Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 138
A Thankful Heart
Davidic.
1 I will give You thanks with all my heart;(A)
I will sing Your praise before the heavenly beings.[a](B)
2 I will bow down toward Your holy temple
and give thanks to Your name
for Your constant love and truth.
You have exalted Your name
and Your promise above everything else.(C)
3 On the day I called, You answered me;
You increased strength within me.[b](D)
19 When the young women(A) were assembled together for a second time, Mordecai was sitting at the King’s Gate.(B) 20 Esther still had not revealed her birthplace or her ethnic background, as Mordecai had directed. She obeyed Mordecai’s orders, as she always had while he raised her.
Mordecai Saves the King
21 During those days while Mordecai was sitting at the King’s Gate, Bigthan and Teresh, two eunuchs(C) who guarded the king’s entrance, became infuriated and planned to assassinate[a] King Ahasuerus. 22 When Mordecai learned of the plot, he reported it to Queen Esther, and she told the king on Mordecai’s behalf.(D) 23 When the report was investigated and verified, both men were hanged on the gallows.(E) This event was recorded in the Historical Record in the king’s presence.
Haman’s Plan to Kill the Jews
3 After all this took place, King Ahasuerus honored Haman, son of Hammedatha the Agagite.(F) He promoted him in rank and gave him a higher position than all the other officials.(G) 2 The entire royal staff at the King’s Gate(H) bowed down and paid homage to Haman, because the king had commanded this to be done for him. But Mordecai would not bow down or pay homage.(I) 3 The members of the royal staff at the King’s Gate asked Mordecai, “Why are you disobeying the king’s command?” 4 When they had warned him day after day(J) and he still would not listen to them, they told Haman to see if Mordecai’s actions would be tolerated, since he had told them he was a Jew.
5 When Haman saw that Mordecai was not bowing down or paying him homage, he was filled with rage.(K) 6 And when he learned of Mordecai’s ethnic identity, Haman decided not to do away with[b] Mordecai alone. He planned to destroy all of Mordecai’s people, the Jews,(L) throughout Ahasuerus’s kingdom.(M)
Matthias Chosen
15 During these days Peter stood up among the brothers[a]—the number of people who were together was about 120—and said: 16 “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled that the Holy Spirit through the mouth of David spoke in advance about Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus.(A) 17 For he was one of our number and was allotted a share in this ministry.”(B) 18 Now this man acquired a field with his unrighteous wages. He fell headfirst and burst open in the middle, and all his insides spilled out.(C) 19 This became known to all the residents of Jerusalem, so that in their own language that field is called Hakeldama (that is, Field of Blood). 20 “For it is written in the Book of Psalms:
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