Deliverance Remembered, Victory Secured Forever

1. Now in the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, on the thirteenth day of the month, when the king’s commandment and his decree came near to be put in execution, on the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to conquer them, (but it was turned out the opposite happened, that the Jews conquered those who hated them), 2. the Jews gathered themselves together in their cities throughout all the provinces of the King Ahasuerus, to lay hands on those who wanted to harm them. No one could withstand them, because the fear of them had fallen on all the people. 3. All the princes of the provinces, the satraps, the governors, and those who did the king’s business helped the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai had fallen on them. 4. For Mordecai was great in the king’s house, and his fame went out throughout all the provinces; for the man Mordecai grew greater and greater. 5. The Jews struck all their enemies with the stroke of the sword, and with slaughter and destruction, and did what they wanted to those who hated them. 6. In the citadel of Susa, the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men. 7. They killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, 8. Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, 9. Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha, 10. the ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Jews’ enemy, but they didn’t lay their hand on the plunder. 11. On that day, the number of those who were slain in the citadel of Susa was brought before the king. 12. The king said to Esther the queen, “The Jews have slain and destroyed five hundred men in the citadel of Susa, including the ten sons of Haman; what then have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces! Now what is your petition? It shall be granted you. What is your further request? It shall be done.” 13. Then Esther said, “If it pleases the king, let it be granted to the Jews who are in Shushan to do tomorrow also according to today’s decree, and let Haman’s ten sons be hanged on the gallows.” 14. The king commanded this to be done. A decree was given out in Shushan; and they hanged Haman’s ten sons. 15. The Jews who were in Shushan gathered themselves together on the fourteenth day also of the month Adar, and killed three hundred men in Shushan; but they didn’t lay their hand on the plunder. 16. The other Jews who were in the king’s provinces gathered themselves together, defended their lives, had rest from their enemies, and killed seventy-five thousand of those who hated them; but they didn’t lay their hand on the plunder. 17. This was done on the thirteenth day of the month Adar; and on the fourteenth day of that month they rested and made it a day of feasting and gladness. 18. But the Jews who were in Shushan assembled together on the thirteenth and on the fourteenth days of the month; and on the fifteenth day of that month, they rested, and made it a day of feasting and gladness. 19. Therefore the Jews of the villages, who live in the unwalled towns, make the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of gladness and feasting, a good day, and a day of sending presents of food to one another. 20. Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, both near and far, 21. to enjoin them that they should keep the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month Adar yearly, 22. as the days in which the Jews had rest from their enemies, and the month which was turned to them from sorrow to gladness, and from mourning into a good day; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, and of sending presents of food to one another, and gifts to the needy. 23. The Jews accepted the custom that they had begun, as Mordecai had written to them; 24. because Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them, and had cast “Pur”, that is the lot, to consume them, and to destroy them; 25. but when this became known to the king, he commanded by letters that his wicked plan, which he had planned against the Jews, should return on his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows. 26. Therefore they called these days “Purim”, from the word “Pur.” Therefore because of all the words of this letter, and of that which they had seen concerning this matter, and that which had come to them, 27. the Jews established, and imposed on themselves, and on their descendants, and on all those who joined themselves to them, so that it should not fail, that they would keep these two days according to what was written, and according to its appointed time, every year; 28. and that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city; and that these days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews, nor their memory perish from their offspring, 29. Then Esther the queen, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew, wrote with all authority to confirm this second letter of Purim. 30. He sent letters to all the Jews, to the hundred twenty-seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, with words of peace and truth, 31. to confirm these days of Purim in their appointed times, as Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen had decreed, and as they had imposed upon themselves and their descendants, in the matter of the fastings and their cry. 32. The commandment of Esther confirmed these matters of Purim; and it was written in the book. 1. King Ahasuerus laid a tribute on the land, and on the islands of the sea. 2. All the acts of his power and of his might, and the full account of the greatness of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia? 3. For Mordecai the Jew was next to King Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and accepted by the multitude of his brothers, seeking the good of his people, and speaking peace to all his descendants.

1. Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained a like precious faith with us in the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: 2. Grace to you and peace be multiplied in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3. seeing that his divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and virtue; 4. by which he has granted to us his precious and exceedingly great promises; that through these you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world by lust. 5. Yes, and for this very cause adding on your part all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence; and in moral excellence, knowledge; 6. and in knowledge, self-control; and in self-control perseverance; and in perseverance godliness; 7. and in godliness brotherly affection; and in brotherly affection, love. 8. For if these things are yours and abound, they make you to be not idle or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9. For he who lacks these things is blind, seeing only what is near, having forgotten the cleansing from his old sins. 10. Therefore, brothers, be more diligent to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never stumble. 11. For thus you will be richly supplied with the entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 12. Therefore I will not be negligent to remind you of these things, though you know them, and are established in the present truth. 13. I think it right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you; 14. knowing that the putting off of my tent comes swiftly, even as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. 15. Yes, I will make every effort that you may always be able to remember these things even after my departure. 16. For we did not follow cunningly devised fables, when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17. For he received from God the Father honor and glory, when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” 18. We heard this voice come out of heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain. 19. We have the more sure word of prophecy; and you do well that you heed it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns, and the morning star arises in your hearts: 20. knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of private interpretation. 21. For no prophecy ever came by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke, being moved by the Holy Spirit. 1. But false prophets also arose among the people, as false teachers will also be among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, denying even the Master who bought them, bringing on themselves swift destruction. 2. Many will follow their immoral ways, and as a result, the way of the truth will be maligned. 3. In covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words: whose sentence now from of old doesn’t linger, and their destruction will not slumber. 4. For if God didn’t spare angels when they sinned, but cast them down to Tartarus, and committed them to pits of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; 5. and didn’t spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah with seven others, a preacher of righteousness, when he brought a flood on the world of the ungodly; 6. and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, having made them an example to those who would live in an ungodly way; 7. and delivered righteous Lot, who was very distressed by the lustful life of the wicked 8. (for that righteous man dwelling among them, was tormented in his righteous soul from day to day with seeing and hearing lawless deeds): 9. the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment; 10. but chiefly those who walk after the flesh in the lust of defilement, and despise authority. Daring, self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries; 11. whereas angels, though greater in might and power, don’t bring a railing judgment against them before the Lord. 12. But these, as unreasoning creatures, born natural animals to be taken and destroyed, speaking evil in matters about which they are ignorant, will in their destroying surely be destroyed, 13. receiving the wages of unrighteousness; people who count it pleasure to revel in the daytime, spots and defects, reveling in their deceit while they feast with you; 14. having eyes full of adultery, and who can’t cease from sin; enticing unsettled souls; having a heart trained in greed; children of cursing; 15. forsaking the right way, they went astray, having followed the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of wrongdoing; 16. but he was rebuked for his own disobedience. A mute donkey spoke with a man’s voice and stopped the madness of the prophet. 17. These are wells without water, clouds driven by a storm; for whom the blackness of darkness has been reserved forever. 18. For, uttering great swelling words of emptiness, they entice in the lusts of the flesh, by licentiousness, those who are indeed escaping from those who live in error; 19. promising them liberty, while they themselves are bondservants of corruption; for a man is brought into bondage by whoever overcomes him. 20. For if, after they have escaped the defilement of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in it and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. 21. For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. 22. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb, “The dog turns to his own vomit again,” and “the sow that has washed to wallowing in the mire.” 1. This is now, beloved, the second letter that I have written to you; and in both of them I stir up your sincere mind by reminding you; 2. that you should remember the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior: 3. knowing this first, that in the last days mockers will come, walking after their own lusts, 4. and saying, “Where is the promise of his coming? For, from the day that the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.” 5. For this they willfully forget, that there were heavens from of old, and an earth formed out of water and amid water, by the word of God; 6. by which means the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished. 7. But the heavens that now exist, and the earth, by the same word have been stored up for fire, being reserved against the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. 8. But don’t forget this one thing, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9. The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some count slowness; but is patient with us, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 10. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 11. Therefore since all these things will be destroyed like this, what kind of people ought you to be in holy living and godliness, 12. looking for and earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God, which will cause the burning heavens to be dissolved, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? 13. But, according to his promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells. 14. Therefore, beloved, seeing that you look for these things, be diligent to be found in peace, without defect and blameless in his sight. 15. Regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given to him, wrote to you; 16. as also in all of his letters, speaking in them of these things. In those, there are some things that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unsettled twist, as they also do to the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. 17. You therefore, beloved, knowing these things beforehand, beware, lest being carried away with the error of the wicked, you fall from your own steadfastness. 18. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.

1. Yahweh, I have called on you. Come to me quickly! Listen to my voice when I call to you. 2. Let my prayer be set before you like incense; the lifting up of my hands like the evening sacrifice. 3. Set a watch, Yahweh, before my mouth. Keep the door of my lips. 4. Don’t incline my heart to any evil thing, to practice deeds of wickedness with men who work iniquity. Don’t let me eat of their delicacies. 5. Let the righteous strike me, it is kindness; let him reprove me, it is like oil on the head; don’t let my head refuse it; Yet my prayer is always against evil deeds. 6. Their judges are thrown down by the sides of the rock. They will hear my words, for they are well spoken. 7. “As when one plows and breaks up the earth, our bones are scattered at the mouth of Sheol.” 8. For my eyes are on you, Yahweh, the Lord. In you, I take refuge. Don’t leave my soul destitute. 9. Keep me from the snare which they have laid for me, from the traps of the workers of iniquity. 10. Let the wicked fall together into their own nets, while I pass by.