Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem.

A Song of Ascents, of David.

The Jews Destroy Their Enemies

9 Now ^(A)in the twelfth month (that is, the month Adar), on ^(B)the thirteenth ^[a]day ^(C)when the king’s command and edict ^[b]were about to be executed, on the day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain the mastery over them, it was turned to the contrary so that the Jews themselves gained the mastery over those who hated them. ^2 (D)The Jews assembled in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to lay hands on those who sought their harm; and no one could stand before them, ^(E)for the dread of them had fallen on all the peoples. ³ Even all the princes of the provinces, ^(F)the satraps, the governors and those who were doing the king’s business ^[c]assisted the Jews, because the dread of Mordecai had fallen on them. ⁴ Indeed, Mordecai was great in the king’s house, and his fame spread throughout all the provinces; for the man Mordecai ^(G)became greater and greater. ⁵ Thus ^(H)the Jews struck all their enemies with ^[d]the sword, killing and destroying; and they did what they pleased to those who hated them.

¹⁸ But the Jews who were in Susa ^(A)assembled on the thirteenth and ^(B)the fourteenth ^[a]of the same month, and they rested on the fifteenth ^[b]day and made it a day of feasting and rejoicing. ¹⁹ Therefore the Jews of the rural areas, who live in ^(C)the rural towns, make the fourteenth day of the month Adar a ^[c](D)holiday for rejoicing and feasting and ^(E)sending portions of food to one another.

The Feast of Purim Instituted

²⁰ Then Mordecai recorded these events, and he sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far, ²¹ obliging them to celebrate the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day ^[d]of the same month, annually, ²² because on those days the Jews ^[e]rid themselves of their enemies, and it was a month which was ^(F)turned for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a ^[f]holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and rejoicing and ^(G)sending portions of food to one another and gifts to the poor.

²³ Thus the Jews undertook what they had started to do, and what Mordecai had written to them.

⁴ “I say to you, ^(A)My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do. ⁵ But I will ^[a]warn you whom to fear: ^(B)fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into ^[b](C)hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him! ⁶ Are not ^(D)five sparrows sold for two ^[c]cents? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God. ^7 (E)Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.

⁸ “And I say to you, everyone who ^(F)confesses Me before men, the Son of Man will confess him also before the angels of God; ⁹ but ^(G)he who denies Me before men will be denied ^(H)before the angels of God. ^10 (I)And everyone who ^[d]speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him. ¹¹ When they bring you before ^(J)the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not ^(K)worry about how or what you are to speak in your defense, or what you are to say; ¹² for ^(L)the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”