Esther 4:3

And in all provinces, towns, and places, to which the king's cruel edict was come, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, wailing, and weeping, many using sackcloth and ashes for their bed.

Douay-Rheims 1899

In The King James Version

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.

In Context

2And he came lamenting in this manner even to the gate of the palace: for no one clothed with sackcloth might enter the king's court.

4Then Esther's maids and her eunuchs went in, and told her. And when she heard it she was in a consternation: and she sent a garment, to clothe him, and to take away the sackcloth: but he would not receive it.

Read all of Esther 4

Cross References

1 Samuel 4:13And when he was come, Heli sat upon a stool over against the way watching. For his heart was fearful for the ark of God. And when the man was come into the city, he told it: and all the city cried out.

Esther 1:1In the days of Assuerus, who reigned from India to Ethiopia over a hundred and twenty-seven provinces:

Esther 4:16Go, and gather together all the Jews whom thou shalt find in Susan, and pray ye for me. Neither eat nor drink for three days and three nights: and I with my handmaids will fast in like manner, and then I will go in to the king, against the law, not being called, and expose myself to death and to danger.

Job 2:8And he took a potsherd and scraped the corrupt matter, sitting on a dunghill.

Isaiah 22:12And the Lord, the God of hosts, in that day shall call to weeping, and to mourning, to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth:

Isaiah 58:5Is this such a fast as I have chosen: for a man to afflict his soul for a day? is this it, to wind his head about like a circle, and to spread sackcloth and ashes? wilt thou call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the Lord?

Matthew Henry on Esther 4:2-5

Great Mourning among the Jews. ( b. c. 510.) 1 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; 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 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… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study Esther 4:3