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.

¹⁶ “Go, gather all the Jews who are present in ^[a]Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for ^(A)three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; ^(B)and if I perish, I perish!”