Esther 9 Daily Bible Reading with Paul Nison

Esther 9 New Living Translation (NLT)

The Victory of the Jewish People

9 So on March 7^[a] the two decrees of the king were put into effect. On that day, the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, but quite the opposite happened. It was the Jews who overpowered their enemies. ² The Jews gathered in their cities throughout all the king’s provinces to attack anyone who tried to harm them. But no one could make a stand against them, for everyone was afraid of them. ³ And all the nobles of the provinces, the highest officers, the governors, and the royal officials helped the Jews for fear of Mordecai. ⁴ For Mordecai had been promoted in the king’s palace, and his fame spread throughout all the provinces as he became more and more powerful.

⁵ So the Jews went ahead on the appointed day and struck down their enemies with the sword. They killed and annihilated their enemies and did as they pleased with those who hated them. ⁶ In the fortress of Susa itself, the Jews killed 500 men. ⁷ They also killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, ⁸ Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, ⁹ Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha— ¹⁰ the ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews. But they did not take any plunder.

¹¹ That very day, when the king was informed of the number of people killed in the fortress of Susa, ¹² he called for Queen Esther. He said, “The Jews have killed 500 men in the fortress of Susa alone, as well as Haman’s ten sons. If they have done that here, what has happened in the rest of the provinces? But now, what more do you want? It will be granted to you; tell me and I will do it.”

¹³ Esther responded, “If it please the king, give the Jews in Susa permission to do again tomorrow as they have done today, and let the bodies of Haman’s ten sons be impaled on a pole.”

¹⁴ So the king agreed, and the decree was announced in Susa. And they impaled the bodies of Haman’s ten sons. ¹⁵ Then the Jews at Susa gathered together on March 8^[b] and killed 300 more men, and again they took no plunder.

¹⁶ Meanwhile, the other Jews throughout the king’s provinces had gathered together to defend their lives. They gained relief from all their enemies, killing 75,000 of those who hated them. But they did not take any plunder. ¹⁷ This was done throughout the provinces on March 7, and on March 8 they rested,^[c] celebrating their victory with a day of feasting and gladness. ¹⁸ (The Jews at Susa killed their enemies on March 7 and again on March 8, then rested on March 9,^[d] making that their day of feasting and gladness.) ¹⁹ So to this day, rural Jews living in remote villages celebrate an annual festival and holiday on the appointed day in late winter,^[e] when they rejoice and send gifts of food to each other.

The Festival of Purim

²⁰ Mordecai recorded these events and sent letters to the Jews near and far, throughout all the provinces of King Xerxes, ²¹ calling on them to celebrate an annual festival on these two days.^[f] 22 He told them to celebrate these days with feasting and gladness and by giving gifts of food to each other and presents to the poor. This would commemorate a time when the Jews gained relief from their enemies, when their sorrow was turned into gladness and their mourning into joy.

²³ So the Jews accepted Mordecai’s proposal and adopted this annual custom. ²⁴ Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews, had plotted to crush and destroy them on the date determined by casting lots (the lots were called purim). ²⁵ But when Esther came before the king, he issued a decree causing Haman’s evil plot to backfire, and Haman and his sons were impaled on a sharpened pole. ²⁶ That is why this celebration is called Purim, because it is the ancient word for casting lots.

So because of Mordecai’s letter and because of what they had experienced, ²⁷ the Jews throughout the realm agreed to inaugurate this tradition and to pass it on to their descendants and to all who became Jews. They declared they would never fail to celebrate these two prescribed days at the appointed time each year. ²⁸ These days would be remembered and kept from generation to generation and celebrated by every family throughout the provinces and cities of the empire. This Festival of Purim would never cease to be celebrated among the Jews, nor would the memory of what happened ever die out among their descendants.

²⁹ Then Queen Esther, the daughter of Abihail, along with Mordecai the Jew, wrote another letter putting the queen’s full authority behind Mordecai’s letter to establish the Festival of Purim. ³⁰ Letters wishing peace and security were sent to the Jews throughout the 127 provinces of the empire of Xerxes. ³¹ These letters established the Festival of Purim—an annual celebration of these days at the appointed time, decreed by both Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther. (The people decided to observe this festival, just as they had decided for themselves and their descendants to establish the times of fasting and mourning.) ³² So the command of Esther confirmed the practices of Purim, and it was all written down in the records.

Esther 8 Daily Bible Reading with Paul Nison

Esther 8 New Living Translation (NLT)
A Decree to Help the Jews
8 On that same day King Xerxes gave the property of Haman, the enemy of the Jews, to Queen Esther. Then Mordecai was brought before the king, for Esther had told the king how they were related. 2 The king took off his signet ring—which he had taken back from Haman—and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther appointed Mordecai to be in charge of Haman’s property.

3 Then Esther went again before the king, falling down at his feet and begging him with tears to stop the evil plot devised by Haman the Agagite against the Jews. 4 Again the king held out the gold scepter to Esther. So she rose and stood before him.

5 Esther said, “If it please the king, and if I have found favor with him, and if he thinks it is right, and if I am pleasing to him, let there be a decree that reverses the orders of Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, who ordered that Jews throughout all the king’s provinces should be destroyed. 6 For how can I endure to see my people and my family slaughtered and destroyed?”

7 Then King Xerxes said to Queen Esther and Mordecai the Jew, “I have given Esther the property of Haman, and he has been impaled on a pole because he tried to destroy the Jews. 8 Now go ahead and send a message to the Jews in the king’s name, telling them whatever you want, and seal it with the king’s signet ring. But remember that whatever has already been written in the king’s name and sealed with his signet ring can never be revoked.”

9 So on June 25[a] the king’s secretaries were summoned, and a decree was written exactly as Mordecai dictated. It was sent to the Jews and to the highest officers, the governors, and the nobles of all the 127 provinces stretching from India to Ethiopia.[b] The decree was written in the scripts and languages of all the peoples of the empire, including that of the Jews. 10 The decree was written in the name of King Xerxes and sealed with the king’s signet ring. Mordecai sent the dispatches by swift messengers, who rode fast horses especially bred for the king’s service.

11 The king’s decree gave the Jews in every city authority to unite to defend their lives. They were allowed to kill, slaughter, and annihilate anyone of any nationality or province who might attack them or their children and wives, and to take the property of their enemies. 12 The day chosen for this event throughout all the provinces of King Xerxes was March 7 of the next year.[c]

13 A copy of this decree was to be issued as law in every province and proclaimed to all peoples, so that the Jews would be ready to take revenge on their enemies on the appointed day. 14 So urged on by the king’s command, the messengers rode out swiftly on fast horses bred for the king’s service. The same decree was also proclaimed in the fortress of Susa.

15 Then Mordecai left the king’s presence, wearing the royal robe of blue and white, the great crown of gold, and an outer cloak of fine linen and purple. And the people of Susa celebrated the new decree. 16 The Jews were filled with joy and gladness and were honored everywhere. 17 In every province and city, wherever the king’s decree arrived, the Jews rejoiced and had a great celebration and declared a public festival and holiday. And many of the people of the land became Jews themselves, for they feared what the Jews might do to them.

Does Yahweh appoint evil leaders to lead nations?

I am reading this from this link of a ministry called Never Thirsty

https://www.neverthirsty.org/bible-qa/qa-archives/question/does-god-appoint-evil-leaders-to-lead-nations/

Fear or Faith

Fear or Faith You all have a choice, get caught up in all the nonsense in the world today or take Joy knowing our Creator has blessed us with the greatest life. Your Choice!

Esther 4 Daily Bible Reading with Paul Nison

Esther 4 New Living Translation (NLT)

Mordecai Requests Esther’s Help

4 When Mordecai learned about all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on burlap and ashes, and went out into the city, crying with a loud and bitter wail. ² He went as far as the gate of the palace, for no one was allowed to enter the palace gate while wearing clothes of mourning. ³ And as news of the king’s decree reached all the provinces, there was great mourning among the Jews. They fasted, wept, and wailed, and many people lay in burlap and ashes.

⁴ When Queen Esther’s maids and eunuchs came and told her about Mordecai, she was deeply distressed. She sent clothing to him to replace the burlap, but he refused it. ⁵ Then Esther sent for Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs who had been appointed as her attendant. She ordered him to go to Mordecai and find out what was troubling him and why he was in mourning. ⁶ So Hathach went out to Mordecai in the square in front of the palace gate.

⁷ Mordecai told him the whole story, including the exact amount of money Haman had promised to pay into the royal treasury for the destruction of the Jews. ⁸ Mordecai gave Hathach a copy of the decree issued in Susa that called for the death of all Jews. He asked Hathach to show it to Esther and explain the situation to her. He also asked Hathach to direct her to go to the king to beg for mercy and plead for her people. ⁹ So Hathach returned to Esther with Mordecai’s message.

¹⁰ Then Esther told Hathach to go back and relay this message to Mordecai: ¹¹ “All the king’s officials and even the people in the provinces know that anyone who appears before the king in his inner court without being invited is doomed to die unless the king holds out his gold scepter. And the king has not called for me to come to him for thirty days.” ¹² So Hathach^[a] gave Esther’s message to Mordecai.

¹³ Mordecai sent this reply to Esther: “Don’t think for a moment that because you’re in the palace you will escape when all other Jews are killed. ¹⁴ If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?”

¹⁵ Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: ¹⁶ “Go and gather together all the Jews of Susa and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will do the same. And then, though it is against the law, I will go in to see the king. If I must die, I must die.” ¹⁷ So Mordecai went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him.

Sin is more contagious than covid-19

Sin is more contagious than covid-19

Esther 3 Daily Bible Reading with Paul Nison

Esther 3 New Living Translation (NLT)

Haman’s Plot against the Jews

3 Some time later King Xerxes promoted Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite over all the other nobles, making him the most powerful official in the empire. ² All the king’s officials would bow down before Haman to show him respect whenever he passed by, for so the king had commanded. But Mordecai refused to bow down or show him respect.

³ Then the palace officials at the king’s gate asked Mordecai, “Why are you disobeying the king’s command?” ⁴ They spoke to him day after day, but still he refused to comply with the order. So they spoke to Haman about this to see if he would tolerate Mordecai’s conduct, since Mordecai had told them he was a Jew.

⁵ When Haman saw that Mordecai would not bow down or show him respect, he was filled with rage. ⁶ He had learned of Mordecai’s nationality, so he decided it was not enough to lay hands on Mordecai alone. Instead, he looked for a way to destroy all the Jews throughout the entire empire of Xerxes.

⁷ So in the month of April,^[a] during the twelfth year of King Xerxes’ reign, lots were cast in Haman’s presence (the lots were called purim) to determine the best day and month to take action. And the day selected was March 7, nearly a year later.^[b]

⁸ Then Haman approached King Xerxes and said, “There is a certain race of people scattered through all the provinces of your empire who keep themselves separate from everyone else. Their laws are different from those of any other people, and they refuse to obey the laws of the king. So it is not in the king’s interest to let them live. ⁹ If it please the king, issue a decree that they be destroyed, and I will give 10,000 large sacks^[c] of silver to the government administrators to be deposited in the royal treasury.”

¹⁰ The king agreed, confirming his decision by removing his signet ring from his finger and giving it to Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews. ¹¹ The king said, “The money and the people are both yours to do with as you see fit.”

¹² So on April 17^[d] the king’s secretaries were summoned, and a decree was written exactly as Haman dictated. It was sent to the king’s highest officers, the governors of the respective provinces, and the nobles of each province in their own scripts and languages. The decree was written in the name of King Xerxes and sealed with the king’s signet ring. ¹³ Dispatches were sent by swift messengers into all the provinces of the empire, giving the order that all Jews—young and old, including women and children—must be killed, slaughtered, and annihilated on a single day. This was scheduled to happen on March 7 of the next year.^[e] The property of the Jews would be given to those who killed them.

¹⁴ A copy of this decree was to be issued as law in every province and proclaimed to all peoples, so that they would be ready to do their duty on the appointed day. ¹⁵ At the king’s command, the decree went out by swift messengers, and it was also proclaimed in the fortress of Susa. Then the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa fell into confusion.

Keeping Torah and Salvation are Not the Same Thing

Keeping Torah and Salvation are Not the Same Thing

Get Metaphysical

Get Metaphysical!

(#358 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)

www.sufferwell.org
My Son said, My Kingdom is not of this world and I am not from here.” (John 18:36) And, “You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.”(John 8:23) Surely, then, My supernatural patterns are not for this world either, but for My Kingdom. I save souls and it is always to the soul I speak. Yet, I speak of spiritual things using physical “props”. Props? Yes, everything in the physical world is a manifestation of the spiritual life loved one. If your mind is wicked, your physical world is wicked; if your mind is pure, your world is pure, and so on.

Let’s use the city of Jerusalem as our prop. Jerusalem, as defined in Hebrew, means “foundation of peace; wholeness.” It is meant to describe wholeness and peace of the soul, the mind. Depending on which kingdom you align with, “You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world,” that allegiance will dictate what you perceive as truth. When I tell you to “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem,” it is likely you think about a physical piece of land. Your thoughts default to this world, the “beneath” and not the “above.” My Kingdom is not of this world loved one, not of land! I do not command that you pray for dirt; but then again, what do you think will happen with that dirt when the minds of Yahweh’s children are whole and at peace?

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6): Pray for a foundation of peace and wholeness in your mind, a mind created for redemption. “Father, give me the wholeness and peace that comes from obeying You.” This is what praying for the peace of Jerusalem means. And when I answer the prayer, it is the supernatural consequence that the land, too, will be blessed. Spiritual thoughts manifest in a physical world loved one. Now, read Psalm 122 with the mind of the Messiah:

I was glad when they said to me,

“Let us go to the house of Yahweh.”

And now here we are,

standing inside your gates, O Jerusalem.

Jerusalem is a well-built city;

its seamless walls cannot be breached.

All the tribes of Israel—Yahweh’s people—

make their pilgrimage here.

They come to give thanks to the Name of Yahweh,

as the Law requires of Israyl.

Here stand the thrones where judgment is given,

the thrones of the dynasty of David.

Pray for peace in Jerusalem.

May all who love this city prosper.

O Jerusalem, may there be peace within your walls

and prosperity in your palaces.

For the sake of my family and friends, I will say,

“May you have peace.”

For the sake of the house of Yahweh our Mighty One,

I will seek what is best for you, O Jerusalem.

The house of Yahweh is the Sanctuary of your mind. Let your thoughts become like a well-built city which can no longer be breached by the things of this world. May there be peace within your walls and prosperity in your palaces.

No other Name

No Other Name

(#357 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)

www.sufferwell.org

Who has ascended into Heaven, or descended? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has bound the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His Name, and what is His Son’s Name, if you know? (Proverbs 30:4)

“I Am Yahweh, your Mighty One, the Holy One of Israyl, your Savior.” (Isayah 43:3) Many claim to know Me, to worship Me, to serve Me, and to love Me, yet they do not know My Name. This is a grave deception which must come to an end. “Thus you shall say to the children of Israyl: Yahweh the Mighty One of your fathers, the Mighty One of Abraham, the Mighty One of Isaac, and the Mighty One of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My Name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.” (Exodus 3:15)

Yet, those who call themselves My children do not know, or fail to use, My Name. I Am exposing your negligence, not to condemn you (Romans 8:1), but to chasten you, because I discipline the one I love, and I chasten everyone I accept as My son [the son I delight in] (Hebrews 12:6 from Proverbs 3:12). I do this to begin the healing, which comes by knowing My Name. For I Am Yahweh who heals you (Exodus 15:26); and for you who revere My Name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in His wings. (Malachi 4:2)

You cannot revere and reverence My Name without knowing and using My Name!

o Then men began to call on [worship] Yahweh by Name. (Genesis 4:26)

o And Moses built an altar and called its Name, Yahweh-Is-My-Banner. (Exodus 17:15)

o And those who know Your Name will put their trust in You; for You, Yahweh, have not forsaken those who seek You. (Psalm 9:10)

o That they may know that You, whose Name alone is Yahweh, are the Most High over all the earth. (Psalm 83:18)

o I Am Yahweh, that is My Name; and My glory I will not give to another, nor My praise to carved images. (Isaiah 42:8)

o In His days Judah will be saved, and Israyl will dwell safely; now this is His Name by which He will be called: Yahweh our Righteousness. (Jeremiah 23:6)

o For “whoever calls on the Name of Yahweh shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13 and Acts 2:21 from Joel 2:32)

To our loved brothers and sisters in the faith, it is time to put aside your generic pagan titles: “Lord, God, Adonai, and Elohim”. Research on the origins of such titles will clearly reveal the worship of Baal and the history of Canaanite and Phoenician idols. Would the Holy One of Israyl ever refer to Himself in such ways? Of course not; it is man who does such things and He will not endure this forever!

o Indeed they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart, who try to make My people forget My Name by their dreams which everyone tells his neighbor, as their fathers forgot My Name for the worship of Baal. (Jeremiah 23:26-27)

o And Elijah came to all the people, and said, “How long will you falter between two opinions? If Yahweh is the Mighty One, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people answered him not a word. (1 Kings 18:21)

o For I will take from her mouth the names of the Baals, and they shall be remembered by their name no more. (Hosea 2:17)

How often you have called out to such! These titles have always been for idols alone and have no power, so why have you adopted them? There is, however, power in My name! (1 Kings 18) Is it, therefore, not wisdom to call Me by My name if you desire to access My power? I Am Yahweh and My Son, Yahshua, also bears My Name. Yahshua means “Yahweh saves”, or “Yahweh is salvation”. And whatever you ask in His Name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in His Name, I will do it (John 14:13-14). What is My name, and what is My Son’s Name, if you know? There is no other Name on earth by which your mind can be saved (Acts 4:12)! For “whoever calls on the Name of Yahweh shall be saved.”

Listen very closely to the words of our Messiah loved one. Listen to what He declares about the Name: “I have come in my Father’s Name [Yahweh is salvation], and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name [pagan titles], him you will receive.” (John 5:43)

Now that you know, speak My Name as you seek Me. Change your ways and bring Me honor. I Am Yahweh, your Mighty One, the Holy One of Israyl, your Savior.