¹⁶ “Go and gather the Jews who are in Susa and fast on my behalf; for three days and nights do not eat or drink, and my maids and I will also go without food. After that I will go to the king, contrary to the law, even if I must die.”^(A)

³¹ and giving orders that these days of Purim should be observed at their appointed seasons, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther enjoined on the Jews, just as they had laid down for themselves and for their descendants regulations concerning their fasts and their lamentations.^(A)

³ Then I turned to the Lord God to seek an answer by prayer and supplication with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.^(A)