Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
16 But I call upon God,
and the Lord will save me.(A)
17 Evening and morning and at noon
I utter my complaint and moan,
and he will hear my voice.(B)
18 He will redeem me unharmed
from the battle that I wage,
for many are arrayed against me.(C)
19 God, who is enthroned from of old, Selah
will hear and will humble them,
because they do not change
and do not fear God.(D)
20 My companion laid hands on a friend
and violated a covenant with me[a](E)
21 with speech smoother than butter
but with a heart set on war,
with words that were softer than oil
but in fact were drawn swords.(F)
22 Cast your burden[b] on the Lord,
and he will sustain you;
he will never permit
the righteous to be moved.(G)
23 But you, O God, will cast them down
into the lowest pit;
the bloodthirsty and treacherous
shall not live out half their days.
But I will trust in you.(H)
The King Honors Mordecai
6 On that night the king could not sleep, and he gave orders to bring the book of records, the annals, and they were read to the king.(A) 2 It was found written how Mordecai had told about Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs who guarded the threshold and who had conspired to kill[a] King Ahasuerus.(B) 3 Then the king said, “What honor or distinction has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?” The king’s servants who attended him said, “Nothing has been done for him.” 4 The king said, “Who is in the court?” Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the king’s palace to speak to the king about having Mordecai hung on the pole that he had prepared for him.(C) 5 So the king’s servants told him, “Haman is there, standing in the court.” The king said, “Let him come in.” 6 So Haman came in, and the king said to him, “What shall be done for the man whom the king wishes to honor?” Haman said to himself, “Whom would the king wish to honor more than me?”(D) 7 So Haman said to the king, “For the man whom the king wishes to honor, 8 let royal robes be brought, which the king has worn, and a horse that the king has ridden, with a royal crown on its head.(E) 9 Let the robes and the horse be handed over to one of the king’s most noble officials; let him[b] robe the man whom the king wishes to honor, and let him[c] conduct the man on horseback through the open square of the city, proclaiming before him: ‘Thus shall it be done for the man whom the king wishes to honor.’ ”(F) 10 Then the king said to Haman, “Quickly, take the robes and the horse, as you have said, and do so to Mordecai the Jew who sits at the king’s gate. Leave out nothing that you have mentioned.” 11 So Haman took the robes and the horse and robed Mordecai and led him riding through the open square of the city, proclaiming, “Thus shall it be done for the man whom the king wishes to honor.”
12 Then Mordecai returned to the king’s gate, but Haman hurried to his house, mourning and with his head covered.(G) 13 When Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had happened to him, his advisers and his wife Zeresh said to him, “If Mordecai, before whom your downfall has begun, is of the Jewish people, you will not prevail against him but will surely fall before him.”(H)
Haman’s Downfall and Mordecai’s Advancement
14 While they were still talking with him, the king’s eunuchs arrived and hurried Haman off to the banquet that Esther had prepared.(I) 7 1
Israel’s Unbelief
30 What then are we to say? Gentiles, who did not strive for righteousness, have attained it, that is, righteousness through faith,(A) 31 but Israel, who did strive for the law of righteousness, did not attain that law.(B) 32 Why not? Because they did not strive for it on the basis of faith but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone,(C) 33 as it is written,
“See, I am laying in Zion a stone that will make people stumble, a rock that will make them fall,
and whoever trusts in him[a] will not be put to shame.”(D)
10 Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. 2 For I can testify that they have a zeal for God, but it is not based on knowledge.(E) 3 Not knowing the righteousness of God and seeking to establish their own, they have not submitted to God’s righteousness.(F) 4 For Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.(G)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.