Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
16 I call upon God,
and the Lord will deliver me.
17 Morning, noon, and night,
I mulled over these things
and cried out in my distress,
and he heard my voice.
18 He calmly ransomed my soul from the war waged against me,
for there was a vast crowd who stood against me.
19 God, who is enthroned from long ago,
will hear me and humble them.
Because they do not repent,
they do not fear God.
20 Each of my friends[a] raises his hand against his allies;
each of my friends[b] breaks his word.[c]
21 His mouth is as smooth as butter,
while war is in his heart.
His words were as smooth as olive oil,
while his sword is drawn.
22 Cast on the Lord whatever he sends your way,
and he will sustain you.
He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.
23 But you, God, bring them down to the Pit of corruption;[d]
bloodthirsty and deceitful people will not live out half their days.
But I put my full confidence in you.
Haman’s Plan Begins to Unravel
6 That night the king could not sleep, so he gave instructions to bring the book of records, the chronicles, and they were read to the king. 2 It was found recorded there that Mordecai had reported about Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs who guarded the entrance to the restricted areas of the palace,[a] and that they had conspired to assassinate[b] King Ahasuerus. 3 So the king asked, “What honor and distinction was bestowed on Mordecai for this?”
The young men who served the king answered, “Nothing was done for him.”
4 The king said, “Who is in the courtyard?” Now Haman had just entered the outer courtyard of the palace to speak to the king about having Mordecai hanged on the pole he had set up.
5 The king’s young men told him, “Look, Haman is standing in the courtyard.”
The king said, “Let him come in.”
6 After Haman came in, the king asked him, “What should be done for the man whom the king desires to honor?”
Haman told himself, “Whom would the king desire to honor more than me?” 7 Haman answered the king, “For a man whom the king desires to honor, 8 let them bring royal robes that the king has worn and a horse on which the king has ridden, with a royal crown placed on its head. 9 Then give the robes and the horse to one of the king’s most noble officials. Let them put the robes on the man whom the king desires to honor, and let them put him on the horse in the main[c] square of the city. Then let them announce in front of him, ‘This is what is done for the man whom the king desires to honor.’”
10 Then the king told Haman, “Quick! Take the clothes and the horse just as you have suggested and do this for Mordecai the Jew who sits in the king’s gate. And don’t let anything you’ve suggested fall through the cracks.”[d]
11 So Haman took the clothes and the horse, dressed Mordecai, and put him on the horse in the main[e] square of the city. He cried out in front of him, “This is what is done for the man whom the king desires to honor.”
12 Then Mordecai returned to the king’s gate, while Haman hurried to his house, mourning and hiding his face.[f] 13 Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had happened to him. His wise friends and his wife Zeresh told him, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is one of the Jewish people,[g] you won’t prevail against him. Instead, you will surely fall before him.”
14 While they were still talking to him, the king’s eunuchs arrived, and they quickly took him to the banquet that Esther had prepared.
Haman is Executed
7 The king and Haman went in to have a drink with Queen Esther. 2 On the second day the king again told Esther as they drank wine, “What’s your petition, Queen Esther? It will be given to you. What’s your request? Up to half of the kingdom, and it will be done.”
3 Queen Esther answered: “If I’ve found favor with you, your majesty, and if it seems good to the king, let my life be given to me as my petition and my people as my request. 4 Indeed, I and my people have been sold to be annihilated, killed, and destroyed. If we had just been sold as male and female slaves, I would have kept quiet, because the trouble wouldn’t have been sufficient to bother the king.”[h]
5 Then King Ahasuerus asked Queen Esther, “Who is this, and where is the person who would dare[i] do this?”
6 Esther replied, “An adversary and an enemy—it’s this wicked Haman!” So Haman was terrified before the king and the queen.
30 What can we say, then? Gentiles, who were not pursuing righteousness, have attained righteousness, a righteousness that comes through faith. 31 But Israel, who pursued righteousness based on the Law, did not achieve the Law. 32 Why not? Because they did not pursue it on the basis of faith, but as if it were based on achievements. They stumbled over the stone that causes people to stumble. 33 As it is written,
“Look! I am placing a stone in Zion
over which people will stumble—
a large rock that will make them fall—
and the one who believes in him will never be ashamed.”[a]
The Person who Believes will be Saved
10 Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God about the Jews[b] is that they would be saved. 2 For I can testify on their behalf that they have a zeal for God, but it is not in keeping with full knowledge. 3 For they are ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God while they try to establish their own, and they have not submitted to God’s means to attain[c] righteousness. 4 For the Messiah[d] is the culmination[e] of the Law as far as righteousness is concerned for everyone who believes.
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