And on the following day Paul went in with us to  ¹James, and all the elders were present.

And having greeted them, he related one by one the things which God did among the Gentiles through his ministry.

And when they heard it, they glorified God and said to him, You observe, brother, how many  ¹thousands there are among the Jews who have believed; and all are  ²zealous for the law.

And they have been informed concerning you that you are teaching all the Jews throughout the nations  ¹apostasy from Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children, nor to walk according to the customs.

What then is to be done?  ¹They will certainly hear that you have come.

Therefore do this that we tell you: We have four men who have a  ¹vow on themselves;

Take these and be  ¹purified with them, and pay their  ²expenses that they may  ³shave their heads. And all will know that there is nothing to the things that they have been informed of concerning you, but that you yourself also walk orderly, keeping the law.

But concerning the Gentiles who have believed, we have already written, having decided that they should keep themselves from idol sacrifices and blood and anything strangled and fornication.

Then Paul took the men and on the following day,  ¹being purified with them, entered into the temple, giving notice of the  ²completion of the days of the purification, until the offering was offered for each one of them.

And when the seven days were about to be concluded, the Jews from Asia saw him in the temple and threw all the crowd into confusion; and they laid their hands on him,

Crying out,  ¹Men of Israel, help! This is the man who teaches all men everywhere against the  ²people and the law and  ³this place; and further, he has even brought Greeks into the temple and has  ⁴profaned this  ⁵holy place.

For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with him, whom they supposed Paul had brought into the temple.

And the whole city was stirred, and the people ran together; and they laid hold of Paul and dragged him outside the temple; and immediately the doors were shut.

And as they were seeking to kill him, a report came up to the  ¹commander of the  ²cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion.

And he at once took soldiers and centurions and ran down to them. And when they saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.

Then the commander drew near and laid hold of him and ordered him to be bound with two chains. And he inquired who he might be and what he had done.

And some among the crowd were shouting one thing, and some another. And since he could not find out the facts because of the uproar, he ordered him to be brought into the barracks.

And when Paul came to the stairs, it so happened that he was being carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the crowd;

For the multitude of the people were following and crying out, Away with him!

And when he was about to be brought into the barracks, Paul said to the commander, Am I allowed to say anything to you? And he said, You know Greek?

You are not then the Egyptian who some days ago revolted and led out the four thousand men of the Assassins into the wilderness?

But Paul said, I am a Jewish man of Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no insignificant city, and I beg you, permit me to speak to the people.

After these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman the son of Hammedatha the  ¹Agagite, and he  ²advanced him and set his seat above all the princes who were with him.

And all the king's servants who were in the king's gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman, for so had the king commanded concerning him. But Mordecai did not bow down or pay homage.

Then the king's servants who were in the king's gate said to Mordecai, Why do you transgress the king's command?

And when they had spoken to him day after day and he did not listen to them, they told Haman, in order to see whether Mordecai's words would stand; for he had told them that he was a Jew.

And when Haman saw that Mordecai did not bow down or pay homage to him, Haman was filled with rage.

But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone, for they had told him who the people of Mordecai were; therefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, who were throughout the kingdom of Ahasuerus.

In the first month, which is the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that is, the lot, before Haman from day to day and from month to month, until it fell on the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar.

And Haman said to King Ahasuerus, There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the peoples throughout all the provinces of your kingdom; and their laws differ from those of all the people, nor do they keep the king's laws. Therefore it is not fitting for the king to let them remain.

If it please the king, let it be decreed in writing that they be destroyed, and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who have charge of the king's affairs, that they may bring it into the king's treasuries.

Then the king took his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews' enemy.

And the king said to Haman, The silver has been given to you, as well as the people, to do with them as it seems good to you.

Then the king's scribes were summoned in the first month, on the thirteenth day of the month; and it was decreed in writing, according to all that Haman commanded, to the king's satraps and to the governors who were over each province and to the princes of every people, to each province in its own script and to each people in their own tongue; in the name of King Ahasuerus was it written, and it was sealed with the king's signet ring.

And letters were sent by couriers to all the king's provinces to destroy, to slay, and to annihilate all the Jews, both young and old, children and women, in one day, that is, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to plunder their spoil.

A copy of the written decree to be issued as law in all the provinces was published to all the peoples so that they would be ready for that day.

The couriers went out, driven in haste by the king's command; and the decree was issued in Susa the capital. And the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was in confusion.

Now when Mordecai learned about all that had been done, Mordecai rent his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes; and he went out into the midst of the city and wailed loudly and bitterly.

And he went up to the entrance of the king's gate, for no one was to enter the king's gate clothed in sackcloth.

And throughout every province, wherever the king's commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with  ¹fasting and weeping and wailing; many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

And Esther's maids and her eunuchs came and told her, and the queen was greatly distressed. And she sent garments to clothe Mordecai, so that he might remove his sackcloth from him; but he would not accept them.

Then Esther called for Hathach, one of the king's eunuchs, whom he had appointed to serve her, and she commanded him to go out to Mordecai to find out what this was and why it was.

So Hathach went out to Mordecai at the open square of the city in front of the king's gate.

And Mordecai told him all that had happened to him and the exact sum of money that Haman had promised to pay into the king's treasuries for the destruction of the Jews.

And he also gave him a copy of the written decree which was issued in Susa for their destruction, that he might show Esther and tell her about it and charge her to go in to the king to supplicate him and make a request for her people before him.

And Hathach came and told Esther Mordecai's words.

Then Esther spoke to Hathach and ordered him to answer Mordecai:

All the king's servants and the people of the king's provinces know that for any man or woman who comes in to the king at the inner court who has not been called for, there is but one law, that he be put to death, unless the king holds out his scepter of gold to him that he may live; and I have not been called to come in to the king during these past thirty days.

And they told Mordecai Esther's words.

Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, Do not imagine that in the king's palace you will escape any more than all the Jews.

For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from some other place, and you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?

Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai,

Go; assemble all the Jews who are to be found in Susa, and fast for me; and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day; I also and my maids will fast in the same way. And so will I go in to the king, which is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish.

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

And on the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king's house, in front of the king's house. And the king was sitting on his royal throne in the royal house, opposite the entrance to the house.

And when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, she obtained favor in his sight. And the king held out to Esther his scepter of gold, which was in his hand; and Esther drew near and touched the top of the scepter.

Then the king said to her, What troubles you, Queen Esther? And what is your request? It shall be given to you, even to the half of my kingdom.

And Esther said, If it please the king, let the king and Haman come today to the banquet I have prepared for him.

Then the king said, Bring Haman quickly, so that we may do as Esther says. And the king and Haman came to the banquet that Esther had prepared.

And the king said to Esther during the banquet of wine, What is your petition? For it shall be granted to you. And what is your request? Even to the half of the kingdom it shall be done.

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

If I have found favor in the king's sight, and if it please the king to grant my petition and do what I request, let the king and Haman come to the banquet that I will prepare for them; and tomorrow I will do as the king says.

And Haman went out that day joyful and glad in heart; but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king's gate and that he did not arise or tremble because of him, Haman was filled with anger against Mordecai.

But Haman restrained himself and went to his house. And he sent word and had his friends and Zeresh his wife brought to him.

And Haman recounted to them the glory of his riches and the multitude of his children and all the things in which the king had promoted him and how he had advanced him above the princes and the king's servants.

Haman also said, Even Esther the queen let no one come with the king to the banquet that she had prepared except me, and tomorrow also I am invited by her, together with the king.

Yet all this means to me nothing as long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting in the king's gate.

Then Zeresh his wife and all his friends said to him, Let a gallows be made fifty cubits high, and in the morning ask the king to have Mordecai hanged on it; then go with the king to the banquet rejoicing. And the word seemed good to Haman, and he had the gallows made.

On that night the king could not sleep, so he gave orders to bring the book of the records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king.

And it was found written that Mordecai had given a report concerning Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's eunuchs, among those who were in charge of the threshold, who had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus.

And the king said, What honor and dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this? Then the king's servants who attended him said, Nothing has been done for him.

And the king said, Who is in the court? Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the king's house to speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him.

And the king's servants said to him, Haman is now standing in the court. And the king said, Let him come in.

So Haman came in; and the king said to him, What shall be done for the man whom the king desires to honor? Now Haman said in his heart, Whom would the king desire to honor more than me?

And Haman said to the king, For the man whom the king desires to honor,

Let a royal robe be brought, one which the king has worn, and a horse on which the king has ridden and on whose head a royal crown has been set.

And let the robe and the horse be delivered into the hand of one of the king's most noble princes; and let them array the man whom the king desires to honor and make him ride on horseback through the street of the city; and let them proclaim before him, Thus shall it be done for the man whom the king desires to honor.

Then the king said to Haman, Quickly take the robe and the horse, as you have said, and do so to Mordecai the Jew, who sits in the king's gate. Let nothing fail of all that you have said.

Then Haman took the robe and the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, and made him ride through the street of the city; and he proclaimed before him, Thus shall it be done for the man whom the king desires to honor.

And Mordecai returned to the king's gate. But Haman hurried to his house, mourning and with his head covered.

And Haman recounted to Zeresh his wife and to all his friends all that had happened to him. Then his wise men and Zeresh his wife said to him, If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of the seed of the Jews, you will not prevail against him; but you shall surely fall before him.

While they were still talking with him, the king's eunuchs arrived and hurriedly brought Haman to the banquet that Esther had prepared.

So the king and Haman went in to feast with Esther the queen.

And the king said again unto Esther on the second day during the banquet of wine, What is your petition, Queen Esther? And it shall be granted to you. And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom it shall be done.

Then Esther the queen answered and said, If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me as my petition, and that of my people as my request;

For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. And if we had been sold as slaves, men and women, I would have remained silent, for the adversary is not worth the annoyance to the king.

Then King Ahasuerus spoke and said to Esther the queen, Who is he, and where is he, who presumes to do so?

And Esther said, An adversary and an enemy, this wicked Haman. Then Haman became terrified before the king and the queen.

And the king arose in his anger from the banquet of wine and went into the palace garden, and Haman stood up to make a request for his life to Esther the queen; for he saw that harm had been determined against him by the king.

And when the king returned from the palace garden into the house of the banquet of wine, Haman was prostrate on the couch where Esther was. Then the king said, Will he even humble the queen in front of me in this house? When the word went forth from the king's mouth, they covered Haman's face.

Then Harbonah, one of the eunuchs who were before the king, said, And also there is the gallows standing in Haman's house, fifty cubits high, which Haman has made for Mordecai, who spoke good on behalf of the king. And the king said, Hang him on it.

So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king's anger subsided.

On that day King Ahasuerus gave the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews, to Esther the queen. And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had disclosed what he was to her.

And the king took off his signet ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.