Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
In You Do I Take Refuge
A (A)Shiggaion[a] of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning the words of Cush, a Benjaminite.
7 O Lord my God, in you do I (B)take refuge;
(C)save me from all my pursuers and deliver me,
2 lest like (D)a lion they tear my soul apart,
rending it in pieces, with (E)none to deliver.
3 O Lord my God, (F)if I have done this,
if there is (G)wrong in my hands,
4 if I have repaid (H)my friend[b] with evil
or (I)plundered my enemy without cause,
5 let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it,
and let him (J)trample my life to the ground
and lay my glory in the dust. Selah
6 (K)Arise, O Lord, in your anger;
(L)lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies;
(M)awake for me; you have appointed a judgment.
7 Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about you;
over it return on high.
8 The Lord (N)judges the peoples;
(O)judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness
and according to the integrity that is in me.
9 Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end,
and may you establish the righteous—
you who (P)test (Q)the minds and hearts,[c]
O righteous God!
10 My shield is (R)with God,
who saves (S)the upright in heart.
11 God is (T)a righteous judge,
and a God who feels (U)indignation every day.
12 If a man[d] does not repent, God[e] will (V)whet his sword;
he has (W)bent and (X)readied his bow;
13 he has prepared for him his deadly weapons,
making his (Y)arrows (Z)fiery shafts.
14 Behold, the wicked man (AA)conceives evil
and is (AB)pregnant with mischief
and gives birth to lies.
15 He makes (AC)a pit, digging it out,
and falls into the hole that he has made.
16 His (AD)mischief returns upon his own head,
and on his own skull his violence descends.
17 I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness,
and I will (AE)sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High.
3 Then Esther spoke again to the king. She fell at his feet and wept and pleaded with him to avert the evil plan of Haman (A)the Agagite and the plot that he had devised against the Jews. 4 (B)When the king held out the golden scepter to Esther, Esther rose and stood before the king. 5 And she said, “If it please the king, (C)and if I have found favor in his sight, and if the thing seems right before the king, and I am pleasing in his eyes, let an order be written to revoke (D)the letters devised by Haman (E)the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, which he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all the provinces of the king. 6 For how can I bear (F)to see the calamity that is coming to my people? Or how can I bear to see the destruction of my kindred?” 7 Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Behold, (G)I have given Esther the house of Haman, and they have hanged him on the gallows,[a] because he intended to lay hands on the Jews. 8 But you may write as you please with regard to the Jews, in the name of the king, (H)and seal it with the king's ring, for an edict written in the name of the king and sealed with the king's ring (I)cannot be revoked.”
9 (J)The king's scribes were summoned at that time, in the third month, which is the month of Sivan, on the twenty-third day. And an edict was written, according to all that Mordecai commanded concerning the Jews, to (K)the satraps and the governors and the officials of the provinces (L)from India to Ethiopia, (M)127 provinces, (N)to each province in its own script and to each people in its own language, and also to the Jews in their script and their language. 10 (O)And he wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus (P)and sealed it with the king's signet ring. Then he sent the letters by mounted couriers riding on (Q)swift horses that were used in the king's service, bred from the royal stud, 11 saying that the king allowed the Jews who were in every city (R)to gather and defend their lives, (S)to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate any armed force of any people or province that might attack them, children and women included, (T)and to plunder their goods, 12 (U)on one day throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar. 13 (V)A copy of what was written was to be issued as a decree in every province, being publicly displayed to all peoples, and the Jews were to be ready on that day to take vengeance on their enemies. 14 So the couriers, mounted on their (W)swift horses that were used in the king's service, rode out hurriedly, urged by the king's command. And the decree was issued in Susa the citadel.
15 Then Mordecai went out from the presence of the king (X)in royal robes of blue and white, with a great golden crown[b] and (Y)a robe of fine linen and purple, (Z)and the city of Susa shouted and rejoiced. 16 The Jews had (AA)light and gladness and joy and honor. 17 And in every province and in every city, wherever the king's command and his edict reached, there was gladness and joy among the Jews, a feast and (AB)a holiday. (AC)And many from the peoples of the country declared themselves Jews, (AD)for fear of the Jews had fallen on them.
Rejoicing in Heaven
19 After this I heard (A)what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out,
“Hallelujah!
(B)Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,
2 for (C)his judgments are true and just;
for he has judged (D)the great prostitute
who corrupted the earth with her immorality,
and (E)has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”
3 Once more they cried out,
“Hallelujah!
(F)The smoke from her goes up forever and ever.”
4 And (G)the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who was seated on the throne, saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!” 5 And from the throne came a voice saying,
The Marriage Supper of the Lamb
6 Then I heard what seemed to be (J)the voice of a great multitude, like (K)the roar of many waters and (L)like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,
“Hallelujah!
For the Lord our God
the Almighty (M)reigns.
7 Let us rejoice and exult
and give him the glory,
for (N)the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and (O)his Bride has made herself ready;
8 (P)it was granted her to clothe herself
with fine linen, bright and pure”—
for the fine linen is (Q)the righteous deeds of the saints.
9 And the angel said[a] to me, “Write this: (R)Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, (S)“These are the true words of God.”
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.