Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 122^[a]

The Pilgrim’s Greeting to the Holy City

¹ A song of ascents. Of David.

Chapter 9

Triumph of the Jews.^{[a] 1} On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month of Adar, the edict of the king was to become effective. It was on this day that the enemies of the Jews had expected to become masters of them. But in a role reversal it was the Jews who became masters of their enemies. ² The Jews assembled in their cities in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to attack those seeking their destruction. No one could withstand them, because the people of all the other nationalities were afraid of them. ³ Moreover, all of the provinces, the satraps, the governors and the king’s administrators helped the Jews, out of fear of Mordecai. ⁴ Mordecai was powerful in the palace: his fame spread throughout the provinces, and his power kept on growing.

⁵ The Jews overcame all their enemies with the sword, killing and destroying them, and did what they pleased to their enemies.

¹⁸ The Jews in Susa, however, had assembled on the thirteenth and fourteenth of the month of Adar. On the fifteenth of the month they rested, and made it a day of feasting and joy.

¹⁹ That is why rural Jews, who live in villages, observe the fourteenth of the month of Adar as a day of feasting and rejoicing, a holiday on which they give presents to one another. Instead, those who live in large cities celebrate the fifteenth of Adar as a day of feasting and joy and give presents to each other.^[a]

²⁰ The Feast of Purim.^[b] Mordecai recorded these events, and dispatched letters to all the Jews throughout the provinces of King Ahasuerus, to both those who were near and those who were far off. ²¹ He commanded them to celebrate every year the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar, ²² as the time when the Jews succeeded in obtaining relief from their enemies and as the month when their sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning into a day of celebration. He wrote them to observe these days as days of feasting and rejoicing, sending food to one another and gifts to the poor.

²³ So the Jews accepted all that Mordecai had written to them.

Courage in Time of Persecution. ⁴ “I tell you, my friends, have no fear of those who kill the body and after that can do nothing further. ⁵ But I will tell you whom to fear. Be afraid of the one who, after he has killed, has the authority to cast into Gehenna. I tell you, fear him!

⁶ “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight. ⁷ Even the hairs on your head have all been counted. Do not be afraid. You are worth far more than any number of sparrows.

⁸ “I tell you this: whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge before the angels of God. ⁹ But whoever denies me before men, he will be denied before the angels of God.

¹⁰ Sayings about the Holy Spirit.“Everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the person who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.^{[a] 11} When you are brought before synagogues and rulers and authorities, do not be concerned about how or what you are to answer or what you are to say. ¹² When the time comes, the Holy Spirit will teach you what you are to say.”