<t /><p class="bodytext">On that same day King Ahasuerus gave the estate<n id="1" /> of Haman, that adversary of the Jews, to Queen Esther. Now Mordecai had come before the king, for Esther had revealed how he was related to her.

Then the king said to Queen Esther, &#8220;In Susa the citadel the Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men and the ten sons of Haman! What then have they done in the rest of the king&#8217;s provinces? What is your request? It shall be given to you. What other petition do you have? It shall be done.&#8221;p>

<t /><p class="psasuper">For the music director; a well-written song<n id="2" /> by David. It was written when Doeg the Edomite went and informed Saul: &#8220;David has arrived at the home of Ahimelech.&#8221;<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Why do you boast about your evil plans,<n id="4" /> O powerful man?p> <p class="poetry">God&#8217;s loyal love protects me all day long!<n id="5" />p>

<p class="poetry">Who has ascended into heaven, and then descended?<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Who has gathered up the winds in his fists?<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Who has bound up the waters in his cloak?<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Who has established all the ends of the earth?<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">What is his name, and what is his son&#8217;s name?<n id="5" /> &#8211; if you know!p>

<p class="poetry">Just as you do not know the path<n id="1" /> of the wind,p> <p class="poetry">or how the bones form<n id="2" /> in the womb of a pregnant woman,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.p>

<p class="bodytext">The chief adviser said to them, &#8220;Tell Hezekiah: &#8216;This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: &#8220;What is your source of confidence?<n id="1" />

Isaiah the prophet visited King Hezekiah and asked him, &#8220;What did these men say? Where do they come from?&#8221; Hezekiah replied, &#8220;They come from the distant land of Babylon.&#8221;

<p class="poetry">And now, what do we have here?&#8221;<n id="1" /> says the <sc>Lordsc>.p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Indeed my people have been carried away for nothing,p> <p class="poetry">those who rule over them taunt,&#8221;<n id="2" /> says the <sc>Lordsc>,p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;and my name is constantly slandered<n id="3" /> all day long.p>

<p class="poetry">And you, Zion, city doomed to destruction,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">you accomplish nothing<n id="2" /> by wearing a beautiful dress,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">decking yourself out in jewels of gold,p> <p class="poetry">and putting on eye shadow!<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">You are making yourself beautiful for nothing.p> <p class="poetry">Your lovers spurn you.p> <p class="poetry">They want to kill you.<n id="5" />p>

<p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> says,<n id="1" /> &#8220;Listen,<n id="2" /> nation of Israel!<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">I am about to bring a nation from far away to attack you.p> <p class="poetry">It will be a nation that was founded long agop> <p class="poetry">and has lasted for a long time.p> <p class="poetry">It will be a nation whose language you will not know.p> <p class="poetry">Its people will speak words that you will not be able to understand.p>

&#8220;So then, Jeremiah,<n id="1" /> when your people<n id="2" /> ask, &#8216;Why has the <sc>Lordsc> our God done all this to us?&#8217; tell them, &#8216;It is because you rejected me and served foreign gods in your own land. So<n id="3" /> you must serve foreigners<n id="4" /> in a land that does not belong to you.&#8217;p>

<p class="poetry">I have listened to them very carefully,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">but they do not speak honestly.p> <p class="poetry">None of them regrets the evil he has done.p> <p class="poetry">None of them says, &#8220;I have done wrong!&#8221;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">All of them persist in their own wayward course<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">like a horse charging recklessly into battle.p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">The people say,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Why are we just sitting here?p> <p class="poetry">Let us gather together inside the fortified cities.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Let us at least die there fighting,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">since the <sc>Lordsc> our God has condemned us to die.p> <p class="poetry">He has condemned us to drink the poison waters of judgment<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">because we have sinned against him.<n id="5" />p>

<p class="bodytext">I said,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Who is wise enough to understand why this has happened?<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Who has a word from the <sc>Lordsc> that can explain it?<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Why does the land lie in ruins?p> <p class="poetry">Why is it as scorched as a desert through which no one travels?&#8221;p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">&#8220;When you tell these people about all this,<n id="1" /> they will undoubtedly ask you, &#8216;Why has the <sc>Lordsc> threatened us with such great disaster? What wrong have we done? What sin have we done to offend the <sc>Lordsc> our God?&#8217;

The <sc>Lordsc> said to me, &#8220;What do you see, Jeremiah?&#8221; I answered, &#8220;I see figs. The good ones look very good. But the bad ones look very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.&#8221;p>

&#8220;You have surely noticed what these people are saying, haven&#8217;t you? They are saying,<n id="1" /> &#8216;The <sc>Lordsc> has rejected the two families of Israel and Judah<n id="2" /> that he chose.&#8217; So they have little regard that my people will ever again be a nation.<n id="3" />

The officials may hear that I have talked with you. They may come to you and say, &#8216;Tell us what you said to the king and what the king said to you.<n id="1" /> Do not hide anything from us. If you do, we will kill you.&#8217;<n id="2" />

<p class="bodytext">He said to me, &#8220;Son of man, do you see what they are doing &#8211; the great abominations that the people<n id="1" /> of Israel are practicing here, to drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see greater abominations than these!&#8221;p>

&#8220;Say to the rebellious house of Israel:<n id="1" /> &#8216;Don&#8217;t you know what these things mean?&#8217;<n id="2" /> Say: &#8216;See here, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem<n id="3" /> and took her king and her officials prisoner and brought them to himself in Babylon.