Ester 4
Bibelen på hverdagsdansk
Mordokaj beder dronning Ester om hjælp
4 Da Mordokaj hørte om Hamans planer, flængede han i fortvivlelse sit tøj og klædte sig i sæk og aske. Derefter gik han rundt i byen og jamrede højt og hjerteskærende. 2 Da han kom hen på pladsen foran paladsets port, blev han stående dér, for det var forbudt at gå ind i paladset med sørgetøj på. 3 Ud over hele riget reagerede jøderne på samme måde: De græd og jamrede og fastede på grund af den kongelige befaling, og mange af dem klædte sig i sæk og aske.
4 Da Esters hofdamer og tjenere fortalte hende, at Mordokaj stod uden for porten klædt i sæk og aske, blev hun fortvivlet og skyndte sig at sende noget tøj ud til ham, så han kunne komme ind i paladset. Men han nægtede at tage det på. 5 Så gav Ester sin tjener Hatak besked på at gå ud til Mordokaj og finde ud af, hvad der var i vejen. 6 Hatak gik straks ud på den åbne plads foran paladsets port, 7 og Mordokaj fortalte ham om kongens befaling og om de 10.000 sække sølv, som Haman havde garanteret til rigets skatkammer, hvis han fik lov til at udrydde jøderne. 8 Mordokaj gav ham også en kopi af kongens skrivelse med dødsdommen over jøderne og bad ham vise den til Ester, så hun kunne gå i forbøn for sit folk hos kongen. 9 Hatak gik straks tilbage til Ester og fortalte hende det hele, 10 hvorefter hun sendte ham ud til Mordokaj med følgende besked:
11 „Hvordan skulle jeg kunne gå i forbøn hos kongen? Alle og enhver ved, at hvis nogen vover sig ind på kongens private område uden at være tilkaldt, er de dødsens, medmindre kongen rækker sit guldscepter frem og benåder dem. Og det er nu over en måned siden, at jeg sidst blev kaldt ind til kongen!”
12-13 Efter at Mordokaj havde fået den besked, bad han Hatak overbringe Ester følgende svar: „Du skal ikke tro, at du undslipper, bare fordi du er i kongens hus! Du kommer til at dele skæbne med dine landsmænd. 14 Hvis du ikke taler med kongen, vil der komme hjælp og redning til jøderne fra anden side, men du og dine nærmeste skal dø! Hvem ved, om du ikke netop blev dronning for at kunne gøre noget i denne alvorlige situation!”
15 Ester sendte da følgende svar tilbage til Mordokaj: 16 „Kald alle jøder i Susa sammen, så de kan bede og holde total faste for mig i tre dage, dag og nat.[a] Imens vil jeg og mine hofdamer gøre det samme. Derefter vil jeg gå ind til kongen, selvom det er forbudt. Jeg er parat til at dø, hvis det skal være!”
17 Så gik Mordokaj sin vej og gjorde, som Ester havde sagt.
Footnotes
- 4,16 Det svarer til ca. to døgn efter dansk målestok.
Esther 4
Modern English Version
Esther Helps the Jews
4 When Mordecai learned all that had been done, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and cried with a loud and bitter cry. 2 He went as far as the king’s gate because no one was allowed to enter into the king’s gate clothed with sackcloth. 3 In each and every province where the king’s command and his decree came there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing. Many lay in sackcloth and ashes.
4 So the young women of Esther and her eunuchs came and told her of it. The queen was then seized by anguish. She sent garments to clothe Mordecai so that he could remove his sackcloth, but he would not accept them. 5 So Esther summoned Hathak, one of the king’s eunuchs appointed to attend her, and commanded him concerning Mordecai to learn what this was about and why.
6 So Hathak went out to where Mordecai was in the area of the city in front of the king’s gate. 7 Mordecai told him about all that had happened to him and about the sum of silver that Haman had promised to pay to the king’s treasuries for the destruction of the Jews. 8 Mordecai also gave him a copy of the written decree issued in Susa concerning their destruction so he could show Esther, tell her about it, and then charge her to go to the king in order to gain him favor with the king and to make requests in the presence of the king for her people.
9 Hathak returned and told Esther the words of Mordecai. 10 Again Esther spoke to Hathak and ordered him to reply to Mordecai: 11 “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that whoever, whether man or woman, wishes to come to the king at the inner court but has not been summoned, there is one law—to put him to death—unless for some reason the king should hold out the golden scepter so that he might live. I, however, have not been summoned to come to the king for these thirty days.”
12 So all the words of Esther were told to Mordecai. 13 Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think that in the king’s palace you will be more likely to escape than all the other Jews. 14 For if you remain silent at this time, protection and deliverance for the Jews will be ordained from some other place, but you and your father’s house shall be destroyed. And who knows if you may have attained royal position for such a time as this?”
15 Then Esther replied, sending back to Mordecai: 16 “Go, gather all the Jews who can be found in Susa, then fast for me. Stop eating and drinking for three days, night or day. I and my young women will fast likewise. Only then would I dare go to the king since it is not allowed by law, and if I perish, I perish.”
17 So Mordecai went away and did exactly as Esther had commanded him.
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The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.