Read & explore together
The Prayers of Mordecai and Esther
This passage from Greek Esther places Mordecai’s prayer beside Esther’s prayer in a time of extreme danger. Both prayers speak to the Lord’s power, confess need, and ask for mercy, help, and deliverance for God’s people.
Understanding the passage
Read these words in context
In this Greek source variant, Mordecai prays first and asks God to spare Israel. Then all Israel cries out. Esther takes refuge in the Lord, humbles herself outwardly, remembers what God has done for Israel, confesses sin, and pleads for help because danger is near.
Esther (Greek) 4:18–47Main takeaway
These two prayers turn to the Lord as the all-powerful ruler who knows all things and is asked to deliver his people in their distress.
Explore the prayer
Open a card to explore the full explanation and its Bible references.
01Mordecai begins with God’s rule over allMordecai starts by addressing the Lord as king ruling over all. He says everything is in God’s power and no one can oppose God’s purpose to save Israel.
Explanation
Mordecai starts by addressing the Lord as king ruling over all. He says everything is in God’s power and no one can oppose God’s purpose to save Israel. He also names God as maker of the sky, the earth, and the wonderful things under the sky. The prayer begins with God’s greatness, not human strength.
02Mordecai explains his refusal and pleads for mercyMordecai says his refusal to bow did not come from insolence, arrogance, or love of glory.
Explanation
Mordecai says his refusal to bow did not come from insolence, arrogance, or love of glory. He insists he would not set human glory above God’s glory or worship anyone except the Lord. Then he asks God to spare his people, remember those redeemed from Egypt, and turn mourning into gladness.
03Israel cries out and Esther humbles herselfAll Israel cries out because death is before their eyes. Esther takes refuge in the Lord and, in distress, removes glorious clothing and puts on mourning.
Explanation
All Israel cries out because death is before their eyes. Esther takes refuge in the Lord and, in distress, removes glorious clothing and puts on mourning. Ashes, mourning garments, and bodily humbling show the seriousness of her situation before she speaks. Then she prays as one who is destitute and without another helper.
04Esther remembers Israel’s history and confesses sinEsther recalls hearing that the Lord took Israel from among the nations as a perpetual inheritance and did what he had said.
Explanation
Esther recalls hearing that the Lord took Israel from among the nations as a perpetual inheritance and did what he had said. She then confesses, “we have sinned before you,” and says the Lord is righteous. She describes enemies aiming to destroy God’s inheritance and silence the mouths that praise him.
05Esther asks for bold help and speaks of her distressEsther asks God not to surrender his sceptre to those who do not exist, but to turn their counsel against them.
Explanation
Esther asks God not to surrender his sceptre to those who do not exist, but to turn their counsel against them. She asks for courage and fitting speech before “the lion”. She also says God knows her distress, including her abhorrence of the signs of her proud station, and that she has not honoured Haman’s table but rejoiced only in the Lord.
Questions to explore
Pause, look back at the verses and talk together.
01What does Mordecai say about who God is before asking for rescue?
Look for his words about God as king, creator, and the one no one can resist.
02How does Mordecai explain why he would not bow down?
Notice his contrast between the glory of man and the glory of God, and his refusal to worship anyone except the Lord.
03Which lines in Esther’s prayer show both confession for the people and distress in her own situation?
Find where she says “we have sinned” and where she asks for help because she is alone, afraid, and in danger.
Read the Bible passage
World English Bible ClassicScripture quotation · Public domain
Esther (Greek) 4:18–47
18[He prayed to the Lord, making mention of all the works of the Lord.
19He said, “Lord God, you are king ruling over all, for all things are in your power, and there is no one who can oppose you in your purpose to save Israel;
20for you have made the sky and the earth and every wonderful thing under the sky.
21You are Lord of all, and there is no one who can resist you, Lord.
22You know all things. You know, Lord, that it is not in insolence, nor arrogance, nor love of glory, that I have done this, to refuse to bow down to the arrogant Haman.
23For I would gladly have kissed the soles of his feet for the safety of Israel.
24But I have done this that I might not set the glory of man above the glory of God. I will not worship anyone except you, my Lord, and I will not do these things in arrogance.
25And now, O Lord God, the King, the God of Abraham, spare your people, for our enemies are planning our destruction, and they have desired to destroy your ancient inheritance.
26Do not overlook your people, whom you have redeemed for yourself out of the land of Egypt.
27Listen to my prayer. Have mercy on your inheritance and turn our mourning into gladness, that we may live and sing praise to your name, O Lord. Don’t utterly destroy the mouth of those who praise you, O Lord.”
28All Israel cried with all their might, for death was before their eyes.
29And queen Esther took refuge in the Lord, being taken as it were in the agony of death.
30Having taken off her glorious apparel, she put on garments of distress and mourning. Instead of grand perfumes she filled her head with ashes and dung. She greatly humbled her body, and she filled every place of her glad adorning with her tangled hair.
31She implored the Lord God of Israel, and said, “O my Lord, you alone are our king. Help me. I am destitute, and have no helper but you,
32for my danger is near at hand.
33I have heard from my birth in the tribe of my kindred that you, Lord, took Israel out of all the nations, and our fathers out of all their kindred for a perpetual inheritance, and have done for them all that you have said.
34And now we have sinned before you, and you have delivered us into the hands of our enemies,
35because we honored their gods. You are righteous, O Lord.
36But now they have not been content with the bitterness of our slavery, but have laid their hands on the hands of their idols
37to abolish the decree of your mouth, and utterly to destroy your inheritance, and to stop the mouth of those who praise you, and to extinguish the glory of your house and your altar,
38and to open the mouth of the Gentiles to speak the praises of vanities, and that a mortal king should be admired forever.
39O Lord, don’t surrender your sceptre to those who don’t exist, and don’t let them laugh at our fall, but turn their counsel against themselves, and make an example of him who has begun to injure us.
40Remember us, O Lord! Manifest yourself in the time of our affliction. Encourage me, O King of gods, and ruler of all dominion!
41Put harmonious speech into my mouth before the lion, and turn his heart to hate him who fights against us, to the utter destruction of those who agree with him.
42But deliver us by your hand, and help me who am alone and have no one but you, O Lord.
43You know all things, and know that I hate the glory of transgressors, and that I abhor the bed of the uncircumcised and of every stranger.
44You know my necessity, for I abhor the symbol of my proud station, which is upon my head in the days of my splendor. I abhor it as a menstruous cloth, and I don’t wear it in the days of my tranquility.
45Your handmaid has not eaten at Haman’s table, and I have not honored the banquet of the king, neither have I drunk wine of libations.
46Neither has your handmaid rejoiced since the day of my promotion until now, except in you, O Lord God of Abraham.
47O god, who has power over all, listen to the voice of the desperate, and deliver us from the hand of those who devise mischief. Deliver me from my fear.]