Esther 4

When Mordecai perceived all that was done, Mordecai rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and cried with a loud and a bitter cry;

When Mordecai realized what had happened, he was devastated. He tore his clothes in grief, dressed in rough sackcloth and ashes, and went into the city. His cries of sorrow echoed loudly and painfully.

And came even before the king’s gate: for none might enter into the king’s gate clothed with sackcloth.

Approaching the royal entrance, he stopped; for no one, draped in the humble garb of sackcloth, was allowed to pass through the king's gate.

And in every province, whithersoever the king’s commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

Everywhere the king's orders reached, the Jews were heartbroken. They fasted, cried, and mourned deeply. Many wore sackcloth and ashes as symbols of their immense sorrow.

So Esther’s maids and her chamberlains came and told it her. Then was the queen exceedingly grieved; and she sent raiment to clothe Mordecai, and to take away his sackcloth from him: but he received it not.

When Esther's servants shared the news, she was heartbroken. In her deep sorrow, she sent fine clothes to Mordecai, hoping to replace his mourning attire. But he refused to accept them.

Then called Esther for Hatach, one of the king’s chamberlains, whom he had appointed to attend upon her, and gave him a commandment to Mordecai, to know what it was, and why it was.

Esther urgently summoned Hatach, the king's trusted aide assigned to her. She sent him to Mordecai, seeking to understand the situation and its reasons.

So Hatach went forth to Mordecai unto the street of the city, which was before the king’s gate.

Hatach bravely ventured out to meet Mordecai, navigating the city streets that led to the imposing entrance of the king's palace.

And Mordecai told him of all that had happened unto him, and of the sum of the money that Haman had promised to pay to the king’s treasuries for the Jews, to destroy them.

Mordecai shared his heart-wrenching story, revealing the chilling amount of money Haman had pledged to wipe out their people, the Jews, by offering it to the king's coffers.

Also he gave him the copy of the writing of the decree that was given at Shushan to destroy them, to shew it unto Esther, and to declare it unto her, and to charge her that she should go in unto the king, to make supplication unto him, and to make request before him for her people.

He handed him the decree from Shushan, a death sentence for his people, to show Esther. He urged her to understand its gravity, to approach the king, plead with him, and request mercy for her people.

And Hatach came and told Esther the words of Mordecai.

Hatach approached Esther, his heart heavy, and relayed Mordecai's message to her.

Again Esther spake unto Hatach, and gave him commandment unto Mordecai;

Once more, Esther reached out to Hatach, instructing him to relay her message to Mordecai.

All the king’s servants, and the people of the king’s provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or women, shall come unto the king into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law of his to put him to death, except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre, that he may live: but I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days.

Everyone in the kingdom knows that anyone, man or woman, who approaches the king in his private chambers without being summoned, faces death. The only exception is if the king extends his golden scepter, sparing their life. But I haven't been invited to see the king for a month now.

And they told to Mordecai Esther’s words.

Mordecai felt the weight of Esther's words as they were relayed to him.

Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king’s house, more than all the Jews.

Mordecai urged Esther, "Don't fool yourself into believing you're safe in the king's palace while your fellow Jews suffer."

For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?

If you choose to stay silent now, the Jews will still find relief and rescue from somewhere else. But you and your father's family will perish. And who knows? Perhaps you were made a queen for this very moment.

Then Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer,

Esther emotionally urged them to relay this message back to Mordecai.

Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.

Call all the Jews in Shushan to join me in a three-day fast, abstaining from food and drink, day and night. My maids and I will do the same. Afterward, I'll approach the king, even though it's against the law. If I must die for this, then so be it.

So Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that Esther had commanded him.

Mordecai, filled with trust and respect, faithfully followed all of Esther's instructions.