Esther 4

And Mardochaeus, when he learned what was being done, tore his garments and put on sackcloth and sprinkled himself with ashes; and rushing out through the open square of the city he cried with a loud voice: A nation that has done no wrong is being taken away!

And he came as far as the king's gate and stood, for it was not permitted him to enter into the court wearing sackcloth and ashes.

And in every province where the writings were posted up there was crying and lamentation and great mourning among the Jews; they spread sackcloth and ashes under themselves.

And the queen's handmaids and her eunuchs came in and reported it to her; and she was troubled when she heard what had happened, and she sent to clothe Mardochaeus and to take away his sackcloth; but he was not persuaded.

And Esther summoned Achrathaios her eunuch, who attended upon her, and sent him to learn for her the exact matter from Mardochaeus.

And Mardochaeus showed him what had happened, and the promise which Haman had promised the king for the treasury — ten thousand talents — that he might destroy the Jews.

And he gave him the copy that had been posted up in Susa for their destruction, to show to Esther; and he told him to charge her to go in and entreat the king and to petition him concerning the people: Remember the days of your lowliness, how you were nourished by my hand, because Haman, who is second to the king, has spoken against us unto death. Call upon the Lord, and speak to the king concerning us, and rescue us from death.

And Achrathaios went in and told her all these words.

And Esther said to Achrathaios: Go to Mardochaeus and say:

All the nations of the kingdom know that any man or woman who goes in to the king into the inner court uncalled, for that one there is no deliverance; only the one to whom the king stretches out the golden sceptre — that one shall be saved. And I have not been called to go in to the king; these thirty days now.

And Achrathaios reported to Mardochaeus all the words of Esther.

And Mardochaeus said to Achrathaios: Go and say to her: Esther, do not say to yourself that you alone will be saved in the kingdom, beyond all the Jews.

Because if you disregard at this time, help and shelter will come to the Jews from another quarter, but you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether it was for this very time that you came to reign?

And Esther sent back to Mardochaeus the one who had come to her, saying:

Go and assemble the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me, and neither eat nor drink for three days, night and day; and I too and my handmaids will go without food. And then I will go in to the king contrary to the law, even if it should be that I perish.

And Mordecai went and did all that Esther had commanded him. And he entreated the Lord, calling to mind all the works of the Lord, and he said: O Lord, Lord, King who rules over all, for all things are in your power, and there is none who can oppose you when you will to save Israel; for you made heaven and earth and every wondrous thing under heaven, and you are Lord of all, and there is none who will set himself against you, the Lord. You know all things; you know, O Lord, that it was not in insolence nor in pride nor in love of glory that I did this, in refusing to bow down to the arrogant Haman; for I would gladly have kissed the soles of his feet for the salvation of Israel. But I did this so that I might not set the glory of a man above the glory of God, and I will bow down to no one except you, my Lord, nor will I do such things in pride. And now, O Lord God, the King, the God of Abraham, spare your people, for they are looking upon us to ruin us, and they have desired to destroy your inheritance from the beginning. Do not overlook your portion, which you redeemed for yourself out of the land of Egypt. Hear my supplication and be merciful to your allotted heritage, and turn our mourning into feasting, so that we may live and sing praise to your name, O Lord; and do not silence the mouth of those who praise you. And all Israel cried out with all their strength, for their death was before their eyes. And Esther the queen also took refuge in the Lord, being gripped in the struggle of death. She took off her garments of glory and put on garments of distress and mourning, and instead of costly perfumes she filled her head with ashes and dung, and she humbled her body utterly, and every place that she delighted to adorn she filled with her tangled hair. And she entreated the Lord God of Israel and said: My Lord, you alone are our king; help me, who am alone and have no helper but you, for my danger is in my hand. From my birth I have heard in the tribe of my ancestry that you, O Lord, took Israel out of all the nations, and our fathers out of all their forebears, for an everlasting inheritance, and that you did for them all that you had said. And now we have sinned before you, and you handed us over into the hands of our enemies, because we glorified their gods. You are righteous, O Lord. And now they have not been satisfied with the bitterness of our slavery, but they have laid their hands upon the hands of their idols, to abolish what your mouth has decreed, and to wipe out your inheritance, and to stop the mouth of those who praise you, and to quench the glory of your house and your altar, and to open the mouth of the nations for the excellences of vain things, and that a king of flesh be marvelled at forever. Do not hand over your sceptre, O Lord, to those who are nothing, and do not let them laugh at our downfall; but turn their plan back upon themselves, and make an example of the one who began this against us. Remember, O Lord; make yourself known in the time of our affliction, and give me courage, O King of the gods and Master of every dominion. Put a well-measured word into my mouth before the lion, and turn his heart to hatred of the one who is warring against us, to the end of him and of those who agree with him. But deliver us by your hand, and help me, who am alone and have none but you, O Lord. You have knowledge of all things, and you know that I have hated the glory of the lawless, and that I abhor the bed of the uncircumcised and of every foreigner. You know my constraint, that I abhor the emblem of my proud rank which is upon my head on the days when I appear in public; I abhor it like a menstrual rag, and I do not wear it on the days when I am alone. And your servant has not eaten at Haman's table, and I have not honoured the king's drinking feast, nor have I drunk the wine of libations. And your servant has not rejoiced from the day of my change until now, except in you, O Lord, God of Abraham. O God, who are strong over all, hear the voice of those who have no hope, and rescue us from the hand of those who do evil, and rescue me from my fear.