Mordecai Persuades Esther to Help

When Mordecai learned of all that had been done, he tore his clothes,(A) put on sackcloth and ashes,(B) and went out into the city, wailing(C) loudly and bitterly. But he went only as far as the king’s gate,(D) because no one clothed in sackcloth was allowed to enter it. In every province to which the edict and order of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and wailing. Many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

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Even in darkness light dawns(A) for the upright,
    for those who are gracious and compassionate and righteous.(B)

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This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried(A) into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: “Build(B) houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease.(C) Also, seek(D) the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray(E) to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”

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