³⁵ And all his sons and all his daughters ^(A)arose to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, and he said, “For ^(B)I shall go down into the grave to my son in mourning.” Thus his father wept for him.

⁷ who, in the days of His flesh, when He had ^(A)offered up prayers and supplications, ^(B)with vehement cries and tears to Him ^(C)who was able to save Him from death, and was heard ^(D)because of His godly fear,

Esther Agrees to Help the Jews

4 When Mordecai learned all that had happened, ^[a]he ^(A)tore his clothes and put on sackcloth ^(B)and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city. He ^(C)cried out with a loud and bitter cry. ² He went as far as the front of the king’s gate, for no one might enter the king’s gate clothed with sackcloth. ³ And in every province where the king’s command and decree arrived, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

⁴ So Esther’s maids and eunuchs came and told her, and the queen was deeply distressed. Then she sent garments to clothe Mordecai and take his sackcloth away from him, but he would not accept them.

Jonah’s Prayer and God’s Answer

2 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the fish’s belly. ² And he said:

Mercy on Ephraim

¹⁵ Thus says the Lord: