And Mordecai, the righteous, saw by the Holy Spirit everything that had been done, viz. that the king had sent word from his palace by his servants to the righteous Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachai, who were in the chamber of hewn stones, and were prophesying on the great wall of Jerusalem, that they should stop the work of building after seventy-two towers were already built. The wicked Ahhashverosh also fetched a hundred and twenty-seven scribes from a hundred and twenty-seven provinces, every one of whom had a roll and a book in his hand. They sat at the gates of Shushan and wrote, and sent out grievous decrees concerning the Jews and their laws. The first letter written in the name of the king, and sealed with his signet-ring, they despatched by swift messengers, and the contents were as follows:—"From me. King Ahhashverosh, to all peoples, nations, and languages who live in all the land, peace be multiplied. I make known to you, that a certain man came to us, who is not from our place nor from our province, and he came for the purpose of joining us, that we might prevail against our enemies. We have made investigation concerning him, and (we find) that his name is Haman, son of King Agag, son of the great Amalek, son of Reuel, son of Eliphaz the first-born of Esau, in fact, a descendant of prominent lords and wealthy people. This man asked of me a small and insignificant petition, and informed me concerning the Jews and their blameworthy laws and affairs. He said, 'When they came out from Egypt they numbered six hundred thousand men, and so I will give thee six hundred thousand minas1 of silver, a mina for every man' for which sum he desired that I should sell this people to him to be killed.

Then I, Ahhashverosh, greatly rejoiced, and after mature deliberation, I took the money from him and sold the people to him to be slaughtered. Therefore, eat and drink and be merry, as I eat and drink and am merry. He that understands to handle the bow, let him use the bow ; and he that can fight with the sword, let him seize the sword, and go you out and overpower them on the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month, which is called in our language Adar. Do not spare either their princes, their rulers, their great men, nor even their little children, but kill them and spoil their goods. I, King Ahhashverosh, do therefore hereby decree for all nations, languages, places, provinces, and for every tribe and family and town, that wherever a Jewish man-servant or a Jewish maid-servant is found, their masters shall slay them at the gate of the city, because they have not obeyed the order of the king which was issued by me, that no Jews should be found upon the soil of my empire."

And when Mordecai, the righteous, heard of the decree which was issued, and of the letters which were sealed, he rent his garments in the front and behind, and put on sackcloth and rolled himself in ashes, and lifted up his voice and cried, " Woe! how great is this decree which the king and Haman have decreed against us! Not a half of us has he condemned and a half spared, no not even a third or a fourth part has he spared, but the king and Haman have determined that we should all as a body be killed, destroyed, and rooted out."

Now, when the people of Israel saw the righteous Mordecai, who was a greatly esteemed Rab1 over them, they assembled together and came to him in very large multitudes. Then Mordecai stood up in the midst of the assembly and addressed them as follows: "People of Israel, beloved and dear to the Father in heaven! Do you not know, and have you not heard, that the king and Haman have determined to destroy us from off the face of the earth, and to exterminate us from under heaven? Alas! we have no king on whom we can rely, nor a prophet who should pray for us, nor a place into which we can flee, nor a country where we would be safe, for to every place it was written, and to every province a message was sent concerning us! We are like sheep without a shepherd, and like a ship without a pilot. Yea, we are like orphans without a father, and like suckling babes whose mother has died."

Immediately the holy ark was brought out to the gates of Shushan, and the book of the Law was taken out, and they covered it with sackcloth, and ashes spread upon it, and then they read therein: "When thou art in tribulation, and all these things have come upon thee, etc., thou should turn to the Lord thy God; for the Lord thy God is a merciful God" (Deut. iv. 30, 31). Mordecai again rose in the midst of the congregation and said: People of Israel! Beloved and dear people! Beloved and precious to God! Let us look for an example to the people of Nineveh! When the prophet Jonah, the son of Amittai, was sent to announce to them that the city of Nineveh would be destroyed, and when the tidings reached the king of Nineveh, he arose from his throne, laid aside the royal throne, put on sackcloth, rolled himself in ashes, and issued a proclamation in Nineveh, saying: 'The decree of the king and his nobles commands thus: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; let them not feed nor drink water. Let them turn from their evil ways, and from the violence that is in their hands.' 'And the Lord turned by His word from the evil which He thought He would do unto them, and He did it not.' Let us also do as they did, and institute and proclaim fasts, because we are banished from Jerusalem;

and because of Israel's guilt, an echoing voice called upon wicked Nebuchadnezzar, and said: 'Nebuchadnezzar, king of Chaldea! Arise and go against Jerusalem, and destroy it, and burn the temple with fire!' At that time Nebuchadnezzar shook his head and wrung his hands, knowing well what was the fate of Sennacherib's army, when an angel was sent down from heaven who killed eighteen myriads and five thousand of them, so that none remained alive but he himself." While Mordecai was thus speaking, he rent his garments, put on sackcloth, sat down in the dust, rolled himself in ashes, burst into tears, and cried: "Woe to you, house of Israel, that such a decree has been issued against you!" He then went into the city and cried loudly and bitterly.

Then he went to the gate of the royal palace, because there was a decree which ordered that no man should come to the gate of the house of the king clothed in sackcloth.

When, now, an Israelite came to a heathen and said to him: "I pray thee, let me and my wife and children be thy slaves, only that we may be delivered from being killed,"

then the heathen answered: "Seest thou not what is written in the decree which King Ahhashverosh has published, that if a Jew is found with any of our people, that man shall be killed like him."

Whereupon the Jew went home in great distress.

At this time was verified that which is written in the law of Moses concerning Israel: "Ye shall sell yourselves unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall buy you" (Deut. xxviii. 68). Day by day every one of them went and read the published royal decree, and then he knew how long he had yet to live in the world. Thus again was realized what is written in the law of Moses: "And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear night and day, and shalt have none assurance of thy life; in the morning thou shalt say, Would God it were even! and at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning! for the fear of thine heart which thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see" (Deut. xxviii. 66, 67).

In every place and province where the king's decree came, there was great lamentation amongst the Jews, consisting of fasting, weeping, wailing, mourning, sackcloth, and, among many of them, lying in ashes.

And Esther's maidens and her chamberlains came and told it her; and the queen was exceedingly grieved, and she sent raiment to clothe Mordecai, and to take his sackcloth from off him, but he received it not.

Then called Esther for Hathach, one of the king's chamberlains, whom he had appointed to attend upon her, to charge him to go to Mordecai, to know what this was, and why it was.

So Hathach went forth to Mordecai, unto the broad place of the city, which was before the king's gate.

And Mordecai told him of all that had happened unto him, and the exact sum of the money that Haman had promised to pay by weight to the king's treasuries for the Jews to destroy them.

And he gave him an explicit copy of the writing of the decree that was published in Shushan, to destroy them, to show it unto Esther, and to declare it unto her; and to charge her that she should go in unto the king, to make supplication unto him, and to make request before him for her people.

And Hathach came and told Esther the words of Mordecai.

Then Esther spake unto Hathach,1 and charged him to say to Mordecai:

"All the king's servants, and the people of the king's provinces, do know that whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the king into the inner court who is not called, there is one law for him, that he be put to death, except such as to whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre, that he may live. And behold, I have been praying for thirty days, that the king should not ask for me and cause me to sin for as I was trained by thee, thou didst say to me, that every woman of the daughters of Israel who of her own free will cohabits with a heathen, has no part among the tribes of Israel." And because Hathach was a messenger between Esther and Mordecai, Haman was very wroth against him, and killed him.

The words of Esther were then reported by writing to Mordecai.

But, Esther, do not fancy that thou, of all the Jews, shalt be saved...Transcriber's note

For if thou neglectest thy opportunity at this time. He who is the Holy One, and the Redeemer of the Jews at all times, will cause redemption to spring up for them from another place, but thou and thy father's house shall perish. And who knows whether thou hast not come to the kingdom because the sins of thy father's house are called to account."

Then Esther answered Mordecai by letter:

"Go gather together all the Jews that are found in Shushan, and fast for me, and neither eat nor drink three days and three nights and I also and my maidens will fast in like manner, and so will I go in unto the king without being summoned; and if I perish in this world for your sake, I shall have a portion in the world to come.

Hitherto I went to the king against my will, but now I go willingly. And a daughter of Israel who is violated by a Gentile is a lawful wife to her husband. Let the bridegroom go out from his sleeping-room covered with sackcloth, and let the bride likewise leave her nuptial chamber with her head covered with ashes. Let men and beasts and sheep not taste anything for three days, and let the babes be separated from the breasts of their mothers." Immediately they inspected the assembly, and they found in it twelve thousand young priests. These seized trumpets with their right hand and the books of the law with their left, and then wept and cried towards heaven, and said: "O God of Israel! behold the law which Thou hast given us. Behold, Thy beloved people is about to cease from the world. Who will read therein and speak of Thy name? The sun and moon will be dark, and not give their light, for they were created but for Thy people Israel." They then fell upon their faces, and cried: "Answer us, Father, answer us! Answer us, King, answer us!" And they blew the trumpets, and the people cried aloud after them, so that the hosts of heaven wept, and the patriarchs were moved in their graves.

Mordecai went and did everything which Esther charged him to do.