Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 122
A Prayer for Jerusalem
A song of ascents. Of David.
1 I rejoiced with those who said to me,
“Let’s go to the house of the Lord.”(A)
2 Our feet were standing
within your gates, Jerusalem(B)—
3 Jerusalem, built as a city should be,
solidly united,(C)
4 where the tribes, the Lord’s tribes, go up
to give thanks to the name of the Lord.(D)
(This is an ordinance for Israel.(E))
5 There, thrones for judgment are placed,
thrones of the house of David.(F)
6 Pray for the well-being[a] of Jerusalem:
“May those who love you be secure;(G)
7 may there be peace within your walls,
security within your fortresses.”(H)
8 Because of my brothers and friends,
I will say, “May peace be in you.”[b](I)
9 Because of the house of the Lord our God,
I will pursue your prosperity.(J)
Victories of the Jews
9 The king’s command and law(A) went into effect on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month,(B) the month Adar. On the day when the Jews’ enemies(C) had hoped to overpower them, just the opposite happened. The Jews overpowered those who hated them.(D) 2 In each of King Ahasuerus’s provinces(E) the Jews assembled in their cities to attack those who intended to harm them.[a] Not a single person could withstand them; fear of them(F) fell on every nationality.(G)
3 All the officials of the provinces, the satraps, the governors, and the royal civil administrators[b](H) aided the Jews because they feared Mordecai.(I) 4 For Mordecai exercised great power in the palace,(J) and his fame spread throughout the provinces as he became more and more powerful.(K)
5 The Jews put all their enemies to the sword, killing and destroying them.(L) They did what they pleased to those who hated them.
18 But the Jews in Susa had assembled on the thirteenth and the fourteenth days of the month. They rested on the fifteenth day of the month, and it became a day of feasting and rejoicing.(A) 19 This explains why the rural Jews who live in villages observe the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a time of rejoicing and feasting. It is a holiday when they send gifts to one another.(B)
20 Mordecai(C) recorded these events and sent letters to all the Jews in all of King Ahasuerus’s provinces, both near and far. 21 He ordered(D) them to celebrate the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar every year 22 because during those days the Jews gained relief from(E) their enemies. That was the month when their sorrow was turned into rejoicing and their mourning into a holiday.(F) They were to be days of feasting,(G) rejoicing, and of sending gifts to one another and to the poor.
23 So the Jews agreed to continue the practice they had begun, as Mordecai had written them to do.
Fear God
4 “I say to you, my friends,(A) don’t fear(B) those who kill the body, and after that can do nothing more. 5 But I will show you the one to fear: Fear(C) him who has authority to throw people into hell(D) after death. Yes, I say to you, this is the one to fear! 6 Aren’t five sparrows sold for two pennies?[a] Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight.(E) 7 Indeed, the hairs of your head are all counted. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
Acknowledging Christ
8 “And I say to you, anyone who acknowledges(F) me before others, the Son of Man(G) will also acknowledge him before the angels of God,(H) 9 but whoever denies me before others will be denied before the angels of God.(I) 10 Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven,(J) but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit(K) will not be forgiven. 11 Whenever(L) they bring you before synagogues and rulers and authorities,(M) don’t worry(N) about how you should defend(O) yourselves or what you should say. 12 For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that very hour what must be said.”(P)
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