Esther8

¹On that day King Ahasuerus gave to Queen Esther the house of Haman , the enemy of the Jews . And Mordecai came before the king , for Esther had told what he was to her.

²And the king took off his signet ring , which he had taken from Haman , and gave it to Mordecai . And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman .

³Then Esther spoke again to the king . She fell at his feet and wept and pleaded with him to avert the evil plan of Haman the Agagite and the plot that he had devised against the Jews .

⁴When the king held out the golden scepter to Esther ,

⁵Esther rose and stood before the king . And she said , If it please the king , and if I have found favor in his sight , and if the thing seems right before the king , and I am pleasing in his eyes , let an order be written to revoke the letters devised by Haman the Agagite , the son of Hammedatha , which he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all the provinces of the king .

⁶For how can I bear to see the calamity that is coming to my people ? Or how can I bear to see the destruction of my kindred ?

⁷Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew , Behold , I have given Esther the house of Haman , and they have hanged him on the gallows , because he intended to lay hands on the Jews .

⁸But you may write as you please with regard to the Jews , in the name of the king , and seal it with the king’s ring , for an edict written in the name of the king and sealed with the king’s ring cannot be revoked .

⁹The king’s scribes were summoned at that time , in the third month , which is the month of Sivan , on the twenty-third day. And an edict was written , according to all that Mordecai commanded concerning the Jews , to the satraps and the governors and the officials of the provinces from India to Ethiopia , 127 provinces , to each province in its own script and to each people in its own language , and also to the Jews in their script and their language .

¹⁰And he wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed it with the king’s signet ring . Then he sent the letters by mounted couriers riding on swift horses that were used in the king’s service, bred from the royal stud ,

¹¹saying that the king allowed the Jews who were in every city to gather and defend their lives , to destroy , to kill , and to annihilate any armed force of any people or province that might attack them, children and women included , and to plunder their goods ,

¹²on one day throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus , on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month , which is the month of Adar .

¹³A copy of what was written was to be issued as a decree in every province , being publicly displayed to all peoples , and the Jews were to be ready on that day to take vengeance on their enemies .

¹⁴So the couriers , mounted on their swift horses that were used in the king’s service , rode out hurriedly , urged by the king’s command . And the decree was issued in Susa the citadel .

¹⁵Then Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal robes of blue and white , with a great golden crown and a robe of fine linen and purple , and the city of Susa shouted and rejoiced .

¹⁶The Jews had light and gladness and joy and honor .

¹⁷And in every province and in every city , wherever the king’s command and his edict reached , there was gladness and joy among the Jews , a feast and a holiday . And many from the peoples of the country declared themselves Jews , for fear of the Jews had fallen on them.