Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

To the chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

140 Free me, O Jehovah, from the evil man; preserve me from the violent man:

² Who devise mischiefs in [their] heart; every day are they banded together for war.

³ They sharpen their tongues like a serpent; adders' poison is under their lips. Selah.

⁴ Keep me, O Jehovah, from the hands of the wicked [man], preserve me from the violent man, who devise to overthrow my steps.

⁵ The proud have hidden a snare for me, and cords; they have spread a net by the way-side; they have set traps for me. Selah.

⁶ I have said unto Jehovah, Thou art my God: give ear, O Jehovah, to the voice of my supplications.

⁷ Jehovah, the Lord, is the strength of my salvation: thou hast covered my head in the day of battle.

⁸ Grant not, O Jehovah, the desire of the wicked; further not his device: they would exalt themselves. Selah.

⁹ [As for] the head of those that encompass me, let the mischief of their own lips cover them.

¹⁰ Let burning coals fall on them; let them be cast into the fire; into deep waters, that they rise not up again.

¹¹ Let not the man of [evil] tongue be established in the earth: evil shall hunt the man of violence to [his] ruin.

¹² I know that Jehovah will maintain the cause of the afflicted one, the right of the needy.

¹³ Yea, the righteous shall give thanks unto thy name; the upright shall dwell in thy presence.

8 On that day did king Ahasuerus give the house of Haman the Jews' oppressor to Esther the queen. And Mordecai came before the king; for Esther had told what he was to her.

² And the king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.

³ And Esther spoke yet again before the king, and fell down at his feet, and besought him with tears to put away the mischief of Haman the Agagite, and his device which he had devised against the Jews.

⁴ And the king held out the golden sceptre toward Esther. And Esther arose and stood before the king,

⁵ and said, If it please the king and if I have found grace before him, and the thing seem right to the king, and I be pleasing in his sight, let it be written to reverse the letters devised by Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews that are in all the king's provinces.

⁶ For how shall I endure to see the evil that shall befall my people? and how shall I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?

⁷ And king Ahasuerus said to queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and him they have hanged upon the gallows, because he stretched forth his hand against the Jews.

⁸ Write ye then for the Jews as seems good to you, in the king's name, and seal [it] with the king's ring. For a writing that is written in the king's name, and sealed with the king's ring, cannot be reversed.

⁹ Then were the king's scribes called at that time, in the third month, that is, the month Sivan, on the three and twentieth [day] thereof; and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded, to the Jews, and to the satraps, and the governors, and the princes of the provinces which are from India even to Ethiopia, a hundred and twenty-seven provinces, to every province according to the writing thereof, and to every people according to their language, and to the Jews according to their writing and according to their language.

¹⁰ And he wrote in the name of king Ahasuerus, and sealed [it] with the king's ring, and sent letters by couriers on horseback riding on coursers, horses of blood reared in the breeding studs:

¹¹ [stating] that the king granted the Jews that were in every city to gather themselves together, and to stand for their life, to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish, all the power of the people and province that might assault them, [their] little ones and women, and to [take] the spoil of them for a prey,

¹² upon one day in all the provinces of king Ahasuerus, upon the thirteenth of the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar.

¹³ That the decree might be given in every province, a copy of the writing was published to all the peoples, and that the Jews should be ready against that day to avenge themselves on their enemies.

¹⁴ The couriers mounted on coursers [and] horses of blood went out, being hastened and pressed on by the king's commandment. And the decree was given at Shushan the fortress.

¹⁵ And Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a mantle of byssus and purple; and the city of Shushan shouted and was glad.

¹⁶ The Jews had light, and joy, and gladness, and honour.

¹⁷ And in every province, and in every city, wherever the king's commandment and his decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a good day. And many among the peoples of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews had fallen upon them.

⁶ But whosoever shall offend one of these little ones who believe in me, it were profitable for him that a great millstone had been hanged upon his neck and he be sunk in the depths of the sea.

⁷ Woe to the world because of offences! For it must needs be that offences come; yet woe to that man by whom the offence comes!

⁸ And if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut it off and cast [it] from thee; it is good for thee to enter into life lame or maimed, [rather] than having two hands or two feet to be cast into eternal fire.

⁹ And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out and cast [it] from thee; it is good for thee to enter into life one-eyed, [rather] than having two eyes to be cast into the hell of fire.