Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Thanksgiving for Israel’s Deliverance

A Song of Ascents. Of David.

Haman Undertakes to Destroy the Jews

3 After these things King Ahasu-e′rus promoted Haman the Ag′agite, the son of Hammeda′tha, and advanced him and set his seat above all the princes who were with him. ² And all the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate bowed down and did obeisance to Haman; for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mor′decai did not bow down or do obeisance. ³ Then the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate said to Mor′decai, “Why do you transgress the king’s command?” ⁴ And when they spoke to him day after day and he would not listen to them, they told Haman, in order to see whether Mor′decai’s words would avail; for he had told them that he was a Jew. ⁵ And when Haman saw that Mor′decai did not bow down or do obeisance to him, Haman was filled with fury. ⁶ But he disdained to lay hands on Mor′decai alone. So, as they had made known to him the people of Mor′decai, Haman sought to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mor′decai, throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasu-e′rus.

⁷ In the first month, which is the month of Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasu-e′rus, they cast Pur, that is the lot, before Haman day after day; and they cast it month after month till the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar. ⁸ Then Haman said to King Ahasu-e′rus, “There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from those of every other people, and they do not keep the king’s laws, so that it is not for the king’s profit to tolerate them. ⁹ If it please the king, let it be decreed that they be destroyed, and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who have charge of the king’s business, that they may put it into the king’s treasuries.” ¹⁰ So the king took his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman the Ag′agite, the son of Hammeda′tha, the enemy of the Jews. ¹¹ And the king said to Haman, “The money is given to you, the people also, to do with them as it seems good to you.”

¹² Then the king’s secretaries were summoned on the thirteenth day of the first month, and an edict, according to all that Haman commanded, was written to the king’s satraps and to the governors over all the provinces and to the princes of all the peoples, to every province in its own script and every people in its own language; it was written in the name of King Ahasu-e′rus and sealed with the king’s ring. ¹³ Letters were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces, to destroy, to slay, and to annihilate all Jews, young and old, women and children, in one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods.

The King’s Letter

13 This is a copy of the letter: “The Great King, Ahasu-e′rus,^[a] to the rulers of the hundred and twenty-seven provinces from India to Ethiopia and to the governors under them, writes thus:

² “Having become ruler of many nations and master of the whole world, not elated with presumption of authority but always acting reasonably and with kindness, I have determined to settle the lives of my subjects in lasting tranquillity and, in order to make my kingdom peaceable and open to travel throughout all its extent, to re-establish the peace which all men desire.

³ “When I asked my counselors how this might be accomplished, Haman, who excels among us in sound judgment, and is distinguished for his unchanging good will and steadfast fidelity, and has attained the second place in the kingdom, ⁴ pointed out to us that among all the nations in the world there is scattered a certain hostile people, who have laws contrary to those of every nation and continually disregard the ordinances of the kings, so that the unifying of the kingdom which we honorably intend cannot be brought about. ⁵ We understand that this people, and it alone, stands constantly in opposition to all men, perversely following a strange manner of life and laws, and is ill-disposed to our government, doing all the harm they can so that our kingdom may not attain stability.

⁶ “Therefore we have decreed that those indicated to you in the letters of Haman, who is in charge of affairs and is our second father, shall all, with their wives and children, be utterly destroyed by the sword of their enemies, without pity or mercy, on the fourteenth day of the twelfth month, Adar, of this present year, ⁷ so that those who have long been and are now hostile may in one day go down in violence to Hades, and leave our government completely secure and untroubled hereafter.”

3 ¹⁴ A copy of the document was to be issued as a decree in every province by proclamation to all the peoples to be ready for that day. ¹⁵ The couriers went in haste by order of the king, and the decree was issued in Susa the capital. And the king and Haman sat down to drink; but the city of Susa was perplexed.

Salt and Light

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trodden under foot by men.

¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. ¹⁵ Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. ¹⁶ Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

The Law and the Prophets

¹⁷ “Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfil them.^{[a] 18} For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. ¹⁹ Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰ For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.