MT
Esther · read by Major Ian Thomas
65 verses, in order. Only the verses Major read aloud are shown.
Esther 2
5
Now there was at the citadel of Susa a Jewish man from the tribe of Benjamin named Mordecai son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish.Read from KJV · Studies in Esther - Part 3
6
He had been carried into exile from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon among those taken captive with Jeconiah king of Judah.Read from KJV · If I Perish I Perish-01 Ministry From Esther
7
And Mordecai had brought up Hadassah (that is, Esther), the daughter of his uncle, because she did not have a father or mother. The young woman was lovely in form and appearance, and when her father and mother had died, Mordecai had taken her in as his own daughter.Read from KJV · Studies in Esther - Part 3
20
Esther still had not revealed her lineage or her people, just as Mordecai had instructed. She obeyed Mordecai's command, as she had done under his care.Read from KJV · Studies in Esther - Part 3
21
In those days, while Mordecai was sitting at the king's gate, Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king's eunuchs who guarded the entrance, grew angry and conspired to assassinate King Xerxes.Read from KJV · If I Perish I Perish-02 Ministry From Esther
22
When Mordecai learned of the plot, he reported it to Queen Esther, and she informed the king on Mordecai's behalf.Read from KJV · If I Perish I Perish-02 Ministry From Esther
23
After the report had been investigated and verified, both officials were hanged on the gallows. And all this was recorded in the Book of the Chronicles in the presence of the king.Read from KJV · If I Perish I Perish-02 Ministry From Esther
Esther 3
1
After these events, King Xerxes honored Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, elevating him to a position above all the princes who were with him.Read from KJV · If I Perish I Perish-01 Ministry From Esther
2
All the royal servants at the king's gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman, because the king had commanded that this be done for him. But Mordecai would not bow down or pay homage.Read from KJV · If I Perish I Perish-01 Ministry From Esther
3
Then the royal servants at the king's gate asked Mordecai, "Why do you disobey the command of the king?"Read from KJV · If I Perish I Perish-01 Ministry From Esther
4
Day after day they warned him, but he would not comply. So they reported it to Haman to see whether Mordecai's behavior would be tolerated, since he had told them he was a Jew.Read from KJV · If I Perish I Perish-01 Ministry From Esther
5
When Haman saw that Mordecai would not bow down or pay him homage, he was filled with rage.Read from KJV · If I Perish I Perish-01 Ministry From Esther
6
And when he learned the identity of Mordecai's people, he scorned the notion of laying hands on Mordecai alone. Instead, he sought to destroy all of Mordecai's people, the Jews, throughout the kingdom of Xerxes.Read from KJV · If I Perish I Perish-01 Ministry From Esther
8
Then Haman informed King Xerxes, "There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the peoples of every province of your kingdom. Their laws are different from everyone else's, and they do not obey the king's laws. So it is not in the king's best interest to tolerate them.Read from KJV · If I Perish I Perish-01 Ministry From Esther
9
If it pleases the king, let a decree be issued to destroy them, and I will deposit ten thousand talents of silver into the royal treasury to pay those who carry it out."Read from KJV · Studies in Esther - Part 3
10
So the king removed the signet ring from his finger and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews.Read from KJV · If I Perish I Perish-01 Ministry From Esther
11
"Keep your money," said the king to Haman. "These people are given to you to do with them as you please."Read from KJV · Esther - Spiritually Alive Yet Carnally Controlled
12
On the thirteenth day of the first month, the royal scribes were summoned and the order was written exactly as Haman commanded the royal satraps, the governors of each province, and the officials of each people, in the script of each province and the language of every people. It was written in the name of King Xerxes and sealed with the royal signet ring.Read from KJV · If I Perish I Perish-01 Ministry From Esther
13
And the letters were sent by couriers to each of the royal provinces with the order to destroy, kill, and annihilate all the Jews—young and old, women and children—and to plunder their possessions on a single day, the thirteenth day of Adar, the twelfth month.Read from KJV · If I Perish I Perish-01 Ministry From Esther
14
A copy of the text of the edict was to be issued in every province and published to all the people, so that they would be ready on that day.Read from KJV · Studies in Esther - Part 3
15
The couriers left, spurred on by the king's command, and the edict was issued in the citadel of Susa. Then the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was in confusion.Read from KJV · If I Perish I Perish-01 Ministry From Esther
Esther 4
1
When Mordecai learned of all that had happened, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the middle of the city, wailing loudly and bitterly.Read from KJV · If I Perish I Perish-01 Ministry From Esther
2
But he went only as far as the king's gate, because the law prohibited anyone wearing sackcloth from entering that gate.Read from KJV · Esther - Spiritually Alive Yet Carnally Controlled
5
Then Esther summoned Hathach, one of the king's eunuchs appointed to her, and she dispatched him to Mordecai to learn what was troubling him and why.Read from KJV · Esther - Spiritually Alive Yet Carnally Controlled
7
and Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, including the exact amount of money that Haman had promised to pay into the royal treasury in order to destroy the Jews.Read from KJV · Esther - Spiritually Alive Yet Carnally Controlled
8
Mordecai also gave Hathach a copy of the written decree issued in Susa for the destruction of the Jews, to show and explain to Esther, urging her to approach the king, implore his favor, and plead before him for her people.Read from KJV · Esther - Spiritually Alive Yet Carnally Controlled
10
Then Esther spoke to Hathach and instructed him to tell Mordecai,Read from KJV · If I Perish I Perish-01 Ministry From Esther
11
"All the royal officials and the people of the king's provinces know that one law applies to every man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned—that he be put to death. Only if the king extends the gold scepter may that person live. But I have not been summoned to appear before the king for the past thirty days."Read from KJV · If I Perish I Perish-01 Ministry From Esther
13
he sent back to her this reply: "Do not imagine that because you are in the king's palace you alone will escape the fate of all the Jews.Read from KJV · Esther - Spiritually Alive Yet Carnally Controlled
14
For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. And who knows if perhaps you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"Read from KJV · If I Perish I Perish-01 Ministry From Esther
15
Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai:Read from KJV · If I Perish I Perish-01 Ministry From Esther
16
"Go and assemble all the Jews who can be found in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day, and I and my maidens will fast as you do. After that, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish!"Read from KJV · If I Perish I Perish-01 Ministry From Esther
Esther 5
2
As soon as the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, she found favor in his sight. The king extended the gold scepter in his hand toward Esther, and she approached and touched the tip of the scepter.Read from KJV · If I Perish I Perish-01 Ministry From Esther
3
"What is it, Queen Esther?" the king inquired. "What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be given to you."Read from KJV · If I Perish I Perish-02 Ministry From Esther
4
"If it pleases the king," Esther replied, "may the king and Haman come today to the banquet I have prepared for the king."Read from KJV · If I Perish I Perish-02 Ministry From Esther
5
"Hurry," commanded the king, "and bring Haman, so we can do as Esther has requested." So the king and Haman went to the banquet that Esther had prepared.Read from KJV · If I Perish I Perish-02 Ministry From Esther
8
If I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and fulfill my request, may the king and Haman come tomorrow to the banquet I will prepare for them. Then I will answer the king's question."Read from KJV · If I Perish I Perish-02 Ministry From Esther
9
That day Haman went out full of joy and glad of heart. At the king's gate, however, he saw Mordecai, who did not rise or tremble in fear at his presence. And Haman was filled with rage toward Mordecai.Read from KJV · Studies in Esther - Part 3
10
Nevertheless, Haman restrained himself and went home. And calling for his friends and his wife Zeresh,Read from KJV · Studies in Esther - Part 3
11
Haman recounted to them his glorious wealth, his many sons, and all the ways the king had honored and promoted him over the other officials and servants.Read from KJV · If I Perish I Perish-02 Ministry From Esther
12
"What is more," Haman added, "Queen Esther invited no one but me to join the king at the banquet she prepared, and I am invited back tomorrow along with the king.Read from KJV · If I Perish I Perish-02 Ministry From Esther
13
Yet none of this satisfies me as long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate."Read from KJV · If I Perish I Perish-02 Ministry From Esther
14
His wife Zeresh and all his friends told him, "Have them build a gallows fifty cubits high, and ask the king in the morning to have Mordecai hanged on it. Then go to the banquet with the king and enjoy yourself." The advice pleased Haman, and he had the gallows constructed.Read from KJV · Studies in Esther - Part 3
Esther 6
5
So the king's attendants answered him, "Haman is there, standing in the court." "Bring him in," ordered the king.Read from KJV · If I Perish I Perish-02 Ministry From Esther
6
Haman entered, and the king asked him, "What should be done for the man whom the king is delighted to honor?" Now Haman thought to himself, "Whom would the king be delighted to honor more than me?"Read from KJV · If I Perish I Perish-02 Ministry From Esther
7
And Haman told the king, "For the man whom the king is delighted to honor,Read from KJV · If I Perish I Perish-02 Ministry From Esther
8
have them bring a royal robe that the king himself has worn and a horse on which the king himself has ridden—one with a royal crest placed on its head.Read from KJV · If I Perish I Perish-02 Ministry From Esther
9
Let the robe and the horse be entrusted to one of the king's most noble princes. Let them array the man the king wants to honor and parade him on the horse through the city square, proclaiming before him, 'This is what is done for the man whom the king is delighted to honor!'"Read from KJV · If I Perish I Perish-02 Ministry From Esther
10
"Hurry," said the king to Haman, "and do just as you proposed. Take the robe and the horse to Mordecai the Jew, who is sitting at the king's gate. Do not neglect anything that you have suggested."Read from KJV · If I Perish I Perish-02 Ministry From Esther
11
So Haman took the robe and the horse, arrayed Mordecai, and paraded him through the city square, crying out before him, "This is what is done for the man whom the king is delighted to honor!"Read from KJV · If I Perish I Perish-02 Ministry From Esther
14
While they were still speaking with Haman, the king's eunuchs arrived and rushed him to the banquet that Esther had prepared.Read from KJV · If I Perish I Perish-02 Ministry From Esther
Esther 7
2
and as they drank their wine on that second day, the king asked once more, "Queen Esther, what is your petition? It will be given to you. What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be fulfilled."Read from KJV · If I Perish I Perish-02 Ministry From Esther
5
Then King Xerxes spoke up and asked Queen Esther, "Who is this, and where is the one who would devise such a scheme?"Read from KJV · If I Perish I Perish-02 Ministry From Esther
6
Esther replied, "The adversary and enemy is this wicked man—Haman!" And Haman stood in terror before the king and queen.Read from KJV · If I Perish I Perish-02 Ministry From Esther
7
In his fury, the king arose from drinking his wine and went to the palace garden, while Haman stayed behind to beg Queen Esther for his life, for he realized that the king was planning a terrible fate for him.Read from KJV · If I Perish I Perish-02 Ministry From Esther
8
Just as the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall, Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was reclining. The king exclaimed, "Would he actually assault the queen while I am in the palace?" As soon as the words had left the king's mouth, they covered Haman's face.Read from KJV · If I Perish I Perish-02 Ministry From Esther
9
Then Harbonah, one of the eunuchs attending the king, said: "There is a gallows fifty cubits high at Haman's house. He had it built for Mordecai, who gave the report that saved the king." "Hang him on it!" declared the king.Read from KJV · If I Perish I Perish-03 Ministry From Esther
Esther 8
7
So King Xerxes said to Esther the Queen and Mordecai the Jew, "Behold, I have given Haman's estate to Esther, and he was hanged on the gallows because he attacked the Jews.Read from KJV · If I Perish I Perish-03 Ministry From Esther
8
Now you may write in the king's name as you please regarding the Jews, and seal it with the royal signet ring. For a decree that is written in the name of the king and sealed with the royal signet ring cannot be revoked."Read from KJV · If I Perish I Perish-03 Ministry From Esther
15
Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal garments of blue and white, with a large gold crown and a purple robe of fine linen. And the city of Susa shouted and rejoiced.Read from KJV · If I Perish I Perish-03 Ministry From Esther
Esther 9
4
For Mordecai exercised great power in the palace, and his fame spread throughout the provinces as he became more and more powerful.Read from KJV · If I Perish I Perish-03 Ministry From Esther
10
They killed these ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews, but they did not lay a hand on the plunder.Read from KJV · If I Perish I Perish-01 Ministry From Esther
13
Esther replied, "If it pleases the king, may the Jews in Susa also have tomorrow to carry out today's edict, and may the bodies of Haman's ten sons be hanged on the gallows."Read from KJV · If I Perish I Perish-03 Ministry From Esther
14
So the king commanded that this be done. An edict was issued in Susa, and they hanged the ten sons of Haman.Read from KJV · If I Perish I Perish-03 Ministry From Esther
Esther 10
3
For Mordecai the Jew was second only to King Xerxes, preeminent among the Jews and highly favored by his many kinsmen, seeking the good of his people and speaking peace to all his countrymen.Read from KJV · If I Perish I Perish-03 Ministry From Esther