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Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Daily Bible readings that follow the church liturgical year, with sequential stories told across multiple weeks.

Duration: 1245 days

Psalm 140

Psalm 140^[a]

Prayer for Deliverance from the Snares of the Wicked

¹For the director.^[b] A psalm of David.

²^[c]Deliver me, O Lord, from evildoers;
    protect me from those who are violent,
³who plan evil schemes in their hearts^[d]
    and stir up strife continually.
⁴Their tongues^[e] are as sharp as those of a serpent,
    while the venom of vipers is on their lips. Selah
⁵Guard me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked;
    protect me from those who are violent,
    who are determined to cause my downfall.
⁶The arrogant^[f] have set a hidden trap for me;
    they have spread out cords as a net,
    laying snares for me along the way. Selah
⁷^[g]I say to the Lord, “You are my God.
    Listen, O Lord, to the voice of my supplications.”
⁸O Lord, my God, my strong deliverer,
    you shield my head on the day of battle.
⁹Do not grant the desires of the wicked, O Lord;
    do not permit their evil plots to succeed,
    or they will become proud. Selah
¹⁰^[h]Those who surround me raise up their heads;
    let them be overwhelmed by the malice they threaten.
¹¹May burning coals rain down on them;
    may they be flung down into the miry depths,
    never again to rise.^[i]
¹²Do not permit slanderers to find rest in the land;
    may evil hunt the violent to their death.
¹³^[j]I know that the Lord secures justice for the poor
    and upholds the cause of the needy.
¹⁴Then the upright will give thanks to your name,
    and the righteous will dwell in your presence.

Footnotes

Psalm 140:1 More than once already we have heard the voice of a suffering, righteous person; he is the persecuted victim of the wicked, thieves, and calumniators. He calls down the vengeance of God on his enemies, while retaining his trust in the Lord. The state of the righteous and the harshness of the wicked are expressed in images often used. The opposition that biblical prayer places between poverty and violence, humility and arrogance, simplicity and falsehood is inescapable. To recite this psalm is to bear human misfortune, to become poor.
We can pray this psalm in the name of the Church who is continuously assailed by treacherous adversaries, both material and spiritual. Knowing the futility of earthly help, the Church takes her heavenly Spouse, Christ, as her sole refuge. He provides spiritual armor that is efficacious against the attacks of the enemy (see Eph 6:13-17; 1 Thes 5:8).
Psalm 140:1 For the director: these words are thought to be a musical or liturgical notation.
Psalm 140:2 The psalmist prays for deliverance from evildoers who sow discord with their speech and devise evil schemes, leading to anarchy and continuous agitation. Instead of following God’s way, they have chosen the alternative way of the “father of lies” who was “a murderer from the beginning” (Jn 8:44).
Psalm 140:3 Hearts: see note on Ps 4:8.
Psalm 140:4 Tongues: see note on Ps 5:10.
Psalm 140:6 The wicked seek to entrap the righteous as a fowler catches animals with a snare, net, or trap (see Pss 31:5; 119:110; 141:10; 142:4; Mt 22:15; Lk 11:54). Arrogant: see note on Ps 31:24.
Psalm 140:7 The psalmist seeks protection from the Lord of the covenant, for he alone is God and the Master of the world.
Psalm 140:10 The psalmist’s plea now becomes an imprecatory prayer, which is an expression for God’s just rule. Using metaphors for the divine judgment (burning coals and miry depths), he asks for redress (see notes on Pss 5:11; 35).
Psalm 140:11 Allusion to Sodom (see Gen 19) and Dathan (see Num 16). See also Pss 11:6; 36:13; 55:24; 141:10.
Psalm 140:13 The psalmist is confident that the Lord, the just Judge (see Pss 7:9f; 9:5), will vindicate the righteous poor (see notes on Pss 22:27; 34:7), who will then praise his name (see note on Ps 7:18) and live in his presence (see notes on Pss 23:5-6; 27:4).

Esther 5

Chapter 5

Esther’s Request to the King. [¹^[a]On the third day, Esther donned her royal garments and positioned herself in the inner courtyard in front of the king’s hall. The king was seated on his royal throne in the hall, facing the entrance. ²When he spotted Queen Esther standing in the courtyard, he made her welcome by holding out the golden scepter that was in his hand. So Esther came near and touched the top of the scepter.]

³Then the king asked, “What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? Even if it should be half of my kingdom,^[b] it will be given to you.”

⁴“If it pleases the king,” Esther replied, “I would like you and Haman to be my guests today at a banquet that I have prepared for you.”

⁵Thereupon the king exclaimed, “Hurry, bring Haman here so that we may do what Esther wishes.” With that, the king and Haman went to Esther’s banquet.

⁶As they were drinking wine, the king again asked Esther, “Now, what is your petition? It will be given you. And what is your request? Even if it is up to half of my kingdom, it will be granted.”

⁷Esther replied, “My petition and my request is this: ⁸If I have found favor with the king and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and fulfill my request, let the king and Haman come tomorrow to another banquet that I will prepare for them. Then I will answer the king’s question.”

Haman’s Rage against Mordecai. ⁹When Haman left that day he was happy and in a good mood. But when he caught sight of Mordecai at the king’s gate and noted that he neither rose nor showed fear in his presence, he was consumed with rage toward Mordecai. ¹⁰Nonetheless, he was able to control himself and go home.

Then he invited his friends to his house and asked his wife, Zeresh, to join them. ¹¹Haman boasted to them about his great wealth, his many sons, and about the honor the king had paid him by promoting him above the other nobles and officials. ¹²“And even more than this,” Haman added, “Queen Esther invited me as the only one to the banquet with the king today, and tomorrow I am again invited to be her guest with the king. ¹³Yet I get no pleasure out of any of this as long as I see that Jew Mordecai seated at the king’s gate.”

¹⁴Then his wife, Zeresh, and all his friends suggested, “Why not have a gibbet set up, fifty cubits high,^[c] and in the morning ask the king to have Mordecai hanged on it. Then go to the banquet with the king and enjoy yourself.” Haman liked the idea, and he had the gibbet built.

1 John 2:18-25

Behold the Antichrist^[a]

¹⁸Dear children,
this is the last hour.
You have heard that the Antichrist was coming,
and now many antichrists have already come.^[b]
Thus, we know
that it is the final hour.
¹⁹They went out from us,
but they never really belonged to us.
If they had belonged to us,
they would have remained with us.
By departing from us,
they made it clear
that none of them belonged to us.
²⁰However, you have been anointed
by the Holy One,^[c]
and you all have knowledge.
²¹I write to you
not because you do not know the truth
but because you do know it,
and because no lie can come from the truth.
²²Who is the liar
but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ?
The antichrist is
anyone who denies both the Father and the Son.
²³Whoever denies the Son
does not have the Father,
but whoever acknowledges the Son
has the Father also.
²⁴Let what you heard from the beginning
remain in you.
If what you heard from the beginning
remains in you,
then you will remain in the Son
and in the Father
²⁵And this is the promise he made to us:
eternal life.

Footnotes

1 John 2:18 New teachers have arisen proclaiming a message different from that of the Gospel of Jesus. Is this not a sign that the end is near? The circumstances that Jesus had described in this respect (see Mk 13:22; see also 2 Thes 3:4; Rev 13:12-15) suddenly appear to be present. It is at least a time of crisis. The false teachers refuse to acknowledge either Christ or the Father, and they do away with the Gospel. The author is quick to set these teachers straight: those who do not accept the Gospel are no longer in the Church in spite of all appearances. Believers should cling to the teaching they originally received, i.e., to the great ideas of Christian initiation, for what is at issue is the Word of Jesus. They have been anointed by the Holy One, that is, they are penetrated by the word and the grace of Jesus. Let them not be concerned with new words and new teachings but be alert to await the Lord’s coming.
1 John 2:18 Scripture distinguishes the Antichrist from many antichrists and from the spirit of the Antichrist (1 Jn 4:3). Here John is speaking of all who follow the Antichrist and imitate his evil spirit. He assumes that his readers know that a great enemy of his people will arise before Christ’s return. This enemy is the Antichrist, “the man of lawlessness” (see notes on 2 Thes 2:3b-12 and 2:3b-4) and “the beast” (Rev 13:1-10). But before his coming there will be many antichrists characterized by (1) denial of Christ’s Incarnation (see 1 Jn 4:2; 2 Jn 7) and Divinity (see 1 Jn 2:22); (2) denial of the Father (see 1 Jn 2:22); (3) nonpossession of the Father (see 1 Jn 2:23); (4) falsehoods (see 1 Jn 2:22), deceptions (see 2 Jn 7); (5) many in number (see 1 Jn 2:18); (6) nothing in common with believers (see 1 Jn 2:19).
1 John 2:20 Anointed by the Holy One: reference to the Spirit who has been given to the Messiah (see Isa 11:2; 61:1), and then conferred by the Messiah on believers (see 1 Jn 3:24; 4:13; 2 Cor 1:21) so as to teach them about all things (see 1 Jn 2:27; Jn 16:13f; 1 Cor 2:10, 15). As a result, the words of Jesus are “spirit and life” (Jn 6:63).

New Catholic Bible (NCB)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 140[a]

Prayer for Deliverance from the Snares of the Wicked

Footnotes

Chapter 5

Footnotes

Behold the Antichrist[a]

Footnotes

Psalm 140^[a]

Behold the Antichrist^[a]