Psalm 140

New International Version

Psalm 140^[a]

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

¹Rescue me,^(A) Lord, from evildoers;
    protect me from the violent,^(B)
²who devise evil plans^(C) in their hearts
    and stir up war^(D) every day.
³They make their tongues as sharp as^(E) a serpent’s;
    the poison of vipers^(F) is on their lips.^[b]

⁴Keep me safe,^(G) Lord, from the hands of the wicked;^(H)
    protect me from the violent,
    who devise ways to trip my feet.
⁵The arrogant have hidden a snare^(I) for me;
    they have spread out the cords of their net^(J)
    and have set traps^(K) for me along my path.

⁶I say to the Lord, “You are my God.”^(L)
    Hear, Lord, my cry for mercy.^(M)
⁷Sovereign Lord,^(N) my strong deliverer,
    you shield my head in the day of battle.
⁸Do not grant the wicked^(O) their desires, Lord;
    do not let their plans succeed.

⁹Those who surround me proudly rear their heads;
    may the mischief of their lips engulf them.^(P)
¹⁰May burning coals fall on them;
    may they be thrown into the fire,^(Q)
    into miry pits, never to rise.
¹¹May slanderers not be established in the land;
    may disaster hunt down the violent.^(R)

¹²I know that the Lord secures justice for the poor^(S)
and upholds the cause^(T) of the needy.^(U)
¹³Surely the righteous will praise your name,^(V)
and the upright will live^(W) in your presence.^(X)

Footnotes

Psalm 140:1 In Hebrew texts 140:1-13 is numbered 140:2-14.
Psalm 140:3 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here and at the end of verses 5 and 8.

Esther 8

New International Version

The King’s Edict in Behalf of the Jews

8 That same day King Xerxes gave Queen Esther the estate of Haman,^(A) the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came into the presence of the king, for Esther had told how he was related to her. ²The king took off his signet ring,^(B) which he had reclaimed from Haman, and presented it to Mordecai. And Esther appointed him over Haman’s estate.^(C)

³Esther again pleaded with the king, falling at his feet and weeping. She begged him to put an end to the evil plan of Haman the Agagite,^(D) which he had devised against the Jews. ⁴Then the king extended the gold scepter^(E) to Esther and she arose and stood before him.

⁵“If it pleases the king,” she said, “and if he regards me with favor^(F) and thinks it the right thing to do, and if he is pleased with me, let an order be written overruling the dispatches that Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, devised and wrote to destroy the Jews in all the king’s provinces. ⁶For how can I bear to see disaster fall on my people? How can I bear to see the destruction of my family?”^(G)

⁷King Xerxes replied to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Because Haman attacked the Jews, I have given his estate to Esther, and they have impaled^(H) him on the pole he set up. ⁸Now write another decree^(I) in the king’s name in behalf of the Jews as seems best to you, and seal^(J) it with the king’s signet ring^(K)—for no document written in the king’s name and sealed with his ring can be revoked.”^(L)

⁹At once the royal secretaries were summoned—on the twenty-third day of the third month, the month of Sivan. They wrote out all Mordecai’s orders to the Jews, and to the satraps, governors and nobles of the 127 provinces stretching from India to Cush.^[a]^(M) These orders were written in the script of each province and the language of each people and also to the Jews in their own script and language.^(N) ¹⁰Mordecai wrote in the name of King Xerxes, sealed the dispatches with the king’s signet ring, and sent them by mounted couriers, who rode fast horses especially bred for the king.

¹¹The king’s edict granted the Jews in every city the right to assemble and protect themselves; to destroy, kill and annihilate the armed men of any nationality or province who might attack them and their women and children,^[b] and to plunder^(O) the property of their enemies. ¹²The day appointed for the Jews to do this in all the provinces of King Xerxes was the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar.^(P) ¹³A copy of the text of the edict was to be issued as law in every province and made known to the people of every nationality so that the Jews would be ready on that day^(Q) to avenge themselves on their enemies.

¹⁴The couriers, riding the royal horses, went out, spurred on by the king’s command, and the edict was issued in the citadel of Susa.^(R)

The Triumph of the Jews

¹⁵When Mordecai^(S) left the king’s presence, he was wearing royal garments of blue and white, a large crown of gold^(T) and a purple robe of fine linen.^(U) And the city of Susa held a joyous celebration.^(V) ¹⁶For the Jews it was a time of happiness and joy,^(W) gladness and honor.^(X) ¹⁷In every province and in every city to which the edict of the king came, there was joy^(Y) and gladness among the Jews, with feasting and celebrating. And many people of other nationalities became Jews because fear^(Z) of the Jews had seized them.^(AA)

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Footnotes

Esther 8:9 That is, the upper Nile region
Esther 8:11 Or province, together with their women and children, who might attack them;

Matthew 18:6-9

New International Version

Causing to Stumble

⁶“If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.^(A) ⁷Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come!^(B) ⁸If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble,^(C) cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. ⁹And if your eye causes you to stumble,^(D) gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.^(E)