Book of Common Prayer

The Lord Is King

Sing a New Song to the Lord

(Written by David when he pretended to be crazy in front of Abimelech, so that Abimelech would send him away, and David could leave.)

Honor the Lord

Haman Plans To Destroy the Jews

3 Later, King Xerxes promoted Haman the son of Hammedatha to the highest position in his kingdom. Haman was a descendant of Agag,^{[a] 2} and the king had given orders for his officials at the royal gate to honor Haman by kneeling down to him. All of them obeyed except Mordecai. ³ When the other officials asked Mordecai why he disobeyed the king's command, ⁴ he said, “Because I am a Jew.” They spoke to him for several days about kneeling down, but he still refused to obey. Finally, they reported this to Haman, to find out if he would let Mordecai get away with it.

⁵ Haman was furious to learn that Mordecai refused to kneel down and honor him. ⁶ And when he found out that Mordecai was a Jew, he knew that killing only Mordecai was not enough. Every Jew in the whole kingdom had to be killed.

⁷ It was now the twelfth year of the rule of King Xerxes. During Nisan,^[b] the first month of the year, Haman said, “Find out the best time for me to do this.”^[c] The time chosen was Adar,^[d] the twelfth month.

^8 (A) Then Haman went to the king and said:

Your Majesty, there are some people who live all over your kingdom and won't have a thing to do with anyone else. They have customs that are different from everyone else's, and they refuse to obey your laws. We would be better off to get rid of them! ⁹ Why not give orders for all of them to be killed? I can promise that you will get tons of silver for your treasury.

¹⁰ The king handed his official ring to Haman, who hated the Jews, and the king told him, ¹¹ “Do what you want with those people! You can keep their money.”

¹² On the thirteenth day of Nisan, Haman called in the king's secretaries and ordered them to write letters in every language used in the kingdom. The letters were written in the name of the king and sealed by using the king's own ring.^[e] At once they were sent to the king's highest officials, the governors of each province, and the leaders of the different nations in the kingdom of Xerxes.

¹³ The letters were taken by messengers to every part of the kingdom, and this is what was said in the letters:

On the thirteenth day of Adar, the twelfth month, all Jewish men, women, and children are to be killed. And their property is to be taken.

^14-15 King Xerxes gave orders for these letters to be posted where they could be seen by everyone all over the kingdom. The king's command was obeyed, and one of the letters was read aloud to the people in the walled city of Susa. Then the king and Haman sat down to drink together, but no one in the city^[f] could figure out what was going on.

Mordecai Asks for Esther's Help

4 When Mordecai heard about the letter, he tore his clothes in sorrow and put on sackcloth. Then he covered his head with ashes and went through the city, crying and weeping. ² But he could go only as far as the palace gate, because no one wearing sackcloth was allowed inside the palace. ^3 (B) In every province where the king's orders were read, the Jews cried and mourned, and they went without eating.^[g] Many of them even put on sackcloth and sat in ashes.

Hearing and Obeying

^19 (A) My dear friends, you should be quick to listen and slow to speak or to get angry. ²⁰ If you are angry, you cannot do any of the good things God wants done. ²¹ You must stop doing anything immoral or evil. Instead be humble and accept the message planted in you to save you.

²² Obey God's message! Don't fool yourselves by just listening to it. ²³ If you hear the message and don't obey it, you are like people who stare at themselves in a mirror ²⁴ and forget what they look like as soon as they leave. ²⁵ But you must never stop looking at the perfect law that sets you free. God will bless you in everything you do, if you listen and obey, and don't just hear and forget.

²⁶ If you think you are being religious, but can't control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is useless. ²⁷ Religion that pleases God the Father must be pure and spotless. You must help needy orphans and widows and not let this world make you evil.

Giving

6 ^(A) When you do good deeds, don't try to show off. If you do, you won't get a reward from your Father in heaven.

² When you give to the poor, don't blow a loud horn. That's what show-offs do in the synagogues and on the street corners, because they are always looking for praise. I can assure you that they already have their reward.

³ When you give to the poor, don't let anyone know about it.^{[a] 4} Then your gift will be given in secret. Your Father knows what is done in secret and will reward you.

Prayer

(Luke 11.2-4)

^5 (B) When you pray, don't be like those show-offs who love to stand up and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners. They do this just to look good. I can assure you that they already have their reward.

⁶ When you pray, go into a room alone and close the door. Pray to your Father in private. He knows what is done in private and will reward you.

Worshiping God by Going without Eating

¹⁶ When you go without eating,^[a] don't try to look gloomy as those show-offs do when they go without eating. I can assure you that they already have their reward. ^17 (A) Instead, comb your hair and wash your face. ¹⁸ Then others won't know you are going without eating. But your Father sees what is done in private, and he will reward you.