10 In reply Esther ordered Hathach to tell Mordecai:
11 "All the nations of the empire know that there is no deliverance for the man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without an invitation. Only the person to whom the king holds out the gold scepter will be safe. In my case, I haven’t been called to come to the king for the past thirty days."
12 When Hathach told Esther’s words to Mordecai,
13 he responded, "Go and tell Esther, ‘Don’t think for one minute that, unlike all the other Jews, you alone will be safe.
14 If you don’t speak up at this very important time, relief and protection will appear for the Jews from another place, but you and your family will die. Who knows? Maybe it was for a moment like this that you were made queen.’"
15 Esther sent back word to Mordecai:
16 "Go, gather all the Jews who are in Susa and tell them to fast from eating for my sake. They aren’t to eat or drink anything for three whole days, and I myself will do the same, along with my female servants. Then, even though it’s against the law, I will go to the king, even if it means my death."