Esther 4:1-3
New English Translation
Esther Decides to Risk Everything in order to Help Her People
4 Now when Mordecai became aware of all that had been done, he[a] tore his garments and put on sackcloth and ashes. He went out into the city, crying out in a loud[b] and bitter voice. 2 But he went no farther than the king’s gate, for no one was permitted to enter the king’s gate clothed in sackcloth. 3 Throughout each and every province where the king’s edict and law were announced[c] there was considerable[d] mourning among the Jews, along with fasting, weeping, and sorrow.[e] Sackcloth and ashes were characteristic[f] of many.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Esther 4:1 tn Heb “Mordecai.” The pronoun (“he”) was used in the translation for stylistic reasons. A repetition of the proper name here is redundant in terms of contemporary English style.
- Esther 4:1 tn Heb “great.”
- Esther 4:3 tn Heb “reached” (so NAB, NLT); KJV, NASB, NIV “came”; TEV “wherever the king’s proclamation was made known.”
- Esther 4:3 tn Heb “great” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “the Jews went into deep mourning.”
- Esther 4:3 sn Although prayer is not specifically mentioned here, it is highly unlikely that appeals to God for help were not a part of this reaction to devastating news. As elsewhere in the book of Esther, the writer seems deliberately to keep religious actions in the background.
- Esther 4:3 tn Heb “were spread to many”; KJV, NIV “many (+ people NLT) lay in sackcloth and ashes.”
Esther 4:1-3
New International Version
Mordecai Persuades Esther to Help
4 When Mordecai learned of all that had been done, he tore his clothes,(A) put on sackcloth and ashes,(B) and went out into the city, wailing(C) loudly and bitterly. 2 But he went only as far as the king’s gate,(D) because no one clothed in sackcloth was allowed to enter it. 3 In every province to which the edict and order of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and wailing. Many lay in sackcloth and ashes.
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