Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

A Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem

122 I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord.” ² Our feet are standing inside your gates, O Jerusalem. ³ Jerusalem is built as a city where people come together. ⁴ That is where the different families go, the families of the Lord. There they give thanks to the name of the Lord, by the Law that was given to Israel. ⁵ For thrones were set there for telling who is guilty or not, the thrones of the house of David.

⁶ Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. May all go well for those who love you. ⁷ May there be peace within your walls. May all go well within your houses. ⁸ I will now say, “May peace be within you,” for the good of my brothers and my friends. ⁹ Because of the house of the Lord our God, I will pray for your good.

The Jews Destroy Those Who Try to Kill Them

9 Now came the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, when the king’s law was about to be carried out. It was the day when those who hated the Jews hoped to get the rule over them. But their plan was turned around, and the Jews ruled over those who hated them. ² The Jews gathered in their cities in all the parts of the nation of King Ahasuerus to hurt those who wanted to kill them. No one could stand in front of them, for the fear of them had come upon all the people. ³ The princes of the nation, the rulers, the leaders, and those who were doing the king’s work all helped the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai had come upon them. ⁴ For Mordecai was great in the king’s house. His name spread through all the nation, for the man Mordecai became greater and greater. ⁵ So the Jews killed and destroyed with sword all those who hated them. They did as they pleased to those who hated them.

¹⁸ But the Jews in Susa gathered on the thirteenth and fourteenth days of the same month. And they rested on the fifteenth day and made it a day of eating and joy. ¹⁹ So the Jews of the villages, who lived in the small towns without walls, made the fourteenth day of the month of Adar a special day of joy and eating and sharing their food with one another.

The Special Supper of Purim

²⁰ Mordecai wrote down these things. And he sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the nation of King Ahasuerus, both near and far. ²¹ He told them to remember the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar each year. ²² Because on those days the Jews got rid of those who hated them. It was a month which was changed from sorrow into joy, from a day of sorrow into a special day. He said that they should make them days of eating and joy and sending food to one another and gifts to the poor.

²³ So the Jews agreed to do what they had started to do, and what Mordecai had written to them.

⁴ “I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and then can do no more. ⁵ I will tell you the one to be afraid of. Be afraid of Him Who has power to put you into hell after He has killed you. Yes, I say to you, be afraid of Him!

⁶ “Are not five small birds sold for two small pieces of money? God does not forget even one of the birds. ⁷ God knows how many hairs you have on your head. Do not be afraid. You are worth more than many small birds.

⁸ “Also, I tell you, everyone who makes Me known to men, the Son of Man will make him known to the angels of God. ⁹ But whoever acts as if he does not know Me and does not make Me known to men, he will not be spoken of to the angels of God.

The Sin That Cannot Be Forgiven

¹⁰ “Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven. Whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. ¹¹ When they take you to the places of worship and to the courts and to the leaders of the country, do not be worried about what you should say or how to say it. ¹² The Holy Spirit will tell you what you should say at that time.”