Est 4:1-3, 16, Psa 30:5-11 | ESV | STEP | When Mordecai learned all that had been done , Mordecai tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes , and went out into the midst of the city , and he cried out with a loud and bitter cry .

Esther 4:1-3

Esther Agrees to Help the Jews

1 When Mordecai learned all that had been done, Mordecai tore his clothes ^aand put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and he cried out with a loud and bitter cry. 2 He went up to the entrance of the king’s gate, for no one was allowed to enter the king’s gate clothed in sackcloth. 3 And in every province, wherever the king’s command and his decree reached, there was great mourning among the Jews, ^bwith fasting and weeping and lamenting, and many of them ^clay in sackcloth and ashes.

Esther 4:16

16 “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for ^dthree days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, ^eand if I perish, I perish.”

Psalms 30:5-11

5 ^fFor his anger is but for a moment,
and ^ghis favor is for a lifetime. ^{▼▼Or and in his favor is life}
ⁱWeeping may tarry for the night,
but ^jjoy comes with the morning.
6 As for me, I said in my ^kprosperity,
“I shall never be ^lmoved.”
7 By your favor, O Lord,
you made my ^mmountain stand strong;
you ⁿhid your face;
I was ^odismayed.
8 To you, O Lord, I cry,
and ^pto the Lord I plead for mercy:
9 “What profit is there in my death, ^{▼▼Hebrew in my blood}
if I go down to the pit? ^{▼▼Or to corruption}
Will ^sthe dust praise you?
Will it tell of your faithfulness?
10 ^tHear, O Lord, and be merciful to me!
O Lord, be my helper!”
11 You have turned for me my mourning into ^udancing;
you have loosed my sackcloth
and clothed me with gladness,