Join me as I begin Chronicles. It begins with a detailed genealogy, complementing what we have already received in other books, connected people to the formation and defence of cities. Psalm 26 is a reflection on the kind of reflections we have in light of attempting the life of faith. Perfection eludes us. God is everpresent. His control of history, his oversight and Sovereignty…it is what we see throughout the biblical witness. It is what gives us trust that leads us into the future.

1 Chronicles 1

Adam, Seth, Enosh,

Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared,

Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech.

The sons of Noah:

Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

The sons of Japheth:

Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.

The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah.

And the sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, the Kittites, and the Rodanites.

The sons of Ham:

Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan.

The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabta, Raamah, and Sabteca.

The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan.

Cush was the father of Nimrod, who began to be a mighty one on the earth.

Mizraim was the father of the Ludites, the Anamites, the Lehabites, the Naphtuhites,

the Pathrusites, the Casluhites (from whom the Philistines came), and the Caphtorites.

And Canaan was the father of Sidon his firstborn, and of the Hittites, the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites,

the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites.

The sons of Shem:

Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram.

The sons of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Meshech.

Arphaxad was the father of Shelah, and Shelah was the father of Eber.

Two sons were born to Eber: One was named Peleg, because in his days the earth was divided, and his brother was named Joktan.

And Joktan was the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, Obal, Abimael, Sheba,

Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were sons of Joktan.

So from Shem came Arphaxad, Shelah, Eber, Peleg, Reu, Serug, Nahor, Terah, and Abram (that is, Abraham).

The sons of Abraham were Isaac and Ishmael. These are their genealogies:

Nebaioth the firstborn of Ishmael, then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema,

Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. These were the sons of Ishmael.

The sons born to Keturah, Abraham’s concubine:

Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.

The sons of Jokshan:

Sheba and Dedan.

The sons of Midian:

Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah.

All of these were Keturah’s sons.

Abraham was the father of Isaac. The sons of Isaac:

Esau and Israel.

The sons of Esau:

Eliphaz, Reuel, Jeush, Jalam, and Korah.

The sons of Eliphaz: Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz; and by Timna, Amalek.

The sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah.

The sons of Seir:

Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan.

The sons of Lotan: Hori and Homam. Timna was Lotan’s sister.

The sons of Shobal: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam.

The sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah.

The son of Anah: Dishon.

The sons of Dishon: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran.

The sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan.

The sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran.

These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the Israelites:

Bela son of Beor. His city was named Dinhabah.

When Bela died, Jobab son of Zerah from Bozrah reigned in his place.

When Jobab died, Husham from the land of the Temanites reigned in his place.

When Husham died, Hadad son of Bedad, who defeated Midian in the country of Moab, reigned in his place. And the name of his city was Avith.

When Hadad died, Samlah from Masrekah reigned in his place.

When Samlah died, Shaul from Rehoboth on the Euphrates reigned in his place.

When Shaul died, Baal-hanan son of Achbor reigned in his place.

When Baal-hanan died, Hadad reigned in his place. His city was named Pau, and his wife’s name was Mehetabel daughter of Matred, the daughter of Me-zahab.

Then Hadad died.

Now the chiefs of Edom were Timna, Alvah, Jetheth, Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon, Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar,

Magdiel, and Iram. These were the chiefs of Edom.

1 Chronicles 2

These were the sons of Israel:

Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, Joseph, Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.

The sons of Judah:

Er, Onan, and Shelah. These three were born to him by Bath-shua the Canaanite. Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD, who put him to death.

Tamar, Judah’s daughter-in-law, bore to him Perez and Zerah. Judah had five sons in all.

The sons of Perez:

Hezron and Hamul.

The sons of Zerah:

Zimri, Ethan, Heman, Calcol, and Dara —five in all.

The son of Carmi:

Achar, who brought trouble upon Israel by violating the ban on devoted things.

The son of Ethan:

Azariah.

The sons who were born to Hezron:

Jerahmeel, Ram, and Caleb.

Ram was the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab was the father of Nahshon, a leader of the descendants of Judah.

Nahshon was the father of Salmon, and Salmon was the father of Boaz.

Boaz was the father of Obed, and Obed was the father of Jesse.

Jesse was the father of Eliab his firstborn; Abinadab was born second, Shimea third, Nethanel fourth, Raddai fifth, Ozem sixth, and David seventh.

Their sisters were Zeruiah and Abigail. And the three sons of Zeruiah were Abishai, Joab, and Asahel.

Abigail was the mother of Amasa, whose father was Jether the Ishmaelite.

Caleb son of Hezron had children by his wife Azubah and by Jerioth. These were the sons of Azubah: Jesher, Shobab, and Ardon.

When Azubah died, Caleb married Ephrath, who bore to him Hur. Hur was the father of Uri, and Uri was the father of Bezalel.

Later, Hezron slept with the daughter of Machir the father of Gilead. He had married her when he was sixty years old, and she bore to him Segub.

Segub was the father of Jair, who had twenty-three cities in the land of Gilead.

But Geshur and Aram captured Havvoth-jair, along with Kenath and its sixty surrounding villages. All these were descendants of Machir the father of Gilead.

After Hezron died in Caleb-ephrathah, his wife Abijah bore to him Ashhur the father of Tekoa.

The sons of Jerahmeel the firstborn of Hezron:

Ram his firstborn, Bunah, Oren, Ozem, and Ahijah.

Jerahmeel had another wife named Atarah, who was the mother of Onam.

The sons of Ram the firstborn of Jerahmeel:

Maaz, Jamin, and Eker.

The sons of Onam:

Shammai and Jada.

The sons of Shammai:

Nadab and Abishur.

Abishur’s wife was named Abihail, and she bore to him Ahban and Molid.

The sons of Nadab:

Seled and Appaim. Seled died without children.

The son of Appaim:

Ishi.

The son of Ishi:

Sheshan.

The son of Sheshan:

Ahlai.

The sons of Jada the brother of Shammai:

Jether and Jonathan. Jether died without children.

The sons of Jonathan:

Peleth and Zaza.

These were the descendants of Jerahmeel.

Sheshan had no sons, but only daughters; but he did have an Egyptian servant named Jarha.

Sheshan gave his daughter in marriage to his servant Jarha, and she bore to him Attai.

Attai was the father of Nathan, Nathan was the father of Zabad, Zabad was the father of Ephlal, Ephlal was the father of Obed,

Obed was the father of Jehu, Jehu was the father of Azariah, Azariah was the father of Helez, Helez was the father of Elasah,

Elasah was the father of Sismai, Sismai was the father of Shallum, Shallum was the father of Jekamiah, and Jekamiah was the father of Elishama.

The sons of Caleb the brother of Jerahmeel:

Mesha his firstborn, who was the father of Ziph, and Mareshah his second son, who was the father of Hebron.

The sons of Hebron:

Korah, Tappuah, Rekem, and Shema.

Shema was the father of Raham the father of Jorkeam, and Rekem was the father of Shammai.

The son of Shammai was Maon, and Maon was the father of Beth-zur.

Caleb’s concubine Ephah was the mother of Haran, Moza, and Gazez. Haran was the father of Gazez.

The sons of Jahdai:

Regem, Jotham, Geshan, Pelet, Ephah, and Shaaph.

Caleb’s concubine Maacah was the mother of Sheber and Tirhanah.

She was also the mother of Shaaph father of Madmannah, and of Sheva father of Machbenah and Gibea. Caleb’s daughter was Acsah.

These were the descendants of Caleb.

The sons of Hur the firstborn of Ephrathah:

Shobal the father of Kiriath-jearim,

Salma the father of Bethlehem, and Hareph the father of Beth-gader.

These were the descendants of Shobal the father of Kiriath-jearim:

Haroeh, half the Manahathites,

and the clans of Kiriath-jearim—the Ithrites, Puthites, Shumathites, and Mishraites. From these descended the Zorathites and Eshtaolites.

The descendants of Salma:

Bethlehem, the Netophathites, Atroth-beth-joab, half the Manahathites, the Zorites,

and the clans of the scribes who lived at Jabez—the Tirathites, Shimeathites, and Sucathites. These are the Kenites who came from Hammath, the father of the house of Rechab.

1 Chronicles 3

These were the sons of David who were born to him in Hebron:

The firstborn was Amnon by Ahinoam of Jezreel;

the second was Daniel by Abigail of Carmel;

the third was Absalom the son of Maacah daughter of King Talmai of Geshur;

the fourth was Adonijah the son of Haggith;

the fifth was Shephatiah by Abital;

and the sixth was Ithream by his wife Eglah.

These six sons were born to David in Hebron, where he reigned seven years and six months.

And David reigned in Jerusalem thirty-three years,

and these sons were born to him in Jerusalem:

Shimea, Shobab, Nathan, and Solomon. These four were born to him by Bathsheba daughter of Ammiel.

David’s other sons were Ibhar, Elishua, Eliphelet, Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet—nine in all.

These were all the sons of David, besides the sons by his concubines. And Tamar was their sister.

Solomon’s son was Rehoboam:

Abijah was his son, Asa his son, Jehoshaphat his son,

Joram his son, Ahaziah his son, Joash his son, Amaziah his son, Azariah his son, Jotham his son, Ahaz his son, Hezekiah his son, Manasseh his son,

Amon his son, and Josiah his son.

The sons of Josiah:

Johanan was the firstborn, Jehoiakim the second, Zedekiah the third, and Shallum the fourth.

The successors of Jehoiakim:

Jeconiah his son, and Zedekiah.

The descendants of Jeconiah the captive:

Shealtiel his son, Malchiram, Pedaiah, Shenazzar, Jekamiah, Hoshama, and Nedabiah.

The sons of Pedaiah:

Zerubbabel and Shimei.

The children of Zerubbabel:

Meshullam and Hananiah, their sister Shelomith,

and five others: Hashubah, Ohel, Berechiah, Hasadiah, and Jushab-hesed.

The descendants of Hananiah:

Pelatiah, Jeshaiah, and the sons of Rephaiah, of Arnan, of Obadiah, and of Shecaniah.

The six descendants of Shecaniah were Shemaiah and his sons:

Hattush, Igal, Bariah, Neariah, and Shaphat.

The sons of Neariah:

Elioenai, Hizkiah, and Azrikam—three in all.

The sons of Elioenai:

Hodaviah, Eliashib, Pelaiah, Akkub, Johanan, Delaiah, and Anani—seven in all.

1 Chronicles 4

The descendants of Judah:

Perez, Hezron, Carmi, Hur, and Shobal.

Reaiah son of Shobal was the father of Jahath, and Jahath was the father of Ahumai and Lahad. These were the clans of the Zorathites.

These were the sons of Etam: Jezreel, Ishma, and Idbash. And their sister was named Hazzelelponi.

Penuel was the father of Gedor, and Ezer was the father of Hushah.

These were the descendants of Hur, the firstborn of Ephrathah and the father of Bethlehem.

Ashhur the father of Tekoa had two wives, Helah and Naarah.

Naarah bore to him Ahuzzam, Hepher, Temeni, and Haahashtari. These were the descendants of Naarah.

The sons of Helah were Zereth, Zohar, Ethnan, and Koz, who was the father of Anub and Zobebah and of the clans of Aharhel son of Harum.

Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.”

And Jabez called out to the God of Israel, “If only You would bless me and enlarge my territory! May Your hand be with me and keep me from harm, so that I will be free from pain.”

And God granted the request of Jabez.

Chelub the brother of Shuhah was the father of Mehir, who was the father of Eshton.

Eshton was the father of Beth-rapha, of Paseah, and of Tehinnah the father of Ir-nahash. These were the men of Recah.

The sons of Kenaz:

Othniel and Seraiah.

The sons of Othniel:

Hathath and Meonothai.

Meonothai was the father of Ophrah, and Seraiah was the father of Joab, the father of those living in Ge-harashim, which was given this name because its people were craftsmen.

The sons of Caleb son of Jephunneh:

Iru, Elah, and Naam.

The son of Elah:

Kenaz.

The sons of Jehallelel:

Ziph, Ziphah, Tiria, and Asarel.

The sons of Ezrah:

Jether, Mered, Epher, and Jalon.

And Mered’s wife Bithiah gave birth to Miriam, Shammai, and Ishbah the father of Eshtemoa.

These were the children of Pharaoh’s daughter Bithiah.

Mered also took a Judean wife, who gave birth to Jered the father of Gedor, Heber the father of Soco, and Jekuthiel the father of Zanoah.

The sons of Hodiah’s wife, the sister of Naham, were the fathers of Keilah the Garmite and of Eshtemoa the Maacathite.

The sons of Shimon:

Amnon, Rinnah, Ben-hanan, and Tilon.

The descendants of Ishi:

Zoheth and Ben-zoheth.

The sons of Shelah son of Judah:

Er the father of Lecah, Laadah the father of Mareshah and the clans of the linen workers at Beth-ashbea,

Jokim, the men of Cozeba, and Joash and Saraph, who ruled in Moab and Jashubi-lehem. (These names are from ancient records.)

These were the potters who lived at Netaim and Gederah. They lived there in the service of the king.

The descendants of Simeon:

Nemuel, Jamin, Jarib, Zerah, and Shaul.

The sons of Shaul:

Shallum, Mibsam, and Mishma.

The sons of Mishma:

Hammuel, Zaccur, and Shimei.

Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters, but his brothers did not have many children, so their whole clan did not become as numerous as the sons of Judah.

They lived in Beersheba, Moladah, Hazar-shual, Bilhah, Ezem, Tolad, Bethuel, Hormah, Ziklag,

Beth-marcaboth, Hazar-susim, Beth-biri, and Shaaraim. These were their cities until the reign of David.

And their villages were Etam, Ain, Rimmon, Tochen, and Ashan—five towns—

and all their surrounding villages as far as Baal. These were their settlements, and they kept a genealogical record:

Meshobab, Jamlech, Joshah son of Amaziah, Joel, Jehu son of Joshibiah (son of Seraiah, son of Asiel),

Elioenai, Jaakobah, Jeshohaiah, Asaiah, Adiel, Jesimiel, Benaiah,

and Ziza son of Shiphi (son of Allon, son of Jedaiah, son of Shimri, son of Shemaiah).

These men listed by name were the leaders of their clans. Their families increased greatly,

and they journeyed to the entrance of Gedor, to the east side of the valley, in search of pasture for their flocks.

There they found rich, good pasture, and the land was spacious, peaceful, and quiet; for some Hamites had lived there formerly.

These who were noted by name came in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah. They attacked the Hamites and Meunites there in their dwellings, devoting them to destruction even to this day. Then they settled in their place, because there was pasture for their flocks.

And five hundred of these Simeonites led by Pelatiah, Neariah, Rephaiah, and Uzziel, the sons of Ishi, went to Mount Seir

and struck down the remnant of the Amalekites who had escaped. And they have lived there to this day.

1 Chronicles 5

These were the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel. Though he was the firstborn, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph son of Israel, because Reuben defiled his father’s bed. So he is not reckoned according to birthright.

And though Judah prevailed over his brothers and a ruler came from him, the birthright belonged to Joseph. The sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel:

Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.

The descendants of Joel:

Shemaiah his son, Gog his son, Shimei his son, Micah his son, Reaiah his son, Baal his son,

and Beerah his son, whom Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria carried into exile.

Beerah was a leader of the Reubenites. His relatives by their clans are recorded in their genealogy:

Jeiel the chief, Zechariah, and Bela son of Azaz, the son of Shema, the son of Joel. They settled in Aroer and as far as Nebo and Baal-meon.

They also settled in the east as far as the edge of the desert that extends to the Euphrates River, because their livestock had increased in the land of Gilead.

During the days of Saul they waged war against the Hagrites, who were defeated at their hands, and they occupied the homes of the Hagrites throughout the region east of Gilead.

The descendants of Gad lived next to the Reubenites in the land of Bashan, as far as Salecah:

Joel was the chief, Shapham the second, then Jaanai and Shaphat, who lived in Bashan.

Their kinsmen by families were Michael, Meshullam, Sheba, Jorai, Jacan, Zia, and Eber—seven in all.

These were the sons of Abihail son of Huri, the son of Jaroah, the son of Gilead, the son of Michael, the son of Jeshishai, the son of Jahdo, the son of Buz.

Ahi son of Abdiel, the son of Guni, was head of their family.

They lived in Gilead, in Bashan and its towns, and throughout the pasturelands of Sharon.

All of them were reckoned in the genealogies during the reigns of Jotham king of Judah and Jeroboam king of Israel.

The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh had 44,760 warriors—valiant men who carried the shield and sword, drew the bow, and were trained for battle.

They waged war against the Hagrites, as well as Jetur, Naphish, and Nodab.

And because they cried out to God in battle, they were helped against their enemies, and the Hagrites and all their allies were delivered into their hands. Because they put their trust in God, He answered their prayers.

They seized the livestock of the Hagrites—50,000 camels, 250,000 sheep, and 2,000 donkeys. They also took 100,000 captives,

and many others fell slain, because the battle belonged to God. And they occupied the land until the exile.

Now the people of the half-tribe of Manasseh were numerous. They settled in the land from Bashan to Baal-hermon (that is, Senir, also known as Mount Hermon).

These were the heads of their families:

Epher, Ishi, Eliel, Azriel, Jeremiah, Hodaviah, and Jahdiel.

They were mighty men of valor, famous men, and heads of their families.

But they were unfaithful to the God of their fathers, and they prostituted themselves with the gods of the peoples of the land, whom God had destroyed before them.

So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria (that is, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria) to take the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh into exile. And he brought them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and the river of Gozan, where they remain to this day.

Psalm 26

Vindicate me, O LORD!

For I have walked with integrity;

I have trusted in the LORD without wavering.

Test me, O LORD, and try me;

examine my heart and mind.

For Your loving devotion is before my eyes,

and I have walked in Your truth.

I do not sit with deceitful men,

nor keep company with hypocrites.

I hate the mob of evildoers,

and refuse to sit with the wicked.

I wash my hands in innocence

that I may go about Your altar, O LORD,

to raise my voice in thanksgiving

and declare all Your wonderful works.

O LORD, I love the house where You dwell,

the place where Your glory resides.

Do not take my soul away with sinners,

or my life with men of bloodshed,

in whose hands are wicked schemes,

whose right hands are full of bribes.

But I will walk with integrity;

redeem me and be merciful to me.

My feet stand on level ground;

in the congregations I will bless the LORD.

Paul wrote to young Titus to tell him what the culture of our churches should be. It addresses how each demographic should behave and interact. In today’s radically individualistic society, this idea is anathema. Even so, we are told that God’s ways are not our ways. In mutual submission to one another and ultimate submission to God, we are told to behave in certain ways. There is peace in this, reflected in the ancient Hebrew wisdom we also consult in the Psalter and Psalms today. God bless you as you attend upon his Word.

Titus 1

Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness, in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.

In His own time He has made His word evident in the proclamation entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior.

To Titus, my true child in our common faith:

Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

The reason I left you in Crete was that you would set in order what was unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you.

An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife, having children who are believers and who are not open to accusation of indiscretion or insubordination.

As God’s steward, an overseer must be above reproach—not self-absorbed, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not greedy for money.

Instead, he must be hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined.

He must hold firmly to the faithful word as it was taught, so that he can encourage others by sound teaching and refute those who contradict it.

For many are rebellious and full of empty talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision,

who must be silenced. For the sake of dishonorable gain, they undermine entire households and teach things they should not.

As one of their own prophets has said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”

This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sternly, so that they will be sound in the faith

and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the commands of men who have rejected the truth.

To the pure, all things are pure; but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure. Indeed, both their minds and their consciences are defiled.

They profess to know God, but by their actions they deny Him. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good deed.

Titus 2

But as for you, speak the things that are consistent with sound doctrine.

Older men are to be temperate, dignified, self-controlled, and sound in faith, love, and perseverance.

Older women, likewise, are to be reverent in their behavior, not slanderers or addicted to much wine, but teachers of good.

In this way they can train the young women to love their husbands and children,

to be self-controlled, pure, managers of their households, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be discredited.

In the same way, urge the younger men to be self-controlled.

In everything, show yourself to be an example by doing good works. In your teaching show integrity, dignity,

and wholesome speech that is above reproach, so that anyone who opposes us will be ashamed to have nothing bad to say about us.

Slaves are to submit to their own masters in everything, to be well-pleasing, not argumentative,

not stealing from them, but showing all good faith, so that in every respect they will adorn the teaching about God our Savior.

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to everyone.

It instructs us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live sensible, upright, and godly lives in the present age,

as we await the blessed hope and glorious appearance of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.

He gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.

Speak these things as you encourage and rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise you.

Titus 3

Remind the believers to submit to rulers and authorities, to be obedient and ready for every good work, to malign no one, and to be peaceable and gentle, showing full consideration to everyone.

For at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, misled, and enslaved to all sorts of desires and pleasures—living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.

But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared,

He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

This is the Spirit He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by His grace, we would become heirs with the hope of eternal life.

This saying is trustworthy. And I want you to emphasize these things, so that those who have believed God will take care to devote themselves to good deeds. These things are excellent and profitable for the people.

But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, arguments, and quarrels about the law, because these things are pointless and worthless.

Reject a divisive man after a first and second admonition, knowing that such a man is corrupt and sinful; he is self-condemned.

As soon as I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, make every effort to come to me at Nicopolis, because I have decided to winter there.

Do your best to equip Zenas the lawyer and Apollos, so that they will have everything they need.

And our people must also learn to devote themselves to good works in order to meet the pressing needs of others, so that they will not be unfruitful.

All who are with me send you greetings.

Greet those who love us in the faith.

Grace be with all of you.

Psalm 16

Preserve me, O God,

for in You I take refuge.

I said to the LORD, “You are my Lord;

apart from You I have no good thing.”

As for the saints in the land,

they are the excellence

in whom all my delight resides.

Sorrows will multiply

to those who chase other gods.

I will not pour out their libations of blood,

or speak their names with my lips.

The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup;

You have made my lot secure.

The lines of my boundary have fallen in pleasant places;

surely my inheritance is delightful.

I will bless the LORD who counsels me;

even at night my conscience instructs me.

I have set the LORD always before me.

Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;

my body also will dwell securely.

For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol,

nor will You let Your Holy One see decay.

You have made known to me the path of life;

You will fill me with joy in Your presence,

with eternal pleasures at Your right hand.

Proverbs 12

Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge,

but he who hates correction is stupid.

The good man obtains favor from the LORD,

but the LORD condemns a man who devises evil.

A man cannot be established through wickedness,

but the righteous cannot be uprooted.

A wife of noble character is her husband’s crown,

but she who causes shame is like decay in his bones.

The plans of the righteous are just,

but the counsel of the wicked leads to deceit.

The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood,

but the speech of the upright rescues them.

The wicked are overthrown and perish,

but the house of the righteous will stand.

A man is praised according to his wisdom,

but a twisted mind is despised.

Better to be lightly esteemed yet have a servant,

than to be self-important but lack food.

A righteous man regards the life of his animal,

but the tender mercies of the wicked are only cruelty.

The one who works his land will have plenty of food,

but whoever chases fantasies lacks judgment.

The wicked desire the plunder of evil men,

but the root of the righteous flourishes.

An evil man is trapped by his rebellious speech,

but a righteous man escapes from trouble.

By fruitful speech a man is filled with good things,

and the work of his hands returns to him.

The way of a fool is right in his own eyes,

but a wise man listens to counsel.

A fool’s anger is known at once,

but a prudent man overlooks an insult.

He who speaks the truth declares what is right,

but a false witness speaks deceit.

Speaking rashly is like a piercing sword,

but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

Truthful lips endure forever,

but a lying tongue lasts only a moment.

Deceit is in the hearts of those who devise evil,

but the counselors of peace have joy.

No harm befalls the righteous,

but the wicked are filled with trouble.

Lying lips are detestable to the LORD,

but those who deal faithfully are His delight.

A shrewd man keeps his knowledge to himself,

but a foolish heart proclaims its folly.

The hand of the diligent will rule,

but laziness ends in forced labor.

Anxiety weighs down the heart of a man,

but a good word cheers it up.

A righteous man is cautious in friendship,

but the ways of the wicked lead them astray.

A lazy man does not roast his game,

but a diligent man prizes his possession.

There is life in the path of righteousness,

but another path leads to death.

“In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he became hungry. And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once.” - Matthew 21:18-19

This week we finish the 21st chapter of the Gospel of Matthew. In this part of the chapter we go over Jesus’ cursing of the fig tree, how the priests & elders questioned Jesus’ authority, and the parable of the two sons.

In this reading, the Lord turns the evil intended against his people back on the people who intended them harm. Yesterday we saw this take place towards Haman. Today it is towards many more. The psalms pick up there, with themes of the wretchedness of humanity, aligned against God as it is. Yet we know that God works all things for the good of those who love him. He is righteous and will save us from all our foes, especially our own selves!

Esther 8

That same day King Xerxes awarded Queen Esther the estate of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai entered the king’s presence because Esther had revealed his relation to her.

The king removed the signet ring he had recovered from Haman and presented it to Mordecai. And Esther appointed Mordecai over the estate of Haman.

And once again, Esther addressed the king. She fell at his feet weeping and begged him to revoke the evil scheme of Haman the Agagite, which he had devised against the Jews.

The king extended the gold scepter toward Esther, and she arose and stood before the king.

“If it pleases the king,” she said, “and if I have found favor in his sight, and the matter seems proper to the king, and I am pleasing in his sight, may an order be written to revoke the letters that the scheming Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, wrote to destroy the Jews in all the king’s provinces.

For how could I bear to see the disaster that would befall my people? How could I bear to see the destruction of my kindred?”

So King Xerxes said to Esther the Queen and Mordecai the Jew, “Behold, I have given Haman’s estate to Esther, and he was hanged on the gallows because he attacked the Jews.

Now you may write in the king’s name as you please regarding the Jews, and seal it with the royal signet ring. For a decree that is written in the name of the king and sealed with the royal signet ring cannot be revoked.”

At once the royal scribes were summoned, and on the twenty-third day of the third month (the month of Sivan ), they recorded all of Mordecai’s orders to the Jews and to the satraps, governors, and princes of the 127 provinces from India to Cush —writing to each province in its own script, to every people in their own language, and to the Jews in their own script and language.

Mordecai wrote in the name of King Xerxes and sealed it with the royal signet ring. He sent the documents by mounted couriers riding on swift horses bred from the royal mares.

By these letters the king permitted the Jews in each and every city the right to assemble and defend themselves, to destroy, kill, and annihilate all the forces of any people or province hostile to them, including women and children, and to plunder their possessions.

The single day appointed throughout all the provinces of King Xerxes was the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar.

A copy of the text of the edict was to be issued in every province and published to all the people, so that the Jews would be ready on that day to avenge themselves on their enemies.

The couriers rode out in haste on their royal horses, pressed on by the command of the king. And the edict was also issued in the citadel of Susa.

Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal garments of blue and white, with a large gold crown and a purple robe of fine linen. And the city of Susa shouted and rejoiced.

For the Jews it was a time of light and gladness, of joy and honor.

In every province and every city, wherever the king’s edict and decree reached, there was joy and gladness among the Jews, with feasting and celebrating. And many of the people of the land themselves became Jews, because the fear of the Jews had fallen upon them.

Esther 9

On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, the king’s command and edict were to be executed. On this day the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, but their plan was overturned and the Jews overpowered those who hated them.

In each of the provinces of King Xerxes, the Jews assembled in their cities to attack those who sought to harm them. No man could withstand them, because the fear of them had fallen upon all peoples.

And all the officials of the provinces, the satraps, the governors, and the king’s administrators helped the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai had fallen upon them.

For Mordecai exercised great power in the palace, and his fame spread throughout the provinces as he became more and more powerful.

The Jews put all their enemies to the sword, killing and destroying them, and they did as they pleased to those who hated them.

In the citadel of Susa, the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men, including Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha.

They killed these ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews, but they did not lay a hand on the plunder.

On that day the number of those killed in the citadel of Susa was reported to the king,

who said to Queen Esther, “In the citadel of Susa the Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men, including Haman’s ten sons. What have they done in the rest of the royal provinces? Now what is your petition? It will be given to you. And what further do you request? It will be fulfilled.”

Esther replied, “If it pleases the king, may the Jews in Susa also have tomorrow to carry out today’s edict, and may the bodies of Haman’s ten sons be hanged on the gallows.”

So the king commanded that this be done. An edict was issued in Susa, and they hanged the ten sons of Haman.

On the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, the Jews in Susa came together again and put to death three hundred men there, but they did not lay a hand on the plunder.

The rest of the Jews in the royal provinces also assembled to defend themselves and rid themselves of their enemies. They killed 75,000 who hated them, but they did not lay a hand on the plunder.

This was done on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth day they rested, making it a day of feasting and joy.

The Jews in Susa, however, had assembled on the thirteenth and the fourteenth days of the month. So they rested on the fifteenth day, making it a day of feasting and joy.

This is why the rural Jews, who live in the villages, observe the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a day of joy and feasting. It is a holiday for sending gifts to one another.

Mordecai recorded these events and sent letters to all the Jews in all the provinces of King Xerxes, both near and far,

to establish among them an annual celebration on the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar

as the days on which the Jews gained rest from their enemies and the month in which their sorrow turned to joy and their mourning into a holiday. He wrote that these were to be days of feasting and joy, of sending gifts to one another and to the poor.

So the Jews agreed to continue the custom they had started, as Mordecai had written to them.

For Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them and had cast the Pur (that is, the lot) to crush and destroy them.

But when it came before the king, he commanded by letter that the wicked scheme which Haman had devised against the Jews should come back upon his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.

Therefore these days are called Purim, from the word Pur.

Because of all the instructions in this letter, and because of all they had seen and experienced,

the Jews bound themselves to establish the custom that they and their descendants and all who join them should not fail to celebrate these two days at the appointed time each and every year, according to their regulation.

These days should be remembered and celebrated by every generation, family, province, and city, so that these days of Purim should not fail to be observed among the Jews, nor should the memory of them fade from their descendants.

So Queen Esther daughter of Abihail, along with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm this second letter concerning Purim.

And Mordecai sent letters with words of peace and truth to all the Jews in the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Xerxes,

in order to confirm these days of Purim at their appointed time, just as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had established them and had committed themselves and their descendants to the times of fasting and lamentation.

So Esther’s decree confirmed these regulations about Purim, which were written into the record.

Esther 10

Now King Xerxes imposed tribute throughout the land, even to its farthest shores.

And all of Mordecai’s powerful and magnificent accomplishments, together with the full account of the greatness to which the king had raised him, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Media and Persia?

For Mordecai the Jew was second only to King Xerxes, preeminent among the Jews and highly favored by his many kinsmen, seeking the good of his people and speaking peace to all his countrymen.

Psalm 12

Help, O LORD, for the godly are no more;

the faithful have vanished from among men.

They lie to one another;

they speak with flattering lips and a double heart.

May the LORD cut off all flattering lips

and every boastful tongue.

They say, “With our tongues we will prevail.

We own our lips—who can be our master?”

“For the cause of the oppressed

and for the groaning of the needy,

I will now arise,” says the LORD.

“I will bring safety to him who yearns.”

The words of the LORD are flawless,

like silver refined in a furnace,

like gold purified sevenfold.

You, O LORD, will keep us;

You will forever guard us from this generation.

The wicked wander freely,

and vileness is exalted among men.

Psalm 14

The fool says in his heart,

“There is no God.”

They are corrupt; their acts are vile.

There is no one who does good.

The LORD looks down from heaven

upon the sons of men

to see if any understand,

if any seek God.

All have turned away,

they have together become corrupt;

there is no one who does good,

not even one.

Will the workers of iniquity never learn?

They devour my people like bread;

they refuse to call upon the LORD.

There they are, overwhelmed with dread,

for God is in the company of the righteous.

You sinners frustrate the plans of the oppressed,

yet the LORD is their shelter.

Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come from Zion!

When the LORD restores His captive people,

let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad!

Psalm 15

O LORD, who may abide in Your tent?

Who may dwell on Your holy mountain?

He who walks with integrity

and practices righteousness,

who speaks the truth from his heart,

who has no slander on his tongue,

who does no harm to his neighbor,

who casts no scorn on his friend,

who despises the vile

but honors those who fear the LORD,

who does not revise a costly oath,

who lends his money without interest

and refuses a bribe against the innocent.

He who does these things

will never be shaken.

Esther is a seemingly simple story of a beautiful young woman who is put in a position to save her people. In a time of resurgent anti-Jewish sympathy in the West, it is important to remember that the distinctive way of the Jews has always been hated by the world.

Esther 1

This is what happened in the days of Xerxes, who reigned over 127 provinces from India to Cush. In those days King Xerxes sat on his royal throne in the citadel of Susa.

In the third year of his reign, Xerxes held a feast for all his officials and servants. The military leaders of Persia and Media were there, along with the nobles and princes of the provinces.

And for a full 180 days he displayed the glorious riches of his kingdom and the magnificent splendor of his greatness.

At the end of this time, in the garden court of the royal palace, the king held a seven-day feast for all the people in the citadel of Susa, from the least to the greatest.

Hangings of white and blue linen were fastened with cords of fine white and purple material to silver rings on the marble pillars. Gold and silver couches were arranged on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl, and other costly stones.

Beverages were served in an array of goblets of gold, each with a different design, and the royal wine flowed freely, according to the king’s bounty.

By order of the king, no limit was placed on the drinking, and every official of his household was to serve each man whatever he desired.

Queen Vashti also gave a banquet for the women in the royal palace of King Xerxes.

On the seventh day, when the king’s heart was merry with wine, he ordered the seven eunuchs who served him—Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carkas—

to bring Queen Vashti before him, wearing her royal crown, to display her beauty to the people and officials. For she was beautiful to behold.

Queen Vashti, however, refused to come at the king’s command brought by his eunuchs. And the king became furious, and his anger burned within him.

Then the king consulted the wise men who knew the times, for it was customary for him to confer with the experts in law and justice.

His closest advisors were Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven princes of Persia and Media who had personal access to the king and ranked highest in the kingdom.

“According to law,” he asked, “what should be done with Queen Vashti, since she refused to obey the command of King Xerxes delivered by the eunuchs?”

And in the presence of the king and his princes, Memucan replied, “Queen Vashti has wronged not only the king, but all the princes and the peoples in all the provinces of King Xerxes.

For the conduct of the queen will become known to all women, causing them to despise their husbands and say, ‘King Xerxes ordered Queen Vashti to be brought before him, but she did not come.’

This very day the noble women of Persia and Media who have heard about the queen’s conduct will say the same thing to all the king’s officials, resulting in much contempt and wrath.

So if it pleases the king, let him issue a royal decree, and let it be recorded in the laws of Persia and Media so that it cannot be repealed, that Vashti shall never again enter the presence of King Xerxes, and that her royal position shall be given to a woman better than she.

The edict the king issues will be heard throughout his vast kingdom—and so all women, from the least to the greatest, will honor their husbands.”

The king and his princes were pleased with this counsel; so the king did as Memucan had advised.

He sent letters to all the provinces of the kingdom, to each province in its own script and to each people in their own language, proclaiming that every man should be master of his own household.

Esther 2

Some time later, when the anger of King Xerxes had subsided, he remembered Vashti and what she had done, and what had been decreed against her.

Then the king’s attendants proposed, “Let a search be made for beautiful young virgins for the king,

and let the king appoint commissioners in each province of his kingdom to assemble all the beautiful young women into the harem at the citadel of Susa. Let them be placed under the care of Hegai, the king’s eunuch in charge of the women, and let them be given beauty treatments.

Then let the young woman who pleases the king become queen in place of Vashti.”

This suggestion pleased the king, and he acted accordingly.

Now there was at the citadel of Susa a Jewish man from the tribe of Benjamin named Mordecai son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish.

He had been carried into exile from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon among those taken captive with Jeconiah king of Judah.

And Mordecai had brought up Hadassah (that is, Esther), the daughter of his uncle, because she did not have a father or mother. The young woman was lovely in form and appearance, and when her father and mother had died, Mordecai had taken her in as his own daughter.

When the king’s command and edict had been proclaimed, many young women gathered at the citadel of Susa under the care of Hegai. Esther was also taken to the palace and placed under the care of Hegai, the custodian of the women.

And the young woman pleased him and obtained his favor, so he quickly provided her with beauty treatments and the special diet. He assigned to her seven select maidservants from the palace and transferred her with them to the best place in the harem.

Esther did not reveal her people or her lineage, because Mordecai had instructed her not to do so.

And every day Mordecai would walk back and forth in front of the court of the harem to learn about Esther’s welfare and what was happening to her.

In the twelve months before her turn to go to King Xerxes, the harem regulation required each young woman to receive beauty treatments with oil of myrrh for six months, and then with perfumes and cosmetics for another six months.

When the young woman would go to the king, she was given whatever she requested to take with her from the harem to the king’s palace.

She would go there in the evening, and in the morning she would return to a second harem under the care of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch in charge of the concubines. She would not return to the king unless he delighted in her and summoned her by name.

Now Esther was the daughter of Abihail, the uncle from whom Mordecai had adopted her as his own daughter. And when it was her turn to go to the king, she did not ask for anything except what Hegai, the king’s trusted official in charge of the harem, had advised. And Esther found favor in the eyes of everyone who saw her.

She was taken to King Xerxes in the royal palace in the tenth month, the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.

And the king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she found grace and favor in his sight more than all of the other virgins. So he placed the royal crown upon her head and made her queen in place of Vashti.

Then the king held a great banquet, Esther’s banquet, for all his officials and servants. He proclaimed a tax holiday in the provinces and gave gifts worthy of the king’s bounty.

When the virgins were assembled a second time, Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate.

Esther still had not revealed her lineage or her people, just as Mordecai had instructed. She obeyed Mordecai’s command, as she had done under his care.

In those days, while Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs who guarded the entrance, grew angry and conspired to assassinate King Xerxes.

When Mordecai learned of the plot, he reported it to Queen Esther, and she informed the king on Mordecai’s behalf.

After the report had been investigated and verified, both officials were hanged on the gallows. And all this was recorded in the Book of the Chronicles in the presence of the king.

Esther 3

After these events, King Xerxes honored Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, elevating him to a position above all the princes who were with him.

All the royal servants at the king’s gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman, because the king had commanded that this be done for him. But Mordecai would not bow down or pay homage.

Then the royal servants at the king’s gate asked Mordecai, “Why do you disobey the command of the king?”

Day after day they warned him, but he would not comply. So they reported it to Haman to see whether Mordecai’s behavior would be tolerated, since he had told them he was a Jew.

When Haman saw that Mordecai would not bow down or pay him homage, he was filled with rage.

And when he learned the identity of Mordecai’s people, he scorned the notion of laying hands on Mordecai alone. Instead, he sought to destroy all of Mordecai’s people, the Jews, throughout the kingdom of Xerxes.

In the twelfth year of King Xerxes, in the first month, the month of Nisan, the Pur (that is, the lot) was cast before Haman to determine a day and month. And the lot fell on the twelfth month, the month of Adar.

Then Haman informed King Xerxes, “There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the peoples of every province of your kingdom. Their laws are different from everyone else’s, and they do not obey the king’s laws. So it is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them.

If it pleases the king, let a decree be issued to destroy them, and I will deposit ten thousand talents of silver into the royal treasury to pay those who carry it out.”

So the king removed the signet ring from his finger and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews.

“Keep your money,” said the king to Haman. “These people are given to you to do with them as you please.”

On the thirteenth day of the first month, the royal scribes were summoned and the order was written exactly as Haman commanded the royal satraps, the governors of each province, and the officials of each people, in the script of each province and the language of every people. It was written in the name of King Xerxes and sealed with the royal signet ring.

And the letters were sent by couriers to each of the royal provinces with the order to destroy, kill, and annihilate all the Jews—young and old, women and children—and to plunder their possessions on a single day, the thirteenth day of Adar, the twelfth month.

A copy of the text of the edict was to be issued in every province and published to all the people, so that they would be ready on that day.

The couriers left, spurred on by the king’s command, and the edict was issued in the citadel of Susa. Then the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was in confusion.

Esther 4

When Mordecai learned of all that had happened, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the middle of the city, wailing loudly and bitterly.

But he went only as far as the king’s gate, because the law prohibited anyone wearing sackcloth from entering that gate.

In every province to which the king’s command and edict came, there was great mourning among the Jews. They fasted, wept, and lamented, and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

When Esther’s maidens and eunuchs came and told her about Mordecai, the queen was overcome with distress. She sent clothes for Mordecai to wear instead of his sackcloth, but he would not accept them.

Then Esther summoned Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs appointed to her, and she dispatched him to Mordecai to learn what was troubling him and why.

So Hathach went out to Mordecai in the city square in front of the king’s gate,

and Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, including the exact amount of money that Haman had promised to pay into the royal treasury in order to destroy the Jews.

Mordecai also gave Hathach a copy of the written decree issued in Susa for the destruction of the Jews, to show and explain to Esther, urging her to approach the king, implore his favor, and plead before him for her people.

So Hathach went back and relayed Mordecai’s response to Esther.

Then Esther spoke to Hathach and instructed him to tell Mordecai,

“All the royal officials and the people of the king’s provinces know that one law applies to every man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned—that he be put to death. Only if the king extends the gold scepter may that person live. But I have not been summoned to appear before the king for the past thirty days.”

When Esther’s words were relayed to Mordecai, he sent back to her this reply: “Do not imagine that because you are in the king’s palace you alone will escape the fate of all the Jews.

For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows if perhaps you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai:

“Go and assemble all the Jews who can be found in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day, and I and my maidens will fast as you do. After that, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish!”

So Mordecai went and did all that Esther had instructed him.

Esther 5

On the third day, Esther put on her royal attire and stood in the inner court of the palace across from the king’s quarters. The king was sitting on his royal throne in the royal courtroom, facing the entrance.

As soon as the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, she found favor in his sight. The king extended the gold scepter in his hand toward Esther, and she approached and touched the tip of the scepter.

“What is it, Queen Esther?” the king inquired. “What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be given to you.”

“If it pleases the king,” Esther replied, “may the king and Haman come today to the banquet I have prepared for the king.”

“Hurry,” commanded the king, “and bring Haman, so we can do as Esther has requested.”

So the king and Haman went to the banquet that Esther had prepared.

And as they drank their wine, the king said to Esther, “What is your petition? It will be given to you. What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be fulfilled.”

Esther replied, “This is my petition and my request:

If I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and fulfill my request, may the king and Haman come tomorrow to the banquet I will prepare for them. Then I will answer the king’s question.”

That day Haman went out full of joy and glad of heart. At the king’s gate, however, he saw Mordecai, who did not rise or tremble in fear at his presence. And Haman was filled with rage toward Mordecai.

Nevertheless, Haman restrained himself and went home. And calling for his friends and his wife Zeresh,

Haman recounted to them his glorious wealth, his many sons, and all the ways the king had honored and promoted him over the other officials and servants.

“What is more,” Haman added, “Queen Esther invited no one but me to join the king at the banquet she prepared, and I am invited back tomorrow along with the king.

Yet none of this satisfies me as long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.”

His wife Zeresh and all his friends told him, “Have them build a gallows fifty cubits high, and ask the king in the morning to have Mordecai hanged on it. Then go to the banquet with the king and enjoy yourself.”

The advice pleased Haman, and he had the gallows constructed.

Esther 6

That night sleep escaped the king; so he ordered the Book of Records, the Chronicles, to be brought in and read to him.

And there it was found recorded that Mordecai had exposed Bigthana and Teresh, two of the eunuchs who guarded the king’s entrance, when they had conspired to assassinate King Xerxes.

The king inquired, “What honor or dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this act?”

“Nothing has been done for him,” replied the king’s attendants.

“Who is in the court?” the king asked.

Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the palace to ask the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows he had prepared for him.

So the king’s attendants answered him, “Haman is there, standing in the court.”

“Bring him in,” ordered the king.

Haman entered, and the king asked him, “What should be done for the man whom the king is delighted to honor?”

Now Haman thought to himself, “Whom would the king be delighted to honor more than me?”

And Haman told the king, “For the man whom the king is delighted to honor,

have them bring a royal robe that the king himself has worn and a horse on which the king himself has ridden—one with a royal crest placed on its head.

Let the robe and the horse be entrusted to one of the king’s most noble princes. Let them array the man the king wants to honor and parade him on the horse through the city square, proclaiming before him, ‘This is what is done for the man whom the king is delighted to honor!’ ”

“Hurry,” said the king to Haman, “and do just as you proposed. Take the robe and the horse to Mordecai the Jew, who is sitting at the king’s gate. Do not neglect anything that you have suggested.”

So Haman took the robe and the horse, arrayed Mordecai, and paraded him through the city square, crying out before him, “This is what is done for the man whom the king is delighted to honor!”

Then Mordecai returned to the king’s gate. But Haman rushed home, with his head covered in grief.

Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had happened. His advisers and his wife Zeresh said to him, “Since Mordecai, before whom your downfall has begun, is Jewish, you will not prevail against him—for surely you will fall before him.”

While they were still speaking with Haman, the king’s eunuchs arrived and rushed him to the banquet that Esther had prepared.

Esther 7

So the king and Haman went to dine with Esther the queen,

and as they drank their wine on that second day, the king asked once more, “Queen Esther, what is your petition? It will be given to you. What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be fulfilled.”

Queen Esther replied, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, grant me my life as my petition, and the lives of my people as my request.

For my people and I have been sold out to destruction, death, and annihilation. If we had merely been sold as menservants and maidservants, I would have remained silent, because no such distress would justify burdening the king.”

Then King Xerxes spoke up and asked Queen Esther, “Who is this, and where is the one who would devise such a scheme?”

Esther replied, “The adversary and enemy is this wicked man—Haman!”

And Haman stood in terror before the king and queen.

In his fury, the king arose from drinking his wine and went to the palace garden, while Haman stayed behind to beg Queen Esther for his life, for he realized that the king was planning a terrible fate for him.

Just as the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall, Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was reclining. The king exclaimed, “Would he actually assault the queen while I am in the palace?”

As soon as the words had left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face.

Then Harbonah, one of the eunuchs attending the king, said: “There is a gallows fifty cubits high at Haman’s house. He had it built for Mordecai, who gave the report that saved the king.”

“Hang him on it!” declared the king.

So they hanged Haman on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the fury of the king subsided.

The Lord sings over his people. We forget that singing is a holy thing. Language itself is musical. There isn't really an unmusical way to go through life. It is a part of God that he has given us to use back to and with him. We are exhorted to sing his praise many times throughout the scriptures. Indeed, it has always constituted legitimate gatherings of his people.

The prophet Zephaniah, even as he warns of God's wrath and jealousy, also promises a future restoration marked by this holy singing. The Lord gets to expect these displays of love from us because he loves us first. Do you love the Lord? Sing praises unto him in the community of his people!

Zephaniah 1

This is the word of the LORD that came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah:

“I will completely sweep away

everything from the face of the earth,”

declares the LORD.

“I will sweep away man and beast;

I will sweep away the birds of the air,

and the fish of the sea,

and the idols with their wicked worshipers.

I will cut off mankind

from the face of the earth,”

declares the LORD.

“I will stretch out My hand against Judah

and against all who dwell in Jerusalem.

I will cut off from this place every remnant of Baal,

the names of the idolatrous and pagan priests—

those who bow on the rooftops

to worship the host of heaven,

those who bow down and swear by the LORD

but also swear by Milcom,

and those who turn back

from following the LORD,

neither seeking the LORD

nor inquiring of Him.”

Be silent in the presence of the Lord GOD,

for the Day of the LORD is near.

Indeed, the LORD has prepared a sacrifice;

He has consecrated His guests.

“On the Day of the LORD’s sacrifice

I will punish the princes,

the sons of the king,

and all who are dressed in foreign apparel.

On that day I will punish

all who leap over the threshold,

who fill the house of their master

with violence and deceit.

On that day,” declares the LORD,

“a cry will go up from the Fish Gate,

a wail from the Second District,

and a loud crashing from the hills.

Wail, O dwellers of the Hollow,

for all your merchants will be silenced;

all who weigh out silver will be cut off.

And at that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps

and punish the men settled in complacency,

who say to themselves,

‘The LORD will do nothing,

either good or bad.’

Their wealth will be plundered

and their houses laid waste.

They will build houses but not inhabit them,

and plant vineyards but never drink their wine.

The great Day of the LORD is near—

near and coming quickly.

Listen, the Day of the LORD!

Then the cry of the mighty will be bitter.

That day will be

a day of wrath,

a day of trouble and distress,

a day of destruction and desolation,

a day of darkness and gloom,

a day of clouds and blackness,

a day of horn blast and battle cry

against the fortified cities,

and against the high corner towers.

I will bring such distress on mankind

that they will walk like the blind,

because they have sinned against the LORD.

Their blood will be poured out like dust

and their flesh like dung.

Neither their silver nor their gold

will be able to deliver them

on the Day of the LORD’s wrath.

The whole earth will be consumed

by the fire of His jealousy.”

For indeed, He will make a sudden end

of all who dwell on the earth.

Zephaniah 2

Gather yourselves, gather together,

O shameful nation,

before the decree takes effect

and the day passes like chaff,

before the burning anger of the LORD comes upon you,

before the Day of the LORD’s anger comes upon you.

Seek the LORD, all you humble of the earth

who carry out His justice.

Seek righteousness; seek humility.

Perhaps you will be sheltered

on the day of the LORD’s anger.

For Gaza will be abandoned,

and Ashkelon left in ruins.

Ashdod will be driven out at noon,

and Ekron will be uprooted.

Woe to the dwellers of the seacoast,

O nation of the Cherethites!

The word of the LORD is against you,

O Canaan, land of the Philistines:

“I will destroy you,

and no one will be left.”

So the seacoast will become a land of pastures,

with wells for shepherds and folds for sheep.

The coast will belong to the remnant of the house of Judah;

there they will find pasture.

They will lie down in the evening

among the houses of Ashkelon,

for the LORD their God will attend to them

and restore their captives.

“I have heard the reproach of Moab

and the insults of the Ammonites,

who have taunted My people

and threatened their borders.

Therefore, as surely as I live,”

declares the LORD of Hosts,

the God of Israel,

“surely Moab will be like Sodom

and the Ammonites like Gomorrah—

a place of weeds and salt pits,

a perpetual wasteland.

The remnant of My people will plunder them;

the remainder of My nation will dispossess them.”

This they shall have in return for their pride,

for taunting and mocking the people

of the LORD of Hosts.

The LORD will be terrifying to them

when He starves all the gods of the earth.

Then the nations of every shore

will bow in worship to Him,

each in its own place.

“You too, O Cushites,

will be slain by My sword.”

And He will stretch out His hand against the north

and destroy Assyria;

He will make Nineveh a desolation,

as dry as a desert.

Herds will lie down in her midst,

creatures of every kind.

Both the desert owl and screech owl

will roost atop her pillars.

Their calls will sound from the window,

but desolation will lie on the threshold,

for He will expose the beams of cedar.

This carefree city

that dwells securely,

that thinks to herself:

“I am it, and there is none besides me,”

what a ruin she has become,

a resting place for beasts.

Everyone who passes by her

hisses and shakes his fist.

Zephaniah 3

Woe to the city of oppressors,

rebellious and defiled!

She heeded no voice;

she accepted no correction.

She does not trust in the LORD;

she has not drawn near to her God.

Her princes are roaring lions;

her judges are evening wolves,

leaving nothing for the morning.

Her prophets are reckless,

faithless men.

Her priests profane the sanctuary;

they do violence to the law.

The LORD within her is righteous;

He does no wrong.

He applies His justice morning by morning;

He does not fail at dawn,

yet the unjust know no shame.

“I have cut off the nations;

their corner towers are destroyed.

I have made their streets deserted

with no one to pass through.

Their cities are laid waste,

with no man, no inhabitant.

I said, ‘Surely you will fear Me

and accept correction.’

Then her dwelling place would not be cut off

despite all for which I punished her.

But they rose early

to corrupt all their deeds.

Therefore wait for Me,”

declares the LORD,

“until the day

I rise to testify.

For My decision is to gather nations,

to assemble kingdoms,

to pour out upon them My indignation—

all My burning anger.

For all the earth will be consumed

by the fire of My jealousy.

For then I will restore

pure lips to the peoples,

that all may call upon the name of the LORD

and serve Him shoulder to shoulder.

From beyond the rivers of Cush

My worshipers, My scattered people,

will bring Me an offering.

On that day you will not be put to shame

for any of the deeds

by which you have transgressed against Me.

For then I will remove from among you

those who rejoice in their pride,

and you will never again be haughty

on My holy mountain.

But I will leave within you a meek and humble people,

and they will trust in the name of the LORD.

The remnant of Israel

will no longer do wrong or speak lies,

nor will a deceitful tongue

be found in their mouths.

But they will feed and lie down,

with no one to make them tremble.”

Sing for joy, O Daughter of Zion;

shout aloud, O Israel!

Be glad and rejoice with all your heart,

O Daughter of Jerusalem!

The LORD has taken away your punishment;

He has turned back your enemy.

Israel’s King, the LORD, is among you;

no longer will you fear any harm.

On that day they will say to Jerusalem:

“Do not fear, O Zion;

do not let your hands fall limp.

The LORD your God is among you;

He is mighty to save.

He will rejoice over you with gladness;

He will quiet you with His love;

He will rejoice over you with singing.”

“I will gather those among you who grieve

over the appointed feasts,

so that you will no longer suffer reproach.

Behold, at that time,

I will deal with all who afflict you.

I will save the lame

and gather the scattered;

and I will appoint praise and fame

for the disgraced throughout the earth.

At that time I will bring you in;

yes, at that time I will gather you.

For I will give you fame and praise

among all the peoples of the earth

when I restore your captives

before your very eyes,”

says the LORD.

Psalm 9

I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart;

I will recount all Your wonders.

I will be glad and rejoice in You;

I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.

When my enemies retreat,

they stumble and perish before You.

For You have upheld my just cause;

You sit on Your throne judging righteously.

You have rebuked the nations;

You have destroyed the wicked;

You have erased their name forever and ever.

The enemy has come to eternal ruin,

and You have uprooted their cities;

the very memory of them has vanished.

But the LORD abides forever;

He has established His throne for judgment.

He judges the world with justice;

He governs the people with equity.

The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed,

a stronghold in times of trouble.

Those who know Your name trust in You,

for You, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.

Sing praises to the LORD, who dwells in Zion;

proclaim His deeds among the nations.

For the Avenger of bloodshed remembers;

He does not ignore the cry of the afflicted.

Be merciful to me, O LORD;

see how my enemies afflict me!

Lift me up from the gates of death,

that I may declare all Your praises—

that within the gates of Daughter Zion

I may rejoice in Your salvation.

The nations have fallen into a pit of their making;

their feet are caught in the net they have hidden.

The LORD is known by the justice He brings;

the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands.

Higgaion Selah

The wicked will return to Sheol—

all the nations who forget God.

For the needy will not always be forgotten;

nor the hope of the oppressed forever dashed.

Rise up, O LORD, do not let man prevail;

let the nations be judged in Your presence.

Lay terror upon them, O LORD;

let the nations know they are but men.

Selah

Psalm 11

In the LORD I take refuge.

How then can you say to me:

“Flee like a bird to your mountain!

For behold, the wicked bend their bows.

They set their arrow on the string

to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart.

If the foundations are destroyed,

what can the righteous do?”

The LORD is in His holy temple;

the LORD is on His heavenly throne.

His eyes are watching closely;

they examine the sons of men.

The LORD tests the righteous and the wicked;

His soul hates the lover of violence.

On the wicked He will rain down fiery coals and sulfur;

a scorching wind will be their portion.

For the LORD is righteous; He loves justice.

The upright will see His face.

Proverbs 11

Dishonest scales are an abomination to the LORD,

but an accurate weight is His delight.

When pride comes, disgrace follows,

but with humility comes wisdom.

The integrity of the upright guides them,

but the perversity of the faithless destroys them.

Riches are worthless in the day of wrath,

but righteousness brings deliverance from death.

The righteousness of the blameless directs their path,

but the wicked fall by their own wickedness.

The righteousness of the upright delivers them,

but the faithless are trapped by their own desires.

When the wicked man dies, his hope perishes,

and the hope of his strength vanishes.

The righteous man is delivered from trouble;

in his place the wicked man goes in.

With his mouth the ungodly man destroys his neighbor,

but through knowledge the righteous are rescued.

When the righteous thrive, the city rejoices,

and when the wicked perish, there are shouts of joy.

By the blessing of the upright a city is built up,

but by the mouth of the wicked it is torn down.

Whoever shows contempt for his neighbor lacks judgment,

but a man of understanding remains silent.

A gossip reveals a secret,

but a trustworthy person keeps a confidence.

For lack of guidance, a nation falls,

but with many counselors comes deliverance.

He who puts up security for a stranger will surely suffer,

but the one who hates indebtedness is secure.

A gracious woman attains honor,

but ruthless men gain only wealth.

A kind man benefits himself,

but a cruel man brings trouble on himself.

The wicked man earns an empty wage,

but he who sows righteousness reaps a true reward.

Genuine righteousness leads to life,

but the pursuit of evil brings death.

The perverse in heart are an abomination to the LORD,

but the blameless in their walk are His delight.

Be assured that the wicked will not go unpunished,

but the offspring of the righteous will escape.

Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout

is a beautiful woman who lacks discretion.

The desire of the righteous leads only to good,

but the hope of the wicked brings wrath.

One gives freely, yet gains even more;

another withholds what is right, only to become poor.

A generous soul will prosper,

and he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.

The people will curse the hoarder of grain,

but blessing will crown the one who sells it.

He who searches out good finds favor,

but evil will come to him who seeks it.

He who trusts in his riches will fall,

but the righteous will thrive like foliage.

He who brings trouble on his house will inherit the wind,

and the fool will be servant to the wise of heart.

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life,

and he who wins souls is wise.

If the righteous receive their due on earth,

how much more the ungodly and the sinner!

God speaks through prophets. Prophets warn the people. The people take offense at the prophets because they don’t feel like they are doing anything wrong, or because they are trying to forget what they have done. They ask the prophet to stop prophesying. The prophet then turns and curses them directly. Jesus himself did this. Amos does it today.

The world hates God. That way leads damnation. If we choose life, we choose to hear the truth and then repent. Do that. Let’s all do that.

Amos 6

Woe to those at ease in Zion

and those secure on Mount Samaria,

the distinguished ones of the foremost nation,

to whom the house of Israel comes.

Cross over to Calneh and see;

go from there to the great Hamath;

then go down to Gath of the Philistines.

Are you better than these kingdoms?

Is their territory larger than yours?

You dismiss the day of calamity

and bring near a reign of violence.

You lie on beds inlaid with ivory,

and lounge upon your couches.

You dine on lambs from the flock

and calves from the stall.

You improvise songs on the harp like David

and invent your own musical instruments.

You drink wine by the bowlful

and anoint yourselves with the finest oils,

but you fail to grieve

over the ruin of Joseph.

Therefore, you will now go into exile

as the first of the captives,

and your feasting and lounging

will come to an end.

The Lord GOD has sworn by Himself—the LORD, the God of Hosts, has declared:

“I abhor Jacob’s pride

and detest his citadels,

so I will deliver up the city

and everything in it.”

And if there are ten men left in one house, they too will die.

And when the relative who is to burn the bodies picks them up to remove them from the house, he will call to one inside, “Is anyone else with you?”

“None,” that person will answer.

“Silence,” the relative will retort, “for the name of the LORD must not be invoked.”

For the LORD gives a command:

“The great house will be smashed to pieces,

and the small house to rubble.”

“Do horses gallop on the cliffs?

Does one plow the sea with oxen?

But you have turned justice into poison

and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood—

you who rejoice in Lo-debar and say,

‘Did we not take Karnaim by our own strength?’

For behold, I will raise up a nation

against you, O house of Israel,”

declares the LORD, the God of Hosts,

“and they will oppress you

from Lebo-hamath to the Brook of the Arabah.”

Amos 7

This is what the Lord GOD showed me: He was preparing swarms of locusts just after the king’s harvest, as the late spring crop was coming up.

And when the locusts had eaten every green plant in the land, I said, “Lord GOD, please forgive! How will Jacob survive, since he is so small?”

So the LORD relented from this plan. “It will not happen,” He said.

This is what the Lord GOD showed me: The Lord GOD was calling for judgment by fire. It consumed the great deep and devoured the land.

Then I said, “Lord GOD, please stop! How will Jacob survive, since he is so small?”

So the LORD relented from this plan. “It will not happen either,” said the Lord GOD.

This is what He showed me: Behold, the Lord was standing by a wall true to plumb, with a plumb line in His hand. “Amos, what do you see?” asked the LORD.

“A plumb line,” I replied.

“Behold,” said the Lord, “I am setting a plumb line among My people Israel; I will no longer spare them:

The high places of Isaac will be deserted,

and the sanctuaries of Israel will be laid waste;

and I will rise up against the house of Jeroboam

with My sword.”

Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent word to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land cannot bear all his words,

for this is what Amos has said:

‘Jeroboam will die by the sword,

and Israel will surely go into exile,

away from their homeland.’ ”

And Amaziah said to Amos, “Go away, you seer! Flee to the land of Judah; earn your bread there and do your prophesying there.

But never prophesy at Bethel again, because it is the sanctuary of the king and the temple of the kingdom.”

“I was not a prophet,” Amos replied, “nor was I the son of a prophet; rather, I was a herdsman and a tender of sycamore-fig trees.

But the LORD took me from following the flock and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to My people Israel.’

Now, therefore, hear the word of the LORD. You say:

‘Do not prophesy against Israel;

do not preach against the house of Isaac.’

Therefore this is what the LORD says:

‘Your wife will become a prostitute in the city,

and your sons and daughters will fall by the sword.

Your land will be divided by a measuring line,

and you yourself will die on pagan soil.

And Israel will surely go into exile,

away from their homeland.’ ”

Amos 8

This is what the Lord GOD showed me: I saw a basket of summer fruit.

“Amos, what do you see?” He asked.

“A basket of summer fruit,” I replied.

So the LORD said to me, “The end has come for My people Israel; I will no longer spare them.”

“In that day,” declares the Lord GOD, “the songs of the temple will turn to wailing. Many will be the corpses, strewn in silence everywhere!”

Hear this, you who trample the needy,

who do away with the poor of the land,

asking, “When will the New Moon be over,

that we may sell grain?

When will the Sabbath end,

that we may market wheat?

Let us reduce the ephah and increase the shekel;

let us cheat with dishonest scales.

Let us buy the poor with silver

and the needy for a pair of sandals,

selling even the chaff with the wheat!”

The LORD has sworn by the Pride of Jacob:

“I will never forget any of their deeds.

Will not the land quake for this,

and all its dwellers mourn?

All of it will swell like the Nile;

it will surge and then subside

like the Nile in Egypt.

And in that day,

declares the Lord GOD,

I will make the sun go down at noon,

and I will darken the earth in the daytime.

I will turn your feasts into mourning

and all your songs into lamentation.

I will cause everyone to wear sackcloth

and every head to be shaved.

I will make it like a time of mourning for an only son,

and its outcome like a bitter day.

Behold, the days are coming,

declares the Lord GOD,

when I will send a famine on the land—

not a famine of bread or a thirst for water,

but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD.

People will stagger from sea to sea

and roam from north to east,

seeking the word of the LORD,

but they will not find it.

In that day the lovely young women—

the young men as well—

will faint from thirst.

Those who swear by the guilt of Samaria

and say, ‘As surely as your god lives, O Dan,’

or, ‘As surely as the way of Beersheba lives’—

they will fall, never to rise again.”

Amos 9

I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and He said:

“Strike the tops of the pillars

so that the thresholds shake.

Topple them on the heads of all the people,

and I will kill the rest with the sword.

None of those who flee will get away;

none of the fugitives will escape.

Though they dig down to Sheol,

from there My hand will take them;

and though they climb up to heaven,

from there I will pull them down.

Though they hide themselves atop Carmel,

there I will track them and seize them;

and though they hide from Me at the bottom of the sea,

there I will command the serpent to bite them.

Though they are driven by their enemies into captivity,

there I will command the sword to slay them.

I will fix My eyes upon them

for harm and not for good.”

The Lord GOD of Hosts,

He who touches the earth and it melts,

and all its dwellers mourn—

all the land rises like the Nile,

then sinks like the river of Egypt—

He builds His upper rooms in the heavens

and founds His vault upon the earth.

He summons the waters of the sea

and pours them over the face of the earth.

The LORD is His name.

“Are you not like the Cushites to Me,

O children of Israel?”

declares the LORD.

“Did I not bring Israel

up from the land of Egypt,

the Philistines from Caphtor,

and the Arameans from Kir?

Surely the eyes of the Lord GOD

are on the sinful kingdom,

and I will destroy it from the face of the earth.

Yet I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,”

declares the LORD.

“For surely I will give the command,

and I will shake the house of Israel

among all the nations

as grain is sifted in a sieve;

but not a pebble will reach the ground.

All the sinners among My people

will die by the sword—

all those who say,

‘Disaster will never draw near or confront us.’ ”

“In that day I will restore

the fallen tent of David.

I will repair its gaps, restore its ruins,

and rebuild it as in the days of old,

that they may possess the remnant of Edom

and all the nations that bear My name,”

declares the LORD, who will do this.

“Behold, the days are coming,”

declares the LORD,

“when the plowman will overtake the reaper

and the treader of grapes, the sower of seed.

The mountains will drip with sweet wine,

with which all the hills will flow.

I will restore My people Israel from captivity;

they will rebuild and inhabit the ruined cities.

They will plant vineyards and drink their wine;

they will make gardens and eat their fruit.

I will firmly plant them in their own land,

never again to be uprooted

from the land that I have given them,”

says the LORD your God.

Obadaiah

This is the vision of Obadiah:

This is what the Lord GOD says about Edom—

We have heard a message from the LORD;

an envoy has been sent among the nations

to say, “Rise up,

and let us go to battle against her!”—

“Behold, I will make you small among the nations;

you will be deeply despised.

The pride of your heart has deceived you,

O dwellers in the clefts of the rocks

whose habitation is the heights,

who say in your heart,

‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’

Though you soar like the eagle

and make your nest among the stars,

even from there I will bring you down,”

declares the LORD.

“If thieves came to you,

if robbers by night—

oh, how you will be ruined—

would they not steal only what they wanted?

If grape gatherers came to you,

would they not leave some gleanings?

But how Esau will be pillaged,

his hidden treasures sought out!

All the men allied with you

will drive you to the border;

the men at peace with you

will deceive and overpower you.

Those who eat your bread

will set a trap for you

without your awareness of it.

In that day, declares the LORD,

will I not destroy the wise men of Edom

and the men of understanding

in the mountains of Esau?

Then your mighty men, O Teman,

will be terrified,

so that everyone in the mountains of Esau

will be cut down in the slaughter.

Because of the violence against your brother Jacob,

you will be covered with shame

and cut off forever.

On the day you stood aloof

while strangers carried off his wealth

and foreigners entered his gate

and cast lots for Jerusalem,

you were just like one of them.

But you should not gloat in that day,

your brother’s day of misfortune,

nor rejoice over the people of Judah

in the day of their destruction,

nor boast proudly

in the day of their distress.

You should not enter the gate of My people

in the day of their disaster,

nor gloat over their affliction

in the day of their disaster,

nor loot their wealth

in the day of their disaster.

Nor should you stand at the crossroads

to cut off their fugitives,

nor deliver up their survivors

in the day of their distress.

For the Day of the LORD is near

for all the nations.

As you have done, it will be done to you;

your recompense will return upon your own head.

For as you drank on My holy mountain,

so all the nations will drink continually.

They will drink and gulp it down;

they will be as if they had never existed.

But on Mount Zion there will be deliverance,

and it will be holy,

and the house of Jacob

will reclaim their possession.

Then the house of Jacob will be a blazing fire,

and the house of Joseph a burning flame;

but the house of Esau will be stubble—

Jacob will set it ablaze and consume it.

Therefore no survivor will remain

from the house of Esau.”

For the LORD has spoken.

Those from the Negev will possess the mountains of Esau;

those from the foothills will possess the land of the Philistines.

They will occupy the fields of Ephraim and Samaria,

and Benjamin will possess Gilead.

And the exiles of this host of the Israelites

will possess the land of the Canaanites as far as Zarephath;

and the exiles from Jerusalem who are in Sepharad

will possess the cities of the Negev.

The deliverers will ascend Mount Zion

to rule over the mountains of Esau.

And the kingdom will belong to the LORD.

Proverbs 10

The proverbs of Solomon:

A wise son brings joy to his father,

but a foolish son grief to his mother.

Ill-gotten treasures profit nothing,

but righteousness brings deliverance from death.

The LORD does not let the righteous go hungry,

but He denies the craving of the wicked.

Idle hands make one poor,

but diligent hands bring wealth.

He who gathers in summer is a wise son,

but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son.

Blessings are on the head of the righteous,

but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.

The memory of the righteous is a blessing,

but the name of the wicked will rot.

A wise heart will receive commandments,

but foolish lips will come to ruin.

He who walks in integrity walks securely,

but he who perverts his ways will be found out.

He who winks the eye causes grief,

and foolish lips will come to ruin.

The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life,

but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.

Hatred stirs up dissension,

but love covers all transgressions.

Wisdom is found on the lips of the discerning,

but a rod is for the back of him who lacks judgment.

The wise store up knowledge,

but the mouth of the fool invites destruction.

The wealth of the rich man is his fortified city,

but poverty is the ruin of the poor.

The labor of the righteous leads to life,

but the gain of the wicked brings punishment.

Whoever heeds instruction is on the path to life,

but he who ignores reproof goes astray.

The one who conceals hatred has lying lips,

and whoever spreads slander is a fool.

When words are many, sin is unavoidable,

but he who restrains his lips is wise.

The tongue of the righteous is choice silver,

but the heart of the wicked has little worth.

The lips of the righteous feed many,

but fools die for lack of judgment.

The blessing of the LORD enriches,

and He adds no sorrow to it.

The fool delights in shameful conduct,

but a man of understanding has wisdom.

What the wicked man dreads will overtake him,

but the desire of the righteous will be granted.

When the whirlwind passes, the wicked are no more,

but the righteous are secure forever.

Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes,

so is the slacker to those who send him.

The fear of the LORD prolongs life,

but the years of the wicked will be cut short.

The hope of the righteous is joy,

but the expectations of the wicked will perish.

The way of the LORD is a refuge to the upright,

but destruction awaits those who do evil.

The righteous will never be shaken,

but the wicked will not inhabit the land.

The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom,

but a perverse tongue will be cut out.

The lips of the righteous know what is fitting,

but the mouth of the wicked is perverse.

The Day of the Lord is a promise that begins in the Old Testament. Prophets told of a future day on which the Lord would come directly to earth, ending every worldly power and principality, bringing justice to the world. A people that identified as victims yearned for God to come. The prophet Amos, however, warned that the Day of the Lord would come as a great day of dread to the unfaithful Hebrews in Judah and Israel. Because they oppressed the righteous and the poor, the Lord pours out curses upon them in today’s reading. Buckle up. This is meant as a warning for those of us who have grown ambivalent to injustice and oppression. May we pray for soft hearts inclined towards mercy. It is the peacemakers who will inherit the earth, isn’t it?

Amos 1

These are the words of Amos, who was among the sheepherders of Tekoa—what he saw concerning Israel two years before the earthquake, in the days when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel.

He said:

“The LORD roars from Zion

and raises His voice from Jerusalem;

the pastures of the shepherds mourn,

and the summit of Carmel withers.”

This is what the LORD says:

“For three transgressions of Damascus, even four,

I will not revoke My judgment,

because they threshed Gilead

with sledges of iron.

So I will send fire upon the house of Hazael

to consume the citadels of Ben-hadad.

I will break down the gates of Damascus;

I will cut off the ruler of the Valley of Aven

and the one who wields the scepter in Beth-eden.

The people of Aram will be exiled to Kir,”

says the LORD.

This is what the LORD says:

“For three transgressions of Gaza, even four,

I will not revoke My judgment,

because they exiled a whole population,

delivering them up to Edom.

So I will send fire upon the walls of Gaza,

to consume its citadels.

I will cut off the ruler of Ashdod

and the one who wields the scepter in Ashkelon.

I will turn My hand against Ekron,

and the remnant of the Philistines will perish,”

says the Lord GOD.

This is what the LORD says:

“For three transgressions of Tyre, even four,

I will not revoke My judgment,

because they delivered up a whole congregation of exiles to Edom

and broke a covenant of brotherhood.

So I will send fire upon the walls of Tyre

to consume its citadels.”

This is what the LORD says:

“For three transgressions of Edom, even four,

I will not revoke My judgment,

because he pursued his brother with the sword

and stifled all compassion;

his anger raged continually,

and his fury flamed incessantly.

So I will send fire upon Teman

to consume the citadels of Bozrah.”

This is what the LORD says:

“For three transgressions of the Ammonites, even four,

I will not revoke My judgment,

because they ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead

in order to enlarge their territory.

So I will kindle a fire in the walls of Rabbah

to consume its citadels

amid war cries on the day of battle

and a violent wind on the day of tempest.

Their king will go into exile —

he and his princes together,”

says the LORD.

Amos 2

This is what the LORD says:

“For three transgressions of Moab, even four,

I will not revoke My judgment,

because he burned to lime

the bones of Edom’s king.

So I will send fire against Moab

to consume the citadels of Kerioth.

Moab will die in tumult,

amid war cries and the sound of the ram’s horn.

I will cut off the ruler of Moab

and kill all the officials with him,”

says the LORD.

This is what the LORD says:

“For three transgressions of Judah, even four,

I will not revoke My judgment,

because they reject the Law of the LORD

and fail to keep His statutes;

they are led astray by the lies

in which their fathers walked.

So I will send fire upon Judah

to consume the citadels of Jerusalem.”

This is what the LORD says:

“For three transgressions of Israel, even four,

I will not revoke My judgment,

because they sell the righteous for silver

and the needy for a pair of sandals.

They trample on the heads of the poor

as on the dust of the earth;

they push the needy out of their way.

A man and his father

have relations with the same girl

and so profane My holy name.

They lie down beside every altar

on garments taken in pledge.

And in the house of their God,

they drink wine obtained through fines.

Yet it was I who destroyed

the Amorite before them,

though his height was like that of the cedars,

and he was as strong as the oaks.

Yet I destroyed his fruit above

and his roots below.

And I brought you up from the land of Egypt

and led you forty years in the wilderness,

that you might take possession

of the land of the Amorite.

I raised up prophets from your sons

and Nazirites from your young men.

Is this not true,

O children of Israel?”

declares the LORD.

“But you made the Nazirites drink wine

and commanded the prophets not to prophesy.

Behold, I am about to crush you in your place

as with a cart full of grain.

Escape will fail the swift,

the strong will not prevail by his strength,

and the mighty will not save his life.

The archer will not stand his ground,

the fleet of foot will not escape,

and the horseman will not save his life.

Even the bravest of mighty men

will flee naked on that day,”

declares the LORD.

Amos 3

Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt:

“Only you have I known

from all the families of the earth;

therefore I will punish you

for all your iniquities.”

Can two walk together

without agreeing where to go?

Does a lion roar in the forest

when he has no prey?

Does a young lion growl in his den

if he has caught nothing?

Does a bird land in a snare

where no bait has been set?

Does a trap spring from the ground

when it has nothing to catch?

If a ram’s horn sounds in a city,

do the people not tremble?

If calamity comes to a city,

has not the LORD caused it?

Surely the Lord GOD does nothing

without revealing His plan

to His servants the prophets.

The lion has roared—

who will not fear?

The Lord GOD has spoken—

who will not prophesy?

Proclaim to the citadels of Ashdod

and to the citadels of Egypt:

“Assemble on the mountains of Samaria;

see the great unrest in the city

and the acts of oppression in her midst.”

“For they know not how to do right,”

declares the LORD.

“They store up violence and destruction

in their citadels.”

Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says:

“An enemy will surround the land;

he will pull down your strongholds

and plunder your citadels.”

This is what the LORD says:

“As the shepherd snatches from the mouth of the lion

two legs or a piece of an ear,

so the Israelites dwelling in Samaria will be rescued

having just the corner of a bed

or the cushion of a couch.

Hear and testify against the house of Jacob,

declares the Lord GOD, the God of Hosts.

On the day I punish Israel for their transgressions,

I will visit destruction on the altars of Bethel;

the horns of the altar will be cut off,

and they will fall to the ground.

I will tear down the winter house

along with the summer house;

the houses of ivory will also perish,

and the great houses will come to an end,”

declares the LORD.

Amos 4

Hear this word,

you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria,

you women who oppress the poor

and crush the needy,

who say to your husbands,

“Bring us more to drink.”

The Lord GOD has sworn by His holiness:

“Behold, the days are coming

when you will be taken away with hooks,

and your posterity with fishhooks.

You will go out through broken walls,

each one straight ahead of her,

and you will be cast out toward Harmon,”

declares the LORD.

“Go to Bethel and transgress;

rebel even more at Gilgal!

Bring your sacrifices every morning,

your tithes every three days.

Offer leavened bread as a thank offering,

and loudly proclaim your freewill offerings.

For that is what you children of Israel love to do,”

declares the Lord GOD.

“I beset all your cities with cleanness of teeth

and all your towns with lack of bread,

yet you did not return to Me,”

declares the LORD.

“I also withheld the rain from you

when the harvest was three months away.

I sent rain on one city

but withheld it from another.

One field received rain;

another without rain withered.

People staggered from city to city

for water to drink,

but they were not satisfied;

yet you did not return to Me,”

declares the LORD.

“I struck you with blight and mildew

in your growing gardens and vineyards;

the locust devoured your fig and olive trees,

yet you did not return to Me,”

declares the LORD.

“I sent plagues among you

like those of Egypt;

I killed your young men with the sword,

along with your captured horses.

I filled your nostrils with the stench of your camp,

yet you did not return to Me,”

declares the LORD.

“Some of you I overthrew

as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,

and you were like a firebrand snatched from a blaze,

yet you did not return to Me,”

declares the LORD.

“Therefore, that is what I will do

to you, O Israel,

and since I will do this to you,

prepare to meet your God, O Israel!

For behold, He who forms the mountains,

who creates the wind

and reveals His thoughts to man,

who turns the dawn to darkness

and strides on the heights of the earth—

the LORD, the God of Hosts, is His name.”

Amos 5

Hear this word, O house of Israel, this lamentation I take up against you:

“Fallen is Virgin Israel,

never to rise again.

She lies abandoned on her land,

with no one to raise her up.”

This is what the Lord GOD says:

“The city that marches out a thousand strong

will only see a hundred return,

and the one that marches out a hundred strong

will have but ten left in the house of Israel.”

For this is what the LORD says to the house of Israel:

“Seek Me and live!

Do not seek Bethel or go to Gilgal;

do not journey to Beersheba,

for Gilgal will surely go into exile,

and Bethel will come to nothing.

Seek the LORD and live,

or He will sweep like fire through the house of Joseph;

it will devour everything,

with no one at Bethel to extinguish it.

There are those who turn justice into wormwood

and cast righteousness to the ground.

He who made the Pleiades and Orion,

who turns darkness into dawn

and darkens day into night,

who summons the waters of the sea

and pours them over the face of the earth—

the LORD is His name—

He flashes destruction on the strong,

so that fury comes upon the stronghold.

There are those who hate the one who reproves in the gate

and despise him who speaks with integrity.

Therefore, because you trample on the poor

and exact from him a tax of grain,

you will never live

in the stone houses you have built;

you will never drink the wine

from the lush vineyards you have planted.

For I know that your transgressions are many

and your sins are numerous.

You oppress the righteous by taking bribes;

you deprive the poor of justice in the gate.

Therefore, the prudent keep silent in such times,

for the days are evil.

Seek good, not evil,

so that you may live.

And the LORD, the God of Hosts,

will be with you, as you have claimed.

Hate evil and love good;

establish justice in the gate.

Perhaps the LORD, the God of Hosts,

will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.”

Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Hosts, the Lord, says:

“There will be wailing in all the public squares

and cries of ‘Alas! Alas!’ in all the streets.

The farmer will be summoned to mourn,

and the mourners to wail.

There will be wailing in all the vineyards,

for I will pass through your midst,”

says the LORD.

Woe to you who long for the Day of the LORD!

What will the Day of the LORD be for you?

It will be darkness and not light.

It will be like a man who flees from a lion,

only to encounter a bear,

or who enters his house and rests his hand against the wall,

only to be bitten by a snake.

Will not the Day of the LORD

be darkness and not light,

even gloom with no brightness in it?

“I hate, I despise your feasts!

I cannot stand the stench of your solemn assemblies.

Even though you offer Me burnt offerings and grain offerings,

I will not accept them;

for your peace offerings of fattened cattle

I will have no regard.

Take away from Me the noise of your songs!

I will not listen to the music of your harps.

But let justice roll on like a river,

and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

Did you bring Me sacrifices and offerings

forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?

You have taken along Sakkuth your king

and Kaiwan your star god,

the idols you made for yourselves.

Therefore I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,”

says the LORD, whose name is the God of Hosts.

Psalm 25

To You, O LORD, I lift up my soul;

in You, my God, I trust.

Do not let me be put to shame;

do not let my enemies exult over me.

Surely none who wait for You will be put to shame;

but those who are faithless without cause will be disgraced.

Show me Your ways, O LORD;

teach me Your paths.

Guide me in Your truth and teach me,

for You are the God of my salvation;

all day long I wait for You.

Remember, O LORD, Your compassion and loving devotion,

for they are from age to age.

Remember not the sins of my youth,

nor my rebellious acts;

remember me according to Your loving devotion,

because of Your goodness, O LORD.

Good and upright is the LORD;

therefore He shows sinners the way.

He guides the humble in what is right

and teaches them His way.

All the LORD’s ways are loving and faithful

to those who keep His covenant and His decrees.

For the sake of Your name, O LORD,

forgive my iniquity, for it is great.

Who is the man who fears the LORD?

He will instruct him in the path chosen for him.

His soul will dwell in prosperity,

and his descendants will inherit the land.

The LORD confides in those who fear Him,

and reveals His covenant to them.

My eyes are always on the LORD,

for He will free my feet from the mesh.

Turn to me and be gracious,

for I am lonely and afflicted.

The troubles of my heart increase;

free me from my distress.

Consider my affliction and trouble,

and take away all my sins.

Consider my enemies, for they are many,

and they hate me with vicious hatred.

Guard my soul and deliver me;

let me not be put to shame,

for I take refuge in You.

May integrity and uprightness preserve me,

because I wait for You.

Redeem Israel, O God,

from all its distress.

"And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers." - Matthew 21:12-13

This week we tackle the first few sections of chapter 21 of the Gospel of Matthew as well as the last section. In the first two sections we read of Jesus' triumphal entry in to the city of Jerusalem and when he enters the temple to overthrow the tables of the money-changers. The last section we deal with first, in that section we go over the parable of the tenants.

Psalm 22 is clearly about Jesus on the cross, written centuries before it happened. Psalm 23 is about how we understand God to be shepherding us through our lives, and how it is that we need to accept his direction, even as he leads us through the “valley of the shadow of death.” Psalm 24 is typically read during Advent in many liturgical Christian traditions, as the King of Glory’s entrance is seen as a prophecy of the second coming of Christ.

Every psalm is important. All of the psalms, in one sense or another, foretell of Christ and endow us with a right spirit of worship in response to the Lord’s power and glory. The Proverbs, likewise, give us a right sense of the Lord. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,” we are told. In an age that refuses to fear, is it any wonder we are so far from him?

Psalm 22

My God, my God,

why have You forsaken me?

Why are You so far from saving me,

so far from my words of groaning?

I cry out by day, O my God,

but You do not answer,

and by night,

but I have no rest.

Yet You are holy,

enthroned on the praises of Israel.

In You our fathers trusted;

they trusted and You delivered them.

They cried out to You and were set free;

they trusted in You and were not disappointed.

But I am a worm and not a man,

scorned by men and despised by the people.

All who see me mock me;

they sneer and shake their heads:

“He trusts in the LORD,

let the LORD deliver him;

let the LORD rescue him,

since He delights in him.”

Yet You brought me forth from the womb;

You made me secure at my mother’s breast.

From birth I was cast upon You;

from my mother’s womb You have been my God.

Be not far from me,

for trouble is near

and there is no one to help.

Many bulls surround me;

strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.

They open their jaws against me

like lions that roar and maul.

I am poured out like water,

and all my bones are disjointed.

My heart is like wax;

it melts away within me.

My strength is dried up like a potsherd,

and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.

You lay me in the dust of death.

For dogs surround me;

a band of evil men encircles me;

they have pierced my hands and feet.

I can count all my bones;

they stare and gloat over me.

They divide my garments among them

and cast lots for my clothing.

But You, O LORD, be not far off;

O my Strength, come quickly to help me.

Deliver my soul from the sword,

my precious life from the power of wild dogs.

Save me from the mouth of the lion;

at the horns of the wild oxen You have answered me!

I will proclaim Your name to my brothers;

I will praise You in the assembly.

You who fear the LORD, praise Him!

All descendants of Jacob, honor Him!

All offspring of Israel, revere Him!

For He has not despised or detested

the torment of the afflicted.

He has not hidden His face from him,

but has attended to his cry for help.

My praise for You resounds in the great assembly;

I will fulfill my vows before those who fear You.

The poor will eat and be satisfied;

those who seek the LORD will praise Him.

May your hearts live forever!

All the ends of the earth

will remember and turn to the LORD.

All the families of the nations

will bow down before Him.

For dominion belongs to the LORD

and He rules over the nations.

All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;

all who go down to the dust will kneel before Him—

even those unable to preserve their lives.

Posterity will serve Him;

they will declare the Lord to a new generation.

They will come and proclaim His righteousness

to a people yet unborn—

all that He has done.

Psalm 23

The LORD is my shepherd;

I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures;

He leads me beside quiet waters.

He restores my soul;

He guides me in the paths of righteousness

for the sake of His name.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil,

for You are with me;

Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me

in the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and mercy will follow me

all the days of my life,

and I will dwell in the house of the LORD

forever.

Psalm 24

The earth is the LORD’s, and the fullness thereof,

the world and all who dwell therein.

For He has founded it upon the seas

and established it upon the waters.

Who may ascend the hill of the LORD?

Who may stand in His holy place?

He who has clean hands and a pure heart,

who does not lift up his soul to an idol

or swear deceitfully.

He will receive blessing from the LORD

and vindication from the God of his salvation.

Such is the generation of those who seek Him,

who seek Your face, O God of Jacob.

Selah

Lift up your heads, O gates!

Be lifted up, O ancient doors,

that the King of Glory may enter!

Who is this King of Glory?

The LORD strong and mighty,

the LORD mighty in battle.

Lift up your heads, O gates!

Be lifted up, O ancient doors,

that the King of Glory may enter!

Who is He, this King of Glory?

The LORD of Hosts—

He is the King of Glory.

Selah

Proverbs 9

Wisdom has built her house;

she has carved out her seven pillars.

She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine;

she has also set her table.

She has sent out her maidservants;

she calls out from the heights of the city.

“Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!”

she says to him who lacks judgment.

“Come, eat my bread

and drink the wine I have mixed.

Leave your folly behind, and you will live;

walk in the way of understanding.”

He who corrects a mocker brings shame on himself;

he who rebukes a wicked man taints himself.

Do not rebuke a mocker, or he will hate you;

rebuke a wise man, and he will love you.

Instruct a wise man, and he will be wiser still;

teach a righteous man, and he will increase his learning.

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,

and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

For through wisdom your days will be multiplied,

and years will be added to your life.

If you are wise, you are wise to your own advantage;

but if you scoff, you alone will bear the consequences.

The woman named Folly is loud;

she is naive and knows nothing.

She sits at the door of her house,

on a seat in the heights of the city,

calling out to those who pass by,

who make their paths straight.

“Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!”

she says to him who lacks judgment.

“Stolen water is sweet,

and bread eaten in secret is tasty!”

But they do not know that the dead are there,

that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.