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Esther 4
New Living Translation

Mordecai Requests Esther’s Help

4 When Mordecai learned about all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on burlap and ashes, and went out into the city, crying with a loud and bitter wail. 2 He went as far as the gate of the palace, for no one was allowed to enter the palace gate while wearing clothes of mourning. 3 And as news of the king’s decree reached all the provinces, there was great mourning among the Jews. They fasted, wept, and wailed, and many people lay in burlap and ashes.

4 When Queen Esther’s maids and eunuchs came and told her about Mordecai, she was deeply distressed. She sent clothing to him to replace the burlap, but he refused it. 5 Then Esther sent for Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs who had been appointed as her attendant. She ordered him to go to Mordecai and find out what was troubling him and why he was in mourning. 6 So Hathach went out to Mordecai in the square in front of the palace gate.

7 Mordecai told him the whole story, including the exact amount of money Haman had promised to pay into the royal treasury for the destruction of the Jews. 8 Mordecai gave Hathach a copy of the decree issued in Susa that called for the death of all Jews. He asked Hathach to show it to Esther and explain the situation to her. He also asked Hathach to direct her to go to the king to beg for mercy and plead for her people. 9 So Hathach returned to Esther with Mordecai’s message.

10 Then Esther told Hathach to go back and relay this message to Mordecai: 11 “All the king’s officials and even the people in the provinces know that anyone who appears before the king in his inner court without being invited is doomed to die unless the king holds out his gold scepter. And the king has not called for me to come to him for thirty days.” 12 So Hathach[a] gave Esther’s message to Mordecai.

13 Mordecai sent this reply to Esther: “Don’t think for a moment that because you’re in the palace you will escape when all other Jews are killed. 14 If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?”

15 Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: 16 “Go and gather together all the Jews of Susa and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will do the same. And then, though it is against the law, I will go in to see the king. If I must die, I must die.” 17 So Mordecai went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him.

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Notas al pie

  1. 4:12 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads they.
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Esther 4
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. 4 When Esther’s female attendants and her eunuchs came and informed her about Mordecai’s behavior,[g] the queen was overcome with anguish. Although she sent garments for Mordecai to put on so that he could remove his sackcloth, he would not accept them. 5 So Esther called for Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs who had been placed at her service,[h] and instructed him to find out the cause and reason for Mordecai’s behavior.[i] 6 So Hathach went to Mordecai at the plaza of the city in front of the king’s gate. 7 Then Mordecai related to him everything that had happened to him, even the specific amount of money that Haman had offered to pay to the king’s treasuries for the Jews to be destroyed. 8 He also gave him a written copy of the law that had been disseminated[j] in Susa for their destruction so that he could show it to Esther and talk to her about it. He also gave instructions that she should go to the king to implore him and petition him on behalf of her people. 9 So Hathach returned and related Mordecai’s instructions[k] to Esther.

10 Then Esther replied to Hathach with instructions for Mordecai: 11 “All the servants of the king and the people of the king’s provinces know that there is only one law applicable[l] to any man or woman who comes uninvited to the king in the inner court—that person will be put to death, unless the king extends to him the gold scepter, permitting him to be spared.[m] Now I have not been invited to come to the king for some thirty days.”

12 When Esther’s reply[n] was conveyed to Mordecai, 13 he[o] said to take back this answer to Esther: “Don’t imagine that because you are part of the king’s household you will be the one Jew[p] who will escape. 14 If you keep quiet at this time, liberation and protection for the Jews will appear[q] from another source,[r] while you and your father’s household perish. It may very well be[s] that you have achieved royal status[t] for such a time as this!”

15 Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: 16 “Go, assemble all the Jews who are found in Susa, and fast on my behalf. Don’t eat and don’t drink for three days, night or day. My female attendants and I[u] will also fast in the same way. Afterward I will go to the king, even though it violates the law.[v] If I perish, I perish.”

17 So Mordecai set out to do everything that Esther had instructed him.

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Notas al pie

  1. 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.
  2. Esther 4:1 tn Heb “great.”
  3. Esther 4:3 tn Heb “reached” (so NAB, NLT); KJV, NASB, NIV “came”; TEV “wherever the king’s proclamation was made known.”
  4. Esther 4:3 tn Heb “great” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “the Jews went into deep mourning.”
  5. 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.
  6. Esther 4:3 tn Heb “were spread to many”; KJV, NIV “many (+ people NLT) lay in sackcloth and ashes.”
  7. Esther 4:4 tn The words “about Mordecai’s behavior” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in translation for the sake of clarity. Cf. NIV, NLT “about Mordecai”; TEV, CEV “what Mordecai was doing.”
  8. Esther 4:5 tn Heb “whom he caused to stand before her”; NASB “whom the king had appointed to attend her.”
  9. Esther 4:5 tn Heb “concerning Mordecai, to know what this was, and why this was.”
  10. Esther 4:8 tn Heb “given” (so KJV); NASB, NRSV, TEV, NLT “issued”; NIV “published”; NAB “promulgated.”
  11. Esther 4:9 tn Heb “the words of Mordecai” (so KJV); NIV, NRSV, CEV “what Mordecai had said”; NLT “with Mordecai’s message.”
  12. Esther 4:11 tn Heb “one is his law”; NASB “he (the king NIV) has but one law”
  13. Esther 4:11 tn Heb “and he will live”; KJV, ASV “that he may live”; NIV “and spare his life.”
  14. Esther 4:12 tn Heb “the words of Esther”; TEV, NLT “Esther’s message.”
  15. Esther 4:13 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.
  16. Esther 4:13 tn Heb “from all the Jews”; KJV “more than all the Jews”; NIV “you alone of all the Jews.”
  17. Esther 4:14 tn Heb “stand”; KJV, NASB, NIV, NLT “arise.”
  18. Esther 4:14 tn Heb “place” (so KJV, NIV, NLT); NRSV “from another quarter.” This is probably an oblique reference to help coming from God. D. J. A. Clines disagrees; in his view a contrast between deliverance by Esther and deliverance by God is inappropriate (Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther [NCBC], 302). But Clines’ suggestion that perhaps the reference is to deliverance by Jewish officials or by armed Jewish revolt is less attractive than seeing this veiled reference as part of the literary strategy of the book, which deliberately keeps God’s providential dealings entirely in the background.
  19. Esther 4:14 tn Heb “And who knows whether” (so NASB). The question is one of hope, but free of presumption. Cf. Jonah 3:9.
  20. Esther 4:14 tn Heb “have come to the kingdom”; NRSV “to royal dignity”; NIV “to royal position”; NLT “have been elevated to the palace.”
  21. Esther 4:16 tn Heb “I and my female attendants.” The translation reverses the order for stylistic reasons.
  22. Esther 4:16 tn Heb “which is not according to the law” (so KJV, NASB); NAB “contrary to the law.”
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