Scripture Reading Sunday, September 27, 2015

Scripture Reading    Sunday, September 27, 2015          Greg Porter

Our Hebrew Lesson comes from Esther 7:1-10

So the king and Haman went in to feast with Queen Esther. 2 On the second day,

as they were drinking wine, the king again said to Esther, “What is your petition,

Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the

half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.” 3 Then Queen Esther answered, “If I

have won your favor, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given

me—that is my petition—and the lives of my people—that is my request. 4 For

we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be

annihilated. If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I would

have held my peace; but no enemy can compensate for this damage to the king.”

5 Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who

has presumed to do this?” 6 Esther said, “A foe and enemy, this wicked Haman!”

Then Haman was terrified before the king and the queen. 7 The king rose from

the feast in wrath and went into the palace garden, but Haman stayed to beg his

life from Queen Esther, for he saw that the king had determined to destroy him.

8 When the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall, Haman had

thrown himself on the couch where Esther was reclining; and the king said,

“Will he even assault the queen in my presence, in my own house?” As the

words left the mouth of the king, they covered Haman’s face. 9 Then Harbona,

one of the eunuchs in attendance on the king, said, “Look, the very gallows that

Haman has prepared for Mordecai, whose word saved the king, stands at

Haman’s house, fifty cubits high.” And the king said, “Hang him on that.” 10 So

they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the

anger of the king abated.

Our Epistle Lesson comes from James 5:13-20

Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should

sing songs of praise. 14 Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders

of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the

name of the Lord. 15 The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise

them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. 16 Therefore

confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be

healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. 17 Elijah was a

human being like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three

years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18 Then he prayed again, and the

heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest.

19 My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and is

brought back by another, 20 you should know that whoever brings back a sinner

from wandering will save the sinner’s soul from death and will cover a

multitude of sins.

THE WORD OF GOD FOR THE PEOPLE OF GOD!