So now deal with me as you will; command my spirit to be taken from me, so that I may be released from the face of the earth and become dust. For it is better for me to die than to live, because I have had to listen to undeserved insults, and great is the sorrow that attends me. Command, O Lord, that I be released from this distress; release me to go to the place of eternity, and do not, O Lord, turn your face away from me. For it is better for me to die than to see so much distress in my life and better not to listen to insults.”

He replied, “As for the fish’s heart and liver, you must burn them to make a smoke in the presence of a man or woman afflicted by a demon or evil spirit, and every affliction will flee away and never remain with that person any longer.

Let all your creatures serve you, for you spoke, and they were made. You sent forth your spirit, and it formed them; there is none that can resist your voice.

Addition C

Mordecai’s Prayer

Then Mordecai prayed to the Lord, calling to remembrance all the works of the Lord. He said, “O Lord, Lord, King of all powers, for the universe is in your power and there is no one who can oppose you when it is your will to save Israel, for you have made heaven and earth and every wonderful thing under heaven. You are Lord of all, and there is no one who can resist you, the Lord. You know all things; you know, O Lord, that it was not in insolence or pride or for any love of glory that I did this and refused to bow down to this proud Haman, for I would have been willing to kiss the soles of his feet to save Israel! But I did this so that I might not set human glory above the glory of God, and I will not bow down to anyone but you, who are my Lord, and I will not do these things in pride. And now, O Lord God and King, God of Abraham, spare your people, for the eyes of our foes are upon us to annihilate us, and they desire to destroy the inheritance that has been yours from the beginning. Do not neglect your portion, which you redeemed for yourself out of the land of Egypt. Hear my prayer and have mercy upon your inheritance; turn our mourning into feasting that we may live and sing praise to your name, O Lord; do not destroy the lips of those who praise you.” And all Israel cried out with all their might, for their death was before their eyes.

Esther’s Prayer

Then Queen Esther, seized with mortal anguish, fled to the Lord. She took off the garments of her honor 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; every part that she loved to adorn she covered with her tangled hair. She prayed to the Lord God of Israel and said: “O my Lord, you alone are our king; 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 ancestors from among all their forebears for an everlasting inheritance and that you did for them all that you said. And now we have sinned before you, and you have delivered 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 set their hands on the hands of 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 forever a mortal king. “O Lord, do not surrender your scepter to what has no being, and do not let them laugh at our downfall, but turn their plan against them and make an example of him who began this against us. 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 by your hand and help me, who am alone and have no helper but you, O Lord. You have knowledge of all things, and you know that I hate the splendor of the lawless and abhor the bed of the uncircumcised and of any alien. You know my necessity, that I abhor the sign of my proud position that is upon my head on days when I appear in public. I abhor it like a menstrual cloth, and I do not wear it on the days when I am at rest. And your servant has not eaten at Haman’s table, and I have not honored the king’s feast or drunk the wine of 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!”

End of Addition C

Addition D

Esther Is Received by the King

On the third day, when she ended her prayer, she took off the garments in which she had worshiped and arrayed herself in the garments of her honor. Then, majestically adorned, after invoking the aid of the all-seeing God and Savior, she took two maids with her; on one she leaned gently for support, while the other followed, carrying her train. She was radiant with perfect beauty, and she looked happy, as if beloved, but her heart was frozen with fear. When she had gone through all the doors, she stood before the king. He was seated on his royal throne, clothed in the full array of his majesty, all covered with gold and precious stones. He was most terrifying. Lifting his face, ablaze with glory, he looked at her in fierce anger. The queen faltered, turned pale and faint, and collapsed on the head of the maid who went in front of her. Then God changed the spirit of the king to gentleness, and in alarm he sprang from his throne and took her in his arms until she came to herself. He comforted her with soothing words and said to her, “What is it, Esther? I am your kin. Take courage. You shall not die, for our law applies only to our subjects. Come near.” Then he raised the golden scepter and touched her neck with it; he embraced her and said, “Speak to me.” She said to him, “I saw you, my lord, like an angel of God, and my heart was shaken with fear at your glory. For you are wonderful, my lord, and your countenance is full of grace.” And while she was speaking, she fainted and fell. Then the king was agitated, and all his attendants tried to comfort her.

For a holy and disciplined spirit will flee from deceit and will leave foolish thoughts behind and will be ashamed at the approach of unrighteousness.

For wisdom is a kindly spirit, but it will not free blasphemers from the guilt of their words, because God is witness of their inmost feelings and a true observer of their hearts and a hearer of their tongues.

Because the spirit of the Lord has filled the world and that which holds all things together knows what is said,

when it is extinguished, the body will turn to ashes, and the spirit will dissolve like empty air.

They will speak to one another in repentance, and in anguish of spirit they will groan,

Respect for Wisdom

Therefore I prayed, and understanding was given me; I called on God, and the spirit of wisdom came to me.

the natures of animals and the tempers of wild animals, the powers of spirits and the thoughts of human beings, the varieties of plants and the virtues of roots;

for wisdom, the fashioner of all things, taught me.

The Nature of Wisdom

There is in her a spirit that is intelligent, holy, unique, manifold, subtle, agile, clear, unpolluted, distinct, invulnerable, loving the good, keen,

irresistible, beneficent, humane, steadfast, sure, free from anxiety, all-powerful, overseeing all, and penetrating through all spirits that are intelligent, pure, and altogether subtle.

Who has learned your counsel unless you have given wisdom and sent your holy spirit from on high?

For your immortal spirit is in all things.

because they failed to know the one who formed them and inspired them with active souls and breathed a living spirit into them.

For a human made them, and one whose spirit is borrowed formed them, for none can form gods that are like themselves.

A person in wickedness kills another but cannot bring back the departed spirit or set free the imprisoned soul.

Do not ridicule a person who is embittered in spirit, for there is one who humbles and exalts.

The Right Spirit in Giving Alms

My child, do not mix reproach with your good deeds or harsh words with any gift.

Wine drunk to excess leads to bitterness of spirit, to quarrels and stumbling.

Fear the Lord

The spirit of those who fear the Lord will live,

When the dead are at rest, let their remembrance rest, too, and be comforted for them when their spirits have departed.

If the great Lord is willing, they will be filled with the spirit of understanding; they will pour forth words of wisdom of their own and give thanks to the Lord in prayer.

Elisha

When Elijah was enveloped in the whirlwind, Elisha was filled with his spirit. He performed twice as many signs and marvels with every utterance of his mouth. Never in his lifetime did he tremble before any ruler, nor could anyone intimidate him at all.

By his dauntless spirit he saw the future and comforted the mourners in Zion.

open your eyes, O Lord, and see, for the dead who are in Hades, whose spirit has been taken from their bodies, will not ascribe glory or justice to the Lord,

“O Lord Almighty, God of Israel, the soul in anguish and the wearied spirit cry out to you.

Yet with a contrite heart and a humble spirit may we be accepted,

Bless the Lord, spirits and souls of the righteous; sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.

Just as she was being led off to execution, God stirred up the holy spirit of a young man named Daniel,

When Judas saw that his army had slipped away and the battle was imminent, he was crushed in spirit, for he had no time to assemble them.

When Jonathan heard the words of Apollonius, his spirit was aroused. He chose ten thousand men and set out from Jerusalem, and his brother Simon met him to help him.

The spirit of the people was rekindled when they heard these words,

May he give you all a heart to worship him and to do his will with a strong heart and a willing spirit.

But when he arrived at the treasury with his bodyguard, then and there the Sovereign of spirits and of all authority caused so great a manifestation that all who had been so bold as to accompany him were astounded by the power of God and became faint with terror.

Antiochus was elated in spirit and did not perceive that the Lord was angered for a little while because of the sins of those who lived in the city and that this was the reason he was disregarding the holy place.

As a result, the king himself and those with him were astonished at the young man’s spirit, for he regarded his sufferings as nothing.

She encouraged each of them in the language of their ancestors. Filled with a noble spirit, she reinforced her woman’s reasoning with a man’s courage and said to them,

Then it was that, broken in spirit, he began to lose much of his arrogance and to come to his senses under the scourge of God, for he was tortured with pain every moment.

with his blood now completely drained from him, he tore out his entrails, took them in both hands, and hurled them at the crowd, calling upon the Lord of life and spirit to give them back to him again. This was the manner of his death.

the Lord stirred up the spirit of King Cyrus of the Persians, and he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing:

Then arose the heads of families of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, and all whose spirit the Lord had stirred to go up to build the house in Jerusalem for the Lord;

Speedily let your mercies overtake us, put praises in the mouths of those who are downcast and broken in spirit, and give us peace.”

But the majority acted firmly with a courageous spirit and did not abandon their piety, and by paying money in exchange for life they boldly attempted to save themselves from the registration.

But in their innate malice they took this in a contrary spirit and disdained what is good. Since they incline constantly to evil,

For with such a harsh and ruthless spirit were they being sent off, all together, by the generals in every city that at the sight of their unusual punishments even some of their enemies, perceiving the common object of pity before their eyes, reflected on the uncertainty of life and shed tears at the most miserable expulsion of these people.

I call to witness the gratitude of the people that is to come, whose children rejoice with gladness; though they do not see me with bodily eyes, yet with the spirit they will believe the things I have said.

My spirit was greatly agitated, and I began to speak anxious words to the Most High and said,

Then my soul recovered the spirit of understanding, and I began once more to speak words in the presence of the Most High.

And they shall see those who were taken up, who from their birth have not tasted death, and the heart of the earth’s inhabitants shall be changed and converted to a different spirit.

My spirit was greatly aroused, and my soul was in distress.

Then the spirit was blowing, and darkness and silence embraced everything; the sound of human voices was not yet there.

“Again, on the second day, you created the spirit of the firmament and commanded it to divide and separate the waters, so that one part might move upward and the other part remain beneath.

Now concerning death, the teaching is: When the decisive decree has gone out from the Most High that a person shall die, as the spirit leaves the body to return again to him who gave it, first of all it adores the glory of the Most High.

such spirits shall not enter into habitations but shall immediately wander about in torments, always grieving and sad, in seven ways.

She said to me, “Let me alone, my lord, so that I may weep for myself and continue to mourn, for I am greatly embittered in spirit and deeply distressed.”

When I looked again, they were already vanishing. The whole body of the eagle was burned, and the earth was exceedingly terrified. Then I woke up in great perplexity of mind and great fear, and I said to my spirit,

I am still weary in mind and very weak in my spirit, and not even a little strength is left in me because of the great fear with which I have been terrified tonight.

If then I have found favor with you, send the holy spirit into me, and I will write everything that has happened in the world from the beginning, the things that were written in your law, so that people may be able to find the path and that those who want to live in the last days may do so.”

I took it and drank, and when I had drunk it, my heart poured forth understanding, and wisdom increased in my breast, for my spirit retained its memory,

and the spirit of Almighty God, who surely made all things and searches out hidden things in hidden places.

in fact, with his face bathed in sweat and gasping heavily for breath, he amazed even his torturers by his courageous spirit.

in spirit through reason, and by reason like that of Isaac he rendered the many-headed rack ineffective.

While all were marveling at his courageous spirit, the guards brought forward the next eldest, and after fitting themselves with iron gauntlets having sharp hooks, they bound him to the torture machine and catapult.

Since they were unable in any way to break his spirit, they abandoned the instruments and scalped him with their fingernails in a Scythian fashion.

Just as the hands and feet are moved in harmony with the guidance of the mind, so those holy youths, as though moved by an immortal spirit of piety, agreed to go to death for its sake.

For to the extent that mothers are of tender spirit and bear more children, so much the more attached are they to their children.