Esther 4:2-4

Contemporary English Version

² But he could go only as far as the palace gate, because no one wearing sackcloth was allowed inside the palace. ^3 (A) In every province where the king's orders were read, the Jews cried and mourned, and they went without eating.^[a] Many of them even put on sackcloth and sat in ashes.

⁴ When Esther's servant girls and her other servants told her what Mordecai was doing, she became very upset and sent Mordecai some clothes to wear in place of the sackcloth. But he refused to take them.