Esther 4:1-3

Easy-to-Read Version

Mordecai Persuades Esther to Help

4 When Mordecai heard about all that had been done, he tore his clothes. Then he put on sackcloth, put ashes on his head, and went out into the city crying loudly. ² But Mordecai went only as far as the king’s gate. No one was allowed to enter the gate dressed in sackcloth. ³ In every province where the king’s command had come, there was much crying and sadness among the Jews. They were fasting and crying loudly. Many Jews were lying on the ground dressed in sackcloth with ashes on their heads.