Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
7 So the king and Haman went in to feast with Queen Esther. 2 And on the second day, as they were drinking wine after the feast, the king again said to Esther, (A)“What is your wish, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? (B)Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.” 3 Then Queen Esther answered, (C)“If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be granted me for my wish, and my people for my request. 4 (D)For we have been sold, I and my people, (E)to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I would have been silent, for our affliction is not to be compared with the loss to the king.” 5 Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who has dared[a] to do this?” 6 And Esther said, (F)“A foe and enemy! This wicked Haman!” Then Haman was terrified before the king and the queen.
9 Then (A)Harbona, one of the eunuchs in attendance on the king, said, “Moreover, (B)the gallows[a] that Haman has prepared for Mordecai, (C)whose word saved the king, is standing at Haman's house, fifty cubits[b] high.” And the king said, “Hang him on that.” 10 (D)So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. (E)Then the wrath of the king abated.
The Feast of Purim Inaugurated
20 And Mordecai recorded these things and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far, 21 obliging them to keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar and also the fifteenth day of the same, year by year, 22 as the days on which the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month that had been turned for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into (A)a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, days for sending gifts of food to one another and gifts to the poor.
Our Help Is in the Name of the Lord
A Song of (A)Ascents. Of David.
124 (B)If it had not been the Lord who was on our side—
(C)let Israel now say—
2 if it had not been the Lord who was on our side
when people rose up against us,
3 then they would have (D)swallowed us up alive,
when their anger was kindled against us;
4 then (E)the flood would have (F)swept us away,
the torrent would have gone (G)over us;
5 then over us would have gone
the raging waters.
6 Blessed be the Lord,
who has not given us
as prey to their teeth!
7 We have escaped like a bird
from (H)the snare of the fowlers;
the snare is broken,
and we have escaped!
8 (I)Our help is in the name of the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
The Prayer of Faith
13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him (A)sing praise. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, (B)anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And (C)if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore, (D)confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, (E)that you may be healed. (F)The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.[a] 17 Elijah was a man (G)with a nature like ours, and (H)he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for (I)three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18 (J)Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.
19 My brothers, (K)if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone (L)brings him back, 20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering (M)will save his soul from death and (N)will cover a multitude of sins.
Anyone Not Against Us Is for Us
38 (A)John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone (B)casting out demons in your name,[a] and (C)we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” 39 But Jesus said, “Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. 40 (D)For the one who is not against us is for us. 41 For truly, I say to you, (E)whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will by no means lose his reward.
Temptations to Sin
42 (F)“Whoever causes one of (G)these little ones who believe in me to sin,[b] (H)it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. 43 (I)And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to (J)hell,[c] to (K)the unquenchable fire.[d] 45 (L)And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into (M)hell. 47 (N)And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into (O)hell, 48 ‘where (P)their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’ 49 For everyone will be salted with fire.[e] 50 (Q)Salt is good, (R)but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? (S)Have salt in yourselves, and (T)be at peace with one another.”
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.