For Reading and Meditation:      Esther 9:23;10:3The thrilling story of Esther ends with Mordecai being firmly established as Prime Minister of Persia. Historians tell us that under Mordecai's management, the land grew strong and prosperous. He was the right man in the right place at the right time. As you cast your mind back over our recent studies, does not the sovereignty of God appear in a more awesome light than ever before? Remind yourself that absolutely nothing can defeat or frustrate the purposes of God. Many things appear beyond hope to us, but nothing is irretrievable to God. He, who knows how to take occasion from Adam's fall and bring in such a perfect redemption, may be safely trusted with every event and every action of history - good or bad. Our God reigns! The Jews, in looking back over their history, give thanks to God for those occasions when He worked in great power to effect their deliverance. In honor of those events they set aside special dates and seasons. But such is the breathtaking wonder of God's grace to believers that really there are just not enough days to go round. When, after Word War II, Europe celebrated victory over the Nazis, they called it VE Day - Victory in Europe. Some years later, a boy was asked by his history teacher what VE day stood for. He replied: "Victory every day." Well, that is not what it means, but it is certainly what it can mean. In the light of God's sovereignty and love, we who are His redeemed children can live out our lives in full assurance of certain victory - this day and every day.Father, let my consciousness be filled with the thought that the same loving sovereignty and care which went into the planning of Ruth and Esther's life is also at work in mine. Help me never forget that no matter what happens, You are always on Your throne. Amen.

Let a little light into your soul every day with this wonderful devotional from English pastor Selwyn Hughes.

Every Day Light with Selwyn Hughes

"Mordecai the Jew was second in rank to King Xerxes " (10:3)

23 And the Jews undertook to do as they had begun, and as Mordecai had written unto them;

And the Jews undertook to do as they had begun, and as Mordecai had written unto them;

Esther 9:23

 And the Jews undertook to do as they had begun, and as Mordecai had written unto them;

In 1604, King James I of England authorized that a new translation of the Bible into English be started. It was finished in 1611, just 85 years after the first translation of the New Testament into English appeared (Tyndale, 1526). The Authorized Version, or King James Version, quickly became the standard for English-speaking Protestants. Its flowing language and prose rhythm has had a profound influence on the literature of the past 400 years. The King James Version present on the Bible Gateway matches the 1987 printing. The KJV is public domain in the United States.

OT: Masoretic Text, some LXX and Vulgate influence.
NT: Textus Receptus, similar to the Byzantine text-type; some readings derived from the Vulgate.
Apocrypha: Greek Septuagint and Latin Vulgate.

King James Version

23 So the Jews accepted what they had started to do, and what Mordecai had written to them.

So the Jews accepted what they had started to do, and what Mordecai had written to them.

From Wikipedia: 

The English Standard Version (ESV) is an English translation of the Bible. The ESV was published in 2001 by Crossway, having been "created by a team of more than 100 leading evangelical scholars and pastors." The ESV relies on recently published critical editions of the original Hebrew and Greek texts. Crossway claim that the ESV continues a legacy begun by the Tyndale New Testament of precision and faithfulness in English translation of the original text, followed in the same standard by "the King James Version of 1611 (KJV), the English Revised Version of 1885 (RV), the American Standard Version of 1901 (ASV), and the Revised Standard Version of 1952 and 1971." Crossway describes the ESV as a translation that "emphasizes 'word-for-word' accuracy, literary excellence, and depth of meaning." Crossway also describes the ESV as a translation that adheres to an "essentially literal" translation philosophy, taking into account "differences in grammar, syntax, and idiom between current literary English and the original languages."

The ESV is derived from the 1971 text edition of the Revised Standard Version (RSV). ESV Translation Oversight Committee member Wayne Grudem claims that approximately eight percent (or about 60,000 words) of the 1971 RSV text being used for the ESV was revised as of first publication in 2001. Grudem states that the committee removed "every trace of liberal influence that had caused such criticism from evangelicals when the RSV was first published in 1952." Although, Grudem also states that much of the 1971 RSV text left unchanged by the committee "is simply 'the best of the best' of the KJV tradition."

With regard to gender language, the ESV Translation Oversight Committee state that "the goal of the ESV is to render literally what is in the original."[9] The committee expands on this position in claiming that, although the ESV avoids using gender-neutral language (for the purpose of preserving contextual meaning found in the original text), the translation does utilize gender-neutral language in specific cases. The committee further state that their objective was "transparency to the original text, allowing the reader to understand the original on its own terms rather than in the terms of our present-day Western culture."[9] The ESV Study Bible often details in its commentary why a complementarian interpretation of the original text may have been rendered in translation.

OT: Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (5th ed., 1997); additional sources in difficult cases
NT: UBS Greek New Testament (5th corrected ed.); Novum Testamentum Graece (28th ed., 2012)

English Standard Version

23 So the Jews agreed to continue the celebration they had begun, doing what Mordecai had written to them.

So the Jews agreed to continue the celebration they had begun, doing what Mordecai had written to them.

From Wikipedia: 

The New International Version (NIV) is an English translation of the Bible first published in 1978 by Biblica (formerly the International Bible Society). The NIV was published to meet the need for a modern translation done by Bible scholars using the earliest, highest quality manuscripts available. Of equal importance was that the Bible be expressed in broadly understood modern English.

The NIV is published by Zondervan in the United States and Hodder & Stoughton in the UK. The NIV was updated in 1984 and 2011 and has become one of the most popular and best-selling modern translations.

OT: Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia; additional sources;
NT: UBS Greek New Testament; Novum Testamentum Graece; additional sources;

New International Version

From Wikipedia: 

The American Standard Version (ASV) is rooted in the work that was done with the Revised Version (RV) (a late 19th-century British revision of the King James Version of 1611). In 1870, an invitation was extended to American religious leaders for scholars to work on the RV project. A year later, Protestant theologian Philip Schaff chose 30 scholars representing the denominations of Baptist, Congregationalist, Dutch Reformed, Friends, Methodist, Episcopal, Presbyterian, Protestant Episcopal, and Unitarian. These scholars began work in 1872.

The RV New Testament was released In 1881; the Old Testament was published in 1885. The ASV was published in 1901 by Thomas Nelson & Sons. In 1928, the International Council of Religious Education (the body that later merged with the Federal Council of Churches to form the National Council of Churches) acquired the copyright from Nelson and renewed it the following year.

The divine name of the Almighty (the Tetragrammaton) is consistently rendered Jehovah in the ASV Old Testament, rather than LORD as it appears in the King James Bible.

The ASV was the basis of four revisions. They were the Revised Standard Version, 1971, the Amplified Bible, 1965, the New American Standard Bible, 1995, and the Recovery Version, 1999. A fifth revision, known as the World English Bible, was published in 2000 and was placed in the public domain. The ASV was also the basis for Kenneth N. Taylor's Bible paraphrase, The Living Bible, 1971.

This Bible is in the public domain in the United States. We are making it available in the same format in which we acquired it as a public service.

NT: Westcott and Hort 1881 and Tregelles 1857, (Reproduced in a single, continuous, form in Palmer 1881). 
OT: Masoretic Text with some Septuagint influence).

American Standard Version

23 The Jews undertook to do as they had begun, and as Mordecai had written to them;

The Jews undertook to do as they had begun, and as Mordecai had written to them;

From Wikipedia: 

The World English Bible (WEB) is an English translation of the Bible published in 2000. It is an updated revision of the American Standard Version (1901). 

The World English Bible was created by volunteers using the American Standard Version as the base text as part of the ebible.org project through Rainbow Missions, Inc., a Colorado non-profit corporation. 

The World English Bible is one of the few public domain, twenty-first century English translations of the entire Bible, and it is freely distributed to the public using electronic formats.


NT: Byzantine Majority Text by Robinson and Pierpont 1991. 
OT: Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (with some Septuagint and Dead Sea Scrolls influence).

World English Bible

From Wikipedia: 

The New International Version (NIV) is an English translation of the Bible first published in 1978 by Biblica (formerly the International Bible Society). The NIV was published to meet the need for a modern translation done by Bible scholars using the earliest, highest quality manuscripts available. Of equal importance was that the Bible be expressed in broadly understood modern English.

The NIV is published by Zondervan in the United States and Hodder & Stoughton in the UK. The NIV was updated in 1984 and has become one of the most popular and best-selling modern translations.

New International Version 1984

23 So the Jews accepted the custom which they had begun, as Mordecai had written to them,

So the Jews accepted the custom which they had begun, as Mordecai had written to them, 

From Wikipedia: The New King James Version (NKJV) is an English translation of the Bible. The complete NKJV Bible was published in 1982 by Thomas Nelson. The NKJV is described by Thomas Nelson as being "scrupulously faithful to the original, yet truly updated to enhance its clarity and readability."




Esther 9:23

Esther 9:23 KJV

Esther 9:23 ESV

Esther 9:23 NIV

Esther 9:23 ASV

Esther 9:23 WEB

Esther 9:23 NIV1984

Esther 9:23 NKJV

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