Esther 4
1 Quae cum audisset Mardochaeus, scidit vestimenta sua, et indutus est sacco, spargens cinerem capiti: et in platea mediae civitatis voce magna clamabat, ostendens amaritudinem animi sui,
And Mordecai has known all that has been done, and Mordecai tears his garments, and puts on sackcloth and ashes, and goes forth into the midst of the city and cries—a cry loud and bitter,
2 et hoc eiulatu usque ad fores palatii gradiens. Non enim erat licitum indutum sacco aulam regis intrare.
and he comes to the front of the gate of the king, but none is to come to the gate of the king with a sackcloth-garment.
3 In omnibus quoque provinciis, oppidis, ac locis, ad quae crudele regis dogma pervenerat, planctus ingens erat apud Iudaeos, ieiunium, ululatus, et fletus, sacco et cinere multis pro strato utentibus.
And in each and every province, the place where the word of the king, even his law, is coming, the Jews have a great mourning, and fasting, and weeping, and lamenting: sackcloth and ashes are spread for many.
4 Ingressae autem sunt puellae Esther et eunuchi, nunciaveruntque ei. Quod audiens consternata est: et vestem misit, ut ablato sacco indueret eam: quam accipere noluit.
And young women of Esther come in and her eunuchs, and declare [it] to her, and the queen is exceedingly pained, and sends garments to clothe Mordecai, and to turn aside his sackcloth from off him, and he has not received [them].
5 Accitoque Athach eunucho, quem rex ministrum ei dederat, praecepit ei ut iret ad Mardochaeum, et disceret ab eo cur hoc faceret.
And Esther calls to Hatach, of the eunuchs of the king, whom he has stationed before her, and gives him a charge for Mordecai, to know what this [is], and why this [is].
6 Egressusque Athach, ivit ad Mardochaeum stantem in platea civitatis, ante ostium palatii:
And Hatach goes out to Mordecai, to a broad place of the city, that [is] before the gate of the king,
7 qui indicavit ei omnia, quae acciderant, quo modo Aman promisisset, ut in thesauros regis pro Iudaeorum nece inferret argentum.
and Mordecai declares to him all that has met him, and the explanation of the money that Haman said to weigh to the treasuries of the king for the Jews, to destroy them,
8 exemplar quoque edicti, quod pendebat in Susan, dedit ei, ut reginae ostenderet, et moneret eam, ut intraret ad regem, et deprecaretur eum pro populo suo.
and the copy of the writing of the law that had been given in Shushan to destroy them he has given to him, to show Esther, and to declare [it] to her, and to lay a charge on her to go in to the king, to make supplication to him, and to seek from before him, for her people.
9 Regressus Athach, nunciavit Esther omnia, quae Mardochaeus dixerat.
And Hatach comes in and declares to Esther the words of Mordecai,
10 Quae respondit ei, et iussit ut diceret Mardochaeo:
and Esther speaks to Hatach, and charges him for Mordecai:
11 Omnes servi regis, et cunctae, quae sub ditione eius sunt, norunt provinciae, quod sive vir, sive mulier non vocatus, interius atrium regis intraverit, absque ulla cunctatione statim interficiatur: nisi forte rex auream virgam ad eum tetenderit pro signo clementiae, atque ita possit vivere. Ego igitur quo modo ad regem intrare potero, quae triginta iam diebus non sum vocata ad eum?
“All servants of the king, and people of the provinces of the king, know that any man and woman who comes to the king, into the inner court, who is not called—one law of his [is] to put [them] to death, apart from him to whom the king holds out the golden scepter, then he has lived; and I have not been called to come in to the king these thirty days.”
12 Quod cum audisset Mardochaeus,
And they declare to Mordecai the words of Esther,
13 rursum mandavit Esther, dicens: Ne putes quod animam tuam tantum liberes, quia in domo regis es prae cunctis Iudaeis:
and Mordecai commands to send back to Esther: “Do not think in your soul to be delivered [in] the house of the king, more than all the Jews,
14 si enim nunc silueris, per aliam occasionem liberabuntur Iudaei: et tu, et domus patris tui peribitis. Et quis novit utrum idcirco ad regnum veneris, ut in tali tempore parareris?
but if you keep entirely silent at this time, respite and deliverance remains to the Jews from another place, and you and the house of your fathers are destroyed; and who knows whether for a time like this you have come to the kingdom?”
15 Rursumque Esther haec Mardochaeo verba mandavit:
And Esther commands to send back to Mordecai:
16 Vade et congrega omnes Iudaeos, quos in Susan repereris, et orate pro me. Non comedatis, et non bibatis tribus diebus, et tribus noctibus: et ego cum ancillis meis similiter ieiunabo, et tunc ingrediar ad regem contra legem faciens, non vocata, tradensque me morti et periculo.
“Go, gather all the Jews who are found in Shushan, and fast for me, and do not eat nor drink three days, by night and by day; also I and my young women fast likewise, and so I go in to the king, that [is] not according to law, and when I have perished—I have perished.”
17 Ivit itaque Mardochaeus, et fecit omnia, quae ei Esther praeceperat.
And Mordecai passes on, and does according to all that Esther has charged on him.
