Esther 4
Christian Standard Bible
Mordecai Appeals to Esther
4 When Mordecai learned all that had occurred,(A) he tore his clothes,(B) put on sackcloth and ashes,(C) went into the middle of the city, and cried loudly and bitterly.(D) 2 He went only as far as the King’s Gate,(E) since the law prohibited anyone wearing sackcloth from entering the King’s Gate. 3 There was great mourning among the Jewish people in every province where the king’s command and edict(F) reached. They fasted, wept, and lamented, and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.(G)
4 Esther’s female servants and her eunuchs came and reported the news to her, and the queen was overcome with fear.(H) She sent clothes for Mordecai to wear so that he would take off his sackcloth, but he did not accept them. 5 Esther summoned Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs who attended her, and dispatched him to Mordecai to learn what he was doing and why.[a] 6 So Hathach went out to Mordecai in the city square in front of the King’s Gate. 7 Mordecai told him everything that had happened as well as the exact amount of money Haman had promised to pay the royal treasury for the slaughter of the Jews.(I)
8 Mordecai also gave him a copy of the written decree issued in Susa ordering their destruction, so that Hathach might show it to Esther, explain it to her, and command her to approach the king, implore his favor, and plead with him personally for her people.(J) 9 Hathach came and repeated Mordecai’s response to Esther.
10 Esther spoke to Hathach and commanded him to tell Mordecai, 11 “All the royal officials and the people of the royal provinces know that one law applies to every man or woman who approaches the king in the inner courtyard(K) and who has not been summoned—the death penalty(L)—unless the king extends the gold scepter, allowing that person to live.(M) I have not been summoned to appear before the king(N) for the last[b] thirty days.” 12 Esther’s response was reported to Mordecai.
13 Mordecai told the messenger to reply to Esther, “Don’t think that you will escape the fate of all the Jews because you are in the king’s palace. 14 If you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will come to the Jewish people from another place,(O) but you and your father’s family will be destroyed. Who knows, perhaps you have come to your royal position for such a time as this.”(P)
15 Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: 16 “Go and assemble all the Jews who can be found in Susa and fast for me. Don’t eat or drink for three days,(Q) night or day. I and my female servants will also fast(R) in the same way. After that, I will go to the king even if it is against the law.(S) If I perish, I perish.”(T) 17 So Mordecai went and did everything Esther had commanded him.
Esther 4
International Standard Version
Mordecai Seeks Esther’s Help
4 When Mordecai learned all that had been done, he tore his garments and clothed himself in sackcloth and ashes. He went into the middle of the city and cried out with a loud and bitter cry. 2 He came as far as[a] the front of the king’s gate, because no one was allowed to enter the king’s gate clothed in sackcloth. 3 In every province where the order of the king and his edict reached, among the Jewish people there was great mourning, fasting, weeping, and lamenting, and many lay down on sackcloth and ashes.
4 When Esther’s young women and her eunuchs came and told her, the queen was greatly distressed. She sent clothes for Mordecai to put on so he could take off the sackcloth that he had on, but he would not take them. 5 Then Esther summoned Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs, whom he had assigned to her, and she ordered him to go to Mordecai to find out what was happening and why it was happening. 6 Hathach went to Mordecai in the city square that was in front of the king’s gate. 7 Mordecai told him everything that had happened and the exact amount of money that Haman had said he would pay into the king’s treasury in order to destroy the Jewish people. 8 Mordecai[b] gave Hathach[c] a copy of the written decree ordering the Jews’ destruction that had been issued in Susa. Mordecai[d] wanted him to show it to Esther, to explain it to her, and then to instruct her to go in to the king to seek his favor and plead with him for her people.
9 Hathach went and told Esther what Mordecai had said.[e] 10 Then Esther spoke to Hathach, instructing him[f] to go back[g] to Mordecai with this message:[h] 11 “Every servant of the king and every person in the king’s provinces knows that for any man or woman who goes to the king in the inner court without being summoned there is only[i] one law—that he be put to death—unless the king holds out the golden scepter to him. Only[j] then he will live. For these last[k] 30 days I’ve not been summoned to come to the king.”
12 They reported Esther’s message to Mordecai.
13 Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Don’t suppose that because you are in the palace, you will escape any more than the other Jewish people.[l] 14 Indeed, if you are silent at this time, relief and deliverance will come to the Jewish people from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. Who knows but that you were brought to the kingdom for a time like this?”
15 Then Esther replied to Mordecai, 16 “Go and gather all the Jewish people who are in Susa and fast for me. Don’t eat or drink for three days, night or day. Both I and my young women will also fast in the same way, and then I’ll go in to the king, even though it’s against the law. And if I perish, I perish.”
17 Then Mordecai left and did everything that Esther had ordered him.
Footnotes
- Esther 4:2 Lit. came to
- Esther 4:8 Lit. He
- Esther 4:8 Lit. him
- Esther 4:8 Lit. He
- Esther 4:9 Lit. the words of Mordecai
- Esther 4:10 Lit. and she instructed him
- Esther 4:10 The Heb. lacks to go back
- Esther 4:10 The Heb. lacks with this message:
- Esther 4:11 The Heb. lacks only
- Esther 4:11 The Heb. lacks Only
- Esther 4:11 The Heb. lacks last
- Esther 4:13 Lit. than all the Jews
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