Esther 4:1-3

Lexham English Bible

Mordecai Tells Esther of Haman’s Plot

4 Mordecai learned all that had been done and he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes. And he went through the middle of the city and cried out a loud and bitter cry; ² he went up to the entrance of the gate of the king, for he could not go to the gate of the king in sackcloth. ³ In every province each place where the king’s edict and his law came, there was great mourning for the Jews with fasting, crying, wailing, and sackcloth; and ashes were spread out as a bed for them.