EstherChapter 4

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¹Mordecai found out about all that had happened. He tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes. He went out into the middle of the city. He cried out loudly and bitterly. ²But he went only as far as the king's gate. The law said no one wearing sackcloth could go through that gate. ³The king's order and law came to every province. And in every one, the Jews mourned greatly. They fasted, wept, and wailed. Many of them lay in sackcloth and ashes. ⁴Esther's servant girls and eunuchs came and told her about Mordecai. The queen was very upset. She sent clothes for Mordecai to wear instead of his sackcloth. But he would not take them. ⁵Then Esther called for Hathach. He was one of the king's eunuchs who had been chosen to serve her. She sent him to Mordecai to find out what was wrong and why. ⁶So Hathach went out to Mordecai. Mordecai was in the city square in front of the king's gate. ⁷Mordecai told him everything that had happened to him. He told him the exact amount of money Haman had promised to pay into the king's treasury. Haman would pay it to have the Jews destroyed. ⁸Mordecai also gave Hathach a copy of the written order to destroy the Jews. It had been sent out in Susa. He told Hathach to show it to Esther and explain it to her. He told him to urge her to go to the king. She should beg the king for mercy and plead with him for her people. ⁹So Hathach went back and told Esther what Mordecai had said. ¹⁰Then Esther spoke to Hathach. She told him to say this to Mordecai: ¹¹"All the king's officials and the people of his provinces know this law. Any man or woman who goes to the king in the inner court without being called must be put to death. There is only one way that person can live. The king must hold out his gold scepter to them. And the king has not called me to come to him for thirty days." ¹²Esther's words were told to Mordecai. ¹³Then he sent back this answer to her: "Don't think that you alone of all the Jews will escape just because you live in the king's palace. ¹⁴For if you keep quiet at this time, help and rescue for the Jews will come from somewhere else. But you and your father's family will perish. And who knows? Maybe you have become queen for just such a time as this. ¹⁵Then Esther sent this answer to Mordecai: ¹⁶"Go and gather all the Jews you can find in Susa. Fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. My servant girls and I will fast as you do. After that, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish!" ¹⁷So Mordecai went away and did everything Esther had told him to do.