Esther 14

And Esther the queen, seized with deathly anxiety, fled to the Lord;

she took off her splendid apparel and put on the garments of distress and mourning, and instead of costly perfumes she covered her head with ashes and dung, and she utterly humbled her body, and every part that she loved to adorn she covered with her tangled hair.

And she lay on the earth together with all her maidservants, from morning until evening, and said: “God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob, blessed are you; help me, who am alone and have no helper but you,

for my danger is in my hand.

Ever since I was born I have heard in the tribe of my family that you, O Lord, took Israel out of all the nations, and our fathers from among all their ancestors, for an everlasting inheritance, and that you did for them all that you promised.

And now we have sinned before you, and you have given us into the hands of our enemies,

because we glorified their gods. You are righteous, O Lord!

And now they are not satisfied that we are in bitter slavery, but they have covenanted with their idols

to abolish what your mouth has ordained and to destroy your inheritance, to stop the mouths of those who praise you and to quench your altar and the glory of your house,

to open the mouths of the nations for the praise of vain idols, and to magnify for ever a mortal king.

O Lord, do not surrender your scepter to what has no being; and do not let them mock at our downfall; but turn their plan against themselves, and make an example of the man who began this against us. I have heard from the books of my ancestors that you liberate all those who are pleasing to you, O Lord, until the very end. And now, assist me, who am all alone, and have no one but you, O Lord, my God. Come to my aid, for I am an orphan.

Remember, O Lord; make yourself known in this time of our affliction, and give me courage, O King of the gods and Master of all dominion!

Put eloquent speech in my mouth before the lion, and turn his heart to hate the man who is fighting against us, so that there may be an end of him and those who agree with him.

But save us from the hand of our enemies; turn our mourning into gladness and our affliction into well-being.

You have knowledge of all things; and you know that I hate the splendor of the wicked and abhor the bed of the uncircumcised and of any alien.

You know my necessity—that I abhor the sign of my proud position, which is upon my head on the days when I appear in public. I abhor it like a menstruous rag, and I do not wear it on the days when I am at leisure.

And your servant has not eaten at Haman’s table, and I have not honored the king’s feast or drunk the wine of the libations.

Your servant has had no joy since the day that I was brought here until now, except in you, O Lord God of Abraham.

O God, whose might is over all, hear the voice of the despairing, and save us from the hands of evildoers. And save me from my fear!”