Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
The Lord Implored to Defend the Psalmist against the Wicked.
A [a]Shiggaion of David, which he sang to the Lord [b]concerning Cush, a Benjaminite.
7 O Lord my God, (A)in You I have taken refuge;
Save me from all those who pursue me, and (B)rescue me,
2 Or he will tear [c]my soul (C)like a lion,
Dragging me away, while there is no one to rescue me.
3 O Lord my God, if I have done this,
If there is (D)injustice in my hands,
4 If I have (E)done evil to [d]my friend,
Or have (F)plundered [e]my enemy for no reason,
5 Let the enemy pursue [f]my soul and overtake [g]it;
And let him trample my life to the ground
And lay my glory in the dust. Selah
6 (G)Arise, Lord, in Your anger;
(H)Raise Yourself against (I)the rage of my enemies,
And (J)stir Yourself [h]for me; You have ordered judgment.
7 Let the assembly of the (K)peoples encompass You,
And return on high over it.
8 The Lord (L)judges the peoples;
[i](M)Vindicate me, Lord, according to my righteousness and my integrity that is in me.
9 Please let (N)the evil of the wicked come to an end, but (O)establish the righteous;
For the righteous God (P)puts hearts and [j]minds to the test.
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 (T)shows indignation every day.
12 If one (U)does not repent, He will (V)sharpen His sword;
He has (W)bent His bow and taken aim.
13 He has also prepared deadly weapons for Himself;
He makes His (X)arrows fiery shafts.
14 Behold, an evil person is pregnant with injustice,
And he (Y)conceives harm and gives birth to lies.
15 He has dug a pit and hollowed it out,
And has (Z)fallen into the hole which he made.
16 His (AA)harm will return on his own head,
And his (AB)violence will descend on the top of his own head.
Vashti’s Successor Sought
2 After these things, (A)when the anger of King Ahasuerus had subsided, he remembered Vashti and what she had done, and (B)what had been decided regarding her. 2 Then the king’s attendants, who served him, said, “(C)Let beautiful young virgins be sought for the king. 3 And may the king appoint overseers in (D)all the provinces of his kingdom, and have them [a]bring every beautiful young virgin to the citadel of Susa, to the harem, into the custody of (E)Hegai, the king’s eunuch, who is in charge of the women; and (F)let their cosmetics be given to them. 4 Then let the young woman who pleases the king be queen in place of Vashti.” And the [b]suggestion pleased the king, and he did accordingly.
5 There was a Jew at the citadel in Susa whose name was (G)Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjaminite, 6 (H)who had been taken from Jerusalem with the exiles who had been deported with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had deported. 7 He was the guardian to Hadassah, that is (I)Esther, his uncle’s daughter, for she had no father or mother. Now the young woman was beautiful of form and [c]face, and when her father and her mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter.
Esther Finds Favor
8 So it came about, when the command and decree of the king were heard and (J)many young ladies were gathered to the citadel of Susa into the [d]custody of (K)Hegai, that Esther was taken to the king’s [e]palace into the custody of Hegai, who was in charge of the women. 9 Now the young lady pleased him and found favor with him. So he quickly provided her with her (L)cosmetics and [f]food, gave her seven choice female attendants from the king’s palace, and transferred her and her attendants to the best place in the harem. 10 (M)Esther did not reveal her people or her kindred, because Mordecai had instructed her that she was not to reveal them. 11 And every day Mordecai walked back and forth in front of the courtyard of the harem to learn how Esther was and what was happening to her.
12 Now when the turn came for each young woman to go in to King Ahasuerus, after the end of her twelve months under the regulations for the women—for the days of their beauty treatment were completed as follows: six months with oil of myrrh and six months with balsam oil and the cosmetics for women— 13 the young woman would go in to the king in this way: anything that she [g]desired was given her to [h]take with her from the harem to the king’s palace. 14 In the evening she would enter and in the morning she would return to the second harem, to the [i]custody of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the concubines. She would not go in to the king again, unless the king delighted in her and she was summoned by name.
15 Now when the turn of Esther, (N)the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai who had taken her as his daughter, came to go in to the king, she did not request anything except what (O)Hegai, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the women, [j]advised. And Esther was finding favor in the eyes of all who saw her. 16 So Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus in his royal palace in the tenth month, which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.
Esther Becomes Queen
17 The king loved Esther more than all the women, and she found favor and kindness with him more than all the virgins, so that (P)he set the royal turban on her head and made her queen in place of Vashti. 18 Then (Q)the king held a great banquet, Esther’s banquet, for all his officials and his servants; he also made a holiday for the provinces and gave gifts (R)in proportion to the king’s bounty.
8 Remember Jesus Christ, (A)risen from the dead, (B)descendant of David, (C)according to my gospel, 9 [a]for which I (D)suffer hardship even to (E)imprisonment as a (F)criminal; but (G)the word of God (H)is not imprisoned. 10 For this reason (I)I endure all things for (J)the sake of [b]those who are chosen, (K)so that they also may obtain the (L)salvation which is in (M)Christ Jesus and with it (N)eternal glory. 11 (O)The statement is trustworthy:
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