² In those days when King Ahasuerus sat on his royal throne in the citadel of Susa,^(A)

Nehemiah Prays for His People

1 The words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah. In the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa,^(A)

² In the vision^[a] I saw myself in Susa the capital, in the province of Elam,^[b] and I was by the Ulai Gate.^[c](A)

God’s Covenant with David

7 Now when the king was settled in his house and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies around him,^(A)

^4 [a]I, Nebuchadnezzar, was living at ease in my home and prospering in my palace.^(A)

¹² The king said to Queen Esther, “In the citadel of Susa the Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred people and the ten sons of Haman. What have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces? Now what is your petition? It shall be granted you. And what further is your request? It shall be fulfilled.”^{(A) 13} Esther said, “If it pleases the king, let the Jews who are in Susa be allowed tomorrow also to do according to this day’s edict, and let the ten sons of Haman be hung on the pole.”^{(B) 14} So the king commanded this to be done; a decree was issued in Susa, and the ten sons of Haman were hung. ¹⁵ The Jews who were in Susa gathered also on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, and they killed three hundred persons in Susa, but they did not touch the plunder.^(C)

¹⁶ “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will also fast as you do. After that I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.”^(A)

¹⁵ The couriers went quickly by order of the king, and the decree was issued in the citadel of Susa. The king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was thrown into confusion.^(A)

³ And let the king appoint commissioners in all the provinces of his kingdom to gather all the beautiful young virgins to the harem in the citadel of Susa under custody of Hegai, the king’s eunuch, who is in charge of the women; let their cosmetic treatments be given them.^(A)

⁴⁶ Solomon now sits on the royal throne.^(A)