The Lord All-Powerful has made a promise. The Lord said, “I promise, these things will happen exactly like I thought. These things will happen exactly the way I planned.
“In the beginning, I told you about the things that will happen in the end. A long time ago, I told you things that had not yet happened. When I plan something—that thing happens. I do the things I want to do.
In Christ we were chosen \{to be God’s people\}. God had already planned for us to be his people, because that is what God wanted. And God is the One who makes everything agree with what he decides and wants.
\{Farmers dig small ditches to water their fields. They change where the water goes by closing different ditches.\} The Lord controls a king’s mind just like that. The Lord can lead the king wherever he wants him to go.
People on earth are not truly important.\par God does what he wants\par with the powers of heaven\par and the people on earth.\par No one can stop his powerful hand!\par No one can question the things he does!\par
It is true that you planned to do something bad to me. But really, God was planning good things. God’s plan was to use me to save the lives of many people. And that is what happened!
Haman did those things, but Esther went to talk to the king. So he sent out new commands. These commands not only ruined Haman’s plans, but these commands caused those bad things to happen to Haman and his family! So Haman and his sons were hung on the posts.
I will give you people proof’—this is the message of the Lord—‘that I will punish you here in Egypt. Then you will know for sure that my promises to hurt you will really happen.
Absalom and all the Israelites said, “The advice of Hushai the Arkite is better than Ahithophel’s advice.” {They said this} because it was the Lord’s plan. The Lord had planned to make Ahithophel’s good advice useless. That is how the Lord would punish Absalom.
