Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
16 As for me, I will call out to God,
and the Lord will deliver me.
17 During the evening, morning, and noontime
I will lament and moan,[a]
and he will hear[b] me.[c]
18 He will rescue[d] me and protect me from those who attack me,[e]
even though[f] they greatly outnumber me.[g]
19 God, the one who has reigned as king from long ago,
will hear and humiliate them.[h] (Selah)
They refuse to change,
and do not fear God.[i]
20 He[j] attacks[k] his friends;[l]
he breaks his solemn promises to them.[m]
21 His words are as smooth as butter,[n]
but he harbors animosity in his heart.[o]
His words seem softer than oil,
but they are really like sharp swords.[p]
22 Throw your burden[q] upon the Lord,
and he will sustain you.[r]
He will never allow the godly to be shaken.[s]
23 But you, O God, will bring them[t] down to the deep Pit.[u]
Violent and deceitful people[v] will not live even half a normal lifespan.[w]
But as for me, I trust in you.
The Turning Point: The King Honors Mordecai
6 Throughout that night the king was unable to sleep,[a] so he asked for the book containing the historical records[b] to be brought. As the records[c] were being read in the king’s presence, 2 it was found written that Mordecai had disclosed that Bigthana[d] and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs who guarded the entrance, had plotted to assassinate[e] King Ahasuerus.
3 The king asked, “What great honor[f] was bestowed on Mordecai because of this?” The king’s attendants who served him responded, “Not a thing was done for him.”
4 Then the king said, “Who is that in the courtyard?” Now Haman had come to the outer courtyard of the palace to suggest that the king hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had constructed for him. 5 The king’s attendants said to him, “It is Haman who is standing in the courtyard.” The king said, “Let him enter.”
6 So Haman came in, and the king said to him, “What should be done for the man whom the king wishes to honor?” Haman thought to himself,[g] “Who is it that the king would want to honor more than me?” 7 So Haman said to the king, “For the man whom the king wishes to honor, 8 let them bring royal attire which the king himself has worn and a horse on which the king himself has ridden—one bearing the royal insignia.[h] 9 Then let this clothing and this horse be given to one of the king’s noble officials. Let him[i] then clothe the man whom the king wishes to honor, and let him lead him about through the plaza of the city on the horse, calling[j] before him, ‘So shall it be done to the man whom the king wishes to honor!’”
10 The king then said to Haman, “Go quickly! Take the clothing and the horse, just as you have described, and do as you just indicated to Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king’s gate. Don’t neglect[k] a single thing of all that you have said.”
11 So Haman took the clothing and the horse, and he clothed Mordecai. He led him about on the horse throughout the plaza of the city, calling before him, “So shall it be done to the man whom the king wishes to honor!”
12 Then Mordecai again sat at the king’s gate, while Haman hurried away to his home, mournful and with a veil over his head. 13 Haman then related to his wife Zeresh and to all his friends everything that had happened to him. These wise men,[l] along with his wife Zeresh, said to him, “If indeed this Mordecai before whom you have begun to fall is Jewish,[m] you will not prevail against him. No, you will surely fall before him!”
14 While they were still speaking with him, the king’s eunuchs arrived. They quickly brought Haman to the banquet that Esther had prepared.
The King Has Haman Executed
7 So the king and Haman came to dine[n] with Queen Esther. 2 On the second day of the banquet of wine the king asked Esther, “What is your request, Queen Esther? It shall be granted to you. And what is your petition? Ask for up to half the kingdom, and it shall be done.”
3 Queen Esther replied, “If I have met with your approval,[o] O king, and if the king is so inclined, grant me my life as my request, and my people as my petition. 4 For we have been sold[p]—both I and my people—to destruction and to slaughter and to annihilation. If we had simply been sold as male and female slaves, I would have remained silent, for such distress would not have been sufficient for troubling the king.”
5 Then King Ahasuerus responded[q] to Queen Esther, “Who is this individual? Where is this person to be found who is presumptuous enough[r] to act in this way?”
6 Esther replied, “The oppressor and enemy is this evil Haman!”
Then Haman became terrified in the presence of the king and queen.
Israel’s Rejection Culpable
30 What shall we say then?—that the Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness obtained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith, 31 but Israel even though pursuing[a] a law of righteousness[b] did not attain it.[c] 32 Why not? Because they pursued[d] it not by faith but (as if it were possible) by works.[e] They stumbled over the stumbling stone,[f] 33 just as it is written,
“Look, I am laying in Zion a stone that will cause people to stumble
and a rock that will make them fall,[g]
yet the one who believes in him will not be put to shame.”[h]
10 Brothers and sisters,[i] my heart’s desire and prayer to God on behalf of my fellow Israelites[j] is for their salvation. 2 For I can testify that they are zealous for God,[k] but their zeal is not in line with the truth.[l] 3 For ignoring the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking instead to establish their own righteousness, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 4 For Christ is the end of the law, with the result that there is righteousness for everyone who believes.
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