Esther 8

Esther Saves the Jews

8On that day King Ahasuerus gave Queen Esther the house of Haman, the ^aenemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told ^bhow he was related to her. ²So the king took off ^chis signet ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai; and Esther appointed Mordecai over the house of Haman.

³Now Esther spoke again to the king, fell down at his feet, and implored him with tears to counteract the evil of Haman the Agagite, and the scheme which he had devised against the Jews. ⁴And ^dthe king held out the golden scepter toward Esther. So Esther arose and stood before the king, ⁵and 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 revoke the ^eletters devised by Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to annihilate the Jews who are in all the king’s provinces. ⁶For how can I endure to see ^fthe evil that will come to my people? Or how can I endure to see the destruction of my countrymen?”

⁷Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and Mordecai the Jew, “Indeed, ^gI have given Esther the house of Haman, and they have hanged him on the gallows because he tried to lay his hand on the Jews. ⁸You yourselves write a decree concerning the Jews, ¹as you please, in the king’s name, and seal it with the king’s signet ring; for whatever is written in the king’s name and sealed with the king’s signet ring ^hno one can revoke.”

⁹ⁱSo the king’s scribes were called at that time, in the third month, which is the month of Sivan, on the twenty-third day; and it was written, according to all that Mordecai commanded, to the Jews, the satraps, the governors, and the princes of the provinces ^jfrom India to Ethiopia, one hundred and twenty-seven provinces in all, to every province ^kin its own script, to every people in their own language, and to the Jews in their own script and language. ^10lAnd he wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus, sealed it with the king’s signet ring, and sent letters by couriers on horseback, riding on royal horses ²bred from swift steeds.

¹¹By these letters the king permitted the Jews who were in every city to ^mgather together and protect their lives—to ⁿdestroy, kill, and annihilate all the forces of any people or province that would assault them, both little children and women, and to plunder their possessions, ^12oon one day in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of ³Adar. ^13pA copy of the document was to be issued as a decree in every province and published for all people, so that the Jews would be ready on that day to avenge themselves on their enemies. ¹⁴The couriers who rode on royal horses went out, hastened and pressed on by the king’s command. And the decree was issued in ⁴Shushan the ⁵citadel.

¹⁵So Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal apparel of ⁶blue and white, with a great crown of gold and a garment of fine linen and purple; and ^qthe city of ⁷Shushan rejoiced and was glad. ¹⁶The Jews had ^rlight and gladness, joy and honor. ¹⁷And in every province and city, wherever the king’s command and decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast ^sand a holiday. Then many of the people of the land ^tbecame Jews, because ^ufear of the Jews fell upon them.