The MacArthur Study Bible, NKJV

by John MacArthur

  Esther 2

  Esther Becomes Queen

  1After these things, when the wrath of King Ahasuerus subsided, he remembered Vashti, awhat she had done, and what had been decreed against her.

  2Then the king’s servants who attended him said: “Let beautiful young virgins be sought for the king;

  3“and let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, that they may gather all the beautiful young virgins to 1Shushan the 2citadel, into the women’s quarters, under the custody of 3Hegai the king’s eunuch, custodian of the women. And let beauty preparations be given them.

  4“Then let the young woman who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti.” This thing pleased the king, and he did so.

  5In 4Shushan the 5citadel there was a certain Jew whose name was Mordecai the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of bKish, a Benjamite.

  6cKish6 had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captives who had been captured with 7Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away.

  7And Mordecai had brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, dhis uncle’s daughter, for she had neither father nor mother. The young woman was lovely and beautiful. When her father and mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter. The Historical Chronology of Esther

  8So it was, when the king’s command and decree were heard, and when many young women were egathered at 8Shushan the 9citadel, under the custody of Hegai, that Esther also was taken to the king’s palace, into the care of Hegai the custodian of the women.

  9Now the young woman pleased him, and she obtained his favor; so he readily gave fbeauty preparations to her, besides 10her allowance. Then seven choice maidservants were provided for her from the king’s palace, and he moved her and her maidservants to the best place in the house of the women.

  10gEsther had not 11revealed her people or family, for Mordecai had charged her not to reveal it.

  11And every day Mordecai paced in front of the court of the women’s quarters, to learn of Esther’s welfare and what was happening to her.

  12Each young woman’s turn came to go in to King Ahasuerus after she had completed twelve months’ preparation, according to the regulations for the women, for thus were the days of their preparation apportioned: six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with perfumes and preparations for beautifying women.

  13Thus prepared, each young woman went to the king, and she was given whatever she desired to take with her from the women’s quarters to the king’s palace.

  14In the evening she went, and in the morning she returned to the second house of the women, to the custody of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch who kept the concubines. She would not go in to the king again unless the king delighted in her and called for her by name.

  15Now when the turn came for Esther hthe daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her as his daughter, to go in to the king, she requested nothing but what Hegai the king’s eunuch, the custodian of the women, advised. And Esther iobtained favor in the sight of all who saw her.

  16So Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus, into his royal palace, in the tenth month, which is the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.

  17The king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she obtained grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins; so he set the royal jcrown upon her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.

  18Then the king kmade a great feast, the Feast of Esther, for all his officials and servants; and he proclaimed a holiday in the provinces and gave gifts according to the 12generosity of a king.

  Mordecai Discovers a Plot

  19When virgins were gathered together a second time, Mordecai sat within the king’s gate.

  20lNow Esther had not revealed her family and her people, just as Mordecai had charged her, for Esther obeyed the command of Mordecai as when she was brought up by him.

  21In those days, while Mordecai sat within the king’s gate, two of the king’s eunuchs, 13Bigthan and Teresh, doorkeepers, became furious and sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus.

  22So the matter became known to Mordecai, mwho told Queen Esther, and Esther informed the king in Mordecai’s name.

  23And when an inquiry was made into the matter, it was confirmed, and both were hanged on a gallows; and it was written in nthe book of the chronicles in the presence of the king.

  Esther 3

  Haman’s Conspiracy Against the Jews

  1After these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman, the son of Hammedatha the aAgagite, and badvanced him and set his seat above all the princes who were with him.

  2And all the king’s servants who were cwithin the king’s gate bowed and paid homage to Haman, for so the king had commanded concerning him. But Mordecai dwould not bow or pay homage.

  3Then the king’s servants who were within the king’s gate said to Mordecai, “Why do you transgress the eking’s command?”

  4Now it happened, when they spoke to him daily and he would not listen to them, that they told it to Haman, to see whether Mordecai’s words would stand; for Mordecai had told them that he was a Jew.

  5When Haman saw that Mordecai fdid not bow or pay him homage, Haman was gfilled with wrath.

  6But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone, for they had told him of the people of Mordecai. Instead, Haman hsought to destroy all the Jews who were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus—the people of Mordecai.

  7In the first month, which is the month of Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, ithey cast Pur (that is, the lot), before Haman 1to determine the day and the 2month, 3until it fell on the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar.

  8Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of your kingdom; jtheir laws are different from all other people’s, and they do not keep the king’s laws. Therefore it is not fitting for the king to let them remain.

  9“If it pleases the king, let a decree be written that they be destroyed, and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who do the work, to bring it into the king’s treasuries.”

  10So the king ktook lhis signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the menemy of the Jews.

  11And the king said to Haman, “The money and the people are given to you, to do with them as seems good to you.”

  12nThen the king’s scribes were called on the thirteenth day of the first month, and a decree was written according to all that Haman commanded—to the king’s satraps, to the governors who were over each province, to the officials of all people, to every province oaccording to its script, and to every people in their language. pIn the name of King Ahasuerus it was written, and sealed with the king’s signet ring.

  13And the letters were qsent by couriers into all the king’s provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all the Jews, both young and old, little children and women, rin one day, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, and sto plunder their 4possessions.

  14tA copy of the document was to be issued as law in every province, being published for all people, that they should be ready for that day.

  15The couriers went out, hastened by the king’s command; and the decree was proclaimed in 5Shushan the 6citadel. So the king and Haman sat down to drink, but uthe city of Shushan was 7perplexed.

  Esther 4

  Esther Agrees to Help the Jews

  1When Mordecai learned all that had happened, 1he atore his clothes and put on sackcloth band ashes, and went out into the midst of the city. He ccried out with a loud and bitter cry.

  2He went as far as the front of the king’s gate, for no one might enter the king’s gate clothed with sackcloth.

  3And in every province where the king’s command and decree arrived, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

  4So Esther�
��s maids and eunuchs came and told her, and the queen was deeply distressed. Then she sent garments to clothe Mordecai and take his sackcloth away from him, but he would not accept them.

  5Then Esther called Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs whom he had appointed to attend her, and she gave him a command concerning Mordecai, to learn what and why this was.

  6So Hathach went out to Mordecai in the city square that was in front of the king’s gate.

  7And Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, and dthe sum of money that Haman had promised to pay into the king’s treasuries to destroy the Jews.

  8He also gave him ea copy of the written decree for their destruction, which was given at 2Shushan, that he might show it to Esther and explain it to her, and that he might command her to go in to the king to make supplication to him and plead before him for her people.

  9So Hathach returned and told Esther the words of Mordecai.

  10Then Esther spoke to Hathach, and gave him a command for Mordecai:

  11“All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that any man or woman who goes into fthe inner court to the king, who has not been called, ghe has but one law: put all to death, except the one hto whom the king holds out the golden scepter, that he may live. Yet I myself have not been icalled to go in to the king these thirty days.”

  12So they told Mordecai Esther’s words.

  13And Mordecai told them to answer Esther: “Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews.

  14“For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

  15Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai:

  16“Go, gather all the Jews who are present in 3Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for jthree days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; kand if I perish, I perish!”

  17So Mordecai went his way and did according to all that Esther commanded 4him.

  Esther 5

  Esther’s Banquet

  1Now it happened aon the third day that Esther put on her royal robes and stood in bthe inner court of the king’s palace, across from the king’s house, while the king sat on his royal throne in the royal house, facing the entrance of the 1house.

  2So it was, when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, that cshe found favor in his sight, and dthe king held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther went near and touched the top of the scepter.

  3And the king said to her, “What do you wish, Queen Esther? What is your request? eIt shall be given to you—up to half the kingdom!”

  4So Esther answered, “If it pleases the king, let the king and Haman come today to the banquet that I have prepared for him.”

  5Then the king said, “Bring Haman quickly, that he may do as Esther has said.” So the king and Haman went to the banquet that Esther had prepared.

  6At the banquet of wine fthe king said to Esther, g“What is your petition? It shall be granted you. What is your request, up to half the kingdom? It shall be done!”

  7Then Esther answered and said, “My petition and request is this:

  8“If I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and 2fulfill my request, then let the king and Haman come to the hbanquet which I will prepare for them, and tomorrow I will do as the king has said.”

  Haman’s Plot Against Mordecai

  9So Haman went out that day ijoyful and with a glad heart; but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king’s gate, and jthat he did not stand or tremble before him, he was filled with indignation against Mordecai.

  10Nevertheless Haman krestrained himself and went home, and he sent and called for his friends and his wife Zeresh.

  11Then Haman told them of his great riches, lthe multitude of his children, everything in which the king had promoted him, and how he had madvanced him above the officials and servants of the king.

  12Moreover Haman said, “Besides, Queen Esther invited no one but me to come in with the king to the banquet that she prepared; and tomorrow I am again invited by her, along with the king.

  13“Yet all this avails me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.”

  14Then his wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, “Let a ngallows3 be made, 4fifty cubits high, and in the morning osuggest to the king that Mordecai be hanged on it; then go merrily with the king to the banquet.” And the thing pleased Haman; so he had pthe gallows made.

  Esther 6

  The King Honors Mordecai

  1That night 1the king could not sleep. So one was commanded to bring athe book of the records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king.

  2And it was found written that Mordecai had told of 2Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs, the doorkeepers who had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus.

  3Then the king said, “What honor or dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?” And the king’s servants who attended him said, “Nothing has been done for him.”

  4So the king said, “Who is in the court?” Now Haman had just entered bthe outer court of the king’s palace cto suggest that the king hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him.

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

  6So Haman came in, and the king asked him, “What shall be done for the man whom the king delights to honor?” Now Haman thought in his heart, “Whom would the king delight to honor more than dme?”

  7And Haman answered the king, “For the man whom the king delights to honor,

  8“let a royal robe be brought which the king has worn, and ea horse on which the king has ridden, which has a royal 3crest placed on its head.

  9“Then let this robe and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king’s most noble princes, that he may array the man whom the king delights to honor. Then 4parade him on horseback through the city square, fand proclaim before him: ‘Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor!’ ”

  10Then the king said to Haman, “Hurry, take the robe and the horse, as you have suggested, and do so for Mordecai the Jew who sits within the king’s gate! Leave nothing undone of all that you have spoken.”

  11So Haman took the robe and the horse, arrayed Mordecai and led him on horseback through the city square, and proclaimed before him, “Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor!”

  12Afterward Mordecai went back to the king’s gate. But Haman ghurried to his house, mourning hand with his head covered.

  13When Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had happened to him, his wise men and his wife Zeresh said to him, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish descent, you will not prevail against ihim but will surely fall before him.”

  14While they were still talking with him, the king’s eunuchs came, and hastened to bring Haman to jthe banquet which Esther had prepared.

  Esther 7

  Haman Hanged Instead of Mordecai

  1So the king and Haman went to dine with Queen Esther.

  2And on the second day, aat the banquet of wine, the king again said to Esther, “What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request, up to half the kingdom? It shall be done!”

  3Then Queen Esther answered and 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 have been bsold, my people and I, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. Had we been sold as cmale and female slaves, I would have held my tongue, although the enemy could never compensate for th
e king’s loss.”

  5So King Ahasuerus answered and said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who would dare presume in his heart to do such a thing?”

  6And Esther said, “The adversary and denemy is this wicked Haman!” So Haman was terrified before the king and queen.

  7Then the king arose in his wrath from the banquet of wine and went into the palace garden; but Haman stood before Queen Esther, pleading for his life, for he saw that evil was determined against him by the king.

  8When the king returned from the palace garden to the place of the banquet of wine, Haman had fallen across ethe couch where Esther was. Then the king said, “Will he also assault the queen while I am in the house?” As the word left the king’s mouth, they fcovered Haman’s face.

  9Now gHarbonah, one of the eunuchs, said to the king, “Look! hThe 1gallows, fifty cubits high, which Haman made for Mordecai, who spoke igood on the king’s behalf, is standing at the house of Haman.” Then the king said, “Hang him on it!”

  10So jthey khanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s wrath subsided.

  Esther 8

  Esther Saves the Jews

  1On that day King Ahasuerus gave Queen Esther the house of Haman, the aenemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told bhow he was related to her.

  2So the king took off chis signet ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai; and Esther appointed Mordecai over the house of Haman.

  3Now Esther spoke again to the king, fell down at his feet, and implored him with tears to counteract the evil of Haman the Agagite, and the scheme which he had devised against the Jews.

  4And dthe king held out the golden scepter toward Esther. So Esther arose and stood before the king,

  5and said, “If it pleases the king, and if I have found favor in his sight and the thing seems right to the king and I am pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to revoke the eletters devised by Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to annihilate the Jews who are in all the king’s provinces.