The People of Nineveh Repent

⁶ The word reached^[a] the king of Nineveh, and ^(A)he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, ^(B)and sat in ashes.

⁶ But ^(A)he gives more grace. Therefore it says, ^(B)“God opposes the proud but ^(C)gives grace to the humble.” ⁷ Submit yourselves therefore to God. ^(D)Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ^8 (E)Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. ^(F)Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and ^(G)purify your hearts, ^(H)you double-minded. ^9 (I)Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. ^10 (J)Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

³ Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by ^(A)prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.

⁸ And he took ^(A)a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat in ^(B)the ashes.

Esther Agrees to Help the Jews

4 When Mordecai learned all that had been done, Mordecai tore his clothes ^(A)and put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and he cried out with a loud and bitter cry. ² He went up to the entrance of the king's gate, for no one was allowed to enter the king's gate clothed in sackcloth. ³ And in every province, wherever the king's command and his decree reached, there was great mourning among the Jews, ^(B)with fasting and weeping and lamenting, and many of them ^(C)lay in sackcloth and ashes.

⁴ When Esther's young women and her eunuchs came and told her, the queen was deeply distressed. She sent garments to clothe Mordecai, so that he might take off his sackcloth, but he would not accept them.