Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 122[a]
A Pilgrim’s Prayer for Jerusalem
1 A song of ascents. Of David.
I
I rejoiced when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord.”(A)
2 And now our feet are standing
within your gates, Jerusalem.
3 Jerusalem, built as a city,
walled round about.[b](B)
4 There the tribes go up,
the tribes of the Lord,
As it was decreed for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the Lord.(C)
5 There are the thrones of justice,
the thrones of the house of David.
II
Chapter 7
1 So the king and Haman went to the banquet with Queen Esther. 2 Again, on this second day, as they were drinking wine, the king said to Esther, “Whatever you ask, Queen Esther, shall be granted you. Whatever request you make, even for half the kingdom, shall be honored.”(A) 3 Queen Esther replied: “If I have found favor with you, O king, and if it pleases your majesty, I ask that my life be spared, and I beg that you spare the lives of my people. 4 For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, killed, and annihilated. If we were only to be sold into slavery I would remain silent, for then our distress would not have been worth troubling the king.”(B) 5 King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, “Who and where is the man who has dared to do this?”(C) 6 Esther replied, “The enemy oppressing us is this wicked Haman.” At this, Haman was seized with dread of the king and queen.
7 The king left the banquet in anger and went into the garden of the palace, but Haman stayed to beg Queen Esther for his life, since he saw that the king had decided on his doom. 8 When the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall, Haman had thrown himself on the couch on which Esther was reclining; and the king exclaimed, “Will he also violate the queen while she is with me in my own house!” Scarcely had the king spoken when the face of Haman was covered over.
Punishment of Haman. 9 (D)Harbona, one of the eunuchs who attended the king, said, “At the house of Haman stands a stake fifty cubits high. Haman made it for Mordecai, who gave the report that benefited the king.” The king answered, “Impale him on it.” 10 So they impaled Haman on the stake he had set up for Mordecai, and the anger of the king abated.
9 I, John, your brother, who share with you the distress, the kingdom, and the endurance we have in Jesus, found myself on the island called Patmos[a] because I proclaimed God’s word and gave testimony to Jesus. 10 I was caught up in spirit on the Lord’s day[b] and heard behind me a voice as loud as a trumpet, 11 which said, “Write on a scroll[c] what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.” 12 [d]Then I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to me, and when I turned, I saw seven gold lampstands 13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man,[e] wearing an ankle-length robe, with a gold sash around his chest.(A) 14 The hair of his head was as white as white wool or as snow,[f] and his eyes were like a fiery flame. 15 His feet were like polished brass refined in a furnace,[g] and his voice was like the sound of rushing water. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars.[h] A sharp two-edged sword came out of his mouth, and his face shone like the sun at its brightest.(B)
17 When I caught sight of him, I fell down at his feet as though dead.[i] He touched me with his right hand and said, “Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last,(C) 18 the one who lives. Once I was dead, but now I am alive forever and ever. I hold the keys to death and the netherworld.[j] 19 Write down, therefore, what you have seen, and what is happening, and what will happen afterwards.[k] 20 This is the secret meaning[l] of the seven stars you saw in my right hand, and of the seven gold lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.