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Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Daily Bible readings that follow the church liturgical year, with sequential stories told across multiple weeks.
Duration: 1245 days
New English Translation (NET)
Version
Psalm 140

Psalm 140[a]

For the music director, a psalm of David.

140 O Lord, rescue me from wicked men.[b]
Protect me from violent men,[c]
who plan ways to harm me.[d]
All day long they stir up conflict.[e]
Their tongues wound like a serpent;[f]
a viper’s[g] venom is behind[h] their lips. (Selah)
O Lord, shelter me from the power[i] of the wicked.
Protect me from violent men,
who plan to knock me over.[j]
Proud men hide a snare for me;
evil men[k] spread a net by the path.
They set traps for me. (Selah)
I say to the Lord, “You are my God.”
O Lord, pay attention to my plea for mercy.
O Sovereign Lord, my strong deliverer,[l]
you shield[m] my head in the day of battle.
O Lord, do not let the wicked have their way.[n]
Do not allow their[o] plan to succeed when they attack.[p] (Selah)
As for the heads of those who surround me—
may the harm done by[q] their lips overwhelm them.
10 May he rain down[r] fiery coals upon them.
May he throw them into the fire.
From bottomless pits they will not escape.[s]
11 A slanderer[t] will not endure on[u] the earth;
calamity will hunt down a violent man and strike him down.[v]
12 I know[w] that the Lord defends the cause of the oppressed
and vindicates the poor.[x]
13 Certainly the godly will give thanks to your name;
the morally upright will live in your presence.

Esther 8

The King Acts to Protect the Jews

On that same day King Ahasuerus gave the estate[a] of Haman, that adversary of the Jews, to Queen Esther. Now Mordecai had come before the king, for Esther had revealed how he was related to her. The king then removed his signet ring (the very one he had taken back from Haman) and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther designated Mordecai to be in charge of Haman’s estate.

Then Esther again spoke with the king, falling at his feet. She wept and begged him for mercy, that he might nullify the evil of Haman the Agagite and the plot that he had intended against the Jews.[b] When the king extended to Esther the gold scepter, she[c] arose and stood before the king.

She said, “If the king is so inclined, and if I have met with his approval, and if the matter is agreeable to the king, and if I am attractive to him, let an edict be written rescinding those recorded intentions of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite,[d] which he wrote in order to destroy the Jews who are throughout all the king’s provinces. For how can I watch the calamity that will befall my people, and how can I watch the destruction of my relatives?”[e]

King Ahasuerus replied to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Look, I have already given Haman’s estate to Esther, and he has been hanged on the gallows because he took hostile action[f] against the Jews. Now write in the king’s name whatever in your opinion is appropriate concerning the Jews and seal it with the king’s signet ring. Any decree that is written in the king’s name and sealed with the king’s signet ring cannot be rescinded.”

The king’s scribes were quickly[g] summoned—in the third month (that is, the month of Sivan), on the twenty-third day.[h] They wrote out[i] everything that Mordecai instructed to the Jews, and to the satraps, and the governors, and the officials of the provinces all the way from India to Ethiopia[j]—127 provinces in all—to each province in its own script and to each people in their own language, and to the Jews according to their own script and their own language. 10 Mordecai[k] wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed it with the king’s signet ring. He then sent letters by couriers, who rode royal horses that were very swift.

11 The king thereby allowed the Jews who were in every city to assemble and to stand up for themselves—to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate any army of whatever people or province that should become their adversaries, including their women and children,[l] and to confiscate their property. 12 This was to take place on a certain day throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus—namely, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month (that is, the month of Adar). 13 A copy of the edict was to be presented as law throughout each and every province and made known to all peoples, so that the Jews might be prepared on that[m] day to avenge themselves on their enemies.

14 The couriers who were riding the royal horses went forth with the king’s edict without delay.[n] And the law was presented in Susa the citadel as well.

15 Now Mordecai went out from the king’s presence in blue and white royal attire, with a large golden crown and a purple linen mantle. The city of Susa shouted with joy.[o] 16 For the Jews there was radiant happiness and joyous honor.[p] 17 Throughout every province and throughout every city where the king’s edict and his law arrived, the Jews experienced happiness and joy, banquets and holidays. Many of the resident peoples[q] pretended to be Jews,[r] because the fear of the Jews had overcome them.[s]

Matthew 18:6-9

“But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin,[a] it would be better for him to have a huge millstone[b] hung around his neck and to be drowned in the open sea.[c] Woe to the world because of stumbling blocks! It[d] is necessary that stumbling blocks come, but woe to the person through whom they come. If[e] your hand or your foot causes you to sin,[f] cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than to have[g] two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye than to have[h] two eyes and be thrown into fiery hell.[i]

New English Translation (NET)

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