^8 (A)So she wrote letters in Ahab's name and sealed them with his seal, and she sent the letters to ^(B)the elders and the leaders who lived with Naboth in his city.

⁸ But you may write as you please with regard to the Jews, in the name of the king, ^(A)and seal it with the king's ring, for an edict written in the name of the king and sealed with the king's ring ^(B)cannot be revoked.”

^9 (C)The king's scribes were summoned at that time, in the third month, which is the month of Sivan, on the twenty-third day. And an edict was written, according to all that Mordecai commanded concerning the Jews, to ^(D)the satraps and the governors and the officials of the provinces ^(E)from India to Ethiopia, ^(F)127 provinces, ^(G)to each province in its own script and to each people in its own language, and also to the Jews in their script and their language. ^10 (H)And he wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus ^(I)and sealed it with the king's signet ring. Then he sent the letters by mounted couriers riding on ^(J)swift horses that were used in the king's service, bred from the royal stud, ¹¹ saying that the king allowed the Jews who were in every city ^(K)to gather and defend their lives, ^(L)to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate any armed force of any people or province that might attack them, children and women included, ^(M)and to plunder their goods, ^12 (N)on one day throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar. ^13 (O)A copy of what was written was to be issued as a decree in every province, being publicly displayed to all peoples, and the Jews were to be ready on that day to take vengeance on their enemies.

^12 (A)Then the king's scribes were summoned on the thirteenth day of the first month, and an edict, according to all that Haman commanded, was written to the king's ^(B)satraps and to the governors over all the provinces and to the officials of all the peoples, ^(C)to every province in its own script and every people in its own language. It was written ^(D)in the name of King Ahasuerus ^(E)and sealed with the king's signet ring. ¹³ Letters were sent ^(F)by couriers to all the king's provinces with instruction ^(G)to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all Jews, young and old, women and children, ^(H)in one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, ^(I)and to plunder their goods. ^14 (J)A copy of the document was to be issued as a decree in every province by proclamation to all the peoples to be ready for that day. ^15 (K)The couriers went out hurriedly by order of the king, and the decree was issued in Susa the citadel. And the king and Haman sat down to drink, ^(L)but the city of Susa was thrown into confusion.

⁵ In the same way Sanballat for the fifth time sent his servant to me with an open letter in his hand.

¹¹ (This is a copy of the letter that they sent.) “To Artaxerxes the king: Your servants, the men of the province Beyond the River, send greeting. And now

The Letter to King Artaxerxes

⁷ In the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam and ^(A)Mithredath and Tabeel and the rest of their associates wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia. The letter was written ^(B)in Aramaic and translated.^{[a] 8} Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king as follows:

¹⁷ And he wrote letters to cast contempt on the Lord, the God of Israel, and to speak against him, saying, “Like the gods of the nations of the lands who have not delivered their people from my hands, so the God of Hezekiah will not deliver his people from my hand.”

¹¹ So Jehu struck down all who remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, all his great men and his close friends and his priests, until he left him none remaining.

Jehu Slaughters Ahab's Descendants

10 Now Ahab had seventy sons in ^(A)Samaria. So Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria, to the rulers of the city,^[a] to the elders, and to ^(B)the guardians of the sons^[b] of Ahab, saying, ² “Now then, as soon as this letter comes to you, seeing your master's sons are with you, and there are with you chariots and horses, fortified cities also, and weapons, ³ select the best and fittest of your master's sons and set him on his father's throne and fight for your master's house.” ⁴ But they were exceedingly afraid and said, “Behold, the two kings could not stand before him. How then can we stand?” ⁵ So he who was over the palace, and he who was over the city, together with the elders and the guardians, sent to Jehu, saying, ^(C)“We are your servants, and we will do all that you tell us. We will not make anyone king. Do whatever is good in your eyes.” ⁶ Then he wrote to them a second letter, saying, “If you are on my side, and if you are ready to obey me, take the heads of your master's sons and come to me at Jezreel tomorrow at this time.” Now the king's sons, seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, ^(D)who were bringing them up. ⁷ And as soon as the letter came to them, they took the king's sons ^(E)and slaughtered them, seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets and sent them to him at Jezreel.