8
1 On
that day,
King Ahasuerus gave
the house of
Haman, the Jews’
enemy, to Esther
the queen.
Mordecai came
before the king;
for Esther had
told what he
was to her.
2 The
king took off
his ring, which
he had taken
from Haman, and
gave it to
Mordecai. Esther set
Mordecai over the
house of Haman.
3 Esther spoke
yet again before
the king, and
fell down at
his feet and
begged him with
tears to put
away the mischief
of Haman
the Agagite, and
his plan that
he had planned
against the Jews.
4 Then
the king held
out to Esther the
golden scepter.
So Esther arose,
and stood before
the king.
5 She
said, “If it
pleases the king,
and if I
have found favor
in his sight,
and the thing
seems right to
the king, and
I am pleasing in
his eyes, let
it be written
to reverse the
letters devised by
Haman, the son
of Hammedatha
the Agagite, which
he wrote to
destroy the Jews
who are in
all the king’s
provinces.
6 For
how can I
endure to see
the evil that
would come to
my people? How
can I endure
to see the
destruction of my
relatives?”
7 Then
King Ahasuerus said to Esther
the queen and
to Mordecai the
Jew, “See, I
have given Esther
the house of
Haman, and they
have hanged him
on the gallows
because he laid
his hand on
the Jews.
8 Write
also to the
Jews as it
pleases you, in
the king’s name,
and seal it
with the king’s
ring; for the
writing which is
written in the
king’s name, and
sealed with the
king’s ring, may
not be reversed by
any man.”
9 Then
the king’s scribes
were called at
that time, in
the third month,
which is the
month Sivan, on
the twenty-third
day of the
month; and it
was written according
to all that
Mordecai commanded
to the Jews,
and to the local
governors, and the
governors and
princes of the
provinces which
are from India
to Ethiopia, one
hundred twenty-seven
provinces, to
every province according
to its writing,
and to every
people in their
language, and to
the Jews in
their writing, and
in their language.
10 He
wrote in the
name of
King Ahasuerus, and
sealed it with
the king’s ring,
and sent letters
by courier on
horseback, riding
on royal horses
that were bred
from swift steeds.
11 In
those letters, the
king granted the
Jews who were
in every city
to gather
themselves together
and to defend
their lives—to
destroy, to kill,
and to cause
to perish all
the power of the
people and
province that
would assault them,
their little ones
and women, and to
plunder their
possessions,
12 on
one day in
all the provinces
of King Ahasuerus,
on the thirteenth
day of the
twelfth month,
which is the
month Adar.
13 A
copy of the
letter, that the
decree should be
given out in
every province,
was published to
all the peoples,
that the Jews
should be ready
for that day
to avenge
themselves on
their enemies.
14 So
the couriers who
rode on royal
horses went out,
hastened and pressed
on by the
king’s commandment.
The decree was
given out in
the citadel of
Susa.
15 Mordecai
went out of
the presence of
the king in
royal clothing of
blue and white,
and with a
great crown of
gold, and with
a robe of fine
linen and purple;
and the city
of Susa shouted
and was glad.
16 The
Jews had light,
gladness, joy, and
honor.
17 In
every province and
in every city,
wherever the king’s
commandment and
his decree came,
the Jews had
gladness, joy, a
feast and a
holiday. Many from
among the peoples
of the land
became Jews, for
the fear of
the Jews had
fallen on them.