⁸ And she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters to the elders and the nobles who were dwelling in the city with Naboth.

⁸ You yourselves write a decree concerning the Jews, ^[a]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 ^(A)no one can revoke.”

^9 (B)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 ^(C)from India to Ethiopia, one hundred and twenty-seven provinces in all, to every province ^(D)in its own script, to every people in their own language, and to the Jews in their own script and language. ^10 (E)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 ^[b]bred from swift steeds.

¹¹ By these letters the king permitted the Jews who were in every city to ^(F)gather together and protect their lives—to ^(G)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 (H)on one day in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of ^[c]Adar. ^13 (I)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.

^12 (A)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 ^(B)according to its script, and to every people in their language. ^(C)In the name of King Ahasuerus it was written, and sealed with the king’s signet ring. ¹³ And the letters were ^(D)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, ^(E)in one day, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, and ^(F)to plunder their ^[a]possessions. ^14 (G)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 ^[b]Shushan the ^[c]citadel. So the king and Haman sat down to drink, but ^(H)the city of Shushan was ^[d]perplexed.

⁵ Then Sanballat sent his servant to me as before, the fifth time, with an open letter in his hand.

¹¹ (This is a copy of the letter that they sent him.)

⁷ In the days of ^(A)Artaxerxes also, ^[a]Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabel, and the rest of their companions wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the letter was written in ^(B)Aramaic script, and translated into the Aramaic language. ^8 [b]Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes in this fashion:

¹⁷ He also wrote letters to revile the Lord God of Israel, and to speak against Him, saying, ^(A)“As the gods of the nations of other lands have not delivered their people from my hand, so the God of Hezekiah will not deliver His people from my ^(B)hand.”

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

Ahab’s Seventy Sons Killed

10 Now Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. And Jehu wrote and sent letters to Samaria, to the rulers of ^[a]Jezreel, to the elders, and to ^[b]those who reared Ahab’s sons, saying:

⁴ But they were exceedingly afraid, and said, “Look, ^(A)two kings could not ^[d]stand up to him; how then can we stand?” ⁵ And he who was in charge of the house, and he who was in charge of the city, the elders also, and those who reared the sons, sent to Jehu, saying, “We are your servants, we will do all you tell us; but we will not make anyone king. Do what is good in your sight.” ⁶ Then he wrote a second letter to them, saying:

Now the king’s sons, seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, who were rearing them. ⁷ So it was, when the letter came to them, that they took the king’s sons and ^(B)slaughtered seventy persons, put their heads in baskets and sent them to him at Jezreel.