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.

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So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting,(A) and in sackcloth and ashes.(B)

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30 They will raise their voice
    and cry bitterly over you;
they will sprinkle dust(A) on their heads
    and roll(B) in ashes.(C)
31 They will shave their heads(D) because of you
    and will put on sackcloth.
They will weep(E) over you with anguish of soul
    and with bitter mourning.(F)

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19 Tamar put ashes(A) on her head and tore the ornate robe she was wearing. She put her hands on her head and went away, weeping aloud as she went.

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11 Then David and all the men with him took hold of their clothes and tore(A) them.

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17 In one hour(A) such great wealth has been brought to ruin!’(B)

“Every sea captain, and all who travel by ship, the sailors, and all who earn their living from the sea,(C) will stand far off.(D) 18 When they see the smoke of her burning,(E) they will exclaim, ‘Was there ever a city like this great city(F)?’(G) 19 They will throw dust on their heads,(H) and with weeping and mourning(I) cry out:

“‘Woe! Woe to you, great city,(J)
    where all who had ships on the sea
    became rich through her wealth!
In one hour she has been brought to ruin!’(K)

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14 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes(A) and rushed out into the crowd, shouting:

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21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida!(A) For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon,(B) they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.(C)

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14 The great day of the Lord(A) is near(B)
    near and coming quickly.
The cry on the day of the Lord is bitter;
    the Mighty Warrior shouts his battle cry.

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Weeping and Mourning

Because of this I will weep(A) and wail;
    I will go about barefoot(B) and naked.
I will howl like a jackal
    and moan like an owl.

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Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming,(A) “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.(B)

When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust.(C) This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh:

“By the decree of the king and his nobles:

Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink.(D) But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call(E) urgently on God. Let them give up(F) their evil ways(G) and their violence.(H) Who knows?(I) God may yet relent(J) and with compassion turn(K) from his fierce anger(L) so that we will not perish.”

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“Therefore groan, son of man! Groan before them with broken heart and bitter grief.(A)

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Is this the kind of fast(A) I have chosen,
    only a day for people to humble(B) themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed(C)
    and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?(D)
Is that what you call a fast,
    a day acceptable to the Lord?

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Therefore I said, “Turn away from me;
    let me weep(A) bitterly.
Do not try to console me
    over the destruction of my people.”(B)

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Heshbon(A) and Elealeh(B) cry out,
    their voices are heard all the way to Jahaz.(C)
Therefore the armed men of Moab cry out,
    and their hearts are faint.

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Therefore I despise myself(A)
    and repent(B) in dust and ashes.”(C)

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20 At this, Job got up and tore his robe(A) and shaved his head.(B) Then he fell to the ground in worship(C)

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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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Then Haman said to King Xerxes, “There is a certain people dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom who keep themselves separate. Their customs(A) are different from those of all other people, and they do not obey(B) the king’s laws; it is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them.(C) If it pleases the king, let a decree be issued to destroy them, and I will give ten thousand talents[a] of silver to the king’s administrators for the royal treasury.”(D)

10 So the king took his signet ring(E) from his finger and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews. 11 “Keep the money,” the king said to Haman, “and do with the people as you please.”

12 Then on the thirteenth day of the first month the royal secretaries were summoned. They wrote out in the script of each province and in the language(F) of each people all Haman’s orders to the king’s satraps, the governors of the various provinces and the nobles of the various peoples. These were written in the name of King Xerxes himself and sealed(G) with his own ring. 13 Dispatches were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces with the order to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews(H)—young and old, women and children—on a single day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar,(I) and to plunder(J) their goods.

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Footnotes

  1. Esther 3:9 That is, about 375 tons or about 340 metric tons

Then Joshua tore his clothes(A) and fell facedown(B) to the ground before the ark of the Lord, remaining there till evening.(C) The elders of Israel(D) did the same, and sprinkled dust(E) on their heads.

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34 When Esau heard his father’s words, he burst out with a loud and bitter cry(A) and said to his father, “Bless(B) me—me too, my father!”

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