Book of Common Prayer

Asaph wrote this song for the music leader. He should use special music.

God judges people fairly

This psalm is a song that Asaph wrote for the music leader. Sing it with the music of stringed instruments.

God has great power

This is a song that David wrote.

God takes care of his people^[a]

This is a song that David wrote.

I trust God to keep me safe

⁵ A Jewish man called Mordecai lived in Susa. He was the son of Jair. Jair was the son of Shimei. Shimei was the son of Kish. Kish was a descendant of Benjamin. ⁶ When Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylon, he had taken Kish away from Jerusalem as a prisoner. That was the time when Nebuchadnezzar also took Jeconiah, king of Judah, away to Babylon as well as other Jews.^[a]

⁷ Mordecai was taking care of a young cousin called Hadassah. She was also called Esther.^[b] Esther's mother and father were no longer alive. She was the daughter of Mordecai's uncle. When her parents died, Mordecai took care of her, as if she was his own daughter. Esther was very beautiful.

⁸ Esther was one of the young women that the king's officers took to Susa. That happened because of the king's command. The beautiful young women lived in the royal harem. Hegai had the authority to take care of them.

¹⁵ One evening, it was the time for Abihail's daughter, Esther, to go to the king. Abihail was Mordecai's uncle. After Abihail had died, Mordecai took care of Esther as if she was his own daughter. Everyone who saw Esther liked her. When she went to the king, she took with her only the things that Hegai had suggested. ¹⁶ Esther went to King Xerxes in his royal rooms in the palace. That happened in the tenth month of the year, called Tebeth. King Xerxes had ruled for seven years.

¹⁷ The king loved Esther more than he loved any of the other women. He was more pleased with her than all the other young women. He put the royal crown on her head. He chose Esther to be queen, instead of Vashti. ¹⁸ The king gave a great feast for all the leaders and officers of his kingdom. He did it to give honour to Esther. He said that there would be a holiday for people in all the regions. He also gave expensive gifts to people.

Mordecai saves the king

¹⁹ Some time later, the young women all came together again in the harem. At this time, Mordecai was sitting at the king's gate, as one of his officers.^[a]

²⁰ Esther still had not told anyone that she was a Jew. Mordecai had told her that she should not tell anyone. She continued to obey Mordecai, as she had done when she lived with him as his daughter.

²¹ One day, Mordecai was sitting at the king's gate. While he was there, two of the king's eunuchs, Bigthana and Teresh, became angry with King Xerxes. They decided that they would kill the king. ²² Mordecai heard about this. So he told Queen Esther about it. Queen Esther told the king what Mordecai had said. ²³ The king sent his men to see if it was true. When he discovered that Mordecai had told the truth, he said that the two eunuchs must die. So his officers hanged them from a wooden tower until they were dead. They wrote about this event in the history book, while the king watched.

Paul visits Athens

¹⁶ While Paul was waiting in Athens for Silas and Timothy, he walked around. He saw that the people in the city had many idols. When Paul saw this, he became very upset. ¹⁷ So he went to the Jewish meeting place and he talked with the Jews. He also talked there with those Gentiles who now worshipped God. Every day he also went to the market place in the city and he talked with the people there. ¹⁸ There were some teachers there who liked to talk about the things that people should believe. Some of them were called Epicureans and some were called Stoics.^[a] After they talked to Paul, some of them said to each other, ‘Who is this silly man? He knows nothing and he talks too much!’ But some of these teachers said, ‘We think that he is talking about strange gods.’ They said this because Paul was telling people the good news about Jesus. He was also talking about the time when God will cause dead people to live again.

¹⁹ So these men asked Paul to go with them to Areopagus hill. They wanted him to speak to the city's important officers who met there.^{[b] 20} The officers said, ‘These strange ideas that you are teaching surprise us. Please explain to us what these ideas mean.’ ²¹ (The people of Athens liked to talk about new ideas. So did the foreign people who lived there. They all wanted to hear new things and to talk about them. They seemed to do this all the time.)

²² So Paul stood up in front of the important officers of the city. He said to them, ‘People of Athens. I see that you have many gods. ²³ I have walked in the streets of your city. I see that you have built many special places where you worship your gods. I saw one altar with a notice on it. The notice said, “To the god that we do not know.” This shows that you want to worship a god that you do not know. Now I will tell you clearly about who this God is.

²⁴ The true God made the earth and everything that is in it. He rules everything in the earth and in heaven. He does not live in any buildings that people have made for him. ²⁵ People make things to give to God. But God does not need anything like that. It is God himself who causes everyone to live. He gives them everything that they need. ²⁶ God first made one man. From that one man he made all the different groups of people. He caused them to live in different places all over the world. He decided where each group of people should live. He also decided how long they should live in each place. ²⁷ God did all this so that people would want to know him. They would look carefully for him and perhaps they would find him. Really, God is near to each of us. ²⁸ Someone said this: “Because God gives us life, we are alive. Because of him, we can move about. Because of him we can be who we are.” One of your writers has also said, “We too are God's children.”

²⁹ So, because we are God's children, we should not think that he is a thing like an idol. Clever people use gold or silver or stone to make images of gods. But God is not like these things that people choose to make for themselves. ³⁰ In past times people did not know the true things about God. Because of this, God did not punish them. But now God tells people everywhere, “Stop doing bad things and turn to me!” ³¹ God has already chosen one special day. On that day he will judge everyone in the world in a completely right way. He has chosen a man who will do this for him. He has shown clearly to everyone who that man is. He showed it like this: People killed that man. But God caused him to live again.’

³² Paul had said, ‘God caused that man to live again.’ When the people heard this, some of them laughed at him. But other people said to Paul, ‘We want you to tell us more about this on another day.’ ³³ So then Paul left the meeting of the important officers of the city. ³⁴ Some of the people who had heard Paul's message joined his group. They believed the good news about Jesus. One of these believers was a man called Dionysius. He belonged to the group of important officers. A woman called Damaris also became a believer. Several other people also believed Paul's message about Jesus.

Jesus' message warns people

⁴⁴ Jesus said in a loud voice, ‘Anyone who believes in me does not believe only in me. That person believes also in the one who sent me. ⁴⁵ Anyone who looks at me does not see only me. They see also him who sent me. ⁴⁶ I have come into the world to be a light for people. Everyone who believes in me will not remain in the dark. That is why I came. ⁴⁷ Not everyone who hears my words will obey them. I will not judge anyone who is like that. I did not come to judge the people in the world. I came to save them. ⁴⁸ But there is something that will judge people who refuse to believe in me. Those are people who do not accept my message. The message that I have spoken will itself judge people like that on the last day. ⁴⁹ The words that I have spoken did not come from me myself. They came from the Father, who sent me. He told me what message I must speak. He told me the words I must say. ⁵⁰ The message that the Father has given me causes people to have life for ever. I know that. So I speak only those things that the Father has said to me.’