Esther 8:1–8

Mordecai Promoted

¹On that day King Ahasuerus gave the house of Haman, ^athe enemy of the Jews, to Queen Esther; and Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had disclosed ^bwhat he was to her.

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

³Then Esther spoke again to the king, fell at his feet, wept and implored him to avert the evil scheme of Haman the Agagite and his plot which he had devised against the Jews.

^4aThe king extended the golden scepter to Esther. So Esther arose and stood before the king.

⁵Then she said, “^aIf it pleases the king and if I have found favor before him and the matter seems proper to the king and I am pleasing in his sight, let it be written to revoke the ^bletters 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 ^ahow can I endure to see the calamity which will befall my people, and how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?”

⁷So King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Behold, ^aI have given the house of Haman to Esther, and him they have hanged on the gallows because he had stretched out his hands against the Jews.

The King’s Decree Avenges the Jews

⁸“Now you write to the Jews ¹as you see fit, in the king’s name, and ^aseal it with the king’s signet ring; for a decree which is written in the name of the king and sealed with the king’s signet ring ^bmay not be revoked.”