Verses 1-17

Esther agrees to help the Jews (4:1-17)

Mordecai realized that the Jews' only hope now lay with Esther, who, shut up in the women's quarters of the palace, had not heard of the decree till Mordecai told her. He added that her duty now was to ask the king to cancel the decree (4:1-9).

Esther pointed out that this was not as easy as Mordecai thought, for even the queen risked her life in making a request of the king (10-11). But Mordecai believed that God would not allow the Jewish people to be destroyed, and that Esther would be his means of saving them. She therefore agreed to approach the king. First, however, she asked for three days of fasting by the Jews on her behalf (12-17).