Book of Common Prayer

The Majesty of God

Praise for God’s Glory

Praise God Who Judges and Saves

David’s song from the time he acted crazy so Abimelech would send him away. And David did leave.

Haman Plans to Destroy the Jews

3 After these things happened, King Xerxes honored Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite. He gave Haman a new rank that was higher than all the important men. ² And all the royal officers at the king’s gate would bow down and kneel before Haman. This was what the king had ordered. But Mordecai would not bow down, and he did not kneel.

³ Then the royal officers at the king’s gate asked Mordecai, “Why don’t you obey the king’s command?” ⁴ And they said this to him every day. When he did not listen to them, they told Haman about it. They wanted to see if Haman would accept Mordecai’s behavior because Mordecai had told them that he was a Jew.

⁵ Then Haman saw that Mordecai would not bow down to him or kneel before him. And he became very angry. ⁶ He had been told who the people of Mordecai were. And he thought of himself as too important to try to kill only Mordecai. So he looked for a way to destroy all of Mordecai’s people, the Jews, in all of Xerxes’ kingdom.

⁷ It was in the first month of the twelfth year of King Xerxes’ rule. That is the month of Nisan. Pur (that is, the lot) was thrown before Haman. The lot was used to choose a day and a month. So the twelfth month, the month of Adar, was chosen.

⁸ Then Haman said to King Xerxes, “There is a certain group of people in all the areas of your kingdom. They are scattered among the other people. They keep themselves separate. Their customs are different from those of all the other people. And they do not obey the king’s laws. It is not right for you to allow them to continue living in your kingdom. ⁹ If it pleases the king, let an order be given to destroy those people. Then I will pay 375 tons of silver to those who do the king’s business. They will put it into the royal treasury.”

¹⁰ So the king took his signet ring off and gave it to Haman. Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, was the enemy of the Jews. ¹¹ Then the king said to Haman, “The money and the people are yours. Do with them as you please.”

¹² On the thirteenth day of the first month, the royal secretaries were called. They wrote out all of Haman’s orders. They wrote to the king’s governors and to the captains of the soldiers in each area. And they wrote to the important men of each group of people. The orders were written to each area in its own form of writing. And they were written to each group of people in their own language. They were written in the name of King Xerxes and sealed with his signet ring. ¹³ Letters were sent by messengers to all the king’s empire. They stated the king’s order to destroy, kill and completely wipe out all the Jews. That meant young and old, women and little children, too. The order said to kill all the Jews on a single day. That was to be the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which was Adar. And it said to take all the things that belonged to the Jews. ¹⁴ A copy of the order was to be given out as a law in every area. It was to be made known to all the people so that they would be ready for that day.

¹⁵ The messengers set out, hurried by the king’s command. At the same time the order was given in the palace at Susa. And the king and Haman sat down to drink. But the city of Susa was in confusion.

Mordecai Asks Esther to Help

4 Now Mordecai heard about all that had been done. To show how upset he was, he tore his clothes. Then he put on rough cloth and ashes. And he went out into the city crying loudly and very sadly. ² But Mordecai went only as far as the king’s gate. This was because no one was allowed to enter that gate dressed in rough cloth. ³ The king’s order reached every area. And there was great sadness and loud crying among the Jews. They gave up eating and cried out loudly. Many Jews lay down on rough cloth and ashes to show how sad they were.

Listening and Obeying

¹⁹ My dear brothers, always be willing to listen and slow to speak. Do not become angry easily. ²⁰ Anger will not help you live a good life as God wants. ²¹ So put out of your life every evil thing and every kind of wrong you do. Don’t be proud but accept God’s teaching that is planted in your hearts. This teaching can save your souls.

²² Do what God’s teaching says; do not just listen and do nothing. When you only sit and listen, you are fooling yourselves. ²³ A person who hears God’s teaching and does nothing is like a man looking in a mirror. ²⁴ He sees his face, then goes away and quickly forgets what he looked like. ²⁵ But the truly happy person is the one who carefully studies God’s perfect law that makes people free. He continues to study it. He listens to God’s teaching and does not forget what he heard. Then he obeys what God’s teaching says. When he does this, it makes him happy.

The True Way to Worship God

²⁶ A person might think he is religious. But if he says things he should not say, then he is just fooling himself. His “religion” is worth nothing. ²⁷ Religion that God the Father accepts is this: caring for orphans or widows who need help; and keeping yourself free from the world’s evil influence. This is the kind of religion that God accepts as pure and good.

Jesus Teaches About Giving

6 “Be careful! When you do good things, don’t do them in front of people to be seen by them. If you do that, then you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

² “When you give to the poor, don’t be like the hypocrites. They blow trumpets before they give so that people will see them. They do that in the synagogues and on the streets. They want other people to honor them. I tell you the truth. Those hypocrites already have their full reward. ³ So when you give to the poor, give very secretly. Don’t let anyone know what you are doing. ⁴ Your giving should be done in secret. Your Father can see what is done in secret, and he will reward you.

Jesus Teaches About Prayer

⁵ “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites. They love to stand in the synagogues and on the street corners and pray loudly. They want people to see them pray. I tell you the truth. They already have their full reward. ⁶ When you pray, you should go into your room and close the door. Then pray to your Father who cannot be seen. Your Father can see what is done in secret, and he will reward you.

Jesus Teaches About Worship

¹⁶ “When you give up eating,^[a] don’t put on a sad face like the hypocrites. They make their faces look strange to show people that they are giving up eating. I tell you the truth, those hypocrites already have their full reward. ¹⁷ So when you give up eating, comb your hair and wash your face. ¹⁸ Then people will not know that you are giving up eating. But your Father, whom you cannot see, will see you. Your Father sees what is done in secret, and he will reward you.