Esther 8:1–8

Esther Saves the Jews

8On that day King Ahasuerus gave to Queen Esther the house of Haman, ^hthe enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told ^pwhat he was to her. ^2qAnd 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 ^rthe Agagite and the plot that he had devised against the Jews. ^4sWhen the king held out the golden scepter to Esther, Esther rose and stood before the king. ⁵And she said, “If it please the king, ^tand 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 ^uthe letters devised by Haman ^rthe 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 ^vto 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, ^wI have given Esther the house of Haman, and they have hanged him on the gallows,¹ 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, ^xand seal it with the king’s ring, for an edict written in the name of the king and sealed with the king’s ring ^ycannot be revoked.”