Book of Common Prayer

God Is King

93 The Lord rules. He is dressed with great power. The Lord has dressed Himself with strength. For sure, the world is built to last. It will not be moved. ² Your throne is set up from long ago. You have always been. ³ The floods have lifted up, O Lord. The floods have lifted up their voice. The floods lift up their beating waves. ⁴ The Lord on high is more powerful than the sound of many waters and the strong waves of the sea. ⁵ Your Word is very sure. O Lord, Your house is holy forever.

A Call to Worship the Lord

96 Sing to the Lord a new song. Let all the earth sing to the Lord. ² Sing to the Lord. Honor His name. Make His saving power known from day to day. ³ Tell of His shining-greatness among the nations. Tell of His wonderful works among all the people. ⁴ For the Lord is great and should be given much praise. He is to be honored with fear above all gods. ⁵ For all the gods of the nations are false gods. But the Lord made the heavens. ⁶ Honor and great power are with Him. Strength and beauty are in His holy place.

⁷ Give to the Lord, O families of the nations, give to the Lord the honor and strength that He should have. ⁸ Give to the Lord the honor of His name. Bring a gift and come into His holy place. ⁹ Worship the Lord in holy clothing. May all the earth shake in fear before Him. ¹⁰ Say among the nations that the Lord rules. The world is built to last. It will not be moved. He will be right when He says who is guilty or not.

¹¹ Let the heavens be glad. And let the earth be full of joy. Let the sea and all that is in it make a loud noise. ¹² Let the fields and all that is in them be full of joy. Then all the trees of the land will sing for joy ¹³ before the Lord. For He is coming. He is coming to say who is guilty or not on the earth. He will be right in what He decides about the world. And He will be faithful to the people.

Those Who Trust in God Are Happy

34 I will honor the Lord at all times. His praise will always be in my mouth. ² My soul will be proud to tell about the Lord. Let those who suffer hear it and be filled with joy. ³ Give great honor to the Lord with me. Let us praise His name together.

⁴ I looked for the Lord, and He answered me. And He took away all my fears. ⁵ They looked to Him and their faces shined with joy. Their faces will never be ashamed. ⁶ This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him. And He saved him out of all his troubles. ⁷ The angel of the Lord stays close around those who fear Him, and He takes them out of trouble.

⁸ O taste and see that the Lord is good. How happy is the man who trusts in Him! ⁹ O fear the Lord, all you who belong to Him. For those who fear Him never want for anything. ¹⁰ The young lions suffer want and hunger. But they who look for the Lord will not be without any good thing. ¹¹ Come, you children, listen to me. I will teach you the fear of the Lord. ¹² Who is the man who has a desire for life, and wants to live long so that he may see good things? ¹³ Keep your tongue from sin and your lips from speaking lies. ¹⁴ Turn away from what is sinful. Do what is good. Look for peace and follow it.

¹⁵ The eyes of the Lord are on those who do what is right and good. His ears are open to their cry. ¹⁶ The face of the Lord is against those who sin. He will keep the people of the earth from remembering them. ¹⁷ Those who are right with the Lord cry, and He hears them. And He takes them from all their troubles. ¹⁸ The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart. And He saves those who are broken in spirit.

¹⁹ A man who does what is right and good may have many troubles. But the Lord takes him out of them all. ²⁰ He keeps all his bones safe. Not one of them is broken. ²¹ Sin will kill the sinful. And those who hate God’s people will be held guilty and punished forever. ²² The Lord saves the soul of those who work for Him. None of those who trust in Him will be held guilty.

Haman Wants to Destroy the Jews

3 After these things King Ahasuerus raised Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, to a more important duty. He was made to rule over all the princes who were with him. ² All the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate bowed down and gave honor to Haman, for the king had said that this should be done. But Mordecai did not bow down or give him honor. ³ Then the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate said to Mordecai, “Why are you not obeying the king?” ⁴ They spoke to him each day, but he would not listen to them. So they told Haman to see if Mordecai’s reason was good enough. For he had told them that he was a Jew. ⁵ When Haman saw that Mordecai did not bow down or honor him, he was very angry. ⁶ But he did not want to only hurt Mordecai. They had told him who the people of Mordecai were and Haman wanted to destroy all the Jews. He wanted to destroy all the people of Mordecai in the whole nation of Ahasuerus.

⁷ In the first month, the month of Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, names were drawn in front of Haman from day to day and from month to month, until the twelfth month, the month of Adar. ⁸ Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people spread out among the people in all the parts of your nation whose laws are different from those of all other people, and they do not obey the king’s laws. So it is not good for the king to let them stay. ⁹ If it pleases the king, let it be made known that they should be destroyed. And I will pay silver weighing as much as 10,000 men to those who do the king’s work, to be put into the king’s store-houses.” ¹⁰ Then the king took the special ring from his hand that he used for marking his name and gave it to Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, who hated the Jews. ¹¹ And the king said to Haman, “The silver is yours, and the people also. Do with them as you please.” ¹² Then the king’s writers were called on the thirteenth day of the first month. And all that Haman had said was written to the king’s rulers who were over each part of the land, and to the princes of each people. It was written to each part in its own writing, and in the language of each people. It was written in the name of King Ahasuerus and marked with the king’s special ring. ¹³ Men were sent with letters to all the king’s lands, to destroy, to kill, and to put an end to all the Jews, both young and old, women and children, in one day. This was the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar. And they could take the things that belonged to the Jews. ¹⁴ The letters were to be made a law in every land to all the people so that they should be ready for this day. ¹⁵ The men went out with the letters in a hurry as the king told them. And the law was made known in the city of Susa where the king lived. While the king and Haman sat down to drink, the city of Susa was troubled.

Mordecai Asks for Esther’s Help

4 When Mordecai learned all that had been done, he tore his clothes. He dressed in cloth made from hair and put on ashes, and went out into the city and cried with loud cries. ² He went as far as the king’s gate, for no one was to go through the king’s gate wearing cloth made from hair. ³ There was much sorrow among the Jews in each and every part of the nation where the king’s law was made known. They went without food and cried with sounds of sorrow. Many lay in cloth made from hair and in ashes.

¹⁹ My Christian brothers, you know everyone should listen much and speak little. He should be slow to become angry. ²⁰ A man’s anger does not allow him to be right with God. ²¹ Put out of your life all that is unclean and wrong. Receive with a gentle spirit the Word that was taught. It has the power to save your souls from the punishment of sin.

²² Obey the Word of God. If you hear only and do not act, you are only fooling yourself. ²³ Anyone who hears the Word of God and does not obey is like a man looking at his face in a mirror. ²⁴ After he sees himself and goes away, he forgets what he looks like. ²⁵ But the one who keeps looking into God’s perfect Law and does not forget it will do what it says and be happy as he does it. God’s Word makes men free.

²⁶ If a person thinks he is religious, but does not keep his tongue from speaking bad things, he is fooling himself. His religion is worth nothing. ²⁷ Religion that is pure and good before God the Father is to help children who have no parents and to care for women whose husbands have died who have troubles. Pure religion is also to keep yourself clean from the sinful things of the world.

Jesus Teaches on the Mountain about Helping Others

6 “Be sure you do not do good things in front of others just to be seen by them. If you do, you have no reward from your Father in heaven. ² When you give to the poor, do not be as those who pretend to be someone they are not. They blow a horn in the places of worship and in the streets so people may respect them. For sure, I tell you, they have all the reward they are going to get. ³ When you give, do not let your left hand know what your right hand gives. ⁴ Your giving should be in secret. Then your Father Who sees in secret will reward you.

Jesus Teaches about Prayer

⁵ “When you pray, do not be as those who pretend to be someone they are not. They love to stand and pray in the places of worship or in the streets so people can see them. For sure, I tell you, they have all the reward they are going to get. ⁶ When you pray, go into a room by yourself. After you have shut the door, pray to your Father Who is in secret. Then your Father Who sees in secret will reward you.

Jesus Teaches about Not Eating So You Can Pray Better

¹⁶ “When you go without food so you can pray better, do not be as those who pretend to be someone they are not. They make themselves look sad so people will see they are going with out food. For sure, I tell you, they have all the reward they are going to get. ¹⁷ When you go without food so you can pray better, put oil on your head and wash your face. ¹⁸ Then nobody knows you are going without food. Then your Father Who sees in secret will reward you.