¹⁵ And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, ^(A)choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether ^(B)the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of ^[a]the River, or ^(C)the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. ^(D)But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

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Haman’s Conspiracy Against the Jews

3 After these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman, the son of Hammedatha the ^(A)Agagite, and ^(B)advanced him and set his seat above all the princes who were with him. ² And all the king’s servants who were ^(C)within the king’s gate bowed and paid homage to Haman, for so the king had commanded concerning him. But Mordecai ^(D)would not bow or pay homage. ³ Then the king’s servants who were within the king’s gate said to Mordecai, “Why do you transgress the ^(E)king’s command?” ⁴ Now it happened, when they spoke to him daily and he would not listen to them, that they told it to Haman, to see whether Mordecai’s words would stand; for Mordecai had told them that he was a Jew. ⁵ When Haman saw that Mordecai ^(F)did not bow or pay him homage, Haman was ^(G)filled with wrath. ⁶ But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone, for they had told him of the people of Mordecai. Instead, Haman ^(H)sought to destroy all the Jews who were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus—the people of Mordecai.

⁷ In the first month, which is the month of Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, ^(I)they cast Pur (that is, the lot), before Haman ^[a]to determine the day and the ^[b]month, ^[c]until it fell on the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar.

⁸ Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of your kingdom; ^(J)their laws are different from all other people’s, and they do not keep the king’s laws. Therefore it is not fitting for the king to let them remain. ⁹ If it pleases the king, let a decree be written that they be destroyed, and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who do the work, to bring it into the king’s treasuries.”

¹⁰ So the king ^(K)took ^(L)his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the ^(M)enemy of the Jews. ¹¹ And the king said to Haman, “The money and the people are given to you, to do with them as seems good to you.”

^12 (N)Then the king’s scribes were called on the thirteenth day of the first month, and a decree was written according to all that Haman commanded—to the king’s satraps, to the governors who were over each province, to the officials of all people, to every province ^(O)according to its script, and to every people in their language. ^(P)In the name of King Ahasuerus it was written, and sealed with the king’s signet ring. ¹³ And the letters were ^(Q)sent by couriers into all the king’s provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all the Jews, both young and old, little children and women, ^(R)in one day, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, and ^(S)to plunder their ^[d]possessions. ^14 (T)A copy of the document was to be issued as law in every province, being published for all people, that they should be ready for that day. ¹⁵ The couriers went out, hastened by the king’s command; and the decree was proclaimed in ^[e]Shushan the ^[f]citadel. So the king and Haman sat down to drink, but ^(U)the city of Shushan was ^[g]perplexed.

Esther Agrees to Help the Jews

4 When Mordecai learned all that had happened, ^[h]he ^(V)tore his clothes and put on sackcloth ^(W)and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city. He ^(X)cried out with a loud and bitter cry. ² He went as far as the front of the king’s gate, for no one might enter the king’s gate clothed with sackcloth. ³ And in every province where the king’s command and decree arrived, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

⁴ So Esther’s maids and eunuchs came and told her, and the queen was deeply distressed. Then she sent garments to clothe Mordecai and take his sackcloth away from him, but he would not accept them. ⁵ Then Esther called Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs whom he had appointed to attend her, and she gave him a command concerning Mordecai, to learn what and why this was. ⁶ So Hathach went out to Mordecai in the city square that was in front of the king’s gate. ⁷ And Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, and ^(Y)the sum of money that Haman had promised to pay into the king’s treasuries to destroy the Jews. ⁸ He also gave him ^(Z)a copy of the written decree for their destruction, which was given at ^[i]Shushan, that he might show it to Esther and explain it to her, and that he might command her to go in to the king to make supplication to him and plead before him for her people. ⁹ So Hathach returned and told Esther the words of Mordecai.

¹⁰ Then Esther spoke to Hathach, and gave him a command for Mordecai: ¹¹ “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that any man or woman who goes into ^(AA)the inner court to the king, who has not been called, ^(AB)he has but one law: put all to death, except the one ^(AC)to whom the king holds out the golden scepter, that he may live. Yet I myself have not been ^(AD)called to go in to the king these thirty days.” ¹² So they told Mordecai Esther’s words.

¹³ And Mordecai told them to answer Esther: “Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews. ¹⁴ For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

¹⁵ Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai: ¹⁶ “Go, gather all the Jews who are present in ^[j]Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for ^(AE)three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; ^(AF)and if I perish, I perish!”

¹⁷ So Mordecai went his way and did according to all that Esther commanded ^[k]him.

Esther’s Banquet

5 Now it happened ^(AG)on the third day that Esther put on her royal robes and stood in ^(AH)the inner court of the king’s palace, across from the king’s house, while the king sat on his royal throne in the royal house, facing the entrance of the ^[l]house. ² So it was, when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, that ^(AI)she found favor in his sight, and ^(AJ)the king held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther went near and touched the top of the scepter.

³ And the king said to her, “What do you wish, Queen Esther? What is your request? ^(AK)It shall be given to you—up to half the kingdom!”

⁴ So Esther answered, “If it pleases the king, let the king and Haman come today to the banquet that I have prepared for him.”

⁵ Then the king said, “Bring Haman quickly, that he may do as Esther has said.” So the king and Haman went to the banquet that Esther had prepared.

⁶ At the banquet of wine ^(AL)the king said to Esther, ^(AM)“What is your petition? It shall be granted you. What is your request, up to half the kingdom? It shall be done!”

⁷ Then Esther answered and said, “My petition and request is this: ⁸ If I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and ^[m]fulfill my request, then let the king and Haman come to the ^(AN)banquet which I will prepare for them, and tomorrow I will do as the king has said.”

Haman’s Plot Against Mordecai

⁹ So Haman went out that day ^(AO)joyful and with a glad heart; but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king’s gate, and ^(AP)that he did not stand or tremble before him, he was filled with indignation against Mordecai. ¹⁰ Nevertheless Haman ^(AQ)restrained himself and went home, and he sent and called for his friends and his wife Zeresh. ¹¹ Then Haman told them of his great riches, ^(AR)the multitude of his children, everything in which the king had promoted him, and how he had ^(AS)advanced him above the officials and servants of the king.

¹² Moreover Haman said, “Besides, Queen Esther invited no one but me to come in with the king to the banquet that she prepared; and tomorrow I am again invited by her, along with the king. ¹³ Yet all this avails me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.”

¹⁴ Then his wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, “Let a ^(AT)gallows^[n] be made, ^[o]fifty cubits high, and in the morning ^(AU)suggest to the king that Mordecai be hanged on it; then go merrily with the king to the banquet.”

And the thing pleased Haman; so he had ^(AV)the gallows made.

The King Honors Mordecai

6 That night ^[p]the king could not sleep. So one was commanded to bring ^(AW)the book of the records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king. ² And it was found written that Mordecai had told of ^[q]Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs, the doorkeepers who had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. ³ Then the king said, “What honor or dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?”

And the king’s servants who attended him said, “Nothing has been done for him.”

⁴ So the king said, “Who is in the court?” Now Haman had just entered ^(AX)the outer court of the king’s palace ^(AY)to suggest that the king hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him.

⁵ The king’s servants said to him, “Haman is there, standing in the court.”

And the king said, “Let him come in.”

⁶ So Haman came in, and the king asked him, “What shall be done for the man whom the king delights to honor?”

Now Haman thought in his heart, “Whom would the king delight to honor more than ^(AZ)me?” ⁷ And Haman answered the king, “For the man whom the king delights to honor, ⁸ let a royal robe be brought which the king has worn, and ^(BA)a horse on which the king has ridden, which has a royal ^[r]crest placed on its head. ⁹ Then let this robe and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king’s most noble princes, that he may array the man whom the king delights to honor. Then ^[s]parade him on horseback through the city square, ^(BB)and proclaim before him: ‘Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor!’ ”

¹⁰ Then the king said to Haman, “Hurry, take the robe and the horse, as you have suggested, and do so for Mordecai the Jew who sits within the king’s gate! Leave nothing undone of all that you have spoken.”

¹¹ So Haman took the robe and the horse, arrayed Mordecai and led him on horseback through the city square, and proclaimed before him, “Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor!”

¹² Afterward Mordecai went back to the king’s gate. But Haman ^(BC)hurried to his house, mourning ^(BD)and with his head covered. ¹³ When Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had happened to him, his wise men and his wife Zeresh said to him, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish descent, you will not prevail against ^(BE)him but will surely fall before him.”

¹⁴ While they were still talking with him, the king’s eunuchs came, and hastened to bring Haman to ^(BF)the banquet which Esther had prepared.

Haman Hanged Instead of Mordecai

7 So the king and Haman went to dine with Queen Esther. ² And on the second day, ^(BG)at the banquet of wine, the king again said to Esther, “What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request, up to half the kingdom? It shall be done!”

³ Then Queen Esther answered and said, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request. ⁴ For we have been ^(BH)sold, my people and I, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. Had we been sold as ^(BI)male and female slaves, I would have held my tongue, although the enemy could never compensate for the king’s loss.”

⁵ So King Ahasuerus answered and said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who would dare presume in his heart to do such a thing?”

⁶ And Esther said, “The adversary and ^(BJ)enemy is this wicked Haman!”

So Haman was terrified before the king and queen.

⁷ Then the king arose in his wrath from the banquet of wine and went into the palace garden; but Haman stood before Queen Esther, pleading for his life, for he saw that evil was determined against him by the king. ⁸ When the king returned from the palace garden to the place of the banquet of wine, Haman had fallen across ^(BK)the couch where Esther was. Then the king said, “Will he also assault the queen while I am in the house?”

As the word left the king’s mouth, they ^(BL)covered Haman’s face. ⁹ Now ^(BM)Harbonah, one of the eunuchs, said to the king, “Look! ^(BN)The ^[t]gallows, fifty cubits high, which Haman made for Mordecai, who spoke ^(BO)good on the king’s behalf, is standing at the house of Haman.”

Then the king said, “Hang him on it!”

¹⁰ So ^(BP)they ^(BQ)hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s wrath subsided.

Esther Saves the Jews

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

³ Now 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. ⁴ And ^(BU)the king held out the golden scepter toward Esther. So Esther arose and stood before the king, ⁵ and 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 ^(BV)letters devised by Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to annihilate the Jews who are in all the king’s provinces. ⁶ For how can I endure to see ^(BW)the evil that will come to my people? Or how can I endure to see the destruction of my countrymen?”

⁷ Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and Mordecai the Jew, “Indeed, ^(BX)I 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. ⁸ You yourselves write a decree concerning the Jews, ^[u]as 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 ^(BY)no one can revoke.”

^9 (BZ)So 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 ^(CA)from India to Ethiopia, one hundred and twenty-seven provinces in all, to every province ^(CB)in its own script, to every people in their own language, and to the Jews in their own script and language. ^10 (CC)And 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 ^[v]bred from swift steeds.

¹¹ By these letters the king permitted the Jews who were in every city to ^(CD)gather together and protect their lives—to ^(CE)destroy, 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, ^12 (CF)on one day in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of ^[w]Adar. ^13 (CG)A 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. ¹⁴ The couriers who rode on royal horses went out, hastened and pressed on by the king’s command. And the decree was issued in ^[x]Shushan the ^[y]citadel.

¹⁵ So Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal apparel of ^[z]blue and white, with a great crown of gold and a garment of fine linen and purple; and ^(CH)the city of ^[aa]Shushan rejoiced and was glad. ¹⁶ The Jews had ^(CI)light and gladness, joy and honor. ¹⁷ And in every province and city, wherever the king’s command and decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast ^(CJ)and a holiday. Then many of the people of the land ^(CK)became Jews, because ^(CL)fear of the Jews fell upon them.