Psalm 62

New International Version

Psalm 62^[a]

For the director of music. For Jeduthun. A psalm of David.

¹Truly my soul finds rest^(A) in God;^(B)
my salvation comes from him.
²Truly he is my rock^(C) and my salvation;^(D)
he is my fortress,^(E) I will never be shaken.^(F)

³How long will you assault me?
    Would all of you throw me down—
    this leaning wall,^(G) this tottering fence?
⁴Surely they intend to topple me
    from my lofty place;
    they take delight in lies.
With their mouths they bless,
    but in their hearts they curse.^[b]^(H)

⁵Yes, my soul, find rest in God;^(I)
    my hope comes from him.
⁶Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
    he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
⁷My salvation and my honor depend on God^[c];
    he is my mighty rock, my refuge.^(J)
⁸Trust in him at all times, you people;^(K)
    pour out your hearts to him,^(L)
    for God is our refuge.

⁹Surely the lowborn^(M) are but a breath,^(N)
    the highborn are but a lie.
If weighed on a balance,^(O) they are nothing;
    together they are only a breath.
¹⁰Do not trust in extortion^(P)
    or put vain hope in stolen goods;^(Q)
though your riches increase,
    do not set your heart on them.^(R)

¹¹One thing God has spoken,
    two things I have heard:
“Power belongs to you, God,^(S)
¹²    and with you, Lord, is unfailing love”;^(T)
and, “You reward everyone
    according to what they have done.”^(U)

Footnotes

Psalm 62:1 In Hebrew texts 62:1-12 is numbered 62:2-13.
Psalm 62:4 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here and at the end of verse 8.
Psalm 62:7 Or / God Most High is my salvation and my honor

Esther 3:1-4:3

New International Version

Haman’s Plot to Destroy the Jews

3 After these events, King Xerxes honored Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite,^(A) elevating him and giving him a seat of honor higher than that of all the other nobles. ²All the royal officials at the king’s gate knelt down and paid honor to Haman, for the king had commanded this concerning him. But Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor.

³Then the royal officials at the king’s gate asked Mordecai, “Why do you disobey the king’s command?”^(B) ⁴Day after day they spoke to him but he refused to comply.^(C) Therefore they told Haman about it to see whether Mordecai’s behavior would be tolerated, for he had told them he was a Jew.

⁵When Haman saw that Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor, he was enraged.^(D) ⁶Yet having learned who Mordecai’s people were, he scorned the idea of killing only Mordecai. Instead Haman looked for a way^(E) to destroy^(F) all Mordecai’s people, the Jews,^(G) throughout the whole kingdom of Xerxes.

⁷In the twelfth year of King Xerxes, in the first month, the month of Nisan, the pur^(H) (that is, the lot^(I)) was cast in the presence of Haman to select a day and month. And the lot fell on^[a] the twelfth month, the month of Adar.^(J)

⁸Then Haman said to King Xerxes, “There is a certain people dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom who keep themselves separate. Their customs^(K) are different from those of all other people, and they do not obey^(L) the king’s laws; it is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them.^(M) ⁹If it pleases the king, let a decree be issued to destroy them, and I will give ten thousand talents^[b] of silver to the king’s administrators for the royal treasury.”^(N)

¹⁰So the king took his signet ring^(O) from his finger and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews. ¹¹“Keep the money,” the king said to Haman, “and do with the people as you please.”

¹²Then on the thirteenth day of the first month the royal secretaries were summoned. They wrote out in the script of each province and in the language^(P) of each people all Haman’s orders to the king’s satraps, the governors of the various provinces and the nobles of the various peoples. These were written in the name of King Xerxes himself and sealed^(Q) with his own ring. ¹³Dispatches were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces with the order to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews^(R)—young and old, women and children—on a single day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar,^(S) and to plunder^(T) their goods. ¹⁴A 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 they would be ready for that day.^(U)

¹⁵The couriers went out, spurred on by the king’s command, and the edict was issued in the citadel of Susa.^(V) The king and Haman sat down to drink,^(W) but the city of Susa was bewildered.^(X)

Mordecai Persuades Esther to Help

4 When Mordecai learned of all that had been done, he tore his clothes,^(Y) put on sackcloth and ashes,^(Z) and went out into the city, wailing^(AA) loudly and bitterly. ²But he went only as far as the king’s gate,^(AB) because no one clothed in sackcloth was allowed to enter it. ³In every province to which the edict and order of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and wailing. Many lay in sackcloth and ashes.