The Latin Vulgate VUL
Good News Translation GNT
1 Quae cum audisset Mardochaeus, scidit vestimenta sua, et indutus sacco, spargens cinerem capiti: et in platea mediae civitatis voce magna clamabat, ostendens amaritudinem animi sui,
1
When Mordecai learned of all that had been done, he tore his clothes in anguish. Then he dressed in sackcloth, covered his head with ashes, and walked through the city, wailing loudly and bitterly,
2 et hoc eiulatu usque ad fores palatii gradiens. Non enim erat licitum indutum sacco aulam regis intrare.
2
until he came to the entrance of the palace. He did not go in because no one wearing sackcloth was allowed inside.
3 In omnibus quoque provinciis, oppidis, ac locis, ad quae crudele regis dogma pervenerat, planctus ingens erat apud Iudaeos, ieiunium, ululatus, et fletus, sacco et cinere multis pro strato utentibus.
3
Throughout all the provinces, wherever the king's proclamation was made known, there was loud mourning among the Jews. They fasted, wept, wailed, and most of them put on sackcloth and lay in ashes.
4 Ingressae autem sunt puellae Esther et eunuchi, nunciaveruntque ei. Quod audiens consternata est: et vestem misit, ut ablato sacco induerent eum: quam accipere noluit.
4
When Esther's servant women and eunuchs told her what Mordecai was doing, she was deeply disturbed. She sent Mordecai some clothes to put on instead of the sackcloth, but he would not accept them.
5 Accitoque Athach eunucho, quem rex ministrum ei dederat, praecepit ei ut iret ad Mardochaeum, et disceret ab eo cur hoc faceret.
5
Then she called Hathach, one of the palace eunuchs appointed as her servant by the king, and told him to go to Mordecai and find out what was happening and why.
6 Egressusque Athach, ivit ad Mardochaeum stantem in platea civitatis, ante ostium palatii:
6
Hathach went to Mordecai in the city square at the entrance of the palace.
7 qui indicavit ei omnia, quae acciderant, quo modo Aman promisisset, ut in thesauros regis pro Iudaeorum nece inferret argentum.
7
Mordecai told him everything that had happened to him and just how much money Haman had promised to put into the royal treasury if all the Jews were killed.
8 exemplar quoque edicti, quod pendebat in Susan, dedit ei, ut reginae ostenderet, et moneret eam, ut intraret ad regem, et deprecaretur eum pro populo suo.
8
He gave Hathach a copy of the proclamation that had been issued in Susa, ordering the destruction of the Jews. Mordecai asked him to take it to Esther, explain the situation to her, and have her go and plead with the king and beg him to have mercy on her people.
9 Regressus Athach, nunciavit Esther omnia, quae Mardochaeus dixerat.
9
Hathach did this,
10 Quae repondit ei, et iussit ut diceret Mardochaeo:
10
and Esther gave him this message to take back to Mordecai:
11 Omnes servi regis, et cunctae, quae sub ditione eius sunt, norunt provinciae, quod sive vir, sive mulier non vocatus, interius atrium regis intraverit, absque ulla cunctatione statim interficiatur: nisi forte rex auream virgam ad eum tetenderit pro signo clementiae, atque ita possit vivere. Ego igitur quo modo ad regem intrare potero, quae triginta iam diebus non sum vocata ad eum?
11
"If anyone, man or woman, goes to the inner courtyard and sees the king without being summoned, that person must die. That is the law; everyone, from the king's advisers to the people in the provinces, knows that. There is only one way to get around this law: if the king holds out his gold scepter to someone, then that person's life is spared. But it has been a month since the king sent for me."
12 Quod cum audisset Mardochaeus,
12
When Mordecai received Esther's message,
13 rursum mandavit Esther, dicens: Ne putes quod animam tuam tantum liberes, quia in domo regis es prae cunctis Iudaeis:
13
he sent her this warning: "Don't imagine that you are safer than any other Jew just because you are in the royal palace.
14 si enim nunc silueris, per aliam occasionem liberabuntur Iudaei: et tu, et domus patris tui peribitis. Et quis novit utrum idcirco ad regnum veneris, ut in tali tempore parareris?
14
If you keep quiet at a time like this, help will come from heaven to the Jews, and they will be saved, but you will die and your father's family will come to an end. Yet who knows - maybe it was for a time like this that you were made queen!"
15 Rursumque Esther haec Mardochaeo verba mandavit:
15
Esther sent Mordecai this reply:
16 Vade et congrega omnes Iudaeos, quos in Susan repereris, et orate pro me. Non comedatis, et non bibatis tribus diebus, et tribus noctibus: et ego cum ancillis meis similiter ieiunabo, et tunc ingrediar ad regem contra legem faciens, non vocata, tradensque me morti et periculo.
16
"Go and get all the Jews in Susa together; hold a fast and pray for me. Don't eat or drink anything for three days and nights. My servant women and I will be doing the same. After that, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. If I must die for doing it, I will die."
17 Ivit itaque Mardochaeus, et fecit omnia, quae ei Esther praeceperat.
17
Mordecai then left and did everything that Esther had told him to do.
The Latin Vulgate is in the public domain.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.