Day 574 of 939
EST 4
EST 4 · PSA 101:1-102:6
Not written yet
The reading for this day is below. The commentary has not been written and reviewed yet — it is added a book at a time, and every day is read by a person before it appears here.
EST 4
1When Mordecai learned of all that had happened, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the middle of the city, wailing loudly and bitterly. 2But he went only as far as the king’s gate, because the law prohibited anyone wearing sackcloth from entering that gate. 3In every province to which the king’s command and edict came, there was great mourning among the Jews. They fasted, wept, and lamented, and many lay in sackcloth and ashes. 4When Esther’s maidens and eunuchs came and told her about Mordecai, the queen was overcome with distress. She sent clothes for Mordecai to wear instead of his sackcloth, but he would not accept them. 5Then Esther summoned Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs appointed to her, and she dispatched him to Mordecai to learn what was troubling him and why. 6So Hathach went out to Mordecai in the city square in front of the king’s gate, 7and Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, including the exact amount of money that Haman had promised to pay into the royal treasury in order to destroy the Jews. 8Mordecai also gave Hathach a copy of the written decree issued in Susa for the destruction of the Jews, to show and explain to Esther, urging her to approach the king, implore his favor, and plead before him for her people. 9So Hathach went back and relayed Mordecai’s response to Esther. 10Then Esther spoke to Hathach and instructed him to tell Mordecai, 11“All the royal officials and the people of the king’s provinces know that one law applies to every man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned—that he be put to death. Only if the king extends the gold scepter may that person live. But I have not been summoned to appear before the king for the past thirty days.” 12When Esther’s words were relayed to Mordecai, 13he sent back to her this reply: “Do not imagine that because you are in the king’s palace you alone will escape the fate of all the Jews. 14For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows if perhaps you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” 15Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: 16“Go and assemble all the Jews who can be found in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day, and I and my maidens will fast as you do. After that, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish! ” 17So Mordecai went and did all that Esther had instructed him.
Secondary reading — PSA 101:1-102:6
1I will sing of Your loving devotion and justice; to You, O LORD, I will sing praises. 2I will ponder the way that is blameless— when will You come to me? I will walk in my house with integrity of heart. 3I will set no worthless thing before my eyes. I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me. 4A perverse heart shall depart from me; I will know nothing of evil. 5Whoever slanders his neighbor in secret, I will put to silence; the one with haughty eyes and a proud heart, I will not endure. 6My eyes favor the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me; he who walks in the way of integrity shall minister to me. 7No one who practices deceit shall dwell in my house; no one who tells lies shall stand in my presence. 8Every morning I will remove all the wicked of the land, that I may cut off every evildoer from the city of the LORD. 1Hear my prayer, O LORD; let my cry for help come before You. 2Do not hide Your face from me in my day of distress. Incline Your ear to me; answer me quickly when I call. 3For my days vanish like smoke, and my bones burn like glowing embers. 4My heart is afflicted, and withered like grass; I even forget to eat my bread. 5Through my loud groaning my skin hangs on my bones. 6I am like a desert owl, like an owl among the ruins.