Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Davidic psalm,[a] which he sang to the Lord, because of the words of Cush the descendant of Benjamin.
A Prayer for Vindication
7 Lord, my God,
I seek refuge in you.
Deliver me from those who persecute me!
Rescue me!
2 Otherwise, they will rip me to shreds like a lion,
tearing me[b] apart with no one to rescue me.[c]
3 Lord, my God, if I have done this thing,
if there is injustice on my hands,
4 if I have rewarded those who did me good with evil,
if I have plundered my enemy without justification,
5 then, let my enemy pursue me,
let him overtake me,
and let him trample my life to the ground.
Let him put my honor into the dust.
6 Get up, Lord, in your anger!
Rise up, because of the fury of my enemies;
Arouse yourself for me;
you have ordained justice.
7 Let the assembly of the peoples gather around you,
and you will sit[d] high above them.
8 For the Lord will judge the peoples.
Judge me according to my righteousness, Lord,
and according to my integrity, Exalted One.
9 Let the evil of the wicked come to an end,
but establish the righteous.
For you are the righteous God
who discerns the inner thoughts.[e]
10 God is my shield,[f]
the one who delivers the upright in heart.
11 God is a righteous judge,
a God who is angry with sinners[g] every day.
12 If the ungodly one[h] doesn’t repent,
God will sharpen his sword;
he will string his bow and prepare it.
13 He prepares weapons of death for himself,
he makes his arrows into fiery shafts.
14 But the wicked one[i] travails with evil,
he conceives malice and gives birth to lies.
15 He digs a pit, even excavates it;
then he fell into the hole that he had made.
16 The trouble[j] he planned will return on his own head,
and his violence will descend on his skull.
17 But as for me,
I will praise the Lord for his righteousness,
and I will sing to the name of the Lord Most High.
Esther Asks that the Jewish People be Spared
3 Then Esther spoke to the king again and fell at his feet. She wept and pleaded with him for mercy to overturn the evil plan devised[a] by Haman the Agagite and his plot against the Jewish people. 4 The king extended the golden scepter to Esther, and she got up and stood before the king. 5 She said, “If it pleases the king, and if I’ve found favor with him, and if the matter is proper in the king’s opinion, and if I’m pleasing to the king, let an order be issued[b] revoking the letters devised by Hammedatha the Agagite’s son Haman, which ordered[c] the destruction of the Jewish people throughout the king’s provinces. 6 Indeed, how can I bear to see this disaster happen to my people? How can I bear to see the destruction of my kinsmen?”
7 King Ahasuerus told Queen Esther and Mordecai the Jew, “Look, I’ve given Haman’s property[d] to Esther, and they have hanged[e] him on the pole because he tried to harm[f] the Jewish people. 8 Now, in the name of the king, you write what seems good to you concerning the Jewish people, and seal it with the king’s signet ring, for a document written in the king’s name and sealed with the king’s signet ring cannot be revoked.”
9 The king’s scribes were summoned at that time, on the twenty-third day of the third month, which is the month Sivan, and everything that Mordecai commanded the Jewish people, the regional authorities,[g] the governors, and the provincial officials of the 127 provinces from India to Cush[h] was written down for each province according to its script, for each people according to their language, and for the Jewish people according to their script and language. 10 He wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed it with the king’s signet ring. He sent the letters by couriers on horseback, riding steeds especially bred for the king.[i]
11 What the king granted the Jewish people in every town was the right[j] to assemble and defend themselves,[k] to annihilate, kill, and destroy every armed force of a people or a province that was hostile to them, including children and women, and to plunder their property.[l] 12 Throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, the one day for the Jewish people to do this was the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar. 13 A copy of the document was to be issued as law in each and every province and published for all people, indicating that the Jewish people were to be ready to take vengeance on their enemies on that day. 14 The couriers, mounted on the royal steeds, left quickly, urged on by the king’s command. The edict was also issued in Susa the capital.
The Jewish People Celebrate the King’s Edict
15 Mordecai left the king’s presence in royal robes of blue and white, wearing a large golden crown and a purple robe made of fine linen; and the city of Susa shouted with joy. 16 For the Jewish people, there was light and joy, gladness and honor. 17 In each and every province, and in each and every city, in the places where the king’s order and edict reached, there was gladness and joy among the Jewish people, along with a festival and a holiday. Many of the people of the land became[m] Jews, because they had come to fear the Jewish people.
The Vision of Worship
19 After these things, I heard what sounded like the loud voice of a large crowd in heaven, saying,
“Hallelujah!
Salvation, glory, and power belong to our God.
2 His judgments are true and just.
He has condemned the notorious prostitute
who corrupted the world with her immorality.
He has taken revenge on her
for the blood of his servants.”
3 A second time they said,
“Hallelujah!
The smoke goes up from her forever and ever.”
4 The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures bowed down and worshipped God, who was sitting on the throne. They said, “Amen! Hallelujah!” 5 A voice came from the throne, saying,
“Praise our God,
all who serve and fear him,
from the least important
to the most important.”
The Vision of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb
6 Then I heard what sounded like the voice of a large crowd, like the sound of raging waters, and like the sound of powerful thunderclaps, saying,
“Hallelujah!
The Lord our God, the Almighty, is reigning.
7 Let us rejoice, be glad, and give him glory,
because the marriage of the lamb has come
and his bride has made herself ready.
8 She has been given the privilege of wearing fine linen,
dazzling and pure.”
(The fine linen represents the righteous deeds of the saints.)
9 Then the angel[a] told me, “Write this: ‘How blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the lamb!’” He also told me, “These are the true words of God.”
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