Esther 4

Modern

Literal

Mordecai Appeals to Esther

¹When Mordecai learned of all that had happened, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the middle of the city, wailing loudly and bitterly.

¹And Mordecai knew all that had been done, and Mordecai tore his clothes, and he put on sackcloth and ashes, and he went out into the midst of the city, and he cried out with a cry great and bitter.

²But he went only as far as the king’s gate, because the law prohibited anyone wearing sackcloth from entering that gate.

²And he came as far as before the face of the gate of the king, for no one was to come into the gate of the king in a garment of sackcloth.

³In every province to which the king’s command and edict came, there was great mourning among the Jews. They fasted, wept, and lamented, and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

³And in every province and province, any place to which the word of the king and his law reached, there was great mourning for the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing—sackcloth and ashes were spread out for many.

⁴When Esther’s maidens and eunuchs came and told her about Mordecai, the queen was overcome with distress. She sent clothes for Mordecai to wear instead of his sackcloth, but he would not accept them.

⁴And the yougn women of Esther and her eunuchs came in, and they told it to her, and the queen writhed exceedingly. And she sent garments to clothe Mordecai and to remove his sackcloth from him, and he would not receive them.

⁵Then Esther summoned Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs appointed to her, and she dispatched him to Mordecai to learn what was troubling him and why.

⁵And Esther called to Hathach from the eunuchs of the king, whom he had caused to stand before her face, and she commanded him concerning Mordecai, to know what this was, and on account of what this was.

⁶So Hathach went out to Mordecai in the city square in front of the king’s gate,

⁶And Hathach went out to Mordecai to the open square of the city, which was before the face of the gate of the king.

⁷and Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, including the exact amount of money that Haman had promised to pay into the royal treasury in order to destroy the Jews.

⁷And Mordecai told to him all that had happened to him, and the exact amount of the silver that Haman had said to weigh out upon the treasuries of the king for the Jews, to destroy them.

⁸Mordecai also gave Hathach a copy of the written decree issued in Susa for the destruction of the Jews, to show and explain to Esther, urging her to approach the king, implore his favor, and plead before him for her people.

⁸And a copy of the writing of the law that was given in Susa to destroy them he gave to him to show Esther, and to tell it to her, and to lay the charge upon her to come in to the king, to implore favor from him, and to seek from before his face concerning her people.

⁹So Hathach went back and relayed Mordecai’s response to Esther.

⁹And Hathach came and told to Esther the words of Mordecai.

¹⁰Then Esther spoke to Hathach and instructed him to tell Mordecai,

¹⁰And Esther spoke to Hathach and commanded him unto Mordecai:

¹¹“All the royal officials and the people of the king’s provinces know that one law applies to every man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned—that he be put to death. Only if the king extends the gold scepter may that person live. But I have not been summoned to appear before the king for the past thirty days.”

¹¹“All the servants of the king and the people of the provinces of the king know that any man or woman who comes in to the king, into the inner court, who has not been called—there is one law: to put him to death, except to whom the king extends to him the golden scepter, and he shall live. And I—I have not been called to come in to the king these thirty days.”

¹²When Esther’s words were relayed to Mordecai,

¹²And they told to Mordecai the words of Esther.

¹³he sent back to her this reply: “Do not imagine that because you are in the king’s palace you alone will escape the fate of all the Jews.

¹³And Mordecai said to return to Esther, “You should not think in your soul to escape in the house of the king more than all the Jews.

¹⁴For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows if perhaps you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

¹⁴For if you surely remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, and you and the house of your father will perish. And who knows if perhaps for a time like this you have come to the kingdom?”

¹⁵Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai:

¹⁵And Esther said to return to Mordecai:

¹⁶“Go and assemble all the Jews who can be found in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day, and I and my maidens 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!”^a

¹⁶“Go, gather all the Jews who are found in Susa, and fast over me, and you shall not eat and you shall not drink for three days, night and day. Also I and my young women will fast likewise, and with this I will go to the king, which is not according to the law. And if I perish, I perish!”

¹⁷So Mordecai went and did all that Esther had instructed him.

¹⁷And Mordecai passed by and did according to all that Esther commanded to him.