He went only as far as the King’s Gate,(A) since the law prohibited anyone wearing sackcloth from entering the King’s Gate. There was great mourning among the Jewish people in every province where the king’s command and edict(B) reached. They fasted, wept, and lamented, and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.(C)

Esther’s female servants and her eunuchs came and reported the news to her, and the queen was overcome with fear.(D) She sent clothes for Mordecai to wear so that he would take off his sackcloth, but he did not accept them.

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