Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 7[a]
Appeal to the Divine Judge
1 A plaintive song of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning Cush,[b] a Benjaminite.
2 O Lord, my God, I take refuge in you;
keep me safe from all my pursuers and deliver me,
3 lest like a lion they tear me to pieces
and carry me off, with no one to rescue me.
4 O Lord, my God, if I have done this,
if my hands are stained with guilt,
5 if I have repaid a friend with treachery—
I who spared the lives of those who without cause were my enemies—[c]
6 then let my foe pursue and overtake me;
let him trample my life into the ground
and leave my honor in the dust. Selah
7 Rise up, O Lord, in your indignation;
rise against the fury of my enemies.
Rouse yourself for me,
and fulfill the judgment you have decreed.
8 Let the peoples assemble in your presence
as you sit above them enthroned on high.
9 The Lord is the judge of the nations.
Therefore, pass judgment on me, O Lord, according to my righteousness,
according to my innocence, O Most High.
10 Put an end to the malice of the wicked
but continue to sustain the righteous,
O God of justice,
you who search minds and hearts.[d]
11 God is a shield to me;
he saves those who are upright of heart.
12 God is a just judge,
a God who expresses his indignation every day.
13 When a sinner refuses to repent,
God sharpens his sword,
and he bends and aims his bow.
14 He has prepared deadly weapons for him
and made his arrows into fiery shafts.
15 [e]Behold, he who conceives iniquity
and is pregnant with mischief
will give birth to lies.
16 He digs a pit and makes it deep,
but he will fall into the trap he has made.
17 His wickedness will recoil upon his own head,
and his violence will fall back on his own crown.
18 I will offer thanks to the Lord because of his righteousness,
and I will sing hymns of praise[f] to the name of the Lord Most High.
Chapter 2
Esther Is Made Queen. 1 After a time, the anger of King Ahasuerus abated, and he began to think of what Vashti had done and what he had decreed about her. 2 At this point, the king’s personal attendants suggested, “Let a search be made to find beautiful young virgins for the king. 3 Let the king appoint commissioners in every province of his kingdom to bring all those beautiful young virgins into the harem at the citadel of Susa. Let them be placed in the care of Hegai, the king’s eunuch who is in charge of the women, and let them receive beauty treatments. 4 Then let the girl who pleases the king become queen in place of Vashti.” This advice pleased the king, and he acted upon it.
5 Now there was in the citadel of Susa a Jew from the tribe of Benjamin, named Mordecai, son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish. 6 He had been carted off into exile from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, among those taken captive with Jeconiah, king of Judah. 7 Mordecai had a cousin named Hadassah,[a] whom he had brought up because she had lost her father and mother. She was also known as Esther and was a beautiful young woman. Mordecai had taken her as his own daughter after her father and mother had died.
8 When the king’s order and edict had been proclaimed, many young women were brought to the citadel of Susa and placed in the care of Hegai. Esther, too, was brought to the royal palace in the care of Hegai, who was in charge of the harem. 9 She pleased him and won his favor. So Hegai lost no time in furnishing her with cosmetics and provisions and in assigning her seven maids from the king’s palace while transferring her and the maids into the best place in the harem.
10 Now on the counsel of Mordecai, Esther did not mention her nationality or family to anyone. 11 And every day Mordecai walked back and forth in front of the courtyard of the harem, seeking to learn how Esther was and what was happening to her.
12 Before each girl’s turn came when she could visit King Ahasuerus, she must have completed twelve months of prescribed beauty treatments: six months with oil of myrrh and another six with perfume and cosmetics. 13 When the girl went to visit the king, she received whatever she requested to take with her from the harem to the king’s royal palace. 14 She would go there in the evening and in the morning would come back to another part of the harem, which was in the care of Shaazgaz, who was in charge of the concubines. She would not visit the king again unless he summoned her by name.
15 As for Esther, daughter of Abihail and adopted daughter of Mordecai, when it came time for her turn to visit the king, she asked nothing more than what the royal eunuch Hegai, who was in charge of the harem, suggested. Nevertheless, she won the admiration of all who saw her. 16 So, in the seventh year of his reign, in the tenth month, Tebeth,[b] Esther was brought to King Ahasuerus in the royal palace.
17 The king loved Esther more than any of the other women, and she won his favor and approval more than any of the other virgins. So he set a royal crown on her head and made her queen in place of Vashti. 18 Then the king gave a great banquet for all his nobles and administrators to honor Esther. He proclaimed a holiday[c] throughout the provinces and gave gifts with royal liberality.
Remember That Jesus Christ Is Risen.[a] 8 Remember the gospel that I preach: Jesus Christ, a descendant of David, was raised from the dead. 9 It is because of this that I have endured great suffering, even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But the word of God cannot be chained. 10 Therefore, I endure everything for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.
11 This saying can be trusted:
If we have died with him,
we shall also live with him.
12 If we endure,
we shall also reign with him.
If we deny him,
he will also deny us.
13 If we are unfaithful,
he will remain faithful,
for he cannot deny himself.
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