Esther 4
1NOW when Mordecai knew what was done, he rent his clothes and put on sackcloth and strewed himself with ashes, and running through the street of the city, he cried with a loud voice, A nation is to be cut off, which hath committed no fault.
2But when he came to the king’s gate, he stopped; for it was not lawful for him to enter the court in sackcloth and ashes.
3And in every country where the writings were published there was a cry with lamentation and great grief among the Jews, and they put on sackcloth and ashes.
4When the queen’s maids and chamberlains came in and told her, she was troubled at the news, and sent to clothe Mordecai and to take away his sackcloth from him; but he would not be persuaded.
5Then Esther called Achrathaius, her chamberlain who attended her, and sent him to learn from Mordecai an exact state of the matter.
7Whereupon Mordecai told him what was done and the promise which Haman had made to the king of ten thousand talents to the royal treasury, that he might destroy the Jews;
8and he gave him a copy of the decree for their destruction, which was published among the Susians to shew it to Esther, and told him that he charged her to go in and supplicate the king and to entreat him for the people, calling to mind the days of thy humiliation when thou wast brought up by my bounty. Seeing Haman who is second to the king, hath spoken against us to destroy us, call thou upon the Lord and speak to the king for us, to deliver us from death.
9Accordingly Achrathaius went in and told her all these words.
10Thereupon Esther said to him, Go to Mordecai and tell him,
11that all the nations of the kingdom know, that no man or woman who shall go to the king into the inner court without being sent for, hath any security for life: he only can be saved to whom the king shall stretch forth the golden sceptre. Now I have not been called to go to the king these thirty days.
12When Achrathaius delivered this message of Esther to Mordecai,
13Mordecai said to him, Go say to her: Esther, do not flatter thyself that thou alone of all the Jews in the kingdom shall escape.
14Be assured, that if thou neglectest the present opportunity, help and protection will come to the Jews from some other quarter; but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed. Who knoweth but that for this very occasion thou hast been made queen.
15Then Esther sent back the messenger to Mordecai, saying,
16Go, and assemble the Jews who are at Susa and fast for me. You must neither eat nor drink for three days, night nor day; and as for me, I and my maids will fast likewise, and then I will go to the king contrary to law, though perhaps I must die.
17So Mordecai went and did as Esther commanded him.
17aThen he was mindful of all the works of the Lord, and prayed, saying: O Lord God Almighty, for all lies in Thy power; and if Thou hast determined to save Israel, there is no man that can say Thee nay: for Thou hast made heaven and earth, and all the wonders under heaven. Thou art Lord of all things, and there is no man that can resist Thee, the Lord.
17bThou knowest all things, and [hence] Thou knowest, Lord, that it was neither out of contempt nor pride, nor out of vainglory, that I did not humble myself before the haughty Haman; for I had been content to kiss the soles of his feet for the salvation of Israel. But I did this, that I might not hold the glory of man to be above the glory of God. Neither will I worship any save Thee, my Lord; nor will I do thus in pride.
17cAnd now, O Lord God King, O God of Abraham, spare Thy people: for they eye us to destroy us; yea, they have desired to destroy the inheritance that was Thine from the beginning. Ignore not Thy portion, which Thou hast delivered out of the land of Egypt for Thyself. Hearken to my prayer, and compassionate Thine inheritance. Turn our sadness into joy, that we may live, O Lord, and sing praises to Thy name. Destroy not the mouth of them that praise Thee, O Lord.
17dAll Israel cried out most earnestly [in similar consternation]; for their death stood before their eyes.
17eQueen Esther also, being in dire fear of death, sought refuge in the Lord; and having removed her rich apparel, she put on garments of anguish and mourning. And instead of precious perfumes, she covered her head with ashes and dung. And she humbled her body greatly; and in every place of her [former appearance in] finery, she strewed with locks of her hair. And she turned to the Lord God of Israel, saying:
17fO my Lord, only Thou art our King! Rescue me who am alone, and have no helper save Thee; for my danger is at hand. From my birth have I heard in the tribe of my family that Thou, O Lord, chosest Israel from among all peoples, and our fathers from all their kind, for a perpetual inheritance, and hast brought to pass whatsoever Thou hast promised them. And now we have sinned before Thee. Hence Thou hast brought us into the hands of our enemies, because we worshipped their gods. Thou art just, O Lord! Howbeit, our bitter captivity hath not contented them; but they have pledged their hands to their idols to abolish the command of Thy mouth, and to annihilate Thine inheritance and stop the mouth of them that praise Thee, and extinguish the glory of Thy house and Thine altar, and to open the mouth of the Gentiles to proclaim the virtues of vanities, that a mortal king should be honored for ever. O Lord, pass not Thy sceptre on to them that are nothing, and let them not laugh at our fall. Rather turn their plot upon themselves, and make an example of him who hath instigated against us. Remember, O Lord! make Thyself known in the time of our tribulation, and give me courage, O King of gods, and Ruler of all power.
17gGrant me fluent speech in my mouth before the lion [the king of Persia, Artaxerxes], and turn his heart to hate him who fighteth against us, to the utter destruction of him and his followers. But deliver us by Thy hand, and help me, that am alone and have no other save Thee, O Lord. Thou knowest all things, and knowest that I hate the opinions of transgressors and abhor the bed of the uncircumcised and of every alien. Thou knowest my necessity; for I abhor the symbol of my high station, which is upon my head on days of public appearance, and I abhor it as a menstruous cloth, and wear it not on days when I am by myself.
17hThy handmaid hath not eaten at the table of Haman, and I have not esteemed the king’s banquet, nor drunk the wine of the libations. Neither had Thy handmaid any joy since the day of my preferment until now, save in Thee, Lord God of Abraham. O God Almighty, hear the voice of the despairing, and deliver us out of the hand of them that seek wickedness, and bring me out of my fear.