¹⁵ When Joseph’s brothers had seen that their father was dead, they said, “^(A)What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back in full for all the wrong which we did to him!” ¹⁶ So they sent instructions to Joseph, saying, “Your father commanded us before he died, saying, ¹⁷ ‘This is what you shall say to Joseph: “Please forgive, I beg you, the offense of your brothers and their sin, for they did you wrong.”’ And now, please forgive the offense of the servants of the God of your father.” And Joseph wept when they spoke to him. ¹⁸ Then his brothers also came and ^(B)fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.” ¹⁹ But Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in God’s place? ²⁰ As for you, ^(C)you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about ^[a]this present result, to keep many people alive. ²¹ So therefore, do not be afraid; ^(D)I will provide for you and your little ones.” So he comforted them and spoke ^[b]kindly to them.

Esther’s Plea

7 Now the king and Haman came to drink wine with Esther the queen. ² And the king said to Esther on the second day also ^[a]as they drank their wine at the banquet, “^(A)What is your request, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your wish? ^(B)Up to half of the kingdom it shall be done.” ³ Then Queen Esther replied, “^(C)If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me as my request, and my people as my wish; ⁴ for ^(D)we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, ^(E)killed, and eliminated. Now if we had only been sold as slaves, men and women, I would have kept silent, because the distress would not be sufficient reason to burden the king.” ⁵ Then King Ahasuerus ^[b]asked Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, ^[c]who would presume to do such a thing?” ⁶ And Esther said, “^(F)A foe and an enemy is this wicked Haman!” Then Haman became terrified before the king and queen.

Haman Is Hanged

⁷ The king then got up ^(G)in his anger from ^[d]drinking wine and went into ^(H)the palace garden; but Haman stayed to beg for his life from Queen Esther, for he saw that harm had been determined against him by the king. ⁸ Now when the king returned from the palace garden into the ^[e]place where they had been drinking wine, Haman was falling on ^(I)the couch where Esther was. Then the king said, “Will he even assault the queen with me in the house?” As the word went out of the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face. ⁹ Then Harbonah, one of the eunuchs who stood before the king, said, “Indeed, behold, ^(J)the wooden gallows standing at Haman’s house ^[f]fifty cubits high, which Haman made for Mordecai ^(K)who spoke good in behalf of the king!” And the king said, “Hang him on it.” ^10 (L)So they hanged Haman on the wooden gallows which he had prepared for Mordecai, ^(M)and the king’s anger subsided.

³³ But ^[a]seek first ^[b]His kingdom and His righteousness, and ^(A)all these things will be ^[c]provided to you.