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4
More-dek-eye (Mordecai) asked Esther to help her people
1 When More-dek-eye found out what was going to happen to all the Jews, he did what Jewish people did when they were really upset. He ripped his clothes and then put on rubbish clothes made from old sacks. He put ashes from a fire all over his face and he walked around the town and cried out loudly just like people cry when a relation dies. 2 When More-dek-eye got near to the gates of the king's big house, the palace, he stopped. No-one was allowed to go inside the palace yard if they were wearing rubbish clothes.
3 When all the Jewish people in every part of the country found out about the law that the king had sent out, they got really upset too. They stopped eating and they cried out loud just like they did when a relation died. A lot of them were so sad that they put ashes all over themselves and lay down on their beds in rubbish clothes.
4 When Esther's young women and her other workers told her that More-dek-eye was walking around the town in rubbish clothes and crying all the time, she got very upset too. She found some good clothes and sent a worker to give them to More-dek-eye, but More-dek-eye would not take them. 5 So Esther asked Hat-hack, one of the special workers that the king had given her, to go and find out why her cousin More-dek-eye was so upset. 6 Hat-hack found More-dek-eye in the meeting place near the gates to the king's palace, and he asked him what was going on. 7 More-dek-eye told Hat-hack about everything that had happened to him and how much money Haman promised to pay the king to have the Jewish people killed. 8 Then More-dek-eye gave Hat-hack one of the papers that came from the king in Susa. On that paper was the news that every Jewish person had to be killed.
More-dek-eye said to Hat-hack, “I want you to take this paper and show it to Esther so that she knows that all her Jewish people are going to be killed. She has to go and talk to the king and ask him to be kind to her. She must ask him to stop her people from being killed.”
9 Hat-hack went back to Esther. He showed her the paper and told her everything More-dek-eye said.
10 Then Esther gave Hat-hack this message for More-dek-eye. 11 She said, “All the king's workers in the palace and people everywhere know that it is against the law for anyone to walk into the king's room whenever they want to. The law says that if a man or a woman does that, they have to die. The only way for that person to stay alive is for the king to point at that person with his golden stick. A person can only see the king if he sends someone to get them. And he has not sent anyone to get me for 30 days. I am frightened to do what you are asking me to do.”
12 Hat-hack took the message to More-dek-eye, 13 and More-dek-eye sent back this message. “Esther, you live in the king's palace, but don't think that you will be safe when all the rest of the Jewish people are killed. 14 If you stay quiet and if you do not talk to the king, somebody else will come and save the Jewish people. But I tell you this, you, and all your close family will die. Who knows, might be you were picked to be the queen at this time so that you can save your people.”
15 When Esther got More-dek-eye's message, she sent this message back to him, 16 “Go and get all the Jewish people in Susa to meet together in one place so that you can all pray for me. I want all of you to stop eating and drinking for 3 days and nights. I will do the same and so will all the women that work for me. At the end of the 3 days I will go and talk to the king. I know that it is against the law and that I might die, but I am ready to die for my people.”
17 So when More-dek-eye got Esther's message, he went and told all the Jewish people in Susa what Esther wanted them to do.

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