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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /><title>Esther 4 NLT</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></head> <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-LR4HSKRP2H"></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-LR4HSKRP2H'); </script><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/esther/4.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/esther/4-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">NLT</a> > Esther 4</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../esther/3.htm" title="Esther 3">◄</a> Esther 4 <a href="../esther/5.htm" title="Esther 5">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top">New Living Translation</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/nlt/esv/esther/4.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></td></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><p class="hdg">Mordecai Requests Esther’s Help</p><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/esther/4-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>When Mordecai learned about all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on burlap and ashes, and went out into the city, crying with a loud and bitter wail. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/esther/4-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>He went as far as the gate of the palace, for no one was allowed to enter the palace gate while wearing clothes of mourning. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/esther/4-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>And as news of the king’s decree reached all the provinces, there was great mourning among the Jews. They fasted, wept, and wailed, and many people lay in burlap and ashes.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/esther/4-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>When Queen Esther’s maids and eunuchs came and told her about Mordecai, she was deeply distressed. She sent clothing to him to replace the burlap, but he refused it. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/esther/4-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>Then Esther sent for Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs who had been appointed as her attendant. She ordered him to go to Mordecai and find out what was troubling him and why he was in mourning. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/esther/4-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>So Hathach went out to Mordecai in the square in front of the palace gate.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/esther/4-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span>Mordecai told him the whole story, including the exact amount of money Haman had promised to pay into the royal treasury for the destruction of the Jews. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/esther/4-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>Mordecai gave Hathach a copy of the decree issued in Susa that called for the death of all Jews. He asked Hathach to show it to Esther and explain the situation to her. He also asked Hathach to direct her to go to the king to beg for mercy and plead for her people. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/esther/4-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>So Hathach returned to Esther with Mordecai’s message.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/esther/4-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>Then Esther told Hathach to go back and relay this message to Mordecai: <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/esther/4-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>“All the king’s officials and even the people in the provinces know that anyone who appears before the king in his inner court without being invited is doomed to die unless the king holds out his gold scepter. And the king has not called for me to come to him for thirty days.” <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/esther/4-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>So Hathach<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">a</span></a> gave Esther’s message to Mordecai.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/esther/4-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>Mordecai sent this reply to Esther: “Don’t think for a moment that because you’re in the palace you will escape when all other Jews are killed. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/esther/4-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?”</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/esther/4-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/esther/4-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span>“Go and gather together all the Jews of Susa and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will do the same. And then, though it is against the law, I will go in to see the king. If I must die, I must die.” <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/esther/4-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span>So Mordecai went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him.</p><A name="footnotes"></a><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"><span class="mainfootnotes"><span class="mainfootnoteshdg">Footnotes:</span><br><span class="fn">a</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">4:12 </span><span class="ft">As in Greek version; Hebrew reads </span><span class="it">they.</span><br></span></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center"><em>Holy Bible</em>, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of <a href="http://www.tyndale.com">Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.</a>, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. 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