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.
5 On the third day Esther dressed in the queen’s royal clothing and stood in the inner court of the king’s palace, opposite the quarters of the king. The king was sitting on the throne in the reception hall, opposite the entrance.
2 When the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, she pleased him. The king held out to Esther the golden scepter, which was in his hand. Esther approached and touched the head of the scepter.
3 The king said to her, “What concerns you, Queen Esther? Whatever you are seeking (up to half of the kingdom) will be given to you.”
4 Esther said, “If it is agreeable to the king, the king and Haman should come today to a banquet that I have made for him.”
5 The king said, “Hurry! Get Haman so that we can do what Esther has said.” So the king and Haman came to the banquet that Esther had prepared.
6 While the king was drinking wine, he said to Esther, “What is your request? It will be given to you. What are you seeking? Up to half of the kingdom—it’s yours.”
7 Esther answered, “This is my request. This is what I seek. 8 If I have found favor in the eyes of the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my request, let the king and Haman come to a banquet, which I will make for them tomorrow. Then I will give the answers requested by the king.”
9 Haman went out that day full of joy, with a happy heart. But when Haman saw Mordecai at the king’s gate, and Mordecai did not stand and tremble before him, Haman was filled with rage against Mordecai. 10 But Haman restrained himself from any action.
He went to his house and called together his friends and his wife Zeresh. 11 Haman reviewed for them the glory of his wealth, the number of his sons, all the details about how the king had made him great, and how the king had elevated him over all the officials and the king’s administrators. 12 Haman said, “What’s more, Queen Esther did not invite anyone except me to come with the king to the banquet that she prepared. I have been invited again for her banquet with the king tomorrow. 13 But none of this means anything to me whenever I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.”
14 Zeresh his wife and all his friends said to him, “Make a gallows[a] seventy-five feet high. In the morning tell the king that Mordecai should be hanged[b] on it. Then go happily with the king to the banquet.” In Haman’s opinion this was good advice, so he had the gallows made.
Warning Against False Teachers
18 Dear children, it is the last hour. The Antichrist is coming, just as you have heard, and even now many antichrists have come. (This is how you know that it is the last hour.) 19 They went out from us, but they really were not part of us. If they had been part of us, they would have stayed with us. Instead they all showed that they were not part of us.
20 You have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things.[a] 21 I did not write to you because you do not know the truth but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. 22 Who is a liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is an antichrist: the one who denies the Father and the Son. 23 Everyone who denies the Son does not have the Father. But the one who confesses the Son has the Father as well. 24 Let what you have heard from the beginning remain in you. If what you have heard from the beginning remains in you, then you will remain in the Son and the Father. 25 And this is what he promised you: eternal life.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.