Esther Chapter 4 in Simple English

Updated on October 1, 2026

Read Esther Chapter 4

1When Mordecai learned all that had been done, he tore his clothes. He put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the middle of the city, crying out loudly and bitterly.

2He came as far as the king's gate, for no one might enter the king's gate dressed in sackcloth.

3In every province, wherever the king's command and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and wailing. Many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

4So Esther's maids and her servants came and told her. Then the queen was deeply distressed. She sent clothes for Mordecai to wear, so that he would take off his sackcloth, but he would not accept them.

5Then Esther called for Hatach, one of the king's servants, whom the king had appointed to wait on her. She ordered him to go to Mordecai to find out what this was and why it was.

6So Hatach went out to Mordecai, to the city square in front of the king's gate.

7Mordecai told him everything that had happened to him. He told him the exact amount of money that Haman had promised to pay into the king's treasuries for the destruction of the Jews.

8He also gave him a copy of the written decree that had been given out in Shushan to destroy them. He was to show it to Esther, and explain it to her, and tell her to go in to the king to beg him for mercy and to plead with him for her people.

9Hatach came and told Esther what Mordecai had said.

10Then Esther spoke to Hatach again, and gave him this message for Mordecai:

11"All the king's servants and the people of the king's provinces know this: if any man or woman goes in to the king in the inner court without being called, there is one law for them, that they be put to death. Only the one to whom the king holds out the golden sceptre may live. And I have not been called to come in to the king for thirty days now."

12So they told Mordecai what Esther had said.

13Then Mordecai told them to give Esther this answer: "Do not imagine that because you are in the king's house you alone of all the Jews will escape."

14"For if you say nothing at all at this time, then help and rescue will come to the Jews from another place, but you and your father's family will be destroyed. And who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for a time like this?"

15Then Esther told them to take Mordecai this answer:

16"Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Shushan, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will fast in the same way. Then I will go in to the king, though it is against the law. And if I die, I die."

17So Mordecai went away and did everything Esther had commanded him.

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Explanation

Esther 4

In short

When Mordecai learns of the decree ordering the death of all Jews, he mourns publicly in sackcloth and ash. Through messengers, he urges his cousin Esther, the queen, to risk her life by going to the king without permission to ask for her people's safety. Esther agrees to try, but first asks the Jews to fast with her for three days.

Context

This chapter comes after the official decree condemning all Jews to death has been announced throughout the Persian kingdom. Mordecai, a Jewish official in the capital, discovers the plot. Esther, who is both Jewish and the king's wife, does not yet know about the decree. Mordecai needs to warn her and ask her to use her position to save their people, but approaching the king without being called can mean death.

What the text says

Mordecai tears his clothes and dresses in sackcloth with ashes, crying loudly in the city (verse 1). He goes to the king's gate, but cannot enter while wearing mourning clothes (verse 2). Throughout the kingdom, Jews mourn, fast, and weep when they learn of the decree (verse 3). Esther's servants tell her about Mordecai, and she is deeply troubled. She sends him clothes, but he refuses them (verse 4). Esther sends a messenger, Hatach, to find out what troubles Mordecai (verses 5-6). Mordecai tells Hatach everything, including how much money Haman promised to the king to destroy the Jews. He gives Hatach a copy of the death decree and tells him to urge Esther to go to the king and beg for her people (verses 7-8). Esther tells Hatach she cannot go to the king without being called, as the penalty is death unless the king holds out his golden sceptre to spare her. She has not been summoned for thirty days (verses 10-11). Mordecai responds that Esther will not escape death simply by being in the palace if all Jews are killed. He declares that deliverance will come from elsewhere, but if she stays silent, she and her family will be destroyed (verses 13-14). He asks, "who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this" (verse 14). Esther then agrees: she asks the Jews to fast for her three days without eating or drinking, and she and her maids will do the same. Then she will approach the king, saying "if I perish, I perish" (verse 16).

Takeaways

Mordecai believes Esther's position as queen means she has a responsibility to her people, even at personal risk.
Esther moves from fear of the law to willingness to die for her people's survival.
The fasting is presented as a serious spiritual act that precedes Esther's dangerous approach to the king.

Esther 4 - Simple English