31 After these things hath the king Ahasuerus exalted Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and lifteth him up, and setteth his throne above all the heads who 'are' with him, 2 and all servants of the king, who 'are' in the gate of the king, are bowing and doing obeisance to Haman, for so hath the king commanded for him; and Mordecai doth not bow nor do obeisance. 3 And the servants of the king, who 'are' in the gate of the king, say to Mordecai, 'Wherefore 'art' thou transgressing the command of the king?' 4 And it cometh to pass, in their speaking unto him, day by day, and he hath not hearkened unto them, that they declare 'it' to Haman, to see whether the words of Mordecai do stand, for he hath declared to them that he 'is' a Jew. 5 And Haman seeth that Mordecai is not bowing and doing obeisance to him, and Haman is full of fury, 6 and it is contemptible in his eyes to put forth a hand on Mordecai by himself, for they have declared to him the people of Mordecai, and Haman seeketh to destroy all the Jews who 'are' in all the kingdom of Ahasuerus—the people of Mordecai.
7 In the first month—it 'is' the month of Nisan—in the twelfth year of the king Ahasuerus, hath one caused to fall Pur (that 'is' the lot) before Haman, from day to day, and from month to month, 'to' the twelfth, it 'is' the month of Adar. 8 And Haman saith to the king Ahasuerus, 'There is one people scattered and separated among the peoples, in all provinces of thy kingdom, and their laws 'are' diverse from all people, and the laws of the king they are not doing, and for the king it is not profitable to suffer them; 9 if to the king 'it be' good, let it be written to destroy them, and ten thousand talents of silver I weigh into the hands of those doing the work, to bring 'it' in unto the treasuries of the king.' 10 And the king turneth aside his signet from off his hand, and giveth it to Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, adversary of the Jews; 11 and the king saith to Haman, 'The silver is given to thee, and the people, to do with it as 'it is' good in thine eyes.' 12 And scribes of the king are called, on the first month, on the thirteenth day of it, and it is written according to all that Haman hath commanded, unto lieutenants of the king, and unto the governors who 'are' over province and province, and unto the heads of people and people, province and province, according to its writing, and people and people according to its tongue, in the name of the king Ahasuerus it hath been written and sealed with the signet of the king, 13 and letters to be sent by the hand of the runners unto all provinces of the king, to cut off, to slay, and to destroy all the Jews, from young even unto old, infant and women, on one day, on the thirteenth of the twelfth month—it 'is' the month of Adar—and their spoil to seize, 14 a copy of the writing to be made law in every province and province is revealed to all the peoples, to be ready for this day. 15 The runners have gone forth, hastened by the word of the king, and the law hath been given in Shushan the palace, and the king and Haman have sat down to drink, and the city Shushan is perplexed.
41 And Mordecai hath known all that hath been done, and Mordecai rendeth his garments, and putteth on sackcloth and ashes, and goeth forth into the midst of the city and crieth—a cry loud and bitter, 2 and he cometh in unto the front of the gate of the king, but none is to come in unto the gate of the king with a sackcloth-garment. 3 And in every province and province, the place where the word of the king, even his law, is coming, a great mourning have the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and lamenting: sackcloth and ashes are spread for many. 4 And young women of Esther come in and her eunuchs, and declare 'it' to her, and the queen is exceedingly pained, and sendeth garments to clothe Mordecai, and to turn aside his sackcloth from off him, and he hath not received 'them'.
5 And Esther calleth to Hatach, of the eunuchs of the king, whom he hath stationed before her, and giveth him a charge for Mordecai, to know what this 'is', and wherefore this 'is'. 6 And Hatach goeth out unto Mordecai, unto a broad place of the city, that 'is' before the gate of the king, 7 and Mordecai declareth to him all that hath met him, and the explanation of the money that Haman said to weigh to the treasuries of the king for the Jews, to destroy them, 8 and the copy of the writing of the law that had been given in Shushan to destroy them he hath given to him, to shew Esther, and to declare 'it' to her, and to lay a charge on her to go in unto the king, to make supplication to him, and to seek from before him, for her people. 9 And Hatach cometh in and declareth to Esther the words of Mordecai, 10 and Esther speaketh to Hatach, and chargeth him for Mordecai: 11 'All servants of the king, and people of the provinces of the king, do know that any man and woman, who cometh in unto the king, unto the inner court, who is not called—one law 'of' his 'is' to put 'them' to death, apart from him to whom the king holdeth out the golden sceptre, then he hath lived; and I—I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days.' 12 And they declare to Mordecai the words of Esther, 13 and Mordecai speaketh to send back unto Esther: 'Do not think in thy soul to be delivered 'in' the house of the king, more than all the Jews, 14 but if thou keep entirely silent at this time, respite and deliverance remaineth to the Jews from another place, and thou and the house of thy fathers are destroyed; and who knoweth whether for a time like this thou hast come to the kingdom?' 15 And Esther speaketh to send back unto Mordecai: 16 'Go, gather all the Jews who are found in Shushan, and fast for me, and do not eat nor drink three days, by night and by day; also I and my young women do fast likewise, and so I go in unto the king, that 'is' not according to law, and when I have perished—I have perished.' 17 And Mordecai passeth on, and doth according to all that Esther hath charged upon him.
51 And it cometh to pass on the third day, that Esther putteth on royalty, and standeth in the inner-court of the house of the king over-against the house of the king, and the king is sitting on his royal throne, in the royal-house, over-against the opening of the house, 2 and it cometh to pass, at the king's seeing Esther the queen standing in the court, she hath received grace in his eyes, and the king holdeth out to Esther the golden sceptre that 'is' in his hand, and Esther draweth near, and toucheth the top of the sceptre. 3 And the king saith to her, 'What—to thee Esther, O queen? and what thy request? unto the half of the kingdom—and it is given to thee.' 4 And Esther saith, 'If unto the king 'it be' good, the king doth come in, and Haman, to-day, unto the banquet that I have made for him;' 5 and the king saith, 'Haste ye Haman—to do the word of Esther;' and the king cometh in, and Haman, unto the banquet that Esther hath made. 6 And the king saith to Esther, during the banquet of wine, 'What 'is' thy petition? and it is given to thee; and what thy request? unto the half of the kingdom—and it is done.' 7 And Esther answereth and saith, 'My petition and my request 'is': 8 if I have found grace in the eyes of the king, and if unto the king 'it be' good, to give my petition, and to perform my request, the king doth come, and Haman, unto the banquet that I make for them, and to-morrow I do according to the word of the king.'
9 And Haman goeth forth on that day rejoicing and glad in heart, and at Haman's seeing Mordecai in the gate of the king, and he hath not risen nor moved for him, then is Haman full of fury against Mordecai. 10 And Haman forceth himself, and cometh in unto his house, and sendeth, and bringeth in his friends, and Zeresh his wife, 11 and Haman recounteth to them the glory of his wealth, and the abundance of his sons, and all that with which the king made him great, and with which he lifted him up above the heads and servants of the king. 12 And Haman saith, 'Yea, Esther the queen brought none in with the king, unto the feast that she made, except myself, and also for to-morrow I am called to her, with the king, 13 and all this is not profitable to me, during all the time that I am seeing Mordecai the Jew sitting in the gate of the king.' 14 And Zeresh his wife saith to him, and all his friends, 'Let them prepare a tree, in height fifty cubits, and in the morning speak to the king, and they hang Mordecai on it, and go thou in with the king unto the banquet rejoicing;' and the thing is good before Haman, and he prepareth the tree.
22 and the officers having come, did not find them in the prison, and having turned back, they told, 23 saying—'The prison indeed we found shut in all safety, and the keepers standing without before the doors, and having opened—within we found no one.' 24 And as the priest, and the magistrate of the temple, and the chief priests, heard these words, they were doubting concerning them to what this would come; 25 and coming near, a certain one told them, saying—'Lo, the men whom ye did put in the prison are in the temple standing and teaching the people;'
26 then the magistrate having gone away with officers, brought them without violence, for they were fearing the people, lest they should be stoned; 27 and having brought them, they set 'them' in the sanhedrim, and the chief priest questioned them, 28 saying, 'Did not we strictly command you not to teach in this name? and lo, ye have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and ye intend to bring upon us the blood of this man.' 29 And Peter and the apostles answering, said, 'To obey God it behoveth, rather than men; 30 and the God of our fathers did raise up Jesus, whom ye slew, having hanged upon a tree; 31 this one God, a Prince and a Saviour, hath exalted with His right hand, to give reformation to Israel, and forgiveness of sins; 32 and we are His witnesses of these sayings, and the Holy Spirit also, whom God gave to those obeying him.' 33 And they having heard, were cut 'to the heart', and were taking counsel to slay them, 34 but a certain one, having risen up in the sanhedrim—a Pharisee, by name Gamaliel, a teacher of law honoured by all the people—commanded to put the apostles forth a little, 35 and said unto them, 'Men, Israelites, take heed to yourselves about these men, what ye are about to do, 36 for before these days rose up Theudas, saying, that himself was some one, to whom a number of men did join themselves, as it were four hundred, who was slain, and all, as many as were obeying him, were scattered, and came to nought. 37 'After this one rose up, Judas the Galilean, in the days of the enrollment, and drew away much people after him, and that one perished, and all, as many as were obeying him, were scattered; 38 and now I say to you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone, because if this counsel or this work may be of men, it will be overthrown, 39 and if it be of God, ye are not able to overthrow it, lest perhaps also ye be found fighting against God.' 40 And to him they agreed, and having called near the apostles, having beaten 'them', they commanded 'them' not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go; 41 they, indeed, then, departed from the presence of the sanhedrim, rejoicing that for his name they were counted worthy to suffer dishonour, 42 every day also in the temple, and in every house, they were not ceasing teaching and proclaiming good news—Jesus the Christ.
(Read Acts 5:17-25)
There is no prison so dark, so strong, but God can visit his people in it, and, if he pleases, fetch them out. Recoveries from sickness, releases out of trouble, are granted, not that we may enjoy the comforts of life, but that God may be honoured with the services of our life. It is not for the preachers of Christ's gospel to retire into corners, as long as they can have any opportunity of preaching in the great congregation. They must preach to the lowest, whose souls are as precious to Christ as the souls of the greatest. Speak to all, for all are concerned. Speak as those who resolve to stand to it, to live and die by it. Speak all the words of this heavenly, divine life, in comparison with which the present earthly life does not deserve the name. These words of life, which the Holy Ghost puts into your mouth. The words of the gospel are the words of life; words whereby we may be saved. How wretched are those who are vexed at the success of the gospel! They cannot but see that the word and power of the Lord are against them; and they tremble for the consequences, yet they will go on.
(Read Acts 5:26-33)
Many will do an evil thing with daring, yet cannot bear to hear of it afterward, or to have it charged upon them. We cannot expect to be redeemed and healed by Christ, unless we give up ourselves to be ruled by him. Faith takes the Saviour in all his offices, who came, not to save us in our sins, but to save us from our sins. Had Christ been exalted to give dominion to Israel, the chief priests would have welcomed him. But repentance and remission of sins are blessings they neither valued nor saw their need of; therefore they, by no means, admitted his doctrine. Wherever repentance is wrought, remission is granted without fail. None are freed from the guilt and punishment of sin, but those who are freed from the power and dominion of sin; who are turned from it, and turned against it. Christ gives repentance, by his Spirit working with the word, to awaken the conscience, to work sorrow for sin, and an effectual change in the heart and life. The giving of the Holy Ghost, is plain evidence that it is the will of God that Christ should be obeyed. And He will surely destroy those who will not have Him to reign over them.
(Read Acts 5:34-42)
The Lord still has all hearts in his hands, and sometimes directs the prudence of the worldly wise, so as to restrain the persecutors. Common sense tells us to be cautious, while experience and observation show that the success of frauds in matters of religion has been very short. Reproach for Christ is true preferment, as it makes us conformable to his pattern, and serviceable to his interest. They rejoiced in it. If we suffer ill for doing well, provided we suffer it well, and as we should, we ought to rejoice in that grace which enabled us so to do. The apostles did not preach themselves, but Christ. This was the preaching that most offended the priests. But it ought to be the constant business of gospel ministers to preach Christ: Christ, and him crucified; Christ, and him glorified; nothing beside this, but what has reference to it. And whatever is our station or rank in life, we should seek to make Him known, and to glorify his name.
