Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Esther Intercedes for Her People
7 So the king and Haman came to dine with Queen Esther, 2 and as they were drinking wine on the second day, the king asked Esther again, “Whatever you request, even as much as half of the kingdom, it will be given to you.”
3 So Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor in the eyes of the king, and if it pleases the king, grant me my life—this is my petition. And spare the life of my people—this is my request! 4 For we have been sold, I and my people, for destruction, slaughter and annihilation. If we had simply been sold as male and female slaves, I would have remained silent, for such distress would not be worth disturbing the king.”
5 King Ahasuerus responded to Queen Esther, “Who is he? Where is the man that presumed to do this?”
6 Esther replied, “The man—the adversary and foe—is this wicked Haman!”
Then Haman was terrified before the king and queen.
9 Harbonah, one of the eunuchs attending the king, said, “Look, a gallows fifty cubits high is standing next to Haman’s house. Haman himself made it for Mordecai, who spoke good on behalf of the king!”[a]
The king said, “Hang him on it!” 10 So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s rage subsided.
Purim Festival
20 Mordecai recorded these events and he sent letters to all the Jews throughout the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far, 21 urging them to celebrate the fourteenth and fifteenth days of Adar every year 22 as the days when the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month when their sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning into celebration. These were to be days of feasting, celebration and sending presents of food to one another and giving gifts to the poor.
Had He Not Been on Our Side
Psalm 124
1 A Song of Ascents. Of David.
“Had Adonai not been on our side”
—let Israel now say—
2 “Had Adonai not been on our side,
when men rose up against us,
3 then they would have swallowed us alive,
when their wrath burned against us.
4 Then the waters would have engulfed us,
the torrent would have swept over our soul,
5 then the raging waters
would have swept over our soul.”
6 Blessed be Adonai, who has not given us
as prey for their teeth.
7 Our soul has escaped like a bird
out of the snare of the trappers—
the snare is broken, and we escaped!
8 Our help is in the Name of Adonai,
Maker of heaven and earth.
Praying for the Sick
13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray.[a] Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praises. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of Messiah’s community, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 The prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. If he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 So confess your offenses to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous person is very powerful. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain. And it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. [b] 18 He prayed again, and the sky gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.
19 My brothers and sisters, if any among you strays from the truth and someone turns him back, 20 let him know that the one who turns a sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.[c]
38 John said to Him, “Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in Your name, and we tried to stop him because he wasn’t following us.”
39 But Yeshua responded, “Don’t stop him! No one who does a miracle in My name will be able soon afterward to speak evil about Me. 40 He who is not against us is for us. 41 For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name because you belong to Messiah, amen I tell you, he will never lose his reward.”
42 “But whoever causes one of these little ones who trust in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone put around his neck and to be thrown into the sea!”
The Secret of Salt
43 “And if your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off! It is better for you to enter into life crippled than, having two hands, to go to Gehenna,[a] into the unquenchable fire. (44) [b] 45 And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off! It’s better for you to enter life lame than, having your two feet, to be thrown into Gehenna. (46) 47 If your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out! It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than, having two eyes, to be thrown into Gehenna, 48 where
‘their worm does not die
and the fire is not quenched.’[c]
49 “For everyone will be salted with fire. 50 Salt is good; but if the salt becomes unsalty, with what will you flavor it? Have salt in yourselves, and keep shalom with one another.”
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.