Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

138 (Of Dovid) I will thank Thee with my whole lev; before the elohim will I sing praise unto Thee.

² I will worship toward Thy Heikhal Kodesh, and praise Shmecha (Thy Name) for Thy chesed and for Thy emes; for Thou hast magnified Thy Word above Kol Shimcha (all Thy Name; Yn 1:1, 14 OJBC).

³ In the day when I called out, Thou answeredst me, and madest me bold with oz (strength) in my nefesh.

⁴ Kol Malchei Aretz shall praise Thee, Hashem, when they hear the words of Thy mouth.

⁵ Yes, they shall sing of the Darkhei Hashem; for gadol is the Kavod Hashem.

⁶ Though Hashem be on high, yet He looks upon the lowly; but the proud He knoweth from afar.

⁷ Though I walk in the midst of tzoros, Thou wilt preserve me alive; Thou shalt stretch forth Thine yad against the wrath of mine enemies, and Thy Yamin (Right Hand) shall save me.

⁸ Hashem will fulfill that which concerneth me; Thy chesed, O Hashem, endureth l’olam; forsake not the works of Thine own yadayim.

4 When Mordechai perceived all that was done, Mordechai rent his garments, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and cried with a zeakah gedolah umarah (loud and a bitter wailing);

² And came even before the Sha’ar HaMelech; for none might enter into the Sha’ar HaMelech clothed with sackcloth.

³ And in every province, whithersoever the Devar HaMelech and his dat (decree) came, there was evel gadol (great mourning) among the Yehudim, and a tzom, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay on sackcloth and ashes.

⁴ So Ester’s na’arot and her sarisim came and told it her. Then was HaMalkah exceedingly distressed; and she sent begadim (raiment) to clothe Mordechai, and to take away his sackcloth from him, but he received it not [see Am 6:6].

⁵ Then called Ester for Hatach, one of the sarisim of HaMelech, whom he had appointed to attend upon her, and gave him a commandment about Mordechai, to have da’as of mah zeh (what is this?), and al mah zeh (why is this?)

⁶ So Hatach went forth to Mordechai unto the rechov haIr (open square of the city), which was before the Sha’ar HaMelech.

⁷ And Mordechai told him of all that had happened unto him, and of the parashat hakesef (exact amount of the money) that Haman had promised to pay to the genazim of HaMelech for the Yehudim, to destroy them.

⁸ Also he gave him the copy of the edict of the dat (decree, Final Solution) that was published at Shushan to make them shmad, to show it unto Ester, and to declare it unto her, and to charge her that she should go in unto HaMelech, to make supplication unto him, and to make bakash (request, pleading) before him for her Am (People, the Jewish People).

⁹ And Hatach came and told Ester the divrei Mordechai.

¹⁰ Again Ester spoke unto Hatach, and gave him commandment unto Mordechai:

¹¹ All the avadim of HaMelech, and the people of the provinces of HaMelech have da’as that whosoever, whether ish or isha, shall come unto HaMelech into the pnimiyus khatzer (innermost courtyard), who is not called, there is echat dat (one law) of his to put him to death, except such to whom HaMelech shall hold out the sharvit hazahav (golden sceptre), that he may live. But I have not been called to come in unto HaMelech these shloshim yom.

¹² And they told to Mordechai Ester’s words.

¹³ Then Mordechai commanded to answer Ester, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the Beis HaMelech, more than kol HaYehudim.

¹⁴ For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there revach (relief) and hatzalah (deliverance) arise to the Yehudim from another place; but thou and thy bais Avicha (house of thy father) shall be destroyed; and who knoweth whether thou art come to the Malkhut for such a time as this [1C 9:16; Ro 1:16] ?

¹⁵ Then Ester bade them return Mordechai this answer,

¹⁶ Go, gather together kol HaYehudim that are found in Shushan, and declare ye a tzom for me, and neither eat nor drink shloshet yamim, lailah vayom. I also and my na’arot will undergo a tzom likewise; and so will I go in unto HaMelech, though it is not according to the dat; and if I perish, I perish.

¹⁷ So Mordechai went his way, and did according to all that Ester had commanded him.

²² Now it came about on one of those yamim when he and his talmidim embarked into a sirah that he said to them, Let us go over to the other side of the lake. And they launched out.

²³ But as they were sailing, he fell asleep; and a driving storm of wind descended upon the lake, and they began to be swamped and began to be in a situation of pikuach nefesh (a matter of life and death).

²⁴ And they came and woke him up, saying, Adoneinu, Adoneinu, we are perishing! And having been awakened, he rebuked the wind and the rough waves, and the storm ceased. And all became calm. [TEHILLIM 107:29]

²⁵ And Moshiach said to them, Where is your emunah? And they were fearful and amazed, saying to one another, Who then is this, that he commands even the winds and the sea and they obey him? [MISHLE 30:4]