Luke 19:39-48
[39]
And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke
your disciples.” [40] He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent,
the very stones would cry out.”
[41]
And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, [42] saying,
“Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make
for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. [43] For the days
will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you
and surround you and hem you in on every side [44] and tear you down to
the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave
one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your
visitation.”
[45]
And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, [46]
saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’
but you have made it a den of robbers.”
[47]
And he was teaching daily in the temple. The chief priests and the
scribes and the principal men of the people were seeking to destroy him,
[48] but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people
were hanging on his words.
Titus 3:1-8
[1]
Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient,
to be ready for every good work, [2] to speak evil of no one, to avoid
quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all
people. [3] For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray,
slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice
and envy, hated by others and hating one another. [4] But when the
goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, [5] he saved
us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to
his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy
Spirit, [6] whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our
Savior, [7] so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs
according to the hope of eternal life. [8] The saying is trustworthy,
and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have
believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These
things are excellent and profitable for people.
Proverbs 16:1-16
[1] The plans of the heart belong to man,
but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.
[2]
All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes,
but the LORD weighs the spirit.
[3]
Commit your work to the LORD,
and your plans will be established.
[4]
The LORD has made everything for its purpose,
even the wicked for the day of trouble.
[5]
Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the LORD;
be assured, he will not go unpunished.
[6]
By steadfast love and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for,
and by the fear of the LORD one turns away from evil.
[7]
When a man’s ways please the LORD,
he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.
[8]
Better is a little with righteousness
than great revenues with injustice.
[9]
The heart of man plans his way,
but the LORD establishes his steps.
[10]
An oracle is on the lips of a king;
his mouth does not sin in judgment.
[11]
A just balance and scales are the LORD’s;
all the weights in the bag are his work.
[12]
It is an abomination to kings to do evil,
for the throne is established by righteousness.
[13]
Righteous lips are the delight of a king,
and he loves him who speaks what is right.
[14]
A king’s wrath is a messenger of death,
and a wise man will appease it.
[15]
In the light of a king’s face there is life,
and his favor is like the clouds that bring the spring rain.
[16]
How much better to get wisdom than gold!
To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.
Esther 3
[1]
After these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman the Agagite, the son
of Hammedatha, and advanced him and set his throne above all the
officials who were with him. [2] And all the king’s servants who were at
the king’s gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman, for the king had
so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai did not bow down or pay
homage. [3] Then the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate said to
Mordecai, “Why do you transgress the king’s command?” [4] And when they
spoke to him day after day and he would not listen to them, they told
Haman, in order to see whether Mordecai’s words would stand, for he had
told them that he was a Jew. [5] And when Haman saw that Mordecai did
not bow down or pay homage to him, Haman was filled with fury. [6] But
he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone. So, as they had made known
to him the people of Mordecai, Haman sought to destroy all the Jews, the
people of Mordecai, throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus.
[7]
In the first month, which is the month of Nisan, in the twelfth year of
King Ahasuerus, they cast Pur (that is, they cast lots) before Haman
day after day; and they cast it month after month till the twelfth
month, which is the month of Adar. [8] Then Haman said to King
Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed
among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom. Their laws are
different from those of every other people, and they do not keep the
king’s laws, so that it is not to the king’s profit to tolerate them.
[9] If it please the king, let it be decreed that they be destroyed, and
I will pay 10,000 talents of silver into the hands of those who have
charge of the king’s business, that they may put it into the king’s
treasuries.” [10] So the king took his signet ring from his hand and
gave it to Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the
Jews. [11] And the king said to Haman, “The money is given to you, the
people also, to do with them as it seems good to you.”
[12]
Then the king’s scribes were summoned on the thirteenth day of the
first month, and an edict, according to all that Haman commanded, was
written to the king’s satraps and to the governors over all the
provinces and to the officials of all the peoples, to every province in
its own script and every people in its own language. It was written in
the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with the king’s signet ring. [13]
Letters were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces with
instruction to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all Jews, young and
old, women and children, in one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth
month, which is the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods. [14] A
copy of the document was to be issued as a decree in every province by
proclamation to all the peoples to be ready for that day. [15] The
couriers went out hurriedly by order of the king, and the decree was
issued in Susa the citadel. And the king and Haman sat down to drink,
but the city of Susa was thrown into confusion.
Esther 4
[1]
When Mordecai learned all that had been done, Mordecai tore his clothes
and put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the
city, and he cried out with a loud and bitter cry. [2] He went up to the
entrance of the king’s gate, for no one was allowed to enter the king’s
gate clothed in sackcloth. [3] And in every province, wherever the
king’s command and his decree reached, there was great mourning among
the Jews, with fasting and weeping and lamenting, and many of them lay
in sackcloth and ashes.
[4]
When Esther’s young women and her eunuchs came and told her, the queen
was deeply distressed. She sent garments to clothe Mordecai, so that he
might take off his sackcloth, but he would not accept them. [5] Then
Esther called for Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs, who had been
appointed to attend her, and ordered him to go to Mordecai to learn what
this was and why it was. [6] Hathach went out to Mordecai in the open
square of the city in front of the king’s gate, [7] and Mordecai told
him all that had happened to him, and the exact sum of money that Haman
had promised to pay into the king’s treasuries for the destruction of
the Jews. [8] Mordecai also gave him a copy of the written decree issued
in Susa for their destruction, that he might show it to Esther and
explain it to her and command her to go to the king to beg his favor and
plead with him on behalf of her people. [9] And Hathach went and told
Esther what Mordecai had said. [10] Then Esther spoke to Hathach and
commanded him to go to Mordecai and say, [11] “All the king’s servants
and the people of the king’s provinces know that if any man or woman
goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is
but one law—to be put to death, except the one to whom the king holds
out the golden scepter so that he may live. But as for me, I have not
been called to come in to the king these thirty days.”
[12]
And they told Mordecai what Esther had said. [13] Then Mordecai told
them to reply to Esther, “Do not think to yourself that in the king’s
palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. [14] For if you
keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews
from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And
who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as
this?” [15] Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, [16] “Go, gather
all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do
not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will
also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against
the law, and if I perish, I perish.” [17] Mordecai then went away and
did everything as Esther had ordered him.
