Esther 4:16

Go and assemble the Jews that are in Susa, and fast you⌃ for me, and eat not and drink not for three days, night and day: and I also and my maidens will fast; and then I will go in to the king contrary to the law, even if I must die.

LXX2012 (US English)

In The King James Version

Go, 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.

In Context

15And Esther sent the man that came to her to Mardochaeus, saying,

17So Mardochaeus went and did all that Esther commanded him. + 4:17 Note. - The part between brackets, i.e. to the end of chap. iv. is not in the Heb. [And he implored the Lord, making mention of all the works of the Lord; and he said, Lord + 4:17 See 3 Kings 8:53. Note. God, king ruling over all, for all things are in your power, and there is no one that shall oppose you, in your purpose to save Israel. - For you have made the heaven and the earth and every wonderful thing in the world under heaven. And you are Lord of all, and there is no one who shall resist you Lord. You know all things: you know, Lord, that it is not in insolence, nor haughtiness, nor love of glory, that I have done this, to refuse obeisance to the haughty Aman. For I would gladly have kissed the soles of his feet for the safety of Israel. But I have done this, that I might not set the glory of man above the glory of God: and I will not worship any one except you, my Lord, and I will not do these things in haughtiness. And now, O Lord God, the King, the God of Abraam, spare your people, for our enemies are looking upon us to our destruction, and they have desired to destroy your ancient inheritance. Do not overlook your + 4:17 Gr. portion. peculiar people, whom you have redeemed for yourself out of the land of Egypt. Listen to my prayer, and be propitious to your inheritance, and turn our mourning into gladness, that we may live and sing praise to your name, O Lord; and do not utterly destroy the mouth of them that praise you, O Lord. And all Israel cried with all their might, for death was before their eyes. And queen Esther betook herself for refuge to the Lord, being taken as it were in the agony of death. And having taken off her glorious apparel, she put on garments of distress and mourning; and instead of grand perfumes she filled her head with ashes and dung, and she greatly brought down her body, and she filled every place of her glad adorning with the torn curls of her hair. And she implored the Lord God of Israel, and said, O my Lord, you alone are our king: help me who am destitute, and have no helper but you, for my danger is + 4:17 Gr. in my hand. near at hand. I have heard from my birth, in the tribe of my kindred that you, Lord, took Israel out of all the nations, and our fathers out of all their kindred for a perpetual inheritance, and have wrought for them all that you have said. And now we have sinned before you, and you have delivered us into the hands of our enemies, because we honored their gods: you are righteous, O Lord. But now they have not been contented with the bitterness of our slavery, but have laid their hands on the hands of their idols, in order to abolish the decree of your mouth, and utterly to destroy your inheritances, and to stop the mouth of them that praise you, and to extinguish the glory of your house and your altar, and to open the mouth of the Gentiles to speak the + 4:17 Gr. virtues. praises of vanities, and in order that a mortal king should be admired for ever. O Lord, do not resign your sceptre to them that are not, and let them not laugh at our fall, but turn their counsel against themselves, and make an example of him who has + 4:17 Gr. begun against us. begun to injure us. Remember us, O Lord, manifest yourself in the time of our affliction, and encourage me, O King of gods, and ruler of all dominion. Put harmonious speech into my mouth before the lion, and turn his heart to hate him that fights against us, to the utter destruction of him that consent with him. But deliver us by your hand, and help me who am destitute, and have none but the, O Lord. You know all things, and know that I hate the + 4:17 Or, opinion. glory of transgressors, and that I abhor the couch of the uncircumcised, and of every stranger. You know my necessity, for I abhor the symbol of my proud station, which is upon my head in the days of my + 4:17 Gr. vision. q. d. quo die spectanda fui. splendor: I abhor it as a menstruous cloth, and I wear it not in the days of my tranquility. And your handmaid has not eaten at the table of Aman, and I have not honored the banquet of the king, neither have I drunk wine of libations. Neither has your handmaid rejoiced since the day of my promotion until now, except in you, O Lord God of Abraam. O god, who has power over all, listen to the voice of the desperate, and deliver us from the hand of them that devise mischief; and deliver me from my fear.]

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Cross References

Genesis 18:19For I know that he will order his sons, and his house after him, and they will keep the ways of the Lord, to do justice and judgment, that the Lord may bring upon Abraam all things whatever he has spoken to him.

Joshua 24:15But if it seem not good to you to serve the Lord, choose to yourselves this day whom you⌃ will serve, whether the gods of your fathers that were on the other side of the river, or the gods of the Amorites, among whom you⌃ dwell upon their land: but I and my house will serve the Lord, for he is holy.

2 Samuel 10:12Be you courageous, and let us be strong for our people, and for the sake of the cities of our God, and the Lord shall do that which is good in his eyes.

2 Chronicles 20:3And Josaphat was alarmed, and set his face to seek the Lord earnestly, and he proclaimed a fast in all Juda.

Esther 5:1+ 5:1 From the first verse to the third, the Gr. widely differs from the Heb. And it came to pass on the third day, when she had ceased praying, that she put off her mean dress, and put on her glorious apparel. And being splendidly arrayed, and having called upon God the Overseer and Preserver of all things, she took her two maids, and she leaned upon one, as a delicate female, and the other followed bearing her train. And she was blooming in the perfection of her beauty; and her face was cheerful, and it were benevolent, but her heart was straitened for fear. And having passed through all the doors, she stood before the king: and he was sitting upon his royal throne, and he had put on all his glorious apparel, covered all over with gold and precious stones, and was very terrible. And having raised his face resplendent with glory, he looked with intense anger: and the queen fell, and changed her color as she fainted; and she bowed herself upon the head of the maid that went before her. But God changed the spirit of the king to gentleness, and in intense feeling he sprang from off his throne, and took her into his arms, until she recovered: and he comforted her with peaceful words, and said to her, What is the matter, Esther? I am your brother; be of good cheer, you shall not die, for our command is openly declared to you, Draw near.

Isaiah 22:12And the Lord, the Lord of hosts, called in that day for weeping, and lamentation, and + 22:12 Gr. shaving baldness, and for girding with sackcloth:

Matthew Henry on Esther 4:6-17

Mordecai's Application to Esther; Esther Urged to Petition the King; Esther Resolves to Petition the King. ( b. c. 510.) 5 Then 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. 6 So Hatach went forth to Mordecai unto the street of the city, which was before the king's gate. 7 And Mordecai told him of all that had happened unto him, and of the sum of the money that Haman had promised to… Read the whole commentary →

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