Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 122

The Peace of Jerusalem

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A song of the ascents. By David.

The Peace of Jerusalem

9 On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month (Adar), the day which the king’s proclamation had specified for his decree to be carried out, the day on which the enemies of the Jews hoped to obtain power over them, the situation was reversed so that the Jews would gain power over those who hated them.

² The Jews gathered in their cities in all the provinces of King Xerxes, to strike against those seeking to hurt them. No one opposed them because the fear of the Jews had fallen upon all the people. ³ All the officials of the provinces, the satraps, the governors, and the people who did the work of the king were helping the Jews because the fear of Mordecai had fallen on them, ⁴ because he was important in the king’s house. His reputation was spreading in all the provinces because this man Mordecai was becoming more and more influential.

⁵ The Jews struck all their enemies with the sword, slaughtering and destroying them. They did whatever they pleased against their enemies.

¹⁸ But the Jews who were in Susa gathered on the thirteenth and on the fourteenth. They rested on the fifteenth and made it a day of feasting and joyful celebration. ¹⁹ Therefore the Jews of the villages, who live in the unwalled towns of the open countryside, have their day of joyful celebration and feasting on the fourteenth of Adar. It is a holiday, and they send portions of food to their neighbors.

²⁰ Mordecai wrote these things down. Then he sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Xerxes, both near and far, ²¹ to call upon them to celebrate the fourteenth and fifteenth days of Adar every year, ²² because those were the days on which the Jews gained relief from their enemies. This was the month which was changed from sorrow to gladness for them and from a day of mourning to a holiday. They were to make those days into days of feasting and joyful celebration, sending portions of food to their neighbors and gifts to the poor.

²³ So the Jews completed what they had begun to do and what Mordecai had written to them,

Fear God, Not People

⁴ “I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that are not able to do any more. ⁵ But I will show you the one you should fear. Fear him who, after he has killed the body, has authority to throw it into hell.^[a] Yes, I tell you, fear him!

⁶ “Are not five sparrows sold for two small coins?^[b] And not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight. ⁷ Why, even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So stop being afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows.

Confess Christ

⁸ “I tell you, whoever confesses me before other people, the Son of Man will also confess him before the angels of God. ⁹ But whoever denies me in the presence of other people will be denied in the presence of the angels of God. ¹⁰ Everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven. But anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. ¹¹ When they bring you before synagogues, rulers, and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourself, or what you will say, ¹² for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you should say.”