Ἐσθήρ 4
1 ὁ δὲ Μαρδοχαῖος ἐπιγνοὺς τὸ συντελούμενον διέρρηξεν τὰ ἱμάτια αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐνεδύσατο σάκκον καὶ κατεπάσατο σποδὸν καὶ ἐκπηδήσας διὰ τῆς πλατείας τῆς πόλεως ἐβόα φωνῇ μεγάλῃ αἴρεται ἔθνος μηδὲν ἠδικηκός
Now when Mordecai found out all that was done, Mordecai tore his clothes and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the middle of the city, and wailed loudly and bitterly.
2 καὶ ἦλθεν ἕως τῆς πύλης τοῦ βασιλέως καὶ ἔστη οὐ γὰρ ἦν ἐξὸν αὐτῷ εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν αὐλὴν σάκκον ἔχοντι καὶ σποδόν
He came even before the king’s gate, for no one is allowed inside the king’s gate clothed with sackcloth.
3 καὶ ἐν πάσῃ χώρᾳ οὗ ἐξετίθετο τὰ γράμματα κραυγὴ καὶ κοπετὸς καὶ πένθος μέγα τοῖς Ιουδαίοις σάκκον καὶ σποδὸν ἔστρωσαν ἑαυτοῖς
In every province, wherever the king’s commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning amongst the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.
4 καὶ εἰσῆλθον αἱ ἅβραι καὶ οἱ εὐνοῦχοι τῆς βασιλίσσης καὶ ἀνήγγειλαν αὐτῇ καὶ ἐταράχθη ἀκούσασα τὸ γεγονὸς καὶ ἀπέστειλεν στολίσαι τὸν Μαρδοχαῖον καὶ ἀφελέσθαι αὐτοῦ τὸν σάκκον ὁ δὲ οὐκ ἐπείσθη
Esther’s maidens and her eunuchs came and told her this, and the queen was exceedingly grieved. She sent clothing to Mordecai, to replace his sackcloth, but he didn’t receive it.
5 ἡ δὲ Εσθηρ προσεκαλέσατο Αχραθαῖον τὸν εὐνοῦχον αὐτῆς ὃς παρειστήκει αὐτῇ καὶ ἀπέστειλεν μαθεῖν αὐτῇ παρὰ τοῦ Μαρδοχαίου τὸ ἀκριβές
Then Esther called for Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs, whom he had appointed to attend her, and commanded him to go to Mordecai, to find out what this was, and why it was.
So Hathach went out to Mordecai, to the city square which was before the king’s gate.
7 ὁ δὲ Μαρδοχαῖος ὑπέδειξεν αὐτῷ τὸ γεγονὸς καὶ τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν ἣν ἐπηγγείλατο Αμαν τῷ βασιλεῖ εἰς τὴν γάζαν ταλάντων μυρίων ἵνα ἀπολέσῃ τοὺς Ιουδαίους
Mordecai told him of all that had happened to him, and the exact sum of the money that Haman had promised to pay to the king’s treasuries for the destruction of the Jews.
8 καὶ τὸ ἀντίγραφον τὸ ἐν Σούσοις ἐκτεθὲν ὑπὲρ τοῦ ἀπολέσθαι αὐτοὺς ἔδωκεν αὐτῷ δεῖξαι τῇ Εσθηρ καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ ἐντείλασθαι αὐτῇ εἰσελθούσῃ παραιτήσασθαι τὸν βασιλέα καὶ ἀξιῶσαι αὐτὸν περὶ τοῦ λαοῦ μνησθεῖσα ἡμερῶν ταπεινώσεώς σου ὡς ἐτράφης ἐν χειρί μου διότι Αμαν ὁ δευτερεύων τῷ βασιλεῖ ἐλάλησεν καθ’ ἡμῶν εἰς θάνατον ἐπικάλεσαι τὸν κύριον καὶ λάλησον τῷ βασιλεῖ περὶ ἡμῶν καὶ ῥῦσαι ἡμᾶς ἐκ θανάτου
He also gave him the copy of the writing of the decree that was given out in Susa to destroy them, to show it to Esther, and to declare it to her, and to urge her to go in to the king to make supplication to him, and to make request before him for her people.
9 εἰσελθὼν δὲ ὁ Αχραθαῖος ἐλάλησεν αὐτῇ πάντας τοὺς λόγους τούτους
Hathach came and told Esther the words of Mordecai.
10 εἶπεν δὲ Εσθηρ πρὸς Αχραθαῖον πορεύθητι πρὸς Μαρδοχαῖον καὶ εἰπὸν ὅτι
Then Esther spoke to Hathach, and gave him a message to Mordecai:
11 τὰ ἔθνη πάντα τῆς βασιλείας γινώσκει ὅτι πᾶς ἄνθρωπος ἢ γυνή ὃς εἰσελεύσεται πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα εἰς τὴν αὐλὴν τὴν ἐσωτέραν ἄκλητος οὐκ ἔστιν αὐτῷ σωτηρία πλὴν ᾧ ἐκτείνει ὁ βασιλεὺς τὴν χρυσῆν ῥάβδον οὗτος σωθήσεται κἀγὼ οὐ κέκλημαι εἰσελθεῖν πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα εἰσὶν αὗται ἡμέραι τριάκοντα
“All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that whoever, whether man or woman, comes to the king into the inner court without being called, there is one law for him, that he be put to death, except those to whom the king might hold out the golden sceptre, that he may live. I have not been called to come in to the king these thirty days.”
12 καὶ ἀπήγγειλεν Αχραθαῖος Μαρδοχαίῳ πάντας τοὺς λόγους Εσθηρ
They told Esther’s words to Mordecai.
13 καὶ εἶπεν Μαρδοχαῖος πρὸς Αχραθαῖον πορεύθητι καὶ εἰπὸν αὐτῇ Εσθηρ μὴ εἴπῃς σεαυτῇ ὅτι σωθήσῃ μόνη ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ παρὰ πάντας τοὺς Ιουδαίους
Then Mordecai asked them to return this answer to Esther: “Don’t think to yourself that you will escape in the king’s house any more than all the Jews.
14 ὡς ὅτι ἐὰν παρακούσῃς ἐν τούτῳ τῷ καιρῷ ἄλλοθεν βοήθεια καὶ σκέπη ἔσται τοῖς Ιουδαίοις σὺ δὲ καὶ ὁ οἶκος τοῦ πατρός σου ἀπολεῖσθε καὶ τίς οἶδεν εἰ εἰς τὸν καιρὸν τοῦτον ἐβασίλευσας
For if you remain silent now, then relief and deliverance will come to the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Who knows if you haven’t come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
15 καὶ ἐξαπέστειλεν Εσθηρ τὸν ἥκοντα πρὸς αὐτὴν πρὸς Μαρδοχαῖον λέγουσα
Then Esther asked them to answer Mordecai,
16 βαδίσας ἐκκλησίασον τοὺς Ιουδαίους τοὺς ἐν Σούσοις καὶ νηστεύσατε ἐπ’ ἐμοὶ καὶ μὴ φάγητε μηδὲ πίητε ἐπὶ ἡμέρας τρεῖς νύκτα καὶ ἡμέραν κἀγὼ δὲ καὶ αἱ ἅβραι μου ἀσιτήσομεν καὶ τότε εἰσελεύσομαι πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα παρὰ τὸν νόμον ἐὰν καὶ ἀπολέσθαι με ᾖ
“Go, gather together all the Jews who are present in Susa, and fast for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day. I and my maidens will also fast the same way. Then I will go in to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish.”
17 καὶ βαδίσας Μαρδοχαῖος ἐποίησεν ὅσα ἐνετείλατο αὐτῷ Εσθηρ
So Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that Esther had commanded him.
