(KJV) Esther 4¹

⥃Mordecai Appeals to Esther

[1] When Mordecai perceived all that² was done, Mordecai rent³ his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes⁴, and went out into the midst of the city, and cried⁵ with a loud and a bitter cry; [2] And came even before the king’s gate: for none [might] enter into the king’s gate clothed with sackcloth. [3] And in every province⁶, whithersoever the king’s commandment and his decree came, [there was] great mourning⁷ among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping⁸, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes⁹.

[4] [¶]So Esther’s maids and her chamberlains¹⁰ 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] not¹¹. [5] Then called Esther for Hatach, [one] of the king’s chamberlains, whom he had appointed to attend upon her¹², and gave him a commandment to Mordecai, to know¹³ what it [was], and why it [was]. [6] So Hatach went forth to Mordecai unto the street of the city, which [was] before the king’s¹⁴ gate. [7] And Mordecai told him of all that had¹⁵ 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. [8] Also he gave him the copy¹⁶ 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 charge¹⁷ her that she should go in unto the king, to make supplication¹⁸ unto him, and to make request¹⁹ before him for her people. [9] And Hatach came and told Esther the words of Mordecai.

[10] [¶]Again Esther spake unto Hatach, and gave him commandment unto Mordecai; [11] All the king’s servants, and the people of the king’s provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come²⁰ unto the king into the inner court²¹, who is not called, [there is] one law²² of his to put [him] to death, except such to whom the king shall²³ hold out the golden sceptre²⁴, that he may live: but I²⁵ have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days. [12] And they told to Mordecai Esther’s words. [13] Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not²⁶ with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king’s house, more than all the Jews. [14] For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, [then] shall²⁷ there enlargement²⁸ and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou²⁹ and thy father’s house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether³⁰ thou art come to the kingdom for [such] a time³¹ as this?

[15] [¶]Then Esther bade [them] return Mordecai [this answer], [16] Go, gather together all the Jews that are present³² in Shushan, and fast³³ ye for me, and neither eat nor drink³⁴ three days, night or day: I also³⁵ 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 perish³⁶, I perish. [17] So Mordecai went³⁷ his way, and did according to all that Esther had commanded him.