Esther 4

1 When Mordecai learned all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and covered himself with ashes; and rushing out through the main street of the city he cried with a loud voice, “A nation that has done no wrong is being swept away!” 2 He came as far as the king’s gate, and there he stood; for no one wearing sackcloth and ashes was allowed to enter the court.

3 And in every province where the letters were posted, there was crying and wailing and great mourning among the Jews; they spread sackcloth and ashes under themselves. 4 And the queen’s maids and eunuchs came in and told her, and when she heard what had happened she was badly shaken. She sent clothing for Mordecai, to dress him and take away his sackcloth; but he would not be persuaded.

5 Then Esther called for Hathach, the eunuch who attended her, and sent him to Mordecai to learn exactly what was happening. [a] 7 And Mordecai told him what had been done, and about the promise Haman had made the king — about 375 tons of silver for the treasury — in exchange for destroying the Jews. [b] 8 And he gave him the copy of the writing posted in Susa for their destruction, to show to Esther; and he told him to charge her to go in to the king, to plead with him and to beg him for the people. “Remember the days when you were brought low,” he said, “and how you were raised by my hand — for Haman, who holds the second place to the king, has spoken against us, for death. Call on the Lord; then speak to the king about us, and rescue us from death.”

9 So Hathach went in and told her all these words. 10 And Esther said to Hathach, “Go to Mordecai and say: 11 Every nation of the kingdom knows that for any man or woman who goes in to the king, into the inner court, without being called, there is no way to be saved — except the one to whom the king stretches out his golden staff: that one will live. And I have not been called in to the king now for thirty days.” [d]

12 And Hathach reported to Mordecai all the words of Esther. 13 Then Mordecai said to Hathach, “Go and say to her: Esther, do not tell yourself that you alone of all the Jews in the kingdom will be saved. 14 For if you refuse to listen at this moment, help and shelter will come to the Jews from somewhere else — but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether it was for this very moment that you became queen?”

15 And Esther sent the man who had come to her back to Mordecai with this answer: 16 “Go and assemble the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me: do not eat and do not drink for three days, night and day. I and my maids will also go without food. And then I will go in to the king against the law — even if I must perish.” [e] † 17 So Mordecai went and did everything Esther had commanded him. [f]

And he pleaded with the Lord, calling to mind all the works of the Lord, and he said: “Lord, Lord, King who holds power over all! The whole world is in your power, and there is no one who can stand against you when you will to save Israel; for you made heaven and earth and every wonderful thing under heaven. You are Lord of all, and there is no one who can resist you, the Lord. You know all things. You know, Lord, that it was not out of insolence, not out of pride, not out of any love for glory, that I did this — that I did not bow down to Haman in his pride; I would gladly have kissed the soles of his feet for the safety of Israel. No — I did it so that I would not set the glory of a man above the glory of God. I will not bow down to anyone but you, my Lord, and it is not pride that makes me refuse. And now, Lord God, the King, the God of Abraham, spare your people! For our enemies have fixed their eyes on us to destroy us; they have set their desire on wiping out the inheritance that has been yours from the beginning. Do not overlook your own share, which you ransomed for yourself out of the land of Egypt. Hear my plea; be merciful to your allotted portion, and turn our mourning into feasting, so that we may live and sing praise to your name, Lord — and do not wipe out the mouths of those who praise you.”

And all Israel cried out with all their strength, for death stood before their eyes.

And Queen Esther, caught in the grip of death’s anguish, fled to the Lord for refuge. She took off her glorious clothing and put on garments of distress and mourning. Instead of the proud perfumes she covered her head with ashes and dung; she brought her body very low, and every place her glad adornment had been she covered with the tangled strands of her hair. And she pleaded with the Lord God of Israel, and said:

“My Lord, you alone are our King. Help me — I am alone, and I have no helper but you, and my danger is in my own hand. From my birth I heard, in the tribe of my family, that you, Lord, took Israel out of all the nations, and our fathers out of all who came before them, to be an inheritance forever; and that you did for them all that you said. And now — we have sinned before you, and you have handed us over to our enemies, because we honored their gods. You are righteous, Lord. But now the bitterness of our slavery is not enough for them: they have laid their hands in the hands of their idols, to do away with what your mouth has decreed, to wipe out your inheritance, to shut the mouths of those who praise you, to put out the glory of your house and your altar, and to open the mouths of the nations to sing the praises of worthless things, and to have a king of flesh admired forever.

Do not hand your scepter, Lord, to those who are nothing; do not let them laugh at our fall. Turn their plan back on themselves, and make an example of the man who began this against us. Remember us, Lord; make yourself known in the hour of our affliction. And give me courage, King of the gods, who holds power over every ruler: put well-fitted speech into my mouth before the lion, and turn his heart to hate the man who is fighting against us, so that he and all who agree with him may come to an end. But rescue us by your hand, and help me — I am alone, and I have no one but you, Lord.

You have knowledge of everything, and you know that I hate the glory of the lawless; I detest the bed of the uncircumcised — the bed of any foreigner at all. You know the necessity that is on me: I detest the sign of my proud place, which sits on my head on the days when I am seen in public. I detest it like a menstruous rag; on my quiet days I do not wear it. Your slave has not eaten at Haman’s table; I have not honored the king’s banquet, nor drunk the wine of the drink offerings. Your slave has had no gladness from the day my life was changed until now, except in you, Lord, God of Abraham. O God, whose strength is over all, hear the voice of those who have given up hope: rescue us from the hand of those who do evil — and rescue me from my fear.”