Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
16 As for me, I will call to God,
and Yahweh will save me.
17 Morning, noon and night[a] I will lament and groan loudly,
and he will hear my voice.
18 He safely redeems my life from the battle against me,[b]
because those standing against me are among many.
19 God will hear and answer them,[c]
he who is enthroned from of old, Selah
Because they do not change,
and they do not fear God.
20 He has put forth his hands against his friends;[d]
he has defiled his covenant.
21 The buttery words[e] of his mouth were smooth,
but there was battle in his heart.
His words were smoother than oil,
but they were drawn swords.
22 Cast your burden on Yahweh,
and he will sustain you.
He will never allow the righteous to be moved.[f]
23 But you, O God, you will bring them down to the pit of corruption.
The men of bloodshed and deceit will not live half their days,
but I will trust you.
Mordecai is Honored
6 During that night the king’s sleep escaped him, and he gave orders to bring the scroll of records and chronicles,[a] and they were read before the king. 2 And it was found written how Mordecai had reported concerning Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs from the keepers of the threshold who had conspired to assassinate[b] King Ahasuerus. 3 And the king asked, “What has been done to bestow honor to Mordecai for this?” And the king’s servants who attended him said, “Nothing has been done for him.” 4 And the king asked, “Who is in the courtyard?” Haman had just come to the courtyard of the king’s outer palace to tell the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him. 5 And the king’s servants said to him, “Look! Haman is standing in the courtyard.” And the king said, “Let him come.” 6 And Haman came, and the king said to him, “What is to be done for the man whom the king wishes to honor?” And Haman thought to himself, “Whom would the king wish to honor more than me?” 7 So Haman said to the king, “For a man whom the king wishes to honor, 8 let them bring royal clothing[c] with which the king has clothed himself, and a horse that the king has ridden, and on whose head a royal head-dress has been given. 9 And let the clothing and the horse be given to the man[d] by the officials of the king’s nobles; let them cloth the man whom the king wishes to honor, and let him ride on his horse through the public square of the city, and let them proclaim before him, ‘Thus, it will be done for the man whom the king wishes to honor.’” 10 Then the king said to Haman, “Quickly, take the clothing and the horse, just as you have said, and do so to Mordecai the Jew who sits at the gate of the king; you must not leave out anything from what you have said.” 11 So Haman took the clothing and the horse, and he clothed Mordecai and let him ride through the public square of the city; and he proclaimed before him, “Thus, it is done to the man whom the king wishes to honor.”
12 Then Mordecai returned to the gate of the king, and Haman rushed to his house mournful and with his head covered. 13 And Haman told Zeresh his wife and all his friends all that had happened to him. And his advisers and Zeresh his wife said to him, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is from the descendants of the Jews,[e] you will not prevail against him, but will certainly fall before him.” 14 As they were still speaking with him the king’s eunuchs arrived and hurried to bring Haman to the banquet that Esther had prepared.
Esther’s Banquet
7 So the king and Haman went to dine[f] with Queen Esther. 2 And the king again said to Esther, on the second day while they were drinking,[g] “What is your petition, Queen Esther? It will be given to you. What is your request? It will be given to you—even half the kingdom.” 3 Then Queen Esther answered, and she said, “If I have found favor in your eyes,[h] O king, and if it is good to the king, let my life be given to me at my petition and my people at my request; 4 I and my people have been sold to be destroyed and killed, to be annihilated. If we had been sold as male and female slaves I would have kept quiet, because this[i] is not a need sufficient to trouble the king.”[j] 5 And King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who gave himself the right to do this?”[k] 6 And Esther said, “The adversary and enemy is this evil Haman!” And Haman was terrified before the king and queen.
30 What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness—even the righteousness that is by faith. 31 But Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, did not attain to the law. 32 Why that? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if by works. They stumbled over the stone that causes people to stumble[a], 33 just as it is written,
“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone that causes people to stumble[b],
and a rock that causes them to fall[c],
and the one who believes in him will not be put to shame.”[d]
The Righteousness of God through Faith in Christ
10 Brothers, the desire of my heart and my prayer to God on behalf of them is for their salvation. 2 For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 3 For ignoring the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own,[e] they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
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