Esther 4:3

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

Throughout each and every province where the king’s edict and law were announced there was considerable mourning among the Jews, along with fasting, weeping, and sorrow. Sackcloth and ashes were characteristic of many.

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Referenced Verses

  • Isa 58:5 : 5 Is this really the kind of fasting I want? Do I want a day when people merely humble themselves, bowing their heads like a reed and stretching out on sackcloth and ashes? Is this really what you call a fast, a day that is pleasing to the LORD?
  • Dan 9:3 : 3 So I turned my attention to the Lord God to implore him by prayer and requests, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
  • Isa 22:4 : 4 So I say:“Don’t look at me! I am weeping bitterly. Don’t try to console me concerning the destruction of my defenseless people.”
  • Isa 22:12 : 12 At that time the Sovereign LORD of Heaven’s Armies, called for weeping and mourning, for shaved heads and sackcloth.
  • Isa 37:1-3 : 1 When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and went to the LORD’s temple. 2 Eliakim the palace supervisor, Shebna the scribe, and the leading priests, clothed in sackcloth, sent this message to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz: 3 “This is what Hezekiah says:‘This is a day of distress, insults, and humiliation, as when a baby is ready to leave the birth canal, but the mother lacks the strength to push it through.
  • Matt 13:42 : 42 They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
  • Matt 22:13 : 13 Then the king said to his attendants,‘Tie him up hand and foot and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!’
  • Matt 25:30 : 30 And throw that worthless slave into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
  • 1 Sam 4:13-14 : 13 When he arrived in Shiloh, Eli was sitting in his chair on the lookout by the side of the road, for he was very worried about the ark of God. As the man entered the city to give his report, the whole city cried out. 14 When Eli heard the outcry, he said,“What is this commotion?” The man quickly came and told Eli.
  • 1 Sam 11:4 : 4 When the messengers went to Gibeah(where Saul lived) and informed the people of these matters, all the people wept loudly.
  • Esth 1:1 : 1 ¶ The King Throws a Lavish Party The following events happened in the days of Ahasuerus.(I am referring to that Ahasuerus who used to rule over a hundred and twenty-seven provinces extending all the way from India to Ethiopia.)
  • Esth 3:12 : 12 So the royal scribes were summoned in the first month, on the thirteenth day of the month. Everything Haman commanded was written to the king’s satraps and governors who were in every province and to the officials of every people, province by province according to its script and people by people according to its language. In the name of King Ahasuerus it was written and sealed with the king’s signet ring.
  • Esth 4:16 : 16 “Go, assemble all the Jews who are found in Susa and fast in my behalf. Don’t eat and don’t drink for three days, night or day. My female attendants and I will also fast in the same way. Afterward I will go to the king, even though it violates the law. If I perish, I perish!”

Similar Verses (AI)

These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.

  • Esth 4:1-2
    2 verses
    86%

    1Esther Decides to Risk Everything in order to Help Her People Now when Mordecai became aware of all that had been done, he tore his garments and put on sackcloth and ashes. He went out into the city, crying out in a loud and bitter voice.

    2But he went no further than the king’s gate, for no one was permitted to enter the king’s gate clothed in sackcloth.

  • Esth 4:4-5
    2 verses
    84%

    4When Esther’s female attendants and her eunuchs came and informed her about Mordecai’s behavior, the queen was overcome with anguish. Although she sent garments for Mordecai to put on so that he could remove his sackcloth, he would not accept them.

    5So Esther called for Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs who had been placed at her service, and instructed him to find out the cause and reason for Mordecai’s behavior.

  • 4When I heard these things I sat down abruptly, crying and mourning for several days. I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.

  • Esth 4:15-17
    3 verses
    76%

    15Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai:

    16“Go, assemble all the Jews who are found in Susa and fast in my behalf. Don’t eat and don’t drink for three days, night or day. My female attendants and I will also fast in the same way. Afterward I will go to the king, even though it violates the law. If I perish, I perish!”

    17So Mordecai set out to do everything that Esther had instructed him.

  • 1The People Acknowledge Their Sin before God On the twenty-fourth day of this same month the Israelites assembled; they were fasting and wearing sackcloth, their heads covered with dust.

  • Esth 9:31-32
    2 verses
    74%

    31to establish these days of Purim in their proper times, just as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had established, and just as they had established both for themselves and their descendants, matters pertaining to fasting and lamentation.

    32Esther’s command established these matters of Purim, and the matter was officially recorded.

  • Esth 8:13-17
    5 verses
    74%

    13A copy of the edict was to be presented as law throughout each and every province and made known to all peoples, so that the Jews might be prepared on that day to avenge themselves from their enemies.

    14The couriers who were riding the royal horses went forth with the king’s edict without delay. And the law was presented in Susa the citadel as well.

    15Now Mordecai went out from the king’s presence in blue and white royal attire, with a large golden crown and a purple linen mantle. The city of Susa shouted with joy.

    16For the Jews there was radiant happiness and joyous honor.

    17Throughout every province and throughout every city where the king’s edict and his law arrived, the Jews experienced happiness and joy, banquets and holidays. Many of the resident peoples pretended to be Jews, because the fear of the Jews had overcome them.

  • 3So I turned my attention to the Lord God to implore him by prayer and requests, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.

  • Esth 9:19-20
    2 verses
    73%

    19This is why the Jews who are in the rural country– those who live in rural cities– set aside the fourteenth day of the month of Adar for happiness, banqueting, a holiday, and sending gifts to one another.

    20Mordecai wrote these matters down and sent letters to all the Jews who were throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far,

  • Esth 3:12-14
    3 verses
    72%

    12So the royal scribes were summoned in the first month, on the thirteenth day of the month. Everything Haman commanded was written to the king’s satraps and governors who were in every province and to the officials of every people, province by province according to its script and people by people according to its language. In the name of King Ahasuerus it was written and sealed with the king’s signet ring.

    13Letters were sent by the runners to all the king’s provinces stating that they should destroy, kill, and annihilate all the Jews, from youth to elderly, both women and children, on a particular day, namely the thirteenth day of the twelfth month(that is, the month of Adar), and to loot and plunder their possessions.

    14A copy of this edict was to be presented as law throughout every province; it was to be made known to all the inhabitants, so that they would be prepared for this day.

  • Esth 4:7-9
    3 verses
    72%

    7Then Mordecai related to him everything that had happened to him, even the specific amount of money that Haman had offered to pay to the king’s treasuries for the Jews to be destroyed.

    8He also gave him a written copy of the law that had been disseminated in Susa for their destruction so that he could show it to Esther and talk to her about it. He also gave instructions that she should go to the king to implore him and petition him on behalf of her people.

    9So Hathach returned and related Mordecai’s instructions to Esther.

  • Jonah 3:5-6
    2 verses
    72%

    5The people of Nineveh believed in God, and they declared a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them.

    6When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, put on sackcloth, and sat on ashes.

  • 12Then Mordecai again sat at the king’s gate, while Haman hurried away to his home, mournful and with a veil over his head.

  • 9The king’s scribes were quickly summoned– in the third month(that is, the month of Sivan), on the twenty-third day. They wrote out everything that Mordecai instructed to the Jews and to the satraps and the governors and the officials of the provinces all the way from India to Ethiopia– a hundred and twenty-seven provinces in all– to each province in its own script and to each people in their own language, and to the Jews according to their own script and their own language.

  • Esth 9:1-4
    4 verses
    71%

    1The Jews Prevail over Their Enemies In the twelfth month(that is, the month of Adar), on its thirteenth day, the edict of the king and his law were to be executed. It was on this day that the enemies of the Jews had supposed that they would gain power over them. But contrary to expectations, the Jews gained power over their enemies.

    2The Jews assembled themselves in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to strike out against those who were seeking their harm. No one was able to stand before them, for dread of them fell on all the peoples.

    3All the officials of the provinces, the satraps, the governors and those who performed the king’s business were assisting the Jews, for the dread of Mordecai had fallen on them.

    4Mordecai was of high rank in the king’s palace, and word about him was spreading throughout all the provinces. His influence continued to become greater and greater.

  • 12When Esther’s reply was conveyed to Mordecai,

  • 26For this reason these days are known as Purim, after the name of pur. Therefore, because of the account found in this letter and what they had faced in this regard and what had happened to them,

  • 21I called for a fast there by the Ahava Canal, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and seek from him a safe journey for us, our children, and all our property.

  • Esth 9:22-23
    2 verses
    70%

    22as the time when the Jews gave themselves rest from their enemies– the month when their trouble was turned to happiness and their mourning to a holiday. These were to be days of banqueting, happiness, sending gifts to one another, and providing for the poor.

    23So the Jews committed themselves to continue what they had begun to do and to what Mordecai had written to them.

  • 12At that time the Sovereign LORD of Heaven’s Armies, called for weeping and mourning, for shaved heads and sackcloth.

  • 11The king thereby allowed the Jews who were in every city to assemble and to stand up for themselves– to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate any army of whatever people or province that should become their adversaries, including their women and children, and to confiscate their property.

  • 3Then Esther again spoke with the king, falling at his feet. She wept and begged him for mercy, that he might nullify the evil of Haman the Agagite and the plot that he had intended against the Jews.

  • Esth 3:3-4
    2 verses
    70%

    3Then the servants of the king who were at the king’s gate asked Mordecai,“Why are you violating the king’s commandment?”

    4And after they had spoken to him day after day without his paying any attention to them, they informed Haman to see whether this attitude on Mordecai’s part would be permitted. Furthermore, he had disclosed to them that he was a Jew.

  • 3In their streets they wear sackcloth; on their roofs and in their town squares all of them wail, they fall down weeping.

  • 27When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and fasted. He slept in sackcloth and walked around dejected.

  • 1When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and went to the LORD’s temple.

  • 2So the king said to me,“Why do you appear to be depressed when you aren’t sick? What can this be other than sadness of heart?” This made me very fearful.

  • 10The king then said to Haman,“Go quickly! Take the clothing and the horse, just as you have described, and do as you just indicated to Mordecai the Jew who sits at the king’s gate. Don’t neglect a single thing of all that you have said.”