Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

The Joy of Going to the House of the Lord

A Song of Ascents. Of David.

Haman Hanged Instead of Mordecai

7 So the king and Haman went to dine with Queen Esther. ² And on the second day, ^(A)at the banquet of wine, the king again said to Esther, “What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request, up to half the kingdom? It shall be done!”

³ Then Queen Esther answered and said, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request. ⁴ For we have been ^(B)sold, my people and I, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. Had we been sold as ^(C)male and female slaves, I would have held my tongue, although the enemy could never compensate for the king’s loss.”

⁵ So King Ahasuerus answered and said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who would dare presume in his heart to do such a thing?”

⁶ And Esther said, “The adversary and ^(D)enemy is this wicked Haman!”

So Haman was terrified before the king and queen.

⁷ Then the king arose in his wrath from the banquet of wine and went into the palace garden; but Haman stood before Queen Esther, pleading for his life, for he saw that evil was determined against him by the king. ⁸ When the king returned from the palace garden to the place of the banquet of wine, Haman had fallen across ^(E)the couch where Esther was. Then the king said, “Will he also assault the queen while I am in the house?”

As the word left the king’s mouth, they ^(F)covered Haman’s face. ⁹ Now ^(G)Harbonah, one of the eunuchs, said to the king, “Look! ^(H)The ^[a]gallows, fifty cubits high, which Haman made for Mordecai, who spoke ^(I)good on the king’s behalf, is standing at the house of Haman.”

Then the king said, “Hang him on it!”

¹⁰ So ^(J)they ^(K)hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s wrath subsided.

Vision of the Son of Man

⁹ I, John, ^[a]both your brother and ^(A)companion in the tribulation and ^(B)kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. ^10 (C)I was in the Spirit on ^(D)the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me ^(E)a loud voice, as of a trumpet, ¹¹ saying, ^[b]“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,” and, “What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches ^[c]which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.”

¹² Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned ^(F)I saw seven golden lampstands, ^13 (G)and in the midst of the seven lampstands ^(H)One like the Son of Man, ^(I)clothed with a garment down to the feet and ^(J)girded about the chest with a golden band. ¹⁴ His head and ^(K)hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and ^(L)His eyes like a flame of fire; ^15 (M)His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and ^(N)His voice as the sound of many waters; ^16 (O)He had in His right hand seven stars, ^(P)out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, ^(Q)and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. ¹⁷ And ^(R)when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But ^(S)He laid His right hand on me, saying ^[d]to me, “Do not be afraid; ^(T)I am the First and the Last. ^18 (U)I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, ^(V)I am alive forevermore. Amen. And ^(W)I have the keys of ^[e]Hades and of Death. ^19 [f]Write the things which you have ^(X)seen, ^(Y)and the things which are, ^(Z)and the things which will take place after this. ²⁰ The ^[g]mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are ^(AA)the ^[h]angels of the seven churches, and ^(AB)the seven lampstands ^[i]which you saw are the seven churches.