Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 122
The Peace of Jerusalem
Heading
A song of the ascents. By David.
The Peace of Jerusalem
1 I rejoiced with those who said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord.”
2 Our feet are standing in your gates, O Jerusalem.
3 Jerusalem is a well-built city that is firmly joined together,[a]
4 a city to which the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord,[b]
as a testimony to Israel,
to give praise to the name of the Lord.
5 That is where the thrones for judgment sit,
the thrones of the house of David.
6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
“May those who love you prosper.
7 May there be peace within your fortifications,
prosperity within your citadels.”
8 For the sake of my brothers and my friends,
now I will say, “Peace be within you.”
9 For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,
I will seek good for you.
8 That day King Xerxes gave Queen Esther the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. Mordecai came and appeared before the king, because Esther had told him what Mordecai’s relationship to her was.
2 The king took off his signet ring that he had taken from Haman and gave it to Mordecai. Esther put Mordecai in charge of the house of Haman.
3 In addition, Esther spoke to the king. She fell at his feet, wept, and requested that he put an end to the evil plan that Haman the Agagite had devised against the Jews.
4 The king held out the golden scepter to Esther. Esther rose and stood in the presence of the king.
5 She said, “If it is acceptable to the king, if I have found favor before him, if this idea seems right to the king, and if I am acceptable to him, a decree should be written to nullify the letters for the plot of Haman, son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews in all of the provinces of the king. 6 For how can I watch the disaster that is about to come on my people! How can I watch the destruction of my relatives!”
7 King Xerxes said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Look. I have given Haman’s house to Esther. They have hanged him on the gallows because he raised his hand against the Jews. 8 You can write concerning the Jews whatever seems good to you and seal it with the king’s signet ring, because a document written in the name of the king and sealed with the king’s signet ring cannot be changed.”
9 The king’s scribes were summoned at once, on the twenty-third day of Sivan, the third month. Whatever Mordecai commanded concerning the Jews was written to the satraps, governors, and the officials of the provinces from India to Cush, one hundred twenty-seven provinces in all. They wrote to each province in its own writing system and to each people in its own language (including to the Jews in their writing system and in their language). 10 He wrote in the name of King Xerxes and sealed it with the king’s signet ring. He sent letters by messengers mounted on the king’s fastest thoroughbreds.[a]
The Content and Effect of the Letters
11 The king gave the Jews in every city the right to gather together to defend their own lives and to destroy, kill, and annihilate any military force of any people or province that might attack them, along with their children and their wives, and to plunder their goods.
12 In all the provinces of King Xerxes, 13 a copy of the writing, which was issued as a law for every province, proclaimed to all the peoples that on one day (the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, Adar), the Jews would be ready to avenge themselves on their enemies.
14 The couriers riding their swift horses went out quickly, spurred on by the word of the king. The decree originated in Susa, the citadel.
15 Mordecai went out from the king’s presence, dressed in blue and white royal clothing, with a large gold crown and a purple linen cape. The city of Susa shouted and rejoiced. 16 It was a time of light, gladness, joy, and honor for the Jews.
17 In every province and in every city which the message of the king reached, his edict brought gladness and joy to the Jews. There was a feast and a holiday. Many of the peoples of the land declared themselves Jews because the fear of the Jews had fallen upon them.
Letter to the Church in Smyrna
8 To the messenger of the church in Smyrna write:
The First and the Last, who was dead and came to life again, says this:
9 I know[a] your suffering and your poverty—but you are rich. And I know the blasphemy that comes from those who say they are Jews but are not; rather, they are a synagogue of Satan. 10 Do not fear anything that[b] you are about to suffer. Look, the Devil is about to throw some of you into prison so that you will be tested, and you will suffer for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.
11 Whoever has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.