Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

140 O Lord, deliver me from evil men. Preserve me from the violent, ² who plot and stir up trouble all day long. ³ Their words sting like poisonous snakes. ⁴ Keep me out of their power. Preserve me from their violence, for they are plotting against me. ⁵ These proud men have set a trap to catch me, a noose to yank me up and leave me dangling in the air; they wait in ambush with a net to throw over and hold me helpless in its meshes.

^6-8 O Jehovah, my Lord and Savior, my God and my shield—hear me as I pray! Don’t let these wicked men succeed; don’t let them prosper and be proud. ⁹ Let their plots boomerang! Let them be destroyed by the very evil they have planned for me. ¹⁰ Let burning coals fall down upon their heads, or throw them into the fire or into deep pits from which they can’t escape.

¹¹ Don’t let liars prosper here in our land; quickly punish them. ¹² But the Lord will surely help those they persecute; he will maintain the rights of the poor. ¹³ Surely the godly are thanking you, for they shall live in your presence.

8 On that same day King Ahasuerus gave the estate of Haman, the Jews’ enemy, to Queen Esther. Then Mordecai was brought before the king, for Esther had told the king that he was her cousin and foster father.^{[a] 2} The king took off his ring—which he had taken back from Haman—and gave it to Mordecai appointing him Prime Minister;^[b] and Esther appointed Mordecai to be in charge of Haman’s estate.

³ And now once more Esther came before the king, falling down at his feet and begging him with tears to stop Haman’s plot against the Jews. ⁴ And again the king held out the golden scepter to Esther. So she arose and stood before him, ⁵ and said, “If it please Your Majesty, and if you love me, send out a decree reversing Haman’s order to destroy the Jews throughout the king’s provinces. ⁶ For how can I endure it, to see my people butchered and destroyed?”

⁷ Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and Mordecai the Jew, “I have given Esther the palace of Haman, and he has been hanged upon the gallows because he tried to destroy you. ⁸ Now go ahead and send a message to the Jews, telling them whatever you want to in the king’s name, and seal it with the king’s ring so that it can never be reversed.”^[c]

^9-10 Immediately the king’s secretaries were called in—it was now the 23rd day of the month of July—and they wrote as Mordecai dictated—a decree to the Jews and to the officials, governors, and princes of all the provinces from India to Ethiopia, 127 in all: the decree was translated into the languages and dialects of all the people of the kingdom. Mordecai wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed the message with the king’s ring and sent the letters by swift carriers—riders on camels, mules, and young dromedaries used in the king’s service. ¹¹ This decree gave the Jews everywhere permission to unite in the defense of their lives and their families, to destroy all the forces opposed to them, and to take their property. ¹² The day chosen for this throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus was the 28th day of February!^{[d] 13} It further stated that a copy of this decree, which must be recognized everywhere as law, must be broadcast to all the people so that the Jews would be ready and prepared to overcome their enemies. ¹⁴ So the mail went out swiftly, carried by the king’s couriers and speeded by the king’s commandment. The same decree was also issued at Shushan Palace.

¹⁵ Then Mordecai put on the royal robes of blue and white and the great crown of gold, with an outer cloak of fine linen and purple, and went out from the presence of the king through the city streets filled with shouting people. ¹⁶ And the Jews had joy and gladness and were honored everywhere. ¹⁷ And in every city and province, as the king’s decree arrived, the Jews were filled with joy and had a great celebration and declared a holiday. And many of the people of the land pretended to be Jews, for they feared what the Jews might do to them.

⁶ But if any of you causes one of these little ones who trusts in me to lose his faith,^[a] it would be better for you to have a rock tied to your neck and be thrown into the sea.

⁷ “Woe upon the world for all its evils.^[b] Temptation to do wrong is inevitable, but woe to the man who does the tempting. ⁸ So if your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. Better to enter heaven crippled than to be in hell with both of your hands and feet. ⁹ And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. Better to enter heaven with one eye than to be in hell with two.