Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
16 But I will call to God for help,
and the Lord will save me.
17 Morning, noon, and night I am troubled and upset,
but he will listen to me.
18 Many are against me,
but he keeps me safe in battle.
19 God who lives forever
will hear me and punish them. Selah
But they will not change;
they do not fear God.
20 The one who was my friend attacks his friends
and breaks his promises.
21 His words are slippery like butter,
but war is in his heart.
His words are smoother than oil,
but they cut like knives.
22 Give your worries to the Lord,
and he will take care of you.
He will never let good people down.
23 But, God, you will bring down
the wicked to the grave.
Murderers and liars will live
only half a lifetime.
But I will trust in you.
Mordecai Is Honored
6 That same night the king could not sleep. So he gave an order for the daily court record to be brought in and read to him. 2 It was found recorded that Mordecai had warned the king about Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s officers who guarded the doorway and who had planned to kill the king.
3 The king asked, “What honor and reward have been given to Mordecai for this?”
The king’s personal servants answered, “Nothing has been done for Mordecai.”
4 The king said, “Who is in the courtyard?” Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the king’s palace. He had come to ask the king about hanging Mordecai on the platform he had prepared.
5 The king’s personal servants said, “Haman is standing in the courtyard.”
The king said, “Bring him in.”
6 So Haman came in. And the king asked him, “What should be done for a man whom the king wants very much to honor?”
And Haman thought to himself, “Whom would the king want to honor more than me?” 7 So he answered the king, “This is what you could do for the man you want very much to honor. 8 Have the servants bring a royal robe that the king himself has worn. And also bring a horse with a royal crown on its head, a horse that the king himself has ridden. 9 Let the robe and the horse be given to one of the king’s most important men. Let the servants put the robe on the man the king wants to honor, and let them lead him on the horse through the city streets. As they are leading him, let them announce: ‘This is what is done for the man whom the king wants to honor!’”
10 The king commanded Haman, “Go quickly. Take the robe and the horse just as you have said, and do all this for Mordecai the Jew who sits at the king’s gate. Do not leave out anything you have suggested.”
11 So Haman took the robe and the horse, and he put the robe on Mordecai. Then he led him on horseback through the city streets, announcing before Mordecai: “This is what is done for the man whom the king wants to honor!”
12 Then Mordecai returned to the king’s gate, but Haman hurried home with his head covered, because he was embarrassed and ashamed. 13 He told his wife, Zeresh, and all his friends everything that had happened to him.
Haman’s wife and the men who gave him advice said, “You are starting to lose power to Mordecai. Since he is a Jew, you cannot win against him. You will surely be ruined.” 14 While they were still talking, the king’s eunuchs came to Haman’s house and made him hurry to the banquet Esther had prepared.
Haman Is Hanged
7 So the king and Haman went in to eat with Queen Esther. 2 As they were drinking wine on the second day, the king asked Esther again, “What are you asking for? I will give it to you. What is it you want? I will give you as much as half of my kingdom.”
3 Then Queen Esther answered, “My king, if you are pleased with me, and if it pleases you, let me live. This is what I ask. And let my people live, too. This is what I want. 4 My people and I have been sold to be destroyed, to be killed and completely wiped out. If we had been sold as male and female slaves, I would have kept quiet, because that would not be enough of a problem to bother the king.”
5 Then King Xerxes asked Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he? Who has done such a thing?”
6 Esther said, “Our enemy and foe is this wicked Haman!”
Then Haman was filled with terror before the king and queen.
30 So what does all this mean? Those who are not Jews were not trying to make themselves right with God, but they were made right with God because of their faith. 31 The people of Israel tried to follow a law to make themselves right with God. But they did not succeed, 32 because they tried to make themselves right by the things they did instead of trusting in God to make them right. They stumbled over the stone that causes people to stumble. 33 As it is written in the Scripture:
“I will put in Jerusalem a stone that causes people to stumble,
a rock that makes them fall.
Anyone who trusts in him will never be disappointed.” Isaiah 8:14; 28:16
10 Brothers and sisters, the thing I want most is for all the Jews to be saved. That is my prayer to God. 2 I can say this about them: They really try to follow God, but they do not know the right way. 3 Because they did not know the way that God makes people right with him, they tried to make themselves right in their own way. So they did not accept God’s way of making people right. 4 Christ ended the law so that everyone who believes in him may be right with God.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.