Reflecting on the Eighteenth
Sunday after Pentecost
Year B

Daily Readings for Tuesday
September 28, 2021

Prayer

O God, 

our guide and help in alien and contentious places: 

as Esther prayed faithfully and worked courageously 

for the deliverance of your people, 

strengthen us to confront the oppressor 

and free the oppressed, 

so that all people may know 

the justice and unity of your realm. Amen.

 

Psalm 140

Deliver me from evildoers

 

Deliver me, O Lord, from evildoers;

protect me from those who are violent,

who plan evil things in their minds

and stir up wars continually.

They make their tongue sharp as a snake’s,

and under their lips is the venom of vipers.    Selah

Guard me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked;

protect me from the violent

who have planned my downfall.

The arrogant have hidden a trap for me,

and with cords they have spread a net,

along the road they have set snares for me.    Selah

I say to the Lord, “You are my God;

give ear, O Lord, to the voice of my supplications.”

Lord, my Lord, my strong deliverer,

you have covered my head in the day of battle.

Do not grant, O Lord, the desires of the wicked;

do not further their evil plot.    Selah

Those who surround me lift up their heads;

let the mischief of their lips overwhelm them!

Let burning coals fall on them!

Let them be flung into pits, no more to rise!

Do not let the slanderer be established in the land;

let evil speedily hunt down the violent!

I know that the Lord maintains the cause of the needy,

and executes justice for the poor.

Surely the righteous shall give thanks to your name;

the upright shall live in your presence.

 

Esther 5:1-14

Haman plots to kill Mordecai

 

On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king’s palace, opposite the king’s hall. The king was sitting on his royal throne inside the palace opposite the entrance to the palace. As soon as the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, she won his favor and he held out to her the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther approached and touched the top of the scepter. The king said to her, “What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given you, even to the half of my kingdom.” Then Esther said, “If it pleases the king, let the king and Haman come today to a banquet that I have prepared for the king.” Then the king said, “Bring Haman quickly, so that we may do as Esther desires.” So the king and Haman came to the banquet that Esther had prepared. While they were drinking wine, the king said to Esther, “What is your petition? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.” Then Esther said, “This is my petition and request: If I have won the king’s favor, and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and fulfill my request, let the king and Haman come tomorrow to the banquet that I will prepare for them, and then I will do as the king has said.”

 

Haman went out that day happy and in good spirits. But when Haman saw Mordecai in the king’s gate, and observed that he neither rose nor trembled before him, he was infuriated with Mordecai; nevertheless Haman restrained himself and went home. Then he sent and called for his friends and his wife Zeresh, and Haman recounted to them the splendor of his riches, the number of his sons, all the promotions with which the king had honored him, and how he had advanced him above the officials and the ministers of the king. Haman added, “Even Queen Esther let no one but myself come with the king to the banquet that she prepared. Tomorrow also I am invited by her, together with the king. Yet all this does me no good so long as I see the Jew Mordecai sitting at the king’s gate.” Then his wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, “Let a gallows fifty cubits high be made, and in the morning tell the king to have Mordecai hanged on it; then go with the king to the banquet in good spirits.” This advice pleased Haman, and he had the gallows made.

 

1 John 2:18-25

Anointed by the Holy One

 

Children, it is the last hour! As you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. From this we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they did not belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. But by going out they made it plain that none of them belongs to us. But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and all of you have knowledge. I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and you know that no lie comes from the truth. Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; everyone who confesses the Son has the Father also. Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he has promised us, eternal life.

 

 

Prayer

Raise us up, O Lord, 

for it is you alone who restores life and health 

to the suffering 

and to those who wander from the truth. 

By your grace, 

may we offer powerful and effective prayers 

for one another and the world, 

in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

 

Psalm 5

Lead me in righteousness

 

Give ear to my words, O Lord;

    give heed to my sighing.

Listen to the sound of my cry,

    my King and my God,

    for to you I pray.

Lord, in the morning you hear my voice;

    in the morning I plead my case to you, and watch.

For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;

    evil will not sojourn with you.

The boastful will not stand before your eyes;

    you hate all evildoers.

You destroy those who speak lies;

    the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful.

But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love,

    will enter your house,

I will bow down toward your holy temple

    in awe of you.

Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness

    because of my enemies;

    make your way straight before me.

For there is no truth in their mouths;

    their hearts are destruction;

their throats are open graves;

    they flatter with their tongues.

Make them bear their guilt, O God;

    let them fall by their own counsels;

because of their many transgressions cast them out,

    for they have rebelled against you.

But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;

    let them ever sing for joy.

Spread your protection over them,

    so that those who love your name may exult in you.

For you bless the righteous, O Lord;

    you cover them with favor as with a shield.

 

Zechariah 8:18-23

The nations seek God in Jerusalem

 

The word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying: Thus says the Lord of hosts: The fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be seasons of joy and gladness, and cheerful festivals for the house of Judah: therefore love truth and peace.

 

Thus says the Lord of hosts: Peoples shall yet come, the inhabitants of many cities; the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, “Come, let us go to entreat the favor of the Lord, and to seek the Lord of hosts; I myself am going.” Many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, and to entreat the favor of the Lord. Thus says the Lord of hosts: In those days ten men from nations of every language shall take hold of a Jew, grasping his garment and saying, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.”

 

1 John 2:18-25

Anointed by the Holy One

 

Children, it is the last hour! As you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. From this we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they did not belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. But by going out they made it plain that none of them belongs to us. But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and all of you have knowledge. I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and you know that no lie comes from the truth. Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; everyone who confesses the Son has the Father also. Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he has promised us, eternal life.

 

 

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Prayer reprinted from Revised Common Lectionary Prayers, © 2002 Consultation on Common Texts. Reproduced by permission.

Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings copyright © 2005 Consultation on Common Texts admin. Augsburg Fortress. Reproduced by permission. No further reproduction allowed without the written permission of Augsburg Fortress.

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.


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