Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 140
Prayer for Rescue
For the choir director. A psalm of David.
1 Rescue me, Lord, from evil men.
Keep me safe from violent men(A)
2 who plan evil in their hearts.
They stir up wars all day long.(B)
3 They make their tongues
as sharp as a snake’s bite;
viper’s venom is under their lips.(C)Selah
4 Protect me, Lord,
from the power of the wicked.(D)
Keep me safe from violent men
who plan to make me stumble.[a](E)
5 The proud hide a trap with ropes for me;
they spread a net along the path
and set snares for me.(F)Selah
6 I say to the Lord, “You are my God.”
Listen, Lord, to my cry for help.(G)
7 Lord, my Lord, my strong Savior,
you shield my head on the day of battle.(H)
8 Lord, do not grant the desires of the wicked;
do not let them achieve their goals.
Otherwise, they will become proud.(I)Selah
Esther Approaches the King
5 On the third day,(A) Esther dressed in her royal clothing and stood in the inner courtyard(B) of the palace facing it. The king was sitting on his royal throne in the royal courtroom,[a] facing its entrance. 2 As soon as the king saw Queen Esther standing in the courtyard, she gained favor with him. The king extended the gold scepter in his hand toward Esther, and she approached and touched the tip of the scepter.(C)
3 “What is it, Queen Esther?” the king asked her. “Whatever you want, even to half the kingdom, will be given to you.”(D)
4 “If it pleases the king,” Esther replied, “may the king and Haman come today to the banquet(E) I have prepared for them.”
5 The king said, “Hurry, and get Haman so we can do as Esther has requested.” So the king and Haman went to the banquet Esther had prepared.
6 While drinking the[b] wine,(F) the king asked Esther, “Whatever you ask will be given to you. Whatever you want, even to half the kingdom, will be done.”
7 Esther answered, “This is my petition and my request: 8 If I have found favor in the eyes of the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and perform my request,(G) may the king and Haman come to the banquet I will prepare for them.(H) Tomorrow I will do what the king has asked.”
9 That day Haman left full of joy and in good spirits.[c](I) But when Haman saw Mordecai at the King’s Gate, and Mordecai didn’t rise or tremble in fear at his presence, Haman was filled with rage toward Mordecai.(J) 10 Yet Haman controlled himself and went home. He sent for his friends and his wife Zeresh(K) to join him. 11 Then Haman described for them his glorious wealth and his many sons. He told them all how the king had honored him and promoted him in rank over the other officials and the royal staff.(L) 12 “What’s more,” Haman added, “Queen Esther invited no one but me to join the king at the banquet she had prepared. I am invited again tomorrow to join her with the king. 13 Still, none of this satisfies me since I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the King’s Gate all the time.”
14 His wife Zeresh and all his friends told him, “Have them build a gallows seventy-five feet[d] tall.(M) Ask the king in the morning to hang Mordecai on it. Then go to the banquet with the king and enjoy yourself.” The advice pleased Haman, so he had the gallows constructed.(N)
The Last Hour
18 Children, it is the last hour.(A) And as you have heard that antichrist(B) is coming, even now many antichrists have come. By this we know that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they did not belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. However, they went out so that it might be made clear that none of them belongs to us.
20 But you have an anointing(C) from the Holy One,(D) and all of you know the truth.[a] 21 I have not written to you because you don’t know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie comes from the truth. 22 Who is the liar, if not the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ?(E) This one is the antichrist: the one who denies the Father and the Son. 23 No one who denies the Son has the Father;(F) he who confesses the Son has the Father as well.(G)
Remaining with God
24 What you have heard from the beginning is to remain in you. If what you have heard from the beginning remains in you, then you will remain in the Son(H) and in the Father.(I) 25 And this is the promise that he himself made to us: eternal life.(J)
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