⁹ And Hathach went and told Esther what Mordecai had said. ¹⁰ Then Esther spoke to Hathach and commanded him to go to Mordecai and say, ¹¹ “All the king's servants and the people of the king's provinces know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside ^(A)the inner court without being called, ^(B)there is but one law—to be put to death, except the one ^(C)to whom the king holds out the golden scepter so that he may live. But as for me, I have not been called to come in to the king these thirty days.”

¹² And they told Mordecai what Esther had said. ¹³ Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think to yourself that in the king's palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. ¹⁴ For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” ¹⁵ Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, ¹⁶ “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for ^(D)three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, ^(E)and if I perish, I perish.”^{[a] 17} Mordecai then went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him.

Esther Prepares a Banquet

5 ^(F)On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in ^(G)the inner court of the king's palace, in front of the king's quarters, while the king was sitting on his royal throne inside the throne room opposite the entrance to the palace. ² And when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, ^(H)she won favor in his sight, ^(I)and he held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter.