Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Thanksgiving for the Lord’s Favor.
A Psalm of David.
138 (A)I will give You thanks with all my heart;
I will sing Your praises before the (B)gods.
2 I will bow down (C)toward Your holy temple
And (D)give thanks to Your name for Your mercy and Your [a]truth;
For You have (E)made Your [b]word great [c]according to all Your name.
3 On the day I (F)called, You answered me;
You made me bold with (G)strength in my soul.
4 (H)All the kings of the earth will give thanks to You, Lord,
When they have heard the words of Your mouth.
5 And they will (I)sing of the ways of the Lord,
For (J)great is the glory of the Lord.
6 For (K)the Lord is exalted,
Yet He (L)looks after the lowly,
But He knows the (M)haughty from afar.
7 Though I (N)walk in the midst of trouble, You will [d](O)revive me;
You will (P)reach out with Your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
And Your right hand will (Q)save me.
8 The Lord will (R)accomplish what concerns me;
Your (S)faithfulness, Lord, is everlasting;
(T)Do not abandon the (U)works of Your hands.
19 (A)Now when the virgins were gathered together for the second time, then Mordecai (B)was sitting at the king’s gate. 20 (C)Esther still had not revealed her relatives or her people, just as Mordecai had instructed her; for Esther did [a]what Mordecai told her just as she had (D)when under his care.
Mordecai Saves the King
21 In those days, while Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, (E)Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king’s officials from those who guarded the door, became angry and sought to [b]attack King Ahasuerus. 22 But the [c]plot became known to Mordecai and (F)he informed Queen Esther, and Esther told the king in Mordecai’s name. 23 Then when the plot was investigated and found to be so, they were both hanged on a wooden gallows; and it was written in (G)the Book of the Chronicles in the king’s presence.
Haman’s Plot against the Jews
3 After these events King Ahasuerus (H)honored Haman, the son of Hammedatha (I)the Agagite, and (J)promoted him and [d]established his authority over all the officials who were with him. 2 All the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate bowed down and paid [e]homage to Haman; for so the king had commanded regarding him. But (K)Mordecai neither bowed down nor paid [f]homage. 3 Then the king’s servants who were at (L)the king’s gate said to Mordecai, “(M)Why are you violating the king’s command?” 4 Now it was when they had spoken daily to him and he would not listen to them, that they told Haman to see whether Mordecai’s reason would [g]stand; for he had told them that he was a Jew. 5 When Haman saw that (N)Mordecai neither bowed down nor paid [h]homage to him, Haman was filled with rage. 6 But he [i]considered it beneath his dignity to [j]kill Mordecai alone, for they had told him who the people of Mordecai were; so Haman (O)sought to annihilate all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, who were found throughout the kingdom of Ahasuerus.
15 [a]At this time Peter stood up among (A)the brothers and sisters (a group of about 120 [b]people was there together), and said, 16 “[c]Brothers, (B)the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David concerning Judas, (C)who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. 17 For he was (D)counted among us and received his share in (E)this ministry.” 18 (Now this man (F)acquired a field with (G)the price of his wickedness, and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his intestines gushed out. 19 And it became known to all the residents of Jerusalem; as a result that field was called Hakeldama in (H)their own language, that is, Field of Blood.) 20 “For it is written in the book of Psalms:
‘(I)May his residence be made desolate,
And may there be none living in it’;
and,
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