to you. What are you seeking? Up to half of the kingdom—it’s yours.”

³ Queen Esther responded, “My King, if I have found favor in your eyes, and if it pleases the king, I am asking that my life be spared, and I am seeking the lives of my people, ⁴ because I and my people have been sold to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. If we were merely being sold to be male and female slaves, I would have remained silent, because that would not have been bad enough to be a reason to bother the king.”

⁵ King Xerxes spoke up. He said to Queen Esther, “Who is this, and where is this person who has the audacity to do this?”

⁶ Esther said, “This hateful enemy is this evil Haman!” Haman was terrified in the presence of the king and the queen.

⁷ The king rose angrily from the place where they were drinking wine^[f] and went to the palace garden. But Haman stayed to beg for his life from Queen Esther, because he saw the king had evil plans for him.

⁸ Just as the king was returning from the palace garden to the hall where they had been drinking wine, Haman was falling onto the couch on which Esther was lying. The king said, “Will he even assault the queen when I am in the building?” As soon as the words left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face.^[g]

⁹ In addition, Harbona, one of the eunuchs present with the king, said, “You know, there is a gallows seventy-five feet high standing by the house of Haman, which he made for Mordecai, the person who spoke up for the benefit of the king.” The king said, “Hang^[h] him on it.”

¹⁰ So they hanged Haman on the gallows which he had prepared for Mordecai, and the king’s anger subsided.

All the Gifts of the Spirit Are Beneficial

12 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. ² You know that when you were pagans, you were deceived and somehow led away to mute idols. ³ Therefore I am informing you that no one speaking by God’s Spirit says, “A curse be upon Jesus,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

⁴ There are various kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. ⁵ There are different kinds of ministries, and yet the same Lord. ⁶ There are various kinds of activity, but the same God, who produces all of them in everyone.

⁷ Each person is given a manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. ⁸ To one person a message of wisdom is given by the Spirit; to another, a message of knowledge, as the same Spirit provides it; ⁹ by the same Spirit, faith is given to someone else; and to another, the same^[a] Spirit gives healing gifts. ¹⁰ Another is given powers to do miracles; another, the gift of prophecy; another, the evaluating of spirits; someone else, different kinds of tongues;^[b] and another, the interpretation of tongues. ¹¹ One and the same Spirit produces all of these, distributing them to each one individually as he desires.

The Diversity of the Gifts Enhances the Unity of the Body of Christ

¹² For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so also is Christ. ¹³ For by^[c] one Spirit we all were baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free people, and we were all caused to drink one Spirit. ¹⁴ Furthermore, the body is not one member, but many. ¹⁵ If the foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not part of the body,” it does not on that account cease to be part of the body. ¹⁶ If the ear says, “Because I am not an eye, I am not part of the body,” it does not on that account cease to be part of the body. ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? ¹⁸ But now God has arranged the members in the body, each and every one of them, as he desired. ¹⁹ If they were all one member, where would the body be? ²⁰ But as it is, there are many members, yet one body.

²¹ The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need for you,” or again the head to the feet, “I have no need for you.” ²² On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are much more necessary. ²³ As for the parts of the body we consider less honorable, these we provide with more honor. We treat our unpresentable parts with more modesty, ²⁴ whereas our presentable parts have no such need. But God put the body together in a way that gave more honor to the parts that lack it. ²⁵ He did it so that there might not be any division in the body, but that the members might all have the same concern for one another. ²⁶ So if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it, or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.

Psalm 36

Concerning the Rebelliousness of the Wicked

Heading

For the choir director. By the servant of the Lord. By David.

The Arrogance of the Wicked

The Goodness of God

Closing Prayer

1 These events happened during the time of Xerxes,^[a] when Xerxes was ruling over one hundred twenty-seven provinces from India to Cush.^{[b] 2} King Xerxes was ruling on his royal throne in Susa, the citadel.^[c]

³ In the third year of his reign^[d] he gave a banquet^[e] for all his officials and administrators, for the leaders of the army of Persia and Media, and for the nobles and officials of the provinces. ⁴ He displayed the glory and splendor of the riches of his kingdom, the grandeur of his majesty, for many days (one hundred eighty days in all).

⁵ When this was completed, the king gave a banquet for all the people who were present at the citadel in Susa, from the most important to the least significant. It lasted for seven days in the courtyard of the garden in the king’s palace.

⁶ There were white and blue linen hangings, attached to marble^[f] pillars with white and purple cords and silver rings.^[g] There were couches made of gold and silver, standing on a mosaic floor made of purple porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl, and other precious stones. ⁷ Drinks were served in gold goblets. Each goblet was unique. The royal wine was plentiful, in keeping with the king’s extravagance. ⁸ No directions were given about the amount each person was to drink because the king had ordered all the waiters to serve the amount each man desired.

⁹ Queen Vashti also gave a banquet for the women in the palace of King Xerxes.

¹⁰ On the seventh day, when the king was feeling good from the wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, and Abagtha, Zethar, and Karkas, seven of the eunuchs who served him, ¹¹ to bring before him Queen Vashti wearing the crown of the kingdom, in order to show the people and the officials her beauty. She was very good-looking.

¹² Queen Vashti refused to come in response to the king’s command delivered by the eunuchs. The king was infuriated and his anger burned within him.

¹³ So the king spoke to his advisors who understood the times. (It was the king’s custom to consult with those who were acquainted with law and legal principles.) ¹⁴ His close advisors were Karshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, seven officials of Persia and Media who were allowed to see the king’s face and were ranked first in the kingdom.

¹⁵ He asked, “According to the law, what should be done with Queen Vashti since she did not obey the command of the king delivered by the eunuchs?”

¹⁶ In the presence of the king and the officials, Memucan said, “Queen Vashti has not only committed an offense against the king, but she has also committed an offense against all the officials and all the people in the provinces of King Xerxes, ¹⁷ because the action of the queen, when it is reported to all the women, will cause them to look upon their husbands with contempt. They will say, ‘King Xerxes said to bring Queen Vashti before him, but she did not come.’ ¹⁸ Today the noble ladies of Persia and Media, who have heard about the action of the queen, will be talking about it to their husbands, who are the officials of the king. There will be more than enough contempt and anger. ¹⁹ If the king agrees, he should issue a royal decree. It should be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes, so that it cannot be changed. Vashti shall not come into the presence of King Xerxes. The king will give her status as queen to a different person, one better than she is. ²⁰ The decree of the king will be heard throughout all of his vast kingdom. Then all the women will give honor to their husbands, both the most important and the least significant.”

²¹ The advice seemed good to the king and the officials, so the king did as Memucan had said. ²² He sent letters to all the provinces of the kingdom—to each province in its own writing system and to each people in its own language. The letters stated that each man should be lord in his own house. The letters were addressed to every man in his own language.^[h]

2 When King Xerxes was no longer so angry, he remembered what Vashti had done and what had been decreed about her.

² The young men who served as attendants to the king said, “Search for good-looking, young virgins for the king. ³ Let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of the kingdom to do this. Gather all the good-looking, young virgins into the citadel at Susa, to the harem under the supervision of Hegai, the king’s eunuch, the overseer of the women. Give them beauty treatments. ⁴ The young woman who pleases the king should be queen instead of Vashti.” The king agreed and implemented the plan.

⁵ In the citadel at Susa there was a Jew named Mordecai, who was the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish the Benjaminite. ⁶ Kish had been taken from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon with the other captives who were exiled with Jeconiah king of Judah.^[i]

⁷ Mordecai had raised his cousin Hadassah (also called Esther) because she had no father or mother. She was shapely and good-looking. When her father and mother died, Mordecai adopted her as his daughter.

⁸ When the king’s order and edict had been proclaimed, and many young women had been gathered into the citadel of Susa under the supervision of Hegai, Esther was taken to the king’s palace, to Hegai, who was in charge of the harem. ⁹ She pleased Hegai and gained his favor. He quickly provided her with beauty treatments and food. He assigned a good position in the harem to her and to the seven female attendants picked out for her from the king’s palace.

¹⁰ Esther had not revealed her nationality or her family background because Mordecai had told her not to do so.

¹¹ Every day Mordecai walked back and forth in front of the harem, to learn about Esther’s well-being and about what was going to be done with her.

¹² Every young woman received a turn to go to King Xerxes after she had received the prescribed twelve months of beauty treatments. For six months they used oil of myrrh; for six months perfumes and other beauty treatments for women. ¹³ Then the young woman went to the king. Everything she desired was given to her when she went from the harem to the king’s palace. ¹⁴ She went to the king in the evening. In the morning she returned to the second harem, under the supervision of Sha’ashgaz, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the concubines. She did not return to the king unless he was delighted with her and she was summoned by name.

¹⁵ Esther was the daughter of Abihail, Mordecai’s uncle. Mordecai had adopted her.

When her turn came to go to the king, she did not ask for anything except what Hegai, the king’s eunuch in charge of the harem, had advised. Esther won the approval of everyone watching her.

¹⁶ Esther was taken to King Xerxes at the royal palace in the tenth month, the month of Tebeth, during the seventh year^[j] of his reign.

¹⁷ The king loved Esther more than he loved all the other women. She won his favor and approval more than all the other virgins did. He placed the crown of the kingdom on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.

¹⁸ The king gave a great banquet in honor of Esther for all his officials and administrators. He declared a tax holiday for the provinces and gave gifts as only the king could give.

¹⁹ When the virgins were gathered together for a second time,^[k] Mordecai was sitting in the gatehouse to the king’s palace. ²⁰ (Esther had not revealed her family or her nationality because when Mordecai had been taking care of her, Mordecai had told her not to do so.)

²¹ When Mordecai was sitting in the king’s gatehouse, Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs who controlled access to the entrance to the palace, became very angry and plotted to kill King Xerxes. ²² When Mordecai learned about this, he told Queen Esther. She passed the report along to the king, crediting Mordecai by name. ²³ The matter was investigated, and the charges were found to be true, and both of them were hanged.^[l] This incident was recorded in the daily record book, in the presence of the king.

3 After these events King Xerxes honored Haman, son of Hammedatha, the Agagite. He promoted him and placed him over all the officials who served with him. ² All the servants of the king who were at the king’s gate were bowing down and kneeling in Haman’s presence, because the king had commanded that this be done for him, but Mordecai did not bow down and did not kneel.

³ So the servants of the king who were at the king’s gate said to Mordecai, “Why are you going against the king’s command?” ⁴ Even though they spoke to him every day, he did not listen to them. They reported this to Haman, to see whether Mordecai’s actions would be tolerated. Mordecai had informed them that he was a Jew.

⁵ When Haman saw that Mordecai was not bowing down and kneeling in his presence, Haman was enraged. ⁶ Because the king’s servants had made Haman aware of Mordecai’s nationality, Haman was not satisfied with laying hands only on Mordecai. Haman sought to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, throughout the whole kingdom of Xerxes.

⁷ During the twelfth year of King Xerxes’ reign, during the first month, the month of Nisan, a pur (which means “a lot”) was cast before Haman for every day and every month of the year, until Adar, the twelfth month, was chosen.

⁸ Haman said to King Xerxes, “There is a group of people scattered and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom. Their laws are different from those of all the other people. They do not keep the laws of the king. It is not good for the king to allow them to get away with this. ⁹ If the king agrees, a directive should be written to destroy them. I will weigh out ten thousand talents^[m] of silver to the treasury of the king for those who carry out this work.”

¹⁰ The king took his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the man opposing the Jews. ¹¹ The king said to Haman, “The silver will be given to you,^[n] as well as the people. Do with them whatever seems good to you.”

¹² In the first month, on the thirteenth day, the king’s scribes were summoned. A decree based on everything Haman commanded was written to the king’s satraps,^[o] to the governors over each province, and to the officials of every people. The decree was sent to each province in its own writing system and to each people in its own language. It was written in the name of King Xerxes and sealed with the king’s signet ring.

¹³ The letters were sent by courier to all the provinces of the king to destroy, kill, and annihilate all the Jews, young and old, including children and women, and to plunder their goods in one day, on the thirteenth day of Adar, the twelfth month. ¹⁴ A copy of the decree was to be proclaimed as a law to all the peoples in every province, so that they could be ready for that day.

¹⁵ The couriers went out, spurred on by the word of the king. The law was issued in Susa, the citadel. The king and Haman sat down to drink. The city of Susa was perplexed and confused.

A Sinful Practice at the Lord’s Supper Needs to Be Eliminated

¹⁷ Now in giving you this next command, I do not praise you, because you come together not for the better but for the worse. ¹⁸ For in the first place, I hear that when you come together in an assembly, there are divisions among you. And to some extent I believe it, ¹⁹ for there also have to be factions among you so that those who are approved may become evident among you. ²⁰ So when you come together in the same place, it is not the Lord’s Supper that you eat. ²¹ For when you eat, each one goes ahead and takes his own supper, and so one person goes hungry while another is drunk. ²² What, don’t you have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise God’s church and humiliate those who have nothing? What am I to say to you? Shall I praise you? In this matter I do not praise you!

²³ For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night when he was betrayed, took bread, ²⁴ and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said,^[a] “This is my body, which is^[b] for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” ²⁵ In the same way, after the meal, he also took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new testament^[c] in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” ²⁶ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

²⁷ Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the Lord’s body and blood. ²⁸ Instead, let a person examine himself and after doing so, let him eat of the bread and drink from the cup. ²⁹ For if anyone eats and drinks in an unworthy way^[d] because he does not recognize^[e] the Lord’s^[f] body, he eats and drinks judgment on himself. ³⁰ Because of this, many among you are weak and sick, and quite a few have fallen asleep.^{[g] 31} But if we judged ourselves, we would not be undergoing judgment. ³² However, when we undergo judgment, we are being disciplined by the Lord so that we may not be condemned with the world.

³³ Therefore, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another.^{[h] 34} If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home so that your coming together may not result in judgment. The rest of my instructions I will give when I come.

Second Petition

Second Vow

Third Petition

Third Vow

The Dedication of the Wall of Jerusalem

²⁷ Now for the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, the Levites had been invited from all their places, in order to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the joyful dedication with both thanksgiving hymns and with songs using cymbals, harps, and lyres. ²⁸ The singers had been gathered both from the district around Jerusalem and from the villages of the Netophathites, ²⁹ from Beth Gilgal, and from the countryside of Geba and Azmaveth, because the singers had built villages for themselves around Jerusalem. ³⁰ The priests and the Levites purified themselves, and they purified the people, the gates, and the wall.

³¹ I brought the officers of Judah up onto the wall and appointed two large thanksgiving choirs and two groups for the procession.

One group proceeded south on top of the west wall toward the Dung Gate. ³² Behind them went Hoshaiah and half of the officers of Judah, ³³ also Azariah, Ezra, and Meshullam, ³⁴ Judah and Benjamin, and Shemaiah and Jeremiah, ³⁵ as well as some of the priests with trumpets, namely, Zechariah the son of Jonathan, the son of Shemaiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Micaiah, the son of Zakkur, the son of Asaph, ³⁶ and his relatives Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Ma’ai, Nethanel, and Judah, and Hanani with the musical instruments of David the man of God. Ezra the scribe led them. ³⁷ From the Fountain Gate they went directly up the steps to the City of David, by the ascent to the wall which was above David’s house and over the Water Gate on the east.^[a]

³⁸ The second thanksgiving choir was assigned to go in the opposite direction. Both I and half of the people were behind it on top of the wall. They went over the Tower of the Ovens to the Broad Wall, ³⁹ and over the Ephraim Gate (that is, over the Old Gate), and over the Fish Gate and the Tower of Hananel and the Tower of the Hundred, and up to the Sheep Gate, and they stood at the Guard’s Gate.

⁴⁰ The two thanksgiving choirs stood in the house of God, as did I and half of the officials with me, ⁴¹ as well as the priests: Eliakim, Ma’aseiah, Miniamin, Mikaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah with trumpets, ⁴² and Ma’aseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, and Malkijah, and Elam, and Ezer. Then the singers sang with Jezrahiah as their leader. ⁴³ That day they offered great sacrifices and rejoiced because God had given them great joy. The women and children also rejoiced. The joy of Jerusalem was heard a long way away.

⁴⁴ That day men were appointed as supervisors over the storerooms, the contributions, the firstfruits, and the tithes, in order to gather the portions required by the Law for the priests and the Levites from the fields^[b] of the towns, because Judah rejoiced over the priests and Levites who carried out their duties. ⁴⁵ They and the singers and the gatekeepers continued the service of their God and the service of purification, according to the command of David and his son Solomon, ⁴⁶ because formerly in the days of David and Asaph, Asaph was the head of the singers and of songs of praise and thanksgiving to God. ⁴⁷ In the days of Zerubbabel and in the days of Nehemiah, all Israel continued to give the required portions for the singers and the gatekeepers daily. They would set apart that portion which was for the Levites, and the Levites would set apart that portion which was for the descendants of Aaron.

Enforcing the Terms of the Covenant

13 On that day, when the Book of Moses was being read in the hearing of the people, it was found written in it that no Ammonite or Moabite may ever come into the assembled congregation of God, ² because they had not met the Israelites with food and water but had hired Balaam against them to curse them. However, our God had turned the curse into a blessing. ³ As the people heard the Law, they separated everyone of mixed foreign descent from Israel.

⁴ But before this, the priest Eliashib, who had been put in charge of the storerooms of the house of our God, and who was related to Tobiah, ⁵ had provided a large storeroom for him.

Previously they had been putting the offerings, the incense, and the vessels, as well as the tithes of grain, new wine, and olive oil there. This had been done according to the command concerning the Levites, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the contributions for the priests.

⁶ But when all this was happening, I was not in Jerusalem, because in the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes of Babylon, I had gone to the king. Then sometime later, I asked the king for permission to return, ⁷ and I came back to Jerusalem. Then I found out about the evil thing that Eliashib had done for Tobiah by providing a room for him in the courtyards of the house of God. ⁸ This was very offensive to me, so I threw all of Tobiah’s household property out of the storeroom. ⁹ I gave orders to purify the storerooms, and I restored the articles of the house of God, the offerings, and the incense.

¹⁰ Then I learned that the portions for the Levites had not been distributed and that the Levites and singers who performed the work of God’s house all had gone back to their own fields. ¹¹ I accused the officials and said, “Why has the house of God been abandoned?” So I gathered them and stationed them at their places. ¹² Then all Judah brought the tithes of grain and new wine and olive oil to the storerooms. ¹³ I appointed treasurers in charge of the storerooms: the priest Shelemiah, the scribe Zadok, Pedaiah from the Levites, and as their assistant, Hanan the son of Zakkur, the son of Mattaniah, because they were considered to be trustworthy. It was their responsibility to distribute the portions to their relatives.

¹⁴ Remember me, my God, because of this, and do not wipe away my faithful deeds, which I have done for the sake of the house of my God and for the sake of its services.

¹⁵ In those days I saw in Judah some people who were treading winepresses on the Sabbath and bringing heaps of grain and loading them on donkeys, and also wine, grapes, and figs and all kinds of loads, and then bringing them to Jerusalem on the Sabbath. So I warned them on the day when they were selling food.

¹⁶ Moreover, some people from Tyre lived in the city. They were bringing fish and all kinds of merchandise and selling it on the Sabbath to the Jews—even in Jerusalem! ¹⁷ So I accused the Judean nobles and said to them, “What is this evil thing that you are doing, by which you are profaning the Sabbath day? ¹⁸ Didn’t your ancestors do this, and as a result our God brought all this calamity upon us and upon this city? You are adding more to his wrath by profaning the Sabbath.”

¹⁹ As it began to grow dark within the gates of Jerusalem before the beginning of the Sabbath, I gave orders to close the doors and not to open them until after the Sabbath. I also stationed some of my servants at the gates to ensure that no load would come in on the Sabbath day. ²⁰ Once or twice the merchants and those who sell all kinds of merchandise spent the night outside of Jerusalem. ²¹ However, I warned them and said to them, “Why are you spending the night next to the wall? If you do this again, I will use force against you.” From that time onward they did not come on the Sabbath. ²² Then I told the Levites that they should purify themselves and come to guard the gates in order to sanctify the Sabbath day.

Remember this also in my favor, my God, and spare me according to your great faithfulness.

²³ Also in those days I saw the Judeans who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. ²⁴ Half of their children spoke the dialect of Ashdod or the language of other peoples and were not able to understand how to speak Judean. ²⁵ So I accused them and cursed them. I beat some of the men and pulled out their hair. Then I made them take an oath by God: “May God punish us if we give our daughters to their sons or if we take some of their daughters for our sons or for ourselves.”

²⁶ I said, “Wasn’t it because of these foreign wives that King Solomon of Israel sinned, although there was no king like him among the many nations? He was loved by his God, and God placed him as king over all Israel. Yet foreign wives made even him sin. ²⁷ Should we listen to you and be led to do all this great evil, so that we end up being unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women?”

²⁸ One of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib, the high priest, was the son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite. So I chased him away from me.

²⁹ Remember them, my God, because of their defiling of the priesthood and because of the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites.

³⁰ So I purified them of everything foreign, and I established duties for the priests and the Levites—each man had his own work. ³¹ I also provided wood for the offerings at the appropriate times and for the offerings of the firstfruits.

Remember me, my God, for good.

11 ¹ Be imitators of me, just as I am of Christ.

Concerning Head Coverings at Worship

² I praise you, brothers,^[a] for remembering me in all things and holding firmly to the teachings^[b] as I delivered them to you. ³ However, I want you to know that Christ is the head of every man, and man is woman’s head, and God is Christ’s head. ⁴ Every man who prays or prophesies with a covering hanging down from his head dishonors his head. ⁵ But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, for it is one and the same thing as being a woman with a shaved head. ⁶ Indeed, if a woman does not wear a head covering, she should cut off her hair too. But if it is shameful for a woman to cut off her hair or shave her head, she should wear a head covering.

⁷ For a man ought not to wear a head covering, because he is the image and glory of God, but woman is man’s glory. ⁸ For man is not from woman, but woman from man, ⁹ and man was not created for the woman, but woman for the man. ¹⁰ For this reason the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head,^[c] because of the angels.

¹¹ Nevertheless, in the Lord, woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. ¹² For as woman came from man, so also man comes through woman, and all things are from God.

¹³ Judge for yourselves. Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? ¹⁴ Doesn’t the nature of things itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is disgraceful for him, ¹⁵ whereas if a woman has long hair, it is glorious for her? For her long hair has been given to her as a covering. ¹⁶ But if anyone is inclined to be contentious—we have no such custom, and neither do God’s churches.

Psalm 35

David’s Defender

Heading
By David.

Opening Prayer

First Petition

First Vow

The Attacks of the Wicked

New Residents for Jerusalem

11 The people’s officials lived in Jerusalem, and the rest of the people cast lots to choose one out of every ten to live in Jerusalem, the holy city, while the other nine remained in their own cities. ² The people blessed all those who volunteered to live in Jerusalem.

From the descendants of Judah:

⁷ These are the descendants of Benjamin:

¹⁰ From the priests:

¹⁵ From the Levites:

¹⁹ These are the gatekeepers:

²⁵ This is the information about the villages with their fields:

Some of the descendants of Judah lived in Kiriath Arba and its settlements, in Dibon and its settlements, and in Jekabze’el and its settlements, ²⁶ and in Jeshua, in Moladah, and in Beth Pelet, ²⁷ and in Hazar Shual, and in Beersheba and its settlements, ²⁸ and in Ziklag, and in Mekonah and in its settlements, ²⁹ and in En Rimmon, and in Zorah, and in Jarmuth, ³⁰ Zanoah and Adullam and their villages, Lachish and its fields, and Azekah and its settlements. So they settled from Beersheba to the Hinnom Valley.

³¹ Some of the descendants of Benjamin were from Geba, Mikmash, Aijah, and Bethel and its settlements, ³² Anathoth, Nob, Ananiah, ³³ Hazor, Ramah, Gittaim, ³⁴ Hadid, Zeboim, Neballat, ³⁵ Lod, and Ono, and the Valley of the Craftsmen. ³⁶ Some of the Levite divisions of Judah were assigned to Benjamin.

Legitimate Servants for the Temple

12 These are the priests and the Levites who came up with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and with Jeshua:

The Succession of Priests

¹² Now in the days of Joiakim, the priests who were the heads of the families were as follows:

²² In the days of Eliashib, Joiada, and Johanan, and Jaddua, the Levites were recorded by the heads of families,^[b] as were the priests, until the reign of Darius the Persian. ²³ The descendants of Levi who were heads of families were recorded in the book of the chronicles, down to the days of Johanan son of Eliashib.

The Table of the Lord and the Table of Demons

¹⁴ Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. ¹⁵ I speak to you as to sensible people. Judge for yourselves what I am saying. ¹⁶ The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a communion^[a] of the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a communion^[b] of the body of Christ? ¹⁷ Because there is one bread, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.

¹⁸ Consider the people of Israel.^[c] Those who eat the sacrifices are partners of the altar, aren’t they? ¹⁹ So what am I saying? That food from idol sacrifices is anything, or that an idol is anything? ²⁰ No, but I do say this: What the Gentiles sacrifice, “they sacrifice to demons, and not to God,”^[d] and I do not want you to become partners of demons. ²¹ You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and of the table of demons. ²² Or are we trying to provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he is?

Live for the Good of Others and for the Glory of God

²³ “Everything is permitted”^[e]—but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permitted”—but not everything builds up. ²⁴ Let no one seek his own good, but that of others. ²⁵ Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without asking questions for the sake of conscience. ²⁶ For “the earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.”^{[f] 27} If one of the unbelievers invites you over and you want to go, eat whatever you are served without asking questions for the sake of conscience. ²⁸ But if someone says to you, “This is from a sacrifice,” then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who told you and for the sake of conscience.^{[g] 29} I mean the other person’s conscience, not your own. For why is my freedom judged by someone else’s conscience? ³⁰ If I eat the food with thankfulness, why am I criticized for something for which I give thanks?

³¹ So whether you eat or drink, or do anything else, do everything to the glory of God. ³² Do not give offense to Jews, or Greeks, or God’s church, ³³ just as I also try to please all people in all things, by not seeking what is best for me but for the many, so that they may be saved.

The Solemn Agreement^[a]

10 So in all this we are making a solemn agreement and putting it in writing and attaching the seals of our officials, Levites, and priests.

These were the men who placed their seals on it:

⁹ The Levites were:

¹⁴ The heads of the people were:

²⁸ Now the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants, and every person who had separated himself from the peoples of the lands for the sake of the Law of God, with their wives, their sons, and their daughters—all the people who have knowledge and understanding— ²⁹ are making a commitment with their brothers, that is, with the important people, and they are placing themselves under a curse and under an oath to walk in the Law of God that was given through Moses the servant of God, an oath to keep the law and to obey all the commands of the Lord our God and his judgments and his statutes.

The Terms of the Agreement

³⁰ We promise to keep these points:

We will not give our daughters in marriage to the peoples of the land, and we will not take their daughters for marriage to our sons.

³¹ We will not buy anything from the peoples of the land who are bringing goods and all kinds of grain to sell on the Sabbath day or on a holy day.

We will leave the land fallow during the seventh year, and we will forgive every loan.

³² We will each assume the responsibility to keep the commands to give a third of a shekel per year for the service of the house of our God, ³³ for the Bread of the Presence, for the regular daily grain offerings, the continual burnt offerings, the Sabbath offerings, the New Moon offerings, for the appointed festivals and holy offerings, and for sin offerings to atone for Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God.

³⁴ We—the priests, the Levites, and the people—have cast lots to determine our turns for each fathers’ house^[b] to bring the wood offering to the house of our God, at the appointed times each year, to be burned upon the altar of the Lord our God, as it is written in the Law.

³⁵ We pledge to bring the firstfruits of our land and the firstfruits of every kind of fruit tree to the house of our God for ourselves. ³⁶ We also will bring the firstborn of our sons and our animals, as is written in the Law, and we will bring the firstborn of our cattle and flocks to the house of our God for the priests who serve in the house of our God, ³⁷ and we will bring the first of our dough and our contributions and the fruit of every tree. We will bring new wine and olive oil to the priests, to the storerooms of the house of our God, and we will bring the tithe from our land to the Levites. It is the Levites who collect the tithes in all the cities where we work. ³⁸ A priest, a descendant of Aaron, will be with the Levites when the Levites collect the tithes. The Levites will bring a tenth of the tithes up to the house of our God, to the chambers of the treasury, ³⁹ because the Israelites and the sons of Levi are to bring the contribution from the grain, the new wine, and the olive oil to the storerooms where the vessels of the sanctuary are kept, where the priests, the gatekeepers, and the singers serve.

In this way we will not abandon the house of our God.

¹⁹ In fact, although I am free from all, I enslaved myself to all so that I might gain many more. ²⁰ To the Jews, I became like a Jew so that I might gain Jews. To those who are under the law, I became like a person under the law (though I myself am not under the law) so that I might gain those who are under the law. ²¹ To those who are without the law, I became like a person without the law (though I am not without God’s law but am within the law of Christ) so that I might gain those who are without the law. ²² To the weak, I became weak so that I might gain the weak. I have become all things to all people so that I may save at least some. ²³ And I do everything for the sake of the gospel so that I may share in it along with others.

Christian Effort and Self-Discipline

²⁴ Do you not know that when runners compete in the stadium, they all run, but only one receives the prize? Run like that—to win. ²⁵ Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable victor’s wreath, but we do it for an imperishable one. ²⁶ That is why there is nothing aimless about the way I run. There is no pummeling of the air in the way I box. ²⁷ Instead I hit my body hard and make it my slave so that, after preaching to others, I myself will not be rejected.

A Lesson From Sacred History: Be Careful Not to Fall

10 For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea, ² and they were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. ³ They all ate the same spiritual food ⁴ and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them—and that rock was Christ! ⁵ Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them. He had them die in the wilderness.

⁶ Now these things took place as examples to warn us not to desire evil things the way they did. ⁷ Do not become idolaters like some of them—as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and got up to celebrate wildly.”^{[a] 8} And let us not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell. ⁹ Let us not put Christ to the test, as some of them did, and so were being destroyed by the serpents. ¹⁰ And do not grumble, as some of them grumbled, and were destroyed by the destroyer. ¹¹ All^[b] these things that were happening to them had meaning as examples, and they were written down to warn us, to whom the end of the ages has come.

¹² So let him who thinks he stands be careful that he does not fall. ¹³ No testing has overtaken you except ordinary testing. But God is faithful. He will not allow you to be tested beyond your ability, but when he tests you, he will also bring about the outcome that you are able to bear it.

Psalm 34

Blessed Is the Person Who Takes Refuge in God

Heading

By David. When he pretended to be insane in the presence of Abimelek, who drove him away, and David left.^[a]

David’s Thanks for Deliverance

An Invitation to Join David in Praise

The Story of David’s Deliverance

The Application of This Truth to All Believers