Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 140
Rescue Me From Evil Men
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For the choir director. A psalm by David.
Plea for Deliverance
1 Keep me safe, Lord, from the evil man.
Protect me from the violent man,
2 who plans evil in his heart.
Every day they gather for battle.
3 They sharpen their tongues like a snake. Interlude
The poison of vipers is under their lips.
4 Keep me safe, Lord, from the hands of the wicked.
Protect me from the violent man, who plans to trip my feet.
5 The proud have hidden a snare for me, and ropes.[a]
They have spread out a net along my route. Interlude
They have set traps for me.
Confidence
6 I say to the Lord, “You are my God.”
Hear, O Lord, the sound of my cry for mercy.
7 O Lord, my Lord, the strength of my salvation,
you cover my head on the day for weapons.
8 Do not grant, O Lord, the desires of the wicked.
Do not let their scheme succeed when they rise up.[b] Interlude
Plea for Justice
9 May the trouble caused by their lips
fall on the heads of those who surround me.
10 Let burning coals fall on them.
Cause them to fall into the fire,
or into pits from which they will never rise.
11 Do not let the slanderer[c] be established in the land.
As for the man of violence—
may evil hunt him and beat him down.
Confidence
12 I know that the Lord will provide justice for the oppressed,
judgment for the poor.
13 Surely the righteous will give thanks to your name.
The upright will live in your presence.
4 When Mordecai became aware of everything that had happened, he ripped his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, went out into the middle of the city, and let out a loud, bitter cry. 2 He went right up to the king’s gate, even though no one clothed with sackcloth was allowed to enter it.
3 In every single province that was reached by the proclamation of the king and where his decree was posted, there was great mourning, fasting, weeping, and lamenting among the Jews. Many lay in sackcloth and ashes.
4 When Esther’s female attendants and her eunuchs came and told her what had happened, the queen agonized over it. She sent garments to clothe Mordecai so that he could take off his sackcloth, but he did not accept them. 5 Esther summoned Hathak, who had been assigned from among the king’s eunuchs to attend to her. She ordered him to go to Mordecai to learn what was happening and why.
6 Hathak went out to Mordecai in the public square in front of the king’s gate. 7 Mordecai told him everything that had happened and the exact amount of silver that Haman had said he would put into the treasuries of the king to destroy the Jews. 8 Mordecai also gave Hathak a copy of the written decree which had been issued in Susa to destroy the Jews, so that he could show it to Esther. Hathak was to place the responsibility upon her to go to the king to beg for mercy and plead with him for her people.
9 So Hathak went and told Esther what Mordecai had said.
10 Esther spoke to Hathak and gave him directions to pass on to Mordecai: 11 “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that it is the law that any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned will be put to death, unless the king holds out the golden scepter to him. Then he will live. But I have not been called to go to the king for thirty days.”
12 They told Mordecai what Esther had said.
13 Mordecai responded, “Take this message to Esther: Do not imagine that of all the Jews, you alone will escape because you are part of the king’s household. 14 If at this time you keep totally silent, relief and deliverance for the Jews will spring up from somewhere, but you and the house of your father will perish. Who knows whether you have become queen for a time like this!”
15 Esther responded to Mordecai, 16 “Go. Gather all the Jews who are found in Susa. Fast on my behalf. Do not eat and drink for three days and nights. I and my young women also will fast in the same way. After that I will go to the king, contrary to the law. And then, if I perish, I perish!”
17 Mordecai went away and did everything Esther had ordered him to do.
A Living Hope
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he gave us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 into an inheritance that is undying, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. 5 Through faith you are being protected by God’s power for the salvation that is ready to be revealed at the end of time.
6 Because of this you rejoice very much, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various kinds of trials 7 so that the proven character of your faith—which is more valuable than gold, which passes away even though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not see him now, yet by believing in him, you are filled with a joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 because you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.