1
When Mordecai[H4782]perceived[H3045] all that was done[H6213], Mordecai[H4782]rent[H7167] his clothes[H899], and put on[H3847]sackcloth[H8242] with ashes[H665], and went out[H3318] into the midst[H8432] of the city[H5892], and cried[H2199] with a loud[H1419] and a bitter[H4751]cry[H2201];
2
And came[H935] even before[H6440] the king's gate[H8179]: for none might enter[H935] into the king's gate[H8179]clothed[H3830] with sackcloth[H8242].
3
And in every province[H4082], whithersoever[H4725] the king's commandment[H1697] and his decree[H1881]came[H5060], there was great[H1419]mourning[H60] among the Jews[H3064], and fasting[H6685], and weeping[H1065], and wailing[H4553]; and many[H7227]lay[H3331] in sackcloth[H8242] and ashes[H665].
4
So Esther's maids[H5291] and her chamberlains[H5631]came[H935] and told[H5046] it her. Then was the queen[H4436]exceedingly[H3966]grieved[H2342]; and she sent[H7971]raiment[H899] to clothe[H3847]Mordecai[H4782], and to take away[H5493] his sackcloth[H8242] from him: but he received[H6901] it not.
5
Then called[H7121]Esther[H635] for Hatach[H2047], one of the king's chamberlains[H5631], whom he had appointed[H5975] to attend[H6440] upon her, and gave him a commandment[H6680] to Mordecai[H4782], to know[H3045] what it was, and why it was.
6
So Hatach[H2047] went forth[H3318] to Mordecai[H4782] unto the street[H7339] of the city[H5892], which was before[H6440] the king's gate[H8179].
7
And Mordecai[H4782]told[H5046] him of all that had happened[H7136] unto him, and of the sum[H6575] of the money[H3701] that Haman[H2001] had promised[H559] to pay[H8254] to the king's treasuries[H1595] for the Jews[H3064], to destroy[H6] them.
8
Also he gave[H5414] him the copy[H6572] of the writing[H3791] of the decree[H1881] that was given[H5414] at Shushan[H7800] to destroy[H8045] them, to shew[H7200] it unto Esther[H635], and to declare[H5046] it unto her, and to charge[H6680] her that she should go in[H935] unto the king[H4428], to make supplication[H2603] unto him, and to make request[H1245]before[H6440] him for her people[H5971].
9
And Hatach[H2047]came[H935] and told[H5046]Esther[H635] the words[H1697] of Mordecai[H4782].
10
Again Esther[H635]spake[H559] unto Hatach[H2047], and gave him commandment[H6680] unto Mordecai[H4782];
11
All the king[H4428]'s servants[H5650], and the people[H5971] of the king[H4428]'s provinces[H4082], do know[H3045], that whosoever, whether man[H376] or woman[H802], shall come[H935] unto the king[H4428] into the inner[H6442]court[H2691], who is not called[H7121], there is one[H259]law[H1881] of his to put him to death[H4191], except[H905] such to whom the king[H4428] shall hold out[H3447] the golden[H2091]sceptre[H8275], that he may live[H2421]: but I have not been called[H7121] to come[H935]in[H935] unto the king[H4428] these thirty[H7970]days[H3117].
12
And they told[H5046] to Mordecai[H4782] Esther's words[H1697].
13
Then Mordecai[H4782]commanded[H559] to answer[H7725]Esther[H635], Think[H1819] not with thyself[H5315] that thou shalt escape[H4422] in the king's house[H1004], more than all the Jews[H3064].
14
For if thou altogether[H2790] holdest thy peace[H2790] at this time[H6256], then shall there enlargement[H7305] and deliverance[H2020]arise[H5975] to the Jews[H3064] from another[H312]place[H4725]; but thou and thy father's house[H1004] shall be destroyed[H6]: and who knoweth[H3045] whether thou art come[H5060] to the kingdom[H4438] for such a time[H6256] as this?
15
Then Esther[H635]bade[H559] them return[H7725]Mordecai[H4782] this answer,
16Go[H3212], gather together[H3664] all the Jews[H3064] that are present[H4672] in Shushan[H7800], and fast[H6684] ye for me, and neither eat[H398] nor drink[H8354]three[H7969]days[H3117], night[H3915] or day[H3117]: I also and my maidens[H5291] will fast[H6684] likewise; and so[H3651] will I go[H935] in unto the king[H4428], which is not according to the law[H1881]: and if I perish[H6], I perish[H6].
17
So Mordecai[H4782] went his way[H5674], and did[H6213] according to all that Esther[H635] had commanded[H6680] him.