Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
By David.
138 I will give thanks to you with all my heart.
I will make music to praise you in front of the false gods.
2 I will bow toward your holy temple.
I will give thanks to your name because of your mercy and truth.
You have made your name and your promise greater than everything.
3 When I called, you answered me.
You made me bold by strengthening my soul.
4 All the kings of the earth will give thanks to you, O Lord,
because they have heard the promises you spoke.
5 They will sing this about the ways of the Lord:
“The Lord’s honor is great!”
6 Even though the Lord is high above, he sees humble people ⌞close up⌟,
and he recognizes arrogant people from a distance.
7 Even though I walk into the middle of trouble,
you guard my life against the anger of my enemies.
You stretch out your hand,
and your right hand saves me.
8 The Lord will do everything for me.
O Lord, your mercy endures forever.
Do not let go of what your hands have made.
Mordecai Saves the King’s Life
19 When the virgins were gathered a second time, Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate. 20 Esther still had not revealed her family background or nationality, as Mordecai had ordered her. Esther always did whatever Mordecai told her, as she did when she was a child.
21 In those days, while Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs who guarded the entrance, became angry and planned to kill King Xerxes. 22 But Mordecai found out about it and informed Queen Esther. Then Esther told the king, on behalf of Mordecai. 23 When the report was investigated and found to be true, the dead bodies of Bigthan and Teresh were hung on a pole. The matter was written up in the king’s presence in his official record of daily events.
Haman’s Plot
3 Later, King Xerxes promoted Haman. (Haman was the son of Hammedatha and was from Agag.) He gave Haman a position higher in authority than all the other officials who were with him. 2 All the king’s advisers were at the king’s gate, kneeling and bowing to Haman with their faces touching the ground, because the king had commanded it. But Mordecai would not kneel and bow to him.
3 Then the king’s advisers at the king’s gate asked Mordecai, “Why do you ignore the king’s command?” 4 Although they asked him day after day, he paid no attention to them. So they informed Haman to see if Mordecai’s actions would be tolerated, since Mordecai had told them that he was a Jew.
5 When Haman saw that Mordecai did not kneel and bow to him, Haman was infuriated. 6 Because the king’s advisers had informed him about Mordecai’s nationality, he thought it beneath himself to kill only Mordecai. So Haman planned to wipe out Mordecai’s people—all the Jews in the entire kingdom of Xerxes.
15 At a time when about 120 disciples had gathered together, Peter got up and spoke to them.
He said, 16 “Brothers, what the Holy Spirit predicted through David in Scripture about Judas had to come true. Judas led the men to arrest Jesus. 17 He had been one of us and had been given an active role in this ministry. 18 With the money he received from the wrong he had done, he bought a piece of land where he fell headfirst to his death. His body split open, and all his internal organs came out. 19 Everyone living in Jerusalem knows about this. They even call that piece of land Akeldama, which means ‘Field of Blood’ in their dialect. 20 You’ve read in Psalms, ‘Let his home be deserted, and let no one live there,’ and ‘Let someone else take his position.’
“Therefore, someone must be added to our number to serve with us as a witness that Jesus came back to life.
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