FIRST READING Esther 1:1-12, p. 437
KING AHASUERUS DEPOSES QUEEN VASHTI
1 This
happened in the days of Ahasuerus, the same Ahasuerus who ruled over one
hundred twenty-seven provinces from India to Ethiopia. 2
In those days when King Ahasuerus sat on
his royal throne in the citadel of Susa, 3
in the third year of his reign, he gave
a banquet for all his officials and ministers. The army of Persia and Media
and the nobles and governors of the provinces were present, 4
while he displayed the great wealth of his kingdom and the splendor and
pomp of his majesty for many days, one hundred eighty days in all.
5 When
these days were completed, the king gave for all the people present in the
citadel of Susa, both great and small, a banquet lasting for seven days, in
the court of the garden of the king’s palace. 6
There were white cotton curtains and
blue hangings tied with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and
marble pillars. There were couches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of
porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl, and colored stones. 7
Drinks were served in golden goblets, goblets of different kinds, and
the royal wine was lavished according to the bounty of the king. 8
Drinking was by flagons, without
restraint; for the king had given orders to all the officials of his palace to
do as each one desired. 9 Furthermore,
Queen Vashti gave a banquet for the women in the palace of King Ahasuerus.
10 On
the seventh day, when the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman,
Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha and Abagtha, Zethar and Carkas, the seven eunuchs who
attended him, 11 to
bring Queen Vashti before the king, wearing the royal crown, in order to show
the peoples and the officials her beauty; for she was fair to behold. 12
But Queen Vashti refused to come at the
king’s command conveyed by the eunuchs. At this the king was enraged, and
his anger burned within him.
GOSPEL READING Luke 12:13–21, p. 949
13
Someone in the crowd said to him,
“Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” 14
But he said to him, “Friend, who set
me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?” 15
And he said to them, “Take care! Be on
your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in
the abundance of possessions.” 16 Then
he told them a parable: “The land of a rich man produced abundantly. 17
And he thought to himself, ‘What
should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ 18
Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will
pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain
and my goods. 19 And
I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years;
relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ 20 But
God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of
you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21
So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not
rich toward God.”