Thursday, March 31, 2011

For Him Who Has Ears to Hear


May I give the floor now... to the wife of Leonidas
and queen of Sparta.

- What's this?
- This is nothing.


Councilmen:
I stand before you
not only as your queen.
I come to you as a mother.
I come to you as a wife.
I come to you as a Spartan woman.
I come to you with great humility.

I am not here to represent Leonidas.
His actions speak louder
than my words ever could.

I am here for all those voices
which cannot be heard.
Mothers, daughters, fathers, sons.
Three hundred families
that bleed for our rights
and for the very principles
this room was built upon.

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The king held out the golden sceptre to Esther,
and Esther rose and stood before the king. She said,


‘If it pleases the king,
and if I have won his favour,
and if the thing seems right before the king,
and I have his approval,
let an order be written
to revoke the letters devised
by Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite,
which he wrote giving orders
to destroy the Jews
who are in all the provinces of the king.
For how can I bear to see
the calamity that is coming on my people?
Or how can I bear to see
the destruction of my kindred?’

ויושט המלך לאסתר את שרבט הזהב ותקם אסתר
ותעמד לפני המלך
ותאמר אם־
על־המלך טוב ואם־מצאתי חן לפניו
וכשר הדבר לפני המלך
וטובה אני בעיניו יכתב להשיב את
־הספרים מחשבת המן בן־
־המדתא האגגי אשר כתב לאבד את־היהודים אשר בכל־
מדינות המלך

כי איככה אוכל
וראיתי ברעה אשר
־ימצא את־
עמי ואיככה אוכל
וראיתי באבדן מולדתי
ס

ἐξέτεινεν δὲ ὁ βασιλεὺς Εσθηρ τὴν ῥάβδον τὴν χρυσῆν
ἐξηγέρθη δὲ Εσθηρ παρκέναι τῷ βασιλεῖ
καὶ εἶπεν Εσθηρ

εἰ δοκεῖ σοι καὶ εὗρον χάριν
πεμφθήτω ἀποστραφῆναι
τὰ γράμματα τὰ ἀπεσταλμένα ὑπὸ Αμαν
τὰ γραφέντα ἀπολέσθαι τοὺς Ιουδαίους
οἵ εἰσιν ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ σου

πῶς γὰρ δυνήσομαι ἰδεῖν
τὴν κάκωσιν τοῦ λαοῦ μου
καὶ πῶς δυνήσομαι σωθῆναι
ἐν τῇ ἀπωλείᾳ τῆς πατρίδος μου


So the king held out the golden rod to Esther,
and Esther rose and stood before the king.
And Esther said,

"If it pleases you and if I have found favor,
let an order be dispatched to revoke
the letters sent by Haman,
which were written to destroy the Judeans
who are in your kingdom.

For how can I bear to see
the suffering of my people?
And how can I bear to be saved
amidst the destruction of my lineage?"

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