Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 138
A Thankful Heart
Of David.
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.[b](C)
3 On the day I called, you answered me;
you increased strength within me.[c](D)
Mordecai Saves the King
19 When the virgins(A) were gathered a second time, Mordecai was sitting at the King’s Gate.(B) 20 Esther still did not reveal her family background or her ethnicity, as Mordecai had directed. She obeyed Mordecai’s orders, as she always had while he raised her.
21 During those days while Mordecai was sitting at the King’s Gate, Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs(C) who guarded the 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 in order 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, it seemed repugnant to Haman 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 In those days Peter stood up among the brothers and sisters[a]—the number of people who were together was about a hundred twenty—and said, 16 “Brothers and sisters, it was necessary that the Scripture be fulfilled that the Holy Spirit through the mouth of David foretold about Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus.(A) 17 For he was one of our number and shared in this ministry.”(B) 18 Now this man acquired a field with his unrighteous wages. He fell headfirst, his body burst open and his intestines 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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