No king before or after repented before the <sc>Lordsc> as he did, with his whole heart, soul, and being in accordance with the whole law of Moses.<n id="1" />p>

<p class="bodytext">When the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet of wine, Haman was throwing himself down<n id="1" /> on the couch where Esther was lying.<n id="2" /> The king exclaimed, &#8220;Will he also attempt to rape the queen while I am still in the building!&#8221;p> <p class="bodytext">As these words left the king&#8217;s mouth, they covered Haman&#8217;s face.

<p class="poetry">So the <sc>Lordsc> is furious<n id="1" /> with his people;p> <p class="poetry">he lifts<n id="2" /> his hand and strikes them.p> <p class="poetry">The mountains shake,p> <p class="poetry">and corpses lie like manure<n id="3" /> in the middle of the streets.p> <p class="poetry">Despite all this, his anger does not subside,p> <p class="poetry">and his hand is ready to strike again.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">So the sovereign master was not pleased<n id="1" /> with their young men,p> <p class="poetry">he took no pity<n id="2" /> on their orphans and widows;p> <p class="poetry">for the whole nation was godless<n id="3" /> and did wicked things,<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">every mouth was speaking disgraceful words.<n id="5" />p> <p class="poetry">Despite all this, his anger does not subside,p> <p class="poetry">and his hand is ready to strike again.<n id="6" />p>

<p class="poetry">Manasseh fought against<n id="1" /> Ephraim,p> <p class="poetry">and Ephraim against Manasseh;p> <p class="poetry">together they fought against Judah.p> <p class="poetry">Despite all this, his anger does not subside,p> <p class="poetry">and his hand is ready to strike again.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">I have listened to them very carefully,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">but they do not speak honestly.p> <p class="poetry">None of them regrets the evil he has done.p> <p class="poetry">None of them says, &#8220;I have done wrong!&#8221;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">All of them persist in their own wayward course<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">like a horse charging recklessly into battle.p>

&#8220;The <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel says, &#8216;Give a message to the king of Judah who sent you to ask me to help him.<n id="1" /> Tell him, &#8220;The army of Pharaoh that was on its way to help you will go back home to Egypt.<n id="2" />