¹⁴ Now when the apostles (special messengers) at Jerusalem heard that [the country of] Samaria had accepted and welcomed the Word of God, they sent Peter and John to them,

¹⁵ And they came down and prayed for them that the Samaritans might receive the Holy Spirit;

¹⁶ For He had not yet fallen upon any of them, but they had only been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.

¹⁷ Then [the apostles] laid their hands on them one by one, and they received the Holy Spirit.

¹⁸ However, when Simon saw that the [Holy] Spirit was imparted through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he brought money and offered it to them,

¹⁹ Saying, Grant me also this power and authority, in order that anyone on whom I place my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.

²⁰ But Peter said to him, Destruction overtake your money and you, because you imagined you could obtain the [free] gift of God with money!

²¹ You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is all wrong in God’s sight [it is not straightforward or right or true before God].^(A)

²² So repent of this depravity and wickedness of yours and pray to the Lord that, if possible, this ^[a]contriving thought and purpose of your heart may be removed and disregarded and forgiven you.

²³ For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in ^[b]a bond forged by iniquity [to fetter souls].^(B)

²⁴ And Simon answered, Pray for me [beseech the Lord, both of you], that nothing of what you have said may befall me!

²⁵ Now when [the apostles] had borne their testimony and preached the message of the Lord, they went back to Jerusalem, proclaiming the glad tidings (Gospel) to many villages of the Samaritans [on the way].

3 After these things, King ^[a]Ahasuerus promoted Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite and advanced him and set his seat above all the princes who were with him.

² And all the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate bowed down and did reverence to Haman, for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai did not bow down or do him reverence.

³ Then the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate said to Mordecai, Why do you transgress the king’s command?

⁴ Now when they spoke to him day after day and he paid no attention to them, they told Haman to see whether Mordecai’s conduct would stand, for he had told them that he was a Jew.

⁵ And when Haman saw that Mordecai did not bow down or do him reverence, he was very angry.

⁶ But he scorned laying hands only on Mordecai. So since they had told him Mordecai’s nationality, Haman sought to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus.

⁷ In the first month, the month of Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, Haman caused Pur, that is, lots, to be cast before him day after day [to find a lucky day for his venture], month after month, until the twelfth, the month of Adar.

⁸ Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from every other people, neither do they keep the king’s laws. Therefore it is not for the king’s profit to tolerate them.

⁹ If it pleases the king, let it be decreed that they be destroyed, and I will pay 10,000 talents of silver into the hands of those who have charge of the king’s business, that it may be brought into the king’s treasuries.

¹⁰ And the king took his signet ring from his hand [with which to seal his letters by the king’s authority] and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews’ enemy.

¹¹ And the king said to Haman, The silver is given to you, the people also, to do with them as it seems good to you.

¹² Then the king’s secretaries were called in on the thirteenth day of the first month, and all that Haman had commanded was written to the king’s chief rulers and to the governors who were over all the provinces and to the princes of each people, to every province in its own script and to each people in their own language; it was written in the name of King Ahasuerus and it was sealed with the king’s [signet] ring.

¹³ And letters were sent by special messengers to all the king’s provinces—to destroy, to slay, and to do away with all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, and to seize their belongings as spoil.

¹⁴ A copy of the writing was to be published and given out as a decree in every province to all the peoples to be ready for that day.

¹⁵ The special messengers went out in haste by order of the king, and the decree was given out in Shushan, the capital. And the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Shushan was perplexed [at the strange and alarming decree].

4 Now when Mordecai learned all that was done, [he] rent his clothes and put on sackcloth with ashes and went out into the midst of the city and cried with a loud and bitter cry.

² He came and stood before the king’s gate, for no one might enter the king’s gate clothed with sackcloth.

³ And in every province, wherever the king’s commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping, and wailing, and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

⁴ When Esther’s maids and her attendants came and told it to her, the queen was exceedingly grieved and distressed. She sent garments to clothe Mordecai, with orders to take his sackcloth from off him, but he would not receive them.

⁵ Then Esther called for Hathach, one of the king’s attendants whom he had appointed to attend her, and ordered him to go to Mordecai to learn what this was and why it was.

⁶ So Hathach went out to Mordecai in the open square of the city, which was in front of the king’s gate.

⁷ And Mordecai told him of all that had happened to him, and the exact sum of money that Haman had promised to pay to the king’s treasuries for the Jews to be destroyed.

⁸ [Mordecai] also gave him a copy of the decree to destroy them, that was given out in Shushan, that he might show it to Esther, explain it to her, and charge her to go to the king, make supplication to him, and plead with him for the lives of her people.

⁹ And Hathach came and told Esther the words of Mordecai.

¹⁰ Then Esther spoke to Hathach and gave him a message for Mordecai, saying,

¹¹ All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that any person, be it man or woman, who shall go into the inner court to the king without being called shall be put to death; there is but one law for him, except [him] to whom the king shall hold out the golden scepter, that he may live. But I have not been called to come to the king for these thirty days.

¹² And they told Mordecai what Esther said.

¹³ Then Mordecai told them to return this answer to Esther, Do not flatter yourself that you shall escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews.

¹⁴ For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance shall arise for the Jews from elsewhere, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows but that you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this and for this very occasion?

¹⁵ Then Esther told them to give this answer to Mordecai,

¹⁶ Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast for me; and neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. I also and my maids will fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law; and if I perish, I perish.

¹⁷ So Mordecai went away and did all that Esther had commanded him.