Queen Esther also, fearing the danger that was at hand, had recourse to the Lord.

Esther quoque regina confugit ad Dominum, pavens periculum quod imminebat.

And what of queen Esther? She too had recourse to the Lord, in her fear of the danger that threatened.

And when she had laid away her royal apparel, she put on garments suitable for weeping and mourning: instead of divers precious ointments, she covered her head with ashes and dung, and she humbled her body with fasts: and all the places in which before she was accustomed to rejoice, she filled with her torn hair.

Cumque deposuisset vestes regias, fletibus et luctui apta indumenta suscepit, et pro unguentis variis, cinere et stercore implevit caput, et corpus suum humiliavit jejuniis: omniaque loca, in quibus antea lætari consueverat, crinium laceratione complevit.

Laid aside were those royal robes of hers, her array must tell only of grief and lament; dust and dung should be all her anointing now. Her body she tamed with fasting; only her torn locks hung where once she had loved to adorn her beauty.

And she prayed to the Lord the God of Israel, saying: O my Lord, who alone art our king, help me a desolate woman, and who have no other helper but thee.

Et deprecabatur Dominum Deum Israël, dicens: Domine mi, qui rex noster es solus, adjuva me solitariam, et cujus præter te nullus est auxiliator alius.

In such guise she made her plea to the Lord, the God of Israel; Lord, our King, thou reignest alone; befriend a lonely heart that can find help nowhere but in thee.

My danger is in my hands.

Periculum meum in manibus meis est.

The peril I must take upon me is plain to view.

I have heard of my father that thou, O Lord, didst take Israel from among all nations, and our fathers from all their predecessors, to possess them as an everlasting inheritance, and thou hast done to them as thou hast promised.

Audivi a patre meo quod tu, Domine, tulisses Israël de cunctis gentibus, et patres nostros ex omnibus retro majoribus suis, ut possideres hæreditatem sempiternam, fecistique eis sicut locutus es.

Lord, my childhood’s lessons are still unforgotten; I know that Israel, for all time, is the people of thy choice, chosen stock of a chosen race; I know that thy warnings have come true,

We have sinned in thy sight, and therefore thou hast delivered us into the hands of our enemies:

Peccavimus in conspectu tuo, et idcirco tradidisti nos in manus inimicorum nostrorum:

and if thou hast given our enemies the mastery, it is because we sinned against thee,

For we have worshipped their gods. Thou art just, O Lord.

coluimus enim deos eorum. Justus es Domine:

by worshipping the gods they worshipped; in all this, Lord, thou art nothing to blame.

And now they are not content to oppress us with most hard bondage, but attributing the strength of their hands to the power of their idols,

et nunc non eis sufficit, quod durissima nos opprimunt servitute, sed robur manuum suarum, idolorum potentiæ deputantes,

But now they are not content with holding us down under a cruel yoke; strong in the fancied protection of these false gods,

They design to change thy promises, and destroy thy inheritance, and shut the mouths of them that praise thee, and extinguish the glory of thy temple and altar,

volunt tua mutare promissa, et delere hæreditatem tuam, et claudere ora laudantium te, atque extinguere gloriam templi et altaris tui,

they would fain set all thy promises aside, leave thee no possession on earth at all. They would silence the voices that praise thee, dim the glories of thy temple and thy altar;

That they may open the mouths of Gentiles, and praise the strength of idols, and magnify for ever a carnal king.

ut aperiant ora gentium, et laudent idolorum fortitudinem, et prædicent carnalem regem in sempiternum.

nothing must be heard but the chant of the Gentiles boasting of their false gods, offering their endless praises to a mortal king.

Give not, O Lord, thy sceptre to them that are not, lest they laugh at our ruin: but turn their counsel upon themselves, and destroy him that hath begun to rage against us.

Ne tradas, Domine, sceptrum tuum his, qui non sunt, ne rideant ad ruinam nostram: sed converte consilium eorum super eos, et eum qui in nos cœpit sævire, disperde.

Lord, wilt thou yield thy sceptre to gods that are no gods? Must the heathen laugh over our downfall? Let their own scheming recoil on them; bring him to a swift end, the man who has loosed his fury on us!

Remember, O Lord, and shew thyself to us in the time of our tribulation, and give me boldness, O Lord, king of gods, and of all power:

Memento, Domine, et ostende te nobis in tempore tribulationis nostræ, et da mihi fiduciam, Domine rex deorum, et universæ potestatis:

Lord, bethink thee of our need, give proof of thy power; Lord, that hast no rival in heaven or earth, grant me confidence.

Give me a well ordered speech in my mouth in the presence of the lion, and turn his heart to the hatred of our enemy, that both he himself may perish, and the rest that consent to him.

tribue sermonem compositum in ore meo in conspectu leonis, et transfer cor illius in odium hostis nostri, ut et ipse pereat, et ceteri qui ei consentiunt.

Frame my utterance, as I speak with this fierce lord of mine, and embitter him against our enemy, bringing ruin on Aman and all that take Aman’s part.

But deliver us by thy hand, and help me, who have no other helper, but thee, O Lord, who hast the knowledge of all things.

Nos autem libera manu tua, et adjuva me, nullum aliud auxilium habentem nisi te, Domine, qui habes omnium scientiam,

So let thy power deliver us; grant help where help save thine is none. Lord, thou knowest all things;

And thou knowest that I hate the glory of the wicked, and abhor the bed of the uncircumcised, and of every stranger.

et nosti quia oderim gloriam iniquorum, et detester cubile incircumcisorum, et omnis alienigenæ.

thou knowest how I hate the splendours of a godless court, how unwillingly I mate with an alien lord, a lord uncircumcised.

Thou knowest my necessity, that I abominate the sign of my pride and glory, which is upon my head in the days of my public appearance, and detest it as a menstruous rag, and wear it not in the days of my silence,

Tu scis necessitatem meam, quod abominer signum superbiæ et gloriæ meæ, quod est super caput meum in diebus ostentationis meæ, et detester illud quasi pannum menstruatæ, et non portem in diebus silentii mei,

The sport of ill-chance, how little I love the proud emblem of royalty I must wear before the world! Loathsome to me as the rags we women cast aside, how gladly I tear it from my brow, in this cool hour!

And that I have not eaten at Aman’s table, nor hath the king’s banquet pleased me, and that I have not drunk the wine of the drink offerings:

et quod non comederim in mensa Aman, nec mihi placuerit convivium regis, et non biberim vinum libaminum:

At Aman’s board I would never sit; even the king’s banquets have no taste for me, nor would I drink the wine from which he pours libation.

And that thy handmaid hath never rejoiced, since I was brought hither unto this day, but in thee, O Lord, the God of Abraham.

et numquam lætata sit ancilla tua, ex quo huc translata sum usque in præsentem diem, nisi in te, Domine Deus Abraham.

Ever since they brought me here, comfort thy handmaid had none, Lord God of Abraham, save in thee!

O God, who art mighty above all, hear the voice of them, that have no other hope, and deliver us from the hand of the wicked, and deliver me from my fear.

Deus fortis super omnes, exaudi vocem eorum qui nullam aliam spem habent, et libera nos de manu iniquorum, et erue me a timore meo.

Lord, that hast power over all men, listen to this cry of despair; save us all from the clutches of our enemies, and rid me of these fears that daunt me!