When Esther\u2019s maids and her eunuchs came and told her, the queen was deeply distressed; she sent garments to clothe Mor\u2032decai, so that he might take off his sackcloth, but he would not accept them. Then Esther called for Hathach, one of the king\u2019s eunuchs, who had been appointed to attend her, and ordered him to go to Mor\u2032decai to learn what this was and why it was. Hathach went out to Mor\u2032decai in the open square of the city in front of the king\u2019s gate, and Mor\u2032decai told him all that had happened to him, and the exact sum of money that Haman had promised to pay into the king\u2019s treasuries for the destruction of the Jews. Mor\u2032decai also gave him a copy of the written decree issued in Susa for their destruction, that he might show it to Esther and explain it to her and charge her to go to the king to make supplication to him and entreat him for her people. And Hathach went and told Esther what Mor\u2032decai had said. Then Esther spoke to Hathach and gave him a message for Mor\u2032decai, saying, \u201cAll the king\u2019s servants and the people of the king\u2019s provinces know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law; all alike are to be put to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter that he may live. And I have not been called to come in to the king these thirty days.\u201d And they told Mor\u2032decai what Esther had said. Then Mor\u2032decai told them to return answer to Esther, \u201cThink not that in the king\u2019s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silence at such a time as this, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another quarter, but you and your father\u2019s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?\u201d Then Esther told them to reply to Mor\u2032decai, \u201cGo, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law; and if I perish, I perish.\u201d Mor\u2032decai then went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
–Esther 4:4-17<\/p>
Purple skies sunrise through the trees at Armadale, Isle of Skye #Scotland<\/a> 🏴🏴 @ThePhotoHour<\/a> @StormHour<\/a> @VisitScotland<\/a> @BBCHighlands<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/neQrlS161J<\/a><\/p>— James MacInnes (@Macinnesplant) September 21, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote>