Esther · Chapter 4

Esther 4:12

¹When 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;²And came even before the king’s gate: for none might enter into the king’s gate clothed with sackcloth.³And 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.⁴So 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.⁵Then 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.⁶So Hatach went forth to Mordecai unto the street of the city, which was before the king’s gate.⁷And 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.⁸Also 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.⁹And Hatach came and told Esther the words of Mordecai.¹⁰Again Esther spake unto Hatach, and gave him commandment unto Mordecai;¹¹All the king’s servants, and the people of the king’s provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or woman, 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.¹²And they told to Mordecai Esther’s words.¹³Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king’s house, more than all the Jews.¹⁴For 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?¹⁵Then Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer,¹⁶Go, 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.¹⁷So Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that Esther had commanded him.

King James Version (1769)

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Original language
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Other translations

Verse	KJV	BSB	ASV
12	And they told to Mordecai Esther’s words.	When Esther’s words were relayed to Mordecai,	And they told to Mordecai Esther’s words.

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Original language

Original Hebrew words

English	Hebrew	Say it	Strong's	Meaning
and they told	וַיַּגִּ֣ידוּ	vai-ya-GI-du	H5046	to tell נָגַד (na.gad) 1) to be conspicuous, tell, make known 1a) (Hiphil) to tell, declare 1a1) to tell, announce, report 1a2) to declare, make known, expound 1a3) to inform of 1a4) to publish, declare, proclaim 1a5) to avow, acknowledge, confess 1a5a) messenger (participle) 1b) (Hophal) to be told, be announced, be reported
to Mordecai	לְמָרְדֳּכָ֔י	le-ma-re-do-KHAI	H4782H	Mordecai מׇרְדֳּכַי (mor.de.khay) A man living at the time of Exile and Return, first mentioned at Est.2.5; son of: Jair (H2971J) § Mordecai = "little man" or "worshipper of Mars" 1) cousin and adoptive father of queen Esther; son of Jair of the tribe of Benjamin; deliverer under Divine providence of the children of Israel from the destruction plotted by Haman the chief minister of Ahasuerus; institutor of the feast of Purim 2) a Jew who returned from exile with Zerubbabel
[the] words of	דִּבְרֵ֥י	div-REI	H1697H	word דָּבָר (da.var) : word/speech/command 1) speech, word, speaking, thing 1a) speech 1b) saying, utterance 1c) word, words 1d) business, occupation, acts, matter, case, something, manner (by extension)
Esther	אֶסְתֵּֽר׃ פ	'es-TER	H0635	Esther אֶסְתֵּר (es.ter) A woman living at the time of Exile and Return, first mentioned at Est.2.7; daughter of: Abihail (H0032K); also called Hadassah at Est.2.7; Also named: ha.das.sah (הֲדַסָּה "Hadassah" H1919) § Esther = "star" the queen of Persia, heroine of the book of Esther-daughter of Abihail, cousin and adopted daughter of Mordecai, of the tribe of Benjamin, made queen by king Ahasuerus to replace divorced queen, Vashti.

Words and meanings from STEPBible data (Tyndale House, Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). The capitalized syllable is the stressed one.