daily reading 31.5 (Esther 2:5–11)

5-days-a-week through Daniel and other late OT books in 2023

Our opening prayer for this week:

What is the world to me, With all its vaunted pleasure
When you, and you alone, Lord Jesus, are my Treasure?
You only, dearest Lord, My soul’s Delight shall be;
You are my Peace, my Rest—
What is the world to me?

The world is like a cloud And like a vapor fleeting,
A shadow that declines, Swift to its end retreating.
My Jesus still abides Though all things fade and flee;
My everlasting Rock—
What is the world to me?

            What is the world to me, My Jesus is my Treasure,
            My Life, my Healthy, my Wealth, my Friend, my Love, my Pleasure,
            My Joy, my Crown, my All, My Bliss eternally;
            Once more, then, I declare—
            What is the world to me? Amen.

 

Esther 2:5–11

  • In the fortress of Susa, there was a Jewish man named Mordecai son of Jair, son of Shimei, son of Kish, a Benjaminite. 6 He had been taken into exile from Jerusalem with the other captives when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took King Jeconiah of Judah into exile.
  • 7 Mordecai was the legal guardian of his cousin Hadassah (that is, Esther), because she had no father or mother. The young woman had a beautiful figure and was extremely good-looking. When her father and mother died, Mordecai had adopted her as his own daughter.
  • 8 When the king's command and edict became public knowledge and when many young women were gathered at the fortress of Susa under Hegai 's supervision, Esther was taken to the palace, into the supervision of Hegai, keeper of the women.
  • 9 The young woman pleased him and gained his favor so that he accelerated the process of the beauty treatments and the special diet that she received. He assigned seven hand-picked female servants to her from the palace and transferred her and her servants to the harem's best quarters.
  • 10 Esther did not reveal her ethnicity or her family background, because Mordecai had ordered her not to make them known.
  • 11 Every day Mordecai took a walk in front of the harem's courtyard to learn how Esther was doing and to see what was happening to her.
Helpful notes on Esther 2:5–11




For yourself pray:

  • That God takes what is messy, even sordid, around you, and that he uses it for your eternal good in Christ

For others pray:

  • That God shows the most beautiful people in your family his perfect, eternal beauty

A psalm to listen to and ponder, as time allows:

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