Job 39

God Speaks of Nature and Its Beings

1 “Do you know the time the mountain goats give birth?

Do you observe the calving of the deer?

2 “Can you count the months they fulfill,

Or do you know the time they give birth?

3 “They kneel down, they bring forth their young,

They get rid of their labor pains.

4 “Their offspring become strong, they grow up in the open field;

They leave and do not return to them.

5 “Who sent out the wild donkey free?

And who loosed the bonds of the swift donkey,

6 To whom I gave the wilderness for a home

And the salt land for his dwelling place?

7 “He scorns the tumult of the city,

The shoutings of the driver he does not hear.

8 “He explores the mountains for his pasture

And searches after every green thing.

9 “Will the wild ox consent to serve you,

Or will he spend the night at your manger?

10 “Can you bind the wild ox in a furrow with ropes,

Or will he harrow the valleys after you?

11 “Will you trust him because his strength is great

And leave your labor to him?

12 “Will you have faith in him that he will return your grain

And gatherit fromyour threshing floor?

13 “The ostriches’ wings flap joyously

# With the pinion and plumage oflove,

14 For she abandons her eggs to the earth

And warms them in the dust,

15 And she forgets that a foot may crush them,

Or that a wild beast may trample them.

16 “She treats her young cruelly, as iftheywere not hers;

Though her labor be in vain,sheis unconcerned;

17 Because God has made her forget wisdom,

And has not given her a share of understanding.

18 “When she lifts herself on high,

She laughs at the horse and his rider.

19 “Do you give the horsehismight?

Do you clothe his neck with a mane?

20 “Do you make him leap like the locust?

His majestic snorting is terrible.

21 “He paws in the valley, and rejoices inhisstrength;

He goes out to meet the weapons.

22 “He laughs at fear and is not dismayed;

And he does not turn back from the sword.

23 “The quiver rattles against him,

The flashing spear and javelin.

24 “With shaking and rage he races over the ground,

And he does not stand still at the voice of the trumpet.

25 “As often as the trumpetsoundshe says, ‘Aha!’

And he scents the battle from afar,

And the thunder of the captains and the war cry.

26 “Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars,

Stretching his wings toward the south?

27 “Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up

And makes his nest on high?

28 “On the cliff he dwells and lodges,

Upon the rocky crag, an inaccessible place.

29 “From there he spies out food;

His eyes seeitfrom afar.

30 “His young ones also suck up blood;

And where the slain are, there is he.”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/JOB/39-daf12a0076089af347166f6cdaad3476.mp3?version_id=100—

Job 40

Job: What Can I Say?

1 Then the Lordsaid to Job,

2 “Will the faultfinder contend with the Almighty?

Let him who reproves God answer it.”

3 Then Job answered the Lordand said,

4 “Behold, I am insignificant; what can I reply to You?

I lay my hand on my mouth.

5 “Once I have spoken, and I will not answer;

Even twice, and I will add nothing more.”

God Questions Job

6 Then the Lordanswered Job out of the storm and said,

7 “Now gird up your loins like a man;

I will ask you, and you instruct Me.

8 “Will you really annul My judgment?

Will you condemn Me that you may be justified?

9 “Or do you have an arm like God,

And can you thunder with a voice like His?

10 “Adorn yourself with eminence and dignity,

And clothe yourself with honor and majesty.

11 “Pour out the overflowings of your anger,

And look on everyone who is proud, and make him low.

12 “Look on everyone who is proud,andhumble him,

And tread down the wicked where they stand.

13 “Hide them in the dust together;

Bind them in the hiddenplace.

14 “Then I will also confess to you,

That your own right hand can save you.

God’s Power Shown in Creatures

15 “Behold now,Behemoth, which I made as well as you;

He eats grass like an ox.

16 “Behold now, his strength in his loins

And his power in the muscles of his belly.

17 “He bends his tail like a cedar;

The sinews of his thighs are knit together.

18 “His bones are tubes of bronze;

His limbs are like bars of iron.

19 “He is the first of the ways of God;

Let his maker bring near his sword.

20 “Surely the mountains bring him food,

And all the beasts of the field play there.

21 “Under the lotus plants he lies down,

In the covert of the reeds and the marsh.

22 “The lotus plants cover him with shade;

The willows of the brook surround him.

23 “If a river rages, he is not alarmed;

He is confident, though the Jordan rushes to his mouth.

24 “Can anyone capture him when he is on watch,

With barbs can anyone piercehisnose?

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/JOB/40-ac38dc08cc27d17b2a5fddc3988f9faa.mp3?version_id=100—

Job 41

God’s Power Shown in Creatures

1 “Can you draw outLeviathan with a fishhook?

Or press down his tongue with a cord?

2 “Can you put a rope in his nose

Or pierce his jaw with a hook?

3 “Will he make many supplications to you,

Or will he speak to you soft words?

4 “Will he make a covenant with you?

Will you take him for a servant forever?

5 “Will you play with him as with a bird,

Or will you bind him for your maidens?

6 “Will the traders bargain over him?

Will they divide him among the merchants?

7 “Can you fill his skin with harpoons,

Or his head with fishing spears?

8 “Lay your hand on him;

Remember the battle; you will not do it again!

9 “Behold, your expectation is false;

Will you be laid low even at the sight of him?

10 “No one is so fierce that he dares to arouse him;

Who then is he that can stand before Me?

11 “Who has given to Me that I should repayhim?

Whateveris under the whole heaven is Mine.

12 “I will not keep silence concerning his limbs,

Or his mighty strength, or his orderly frame.

13 “Who can strip off his outer armor?

Who can come within his double mail?

14 “Who can open the doors of his face?

Around his teeth there is terror.

15 “Hisstrong scales arehispride,

Shut upas witha tight seal.

16 “One is so near to another

That no air can come between them.

17 “They are joined one to another;

They clasp each other and cannot be separated.

18 “His sneezes flash forth light,

And his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning.

19 “Out of his mouth go burning torches;

Sparks of fire leap forth.

20 “Out of his nostrils smoke goes forth

Asfroma boiling pot andburningrushes.

21 “His breath kindles coals,

And a flame goes forth from his mouth.

22 “In his neck lodges strength,

And dismay leaps before him.

23 “The folds of his flesh are joined together,

Firm on him and immovable.

24 “His heart is as hard as a stone,

Even as hard as a lower millstone.

25 “When he raises himself up, the mighty fear;

Because of the crashing they are bewildered.

26 “The sword that reaches him cannot avail,

Nor the spear, the dart or the javelin.

27 “He regards iron as straw,

Bronze as rotten wood.

28 “The arrow cannot make him flee;

Slingstones are turned into stubble for him.

29 “Clubs are regarded as stubble;

He laughs at the rattling of the javelin.

30 “His underparts arelikesharp potsherds;

He spreads outlikea threshing sledge on the mire.

31 “He makes the depths boil like a pot;

He makes the sea like a jar of ointment.

32 “Behind him he makes a wake to shine;

One would think the deep to be gray-haired.

33 “Nothing on earth is like him,

One made without fear.

34 “He looks on everything that is high;

He is king over all the sons of pride.”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/JOB/41-bc3545ba74031bb0fb883a2bc7117b23.mp3?version_id=100—

Job 42

Job’s Confession

1 Then Job answered the Lordand said,

2 “I know that You can do all things,

And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.

3 ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’

Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand,

Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.”

4 ‘Hear, now, and I will speak;

I will ask You, and You instruct me.’

5 “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear;

But now my eye sees You;

6 Therefore I retract,

And I repent in dust and ashes.”

God Displeased with Job’s Friends

7 It came about after the Lordhad spoken these words to Job, that the Lordsaid to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends, because you have not spoken of Me what is right as My servant Job has.

8 Now therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, and go to My servant Job, and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves, and My servant Job will pray for you. For I will accept him so that I may not do with youaccording to yourfolly, because you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.”

9 So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the ShuhiteandZophar the Naamathite went and did as the Lordtold them; and the Lordaccepted Job.

God Restores Job’s Fortunes

10 The Lordrestored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends, and the Lordincreased all that Job had twofold.

11 Then all his brothers and all his sisters and all who had known him before came to him, and they ate bread with him in his house; and they consoled him and comforted him for all the adversities that the Lordhad brought on him. And each one gave him one piece of money, and each a ring of gold.

12 The Lordblessed the latterdaysof Job more than his beginning; and he had 14,000 sheep and 6,000 camels and 1,000 yoke of oxen and 1,000 female donkeys.

13 He had seven sons and three daughters.

14 He named the first Jemimah, and the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch.

15 In all the land no women were found so fair as Job’s daughters; and their father gave them inheritance among their brothers.

16 After this, Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons and his grandsons, four generations.

17 And Job died, an old man and full of days.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/JOB/42-ef3bb103bdb543f41211b07585007ac2.mp3?version_id=100—

Esther 1

The Banquets of the King

1 Now it took place in the days of Ahasuerus, the Ahasuerus who reigned from India to Ethiopia over 127 provinces,

2 in those days as King Ahasuerus sat on his royal throne whichwasat the citadel in Susa,

3 in the third year of his reign he gave a banquet for all his princes and attendants, the armyofficersof Persia and Media, the nobles and the princes of his provinces being in his presence.

4 And he displayed the riches of his royal glory and the splendor of his great majesty for many days, 180 days.

5 When these days were completed, the king gave a banquet lasting seven days for all the people who were present at the citadel in Susa, from the greatest to the least, in the court of the garden of the king’s palace.

6 There were hangings offine white and violet linen held by cords of fine purple linen on silver rings and marble columns,andcouches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl and precious stones.

7 Drinks were served in golden vessels of various kinds, and the royal wine was plentiful according to the king’s bounty.

8 The drinking wasdoneaccording to the law, there was no compulsion, for so the king had given orders to each official of his household that he should do according to the desires of each person.

9 Queen Vashti also gave a banquet for the women in the palace which belonged to King Ahasuerus.

Queen Vashti’s Refusal

10 On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar and Carkas, the seven eunuchs who served in the presence of King Ahasuerus,

11 to bring Queen Vashti before the king withherroyal crown in order to display her beauty to the people and the princes, for she was beautiful.

12 But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s command delivered by the eunuchs. Then the king became very angry and his wrath burned within him.

13 Then the king said to the wise men who understood the times-for it was the custom of the king soto speakbefore all who knew law and justice

14 and were close to him: Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena and Memucan, the seven princes of Persia and Media who had access to the king’s presence and sat in the first place in the kingdom-

15 “According to law, what is to be done with Queen Vashti, because she did not obey the command of King Ahasuerusdeliveredby the eunuchs?”

16 In the presence of the king and the princes, Memucan said, “Queen Vashti has wronged not only the king butalsoall the princes and all the peoples who are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus.

17 For the queen’s conduct will become known to all the women causing them to look with contempt on their husbands by saying, ‘King Ahasuerus commanded Queen Vashti to be brought in to his presence, but she did not come.’

18 This day the ladies of Persia and Media who have heard of the queen’s conduct will speak inthe same wayto all the king’s princes, and there will be plenty of contempt and anger.

19 If it pleases the king, let a royal edict be issued by him and let it be written in the laws of Persia and Media so that it cannot be repealed, that Vashti may no longer come into the presence of King Ahasuerus, and let the king give her royal position to another who is more worthy than she.

20 When the king’s edict which he will make is heard throughout all his kingdom, great as it is, then all women will give honor to their husbands, great and small.”

21 Thisword pleased the king and the princes, and the king did as Memucan proposed.

22 So he sent letters to all the king’s provinces, to each province according to its script and to every people according to their language, that every man should be the master in his own house and the one who speaks in the language of his own people.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/EST/1-2bd5ececd179f485b46dfcc5b95fedb4.mp3?version_id=100—

Esther 2

Vashti’s Successor Sought

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

2 Then the king’s attendants, who served him, said, “Let beautiful young virgins be sought for the king.

3 Let the king appoint overseers in all the provinces of his kingdom that they may gather every beautiful young virgin to the citadel of Susa, to the harem, into the custody of Hegai, the king’s eunuch, who is in charge of the women; and let their cosmetics be giventhem.

4 Then let the young lady who pleases the king be queen in place of Vashti.” And the matter pleased the king, and he did accordingly.

5 Nowthere was at the citadel in Susa a Jew whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite,

6 who had been taken into exile from Jerusalem with the captives who had been exiled with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had exiled.

7 He was bringing up Hadassah, that is Esther, his uncle’s daughter, for she had no father or mother. Now the young lady was beautiful of form and face, and when her father and her mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter.

Esther Finds Favor

8 So it came about when the command and decree of the king were heard and many young ladies were gathered to the citadel of Susa into the custody of Hegai, that Esther was taken to the king’s palace into the custody of Hegai, who was in charge of the women.

9 Now the young lady pleased him and found favor with him. So he quickly provided her with her cosmetics and food, gave her seven choice maids from the king’s palace and transferred her and her maids to the best place in the harem.

10 Esther did not make known her people or her kindred, for Mordecai had instructed her that she should not makethemknown.

11 Every day Mordecai walked back and forth in front of the court of the harem to learn how Esther was and how she fared.

12 Now when the turn of each young lady came to go in to King Ahasuerus, after the end of her twelve months under the regulations for the women-for the days of their beautification were completed as follows: six months with oil of myrrh and six months with spices and the cosmetics for women-

13 the young lady would go in to the king in this way: anything that she desired was given her to take with her from the harem to the king’s palace.

14 In the evening she would go in and in the morning she would return to the second harem, to the custody of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the concubines. She would not again go in to the king unless the king delighted in her and she was summoned by name.

15 Now when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai who had taken her as his daughter, came to go in to the king, she did not request anything except what Hegai, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the women, advised. And Esther found favor in the eyes of all who saw her.

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

Esther Becomes Queen

17 The king loved Esther more than all the women, and she found favor and kindness with him more than all the virgins, so that he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.

18 Then the king gave a great banquet, Esther’s banquet, for all his princes and his servants; he also made a holiday for the provinces and gave gifts according to the king’s bounty.

19 When the virgins were gathered together the second time, then Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate.

20 Esther had not yet made known her kindred or her people, even as Mordecai had commanded her; for Esther did what Mordecai told her as she had done when under his care.

Mordecai Saves the King

21 In those days, while Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king’s officials from those who guarded the door, became angry and sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus.

22 But the plot became known to Mordecai and he told Queen Esther, and Esther informed the king in Mordecai’s name.

23 Now when the plot was investigated and foundto be so,they were both hanged on agallows; and it was written in the Book of the Chronicles in the king’s presence.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/EST/2-5d912cc5e37dfb4184d38aeb6fb94e47.mp3?version_id=100—

Esther 3

Haman’s Plot against the Jews

1 After these events King Ahasuerus promoted Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him and established his authority over all the princes whowerewith him.

2 All the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman; for so the king had commanded concerning him. But Mordecai neither bowed down nor paid homage.

3 Then the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate said to Mordecai, “Why are you transgressing the king’s command?”

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

5 When Haman saw that Mordecai neither bowed down nor paid homage to him, Haman was filled with rage.

6 But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone, for they had told himwhothe people of Mordecaiwere;therefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, whowerethroughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus.

7 In the first month, which is the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, Pur, that is the lot, was cast before Haman from day to day and from monthto month,until the twelfth month, that is the month Adar.

8 Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different fromthoseof allotherpeople and they do not observe the king’s laws, so it is not in the king’s interest to let them remain.

9 If it is pleasing to the king, let it be decreed that they be destroyed, and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who carry on theking’sbusiness, to put into the king’s treasuries.”

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

11 The king said to Haman, “The silver is yours, and the peoplealso,to do with them as you please.”

12 Then the king’s scribes were summoned on the thirteenth day of the first month, and it was written just as Haman commanded to the king’s satraps, to the governors who were over each province and to the princes of each people, each province according to its script, each people according to its language, being written in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with the king’s signet ring.

13 Letters were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces to destroy, to kill and to annihilate all the Jews, both young and old, women and children, in one day, the thirteenthdayof the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to seize their possessions as plunder.

14 A copy of the edict to be issued as law in every province was published to all the peoples so that they should be ready for this day.

15 The couriers went out impelled by the king’s command while the decree was issued at the citadel in Susa; and while the king and Haman sat down to drink, the city of Susa was in confusion.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/EST/3-261659fddfe97e1bbaf32040810c4b14.mp3?version_id=100—

Esther 4

Esther Learns of Haman’s Plot

1 When Mordecai learned all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city and wailed loudly and bitterly.

2 He went as far as the king’s gate, for no one was to enter the king’s gate clothed in sackcloth.

3 In each and every province where the command and decree of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and wailing; and many lay on sackcloth and ashes.

4 Then Esther’s maidens and her eunuchs came and told her, and the queen writhed in great anguish. And she sent garments to clothe Mordecai that he might remove his sackcloth from him, but he did not acceptthem.

5 Then Esther summoned Hathach from the king’s eunuchs, whom the king had appointed to attend her, and ordered himto goto Mordecai to learn what thiswasand why itwas.

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

7 Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, and the exact amount of money that Haman had promised to pay to the king’s treasuries for the destruction of the Jews.

8 He also gave him a copy of the text of the edict which had been issued in Susa for their destruction, that he might show Esther and inform her, and to order her to go in to the king to implore his favor and to plead with him for her people.

9 Hathach came back and related Mordecai’s words to Esther.

10 Then Esther spoke to Hathach and ordered himto replyto Mordecai:

11 “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that for any man or woman who comes to the king to the inner court who is not summoned, he has but one law, that he be put to death, unless the king holds out to him the golden scepter so that he may live. And I have not been summoned to come to the king for these thirty days.”

12 They related Esther’s words to Mordecai.

13 Then Mordecai toldthemto reply to Esther, “Do not imagine that you in the king’s palace can escape any more than all the Jews.

14 For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?”

Esther Plans to Intercede

15 Then Esther toldthemto reply to Mordecai,

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

17 So Mordecai went away and did just as Esther had commanded him.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/EST/4-9b479f5ea6d897c86784503dc3f5bf8a.mp3?version_id=100—

Esther 5

Esther Plans a Banquet

1 Now it came about on the third day that Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king’s palace in front of the king’s rooms, and the king was sitting on his royal throne in the throne room, opposite the entrance to the palace.

2 When the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, she obtained favor in his sight; and the king extended to Esther the golden scepter whichwasin his hand. So Esther came near and touched the top of the scepter.

3 Then the king said to her, “What istroublingyou, Queen Esther? And what is your request? Even to half of the kingdom it shall be given to you.”

4 Esther said, “If it pleases the king, may the king and Haman come this day to the banquet that I have prepared for him.”

5 Then the king said, “Bring Haman quickly that we may do as Esther desires.” So the king and Haman came to the banquet which Esther had prepared.

6 As they drank their wine at the banquet, the king said to Esther, “What is your petition, for it shall be granted to you. And what is your request? Even to half of the kingdom it shall be done.”

7 So Esther replied, “My petition and my request is:

8 if I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and do what I request, may the king and Haman come to the banquet which I will prepare for them, and tomorrow I will do as the king says.”

Haman’s Pride

9 Then Haman went out that day glad and pleased of heart; but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king’s gate and that he did not stand up or tremble before him, Haman was filled with anger against Mordecai.

10 Haman controlled himself, however, went to his house and sent for his friends and his wife Zeresh.

11 Then Haman recounted to them the glory of his riches, and the number of his sons, and everyinstancewhere the king had magnified him and how he had promoted him above the princes and servants of the king.

12 Haman also said, “Even Esther the queen let no one but me come with the king to the banquet which she had prepared; and tomorrow also I am invited by her with the king.

13 Yet all of this does not satisfy me every time I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.”

14 Then Zeresh his wife and all his friends said to him, “Have a gallows fifty cubits high made and in the morning ask the king to have Mordecai hanged on it; then go joyfully with the king to the banquet.” And the advice pleased Haman, so he had the gallows made.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/EST/5-97eec2e410ccc0128446b506e047fd32.mp3?version_id=100—

Esther 6

The King Plans to Honor Mordecai

1 During that night the king could not sleep so he gave an order to bring the book of records, the chronicles, and they were read before the king.

2 It was found written what Mordecai had reported concerning Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs who were doorkeepers, that they had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus.

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

4 So the king said, “Who is in the court?” Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the king’s palace in order to speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on the gallows which he had prepared for him.

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

6 So Haman came in and the king said to him, “What is to be done for the man whom the king desires to honor?” And Haman said to himself, “Whom would the king desire to honor more than me?”

7 Then Haman said to the king, “For the man whom the king desires to honor,

8 let them bring a royal robe which the king has worn, and the horse on which the king has ridden, and on whose head a royal crown has been placed;

9 and let the robe and the horse be handed over to one of the king’s most noble princes and let them array the man whom the king desires to honor and lead him on horseback through the city square, and proclaim before him, ‘Thus it shall be done to the man whom the king desires to honor.'”

Haman Must Honor Mordecai

10 Then the king said to Haman, “Take quickly the robes and the horse as you have said, and do so for Mordecai the Jew, who is sitting at the king’s gate; do not fall short in anything of all that you have said.”

11 So Haman took the robe and the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, and led himon horsebackthrough the city square, and proclaimed before him, “Thus it shall be done to the man whom the king desires to honor.”

12 Then Mordecai returned to the king’s gate. But Haman hurried home, mourning, withhishead covered.

13 Haman recounted to Zeresh his wife and all his friends everything 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 Jewish origin, you will not overcome him, but will surely fall before him.”

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

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/EST/6-093438579eed039eab7c3fac1c397f35.mp3?version_id=100—