Esther's Prayer

Although literary parallelism compensates for the lack of the presence of God, all of the other 'historical landmarks' and theological components we expect in Scripture are still noticeably absent. These constituents were viewed as so essential to the biblical text that in the second century in Alexandria a Jew named Lysimachus decided to fill in the blanks and compose Additions to Esther, containing these elements, which were subsequently incorporated into the Greek Bible. One of these additions is Esther's prayer:

Then she entreated the Lord, God of Israel saying: My Lord, You alone are our king. Help me who am alone and have no help but You. For I am taking my life in my hands. From my earliest childhood in my family's tribe, I have been hearing that You, Lord, took Israel from all the nations, and their fathers from all their ancestors, as an everlasting heritage and that You did for them just as You had promised. But now we have sinned against You and You have handed us over to our enemies. Because we gave glory to their gods... Rescue us by Your power, and help me, who am alone and have no one but You, O Lord... You have knowledge of all things. You know that I hate the pomp of the lawless and abhor the bed of the uncircumcised or of any foreigner...Your servant has never dined at Haman's table, nor have I extolled the king's banquets or drunk the wine of libations. From the day my status changed until now, Your servant has not delighted in any but You, O Lord, God of Abraham. O God whose power prevails over all, listen to the voice of those who are without hope and rescue us from the hand of the wicked. And deliver me from my fear!