Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem
Psalm 122
1 A Song of Ascents. Of David.
I rejoiced when they said to me,
“Let us go to the House of Adonai.”
2 Our feet are standing in your gates, Jerusalem—
3 Jerusalem, built as a city
joined together.
4 There the tribes go up,
the tribes of Adonai
—as a testimony to Israel—
to praise the Name of Adonai.
5 For there thrones for judgment are set up,
the thrones of the house of David.
6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem—
“May those who love you be at peace!
7 May there be shalom within your walls—
quietness within your palaces.”
8 For the sake of my brothers and friends,
I now say: “Shalom be within you.”
9 For the sake of the House of Adonai our God,
I will seek your good.
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. 7 Enraged, the king got up from the banquet of wine and withdrew to the palace garden. But Haman stayed behind to plead with Queen Esther for his life, for he realized that the king had determined a catastrophic end for him.
8 When the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall, Haman was falling on the same couch where Esther was. The king exclaimed, “Will he also assault the queen while she is with me in the palace?”
As soon as these words came out of the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face. 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.
9 I, John, your brother and fellow partaker with you in the tribulation and kingdom and patient endurance that are in Yeshua, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Yeshua. 10 I was in the Ruach on the Day of the Lord,[a] and I heard behind me a loud voice like that of a trumpet, 11 saying, “Write what you see in a scroll,[b] and send it to Messiah’s seven communities—to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.”
Vision of the Glorious Son of Man
12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned, I saw seven golden menorot. [c] 13 In the midst of the menorot, I saw One like a Son of Man, clothed in a robe down to His feet, with a golden belt wrapped around His chest. [d] 14 His head and His hair were white like wool, white like snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire. [e] 15 His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace,[f] and His voice was like the roar of rushing waters. [g] 16 In His right hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came forth a sharp, two-edged sword.[h] His face was like the sun shining at full strength.[i]
17 When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man.[j] But He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid! I am the First and the Last, [k] 18 and the One who lives. I was dead, but look—I am alive forever and ever! Moreover, I hold the keys of death and Sheol. [l] 19 Therefore write down what you have seen, what is, and what will happen after these things. 20 As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden menorot—the seven stars are the angels of Messiah’s seven communities, and the seven menorahs are the seven communities.”
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.