Esther Agrees to Help the Jews

4 When Mordecai learned all that had happened, ^[a]he ^(A)tore his clothes and put on sackcloth ^(B)and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city. He ^(C)cried out with a loud and bitter cry.

³ And in every province where the king’s command and decree arrived, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

⁶ Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth ^(A)and sat in ashes.