Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
In You I Have Taken Refuge
A [a]Shiggaion of David, which he sang to Yahweh concerning the words of Cush, a Benjamite.
7 O Yahweh my God, (A)in You I have taken refuge;
Save me from all those who pursue me, and (B)deliver me,
2 Lest he tear [b]my soul (C)like a lion,
Rending me in pieces, while there is none to deliver.
3 O Yahweh my God, if I have done this,
If there is (D)injustice in my hands,
4 If I have (E)rewarded evil to him who [c]is at peace with me,
Or have (F)plundered my adversary without cause,
5 Let the enemy pursue [d]my soul and overtake [e]it;
And let him trample my life down to the ground
And cause my glory to dwell in the dust. [f]Selah.
6 (G)Arise, O Yahweh, in Your anger;
(H)Lift up Yourself against (I)the fury of my adversaries,
And (J)arouse Yourself [g]for me; You have appointed judgment.
7 Let the congregation of the (K)peoples encompass You,
And over [h]them return on high.
8 Yahweh (L)judges the peoples;
[i](M)Give justice to me, O Yahweh, according to my righteousness and my integrity that is in me.
9 O let (N)the evil of the wicked come to an end, but (O)establish the righteous;
For the righteous God (P)tests the hearts and [j]minds.
10 My (Q)shield is [k]with God,
Who (R)saves the upright in heart.
11 God is a (S)righteous judge,
And a God who has (T)indignation every day.
12 If [l]a man (U)does not repent, He will (V)sharpen His sword;
He has (W)bent His bow and prepared it.
13 He has also prepared [m]for Himself deadly weapons;
He makes His (X)arrows fiery shafts.
14 Behold, he travails with wickedness,
And he (Y)conceives mischief and gives birth to falsehood.
15 He has dug a pit and hollowed it out,
And has (Z)fallen into the hole which he made.
16 His (AA)mischief will return upon his own head,
And his (AB)violence will descend upon [n]his own skull.
A Queen in Place of Vashti
2 After these things (A)when the wrath of King Ahasuerus had subsided, he remembered Vashti and what she had done and (B)what had been decided against her. 2 Then the young men of the king, who attended to him, said, “(C)Let young virgins, beautiful in appearance, be sought for the king. 3 And let the king appoint overseers in (D)all the provinces of his kingdom that they may gather every young virgin, beautiful in appearance, to the citadel of Susa, to the harem, into the hand of (E)Hegai, the king’s eunuch, who keeps charge of the women; and (F)let their cosmetics be given to them. 4 Then let the young lady who is good in the eyes of the king be queen in place of Vashti.” And the word was good in the eyes of the king, and he did so.
5 Now there was at the citadel in Susa a Jew. And his name was (G)Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite, 6 (H)who had been taken away into exile from Jerusalem with the exiles who had been taken away into exile with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had taken away into exile. 7 And he was bringing up Hadassah, that is (I)Esther, his uncle’s daughter, for she had no father or mother. Now the young lady was beautiful in form and beautiful in appearance, and when her father and her mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter.
Esther Advances in Favor
8 Now it happened that when the word and law of the king were heard and (J)many young ladies were gathered to the citadel of Susa into the hand of (K)Hegai, that Esther was taken to the king’s [a]house into the hand of Hegai, who kept charge of the women. 9 And the young lady was good in his eyes, and she advanced in lovingkindness before him. So he hurried to give her (L)cosmetics and portions of food to her, and to give to her seven choice young women from the king’s [b]house. And he transferred her and her young women to the best place in the harem. 10 (M)Esther did not tell anyone about her people or her kinsmen, for Mordecai had commanded her that she should not tell anyone about them. 11 And every day Mordecai walked back and forth in front of the court of the harem to know the well-being of Esther and [c]how she fared.
12 Now when it reached the turn of each young lady to go in to King Ahasuerus, after the end of her twelve months under the regulations for the women—for the days of their cosmetic treatment were fulfilled as follows: six months with oil of myrrh and six months with spices and the cosmetics for women— 13 then the young lady would go in to the king in this way: anything that she said she desired was given to her to come with her from the harem to the king’s house. 14 In the evening she would go in, and in the morning she would return to the second harem, to the hand of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch who kept charge of the concubines. She would not again go in to the king unless the king delighted in her and she was summoned by name.
15 Now when it reached the turn of Esther, (N)the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai who had taken her as his daughter, to go in to the king, she did not seek anything except what (O)Hegai, the king’s eunuch who kept charge of the women, said. And Esther advanced in favor in the eyes of all who saw her. 16 So Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus to his royal house in the tenth month which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.
Esther Is Made Queen
17 And the king loved Esther more than all the women, and she advanced in favor and lovingkindness before him more than all the virgins, so that (P)he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen in place of Vashti. 18 Then (Q)the king held a great feast, Esther’s feast, for all his princes and his servants; he also held a remission of taxes for the provinces and gave gifts (R)according to the king’s hand.
8 Remember Jesus Christ, (A)risen from the dead, of the (B)seed of David, (C)according to my gospel, 9 [a]for which I (D)endure hardship even to (E)chains as a (F)criminal. But (G)the word of God (H)has not been chained. 10 For this reason (I)I endure all things for (J)the sake of the elect, (K)so that they also may obtain the (L)salvation, which is in (M)Christ Jesus, with (N)eternal glory. 11 (O)It is a trustworthy saying:
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