¹¹ The king’s edict granted the Jews in every city the right to assemble and protect themselves; to destroy, kill and annihilate the armed men of any nationality or province who might attack them and their women and children,^[a] and to plunder^(A) the property of their enemies.

¹³ Dispatches were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces with the order to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews^(A)—young and old, women and children—on a single day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar,^(B) and to plunder^(C) their goods.

¹⁰ They will not need to gather wood from the fields or cut it from the forests, because they will use the weapons for fuel. And they will plunder^(A) those who plundered them and loot those who looted them, declares the Sovereign Lord.^(B)

² The Jews assembled in their cities^(A) in all the provinces of King Xerxes to attack those determined to destroy them. No one could stand against them,^(B) because the people of all the other nationalities were afraid of them. ³ And all the nobles of the provinces, the satraps, the governors and the king’s administrators helped the Jews,^(C) because fear of Mordecai had seized them.^{(D) 4} Mordecai^(E) was prominent^(F) in the palace; his reputation spread throughout the provinces, and he became more and more powerful.^(G)

⁵ The Jews struck down all their enemies with the sword, killing and destroying them,^(H) and they did what they pleased to those who hated them. ⁶ In the citadel of Susa, the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men. ⁷ They also killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, ⁸ Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, ⁹ Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai and Vaizatha, ¹⁰ the ten sons^(I) of Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews.^(J) But they did not lay their hands on the plunder.^(K)

¹¹ The number of those killed in the citadel of Susa was reported to the king that same day. ¹² The king said to Queen Esther, “The Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men and the ten sons of Haman in the citadel of Susa. What have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces? Now what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? It will also be granted.”^(L)

¹³ “If it pleases the king,” Esther answered, “give the Jews in Susa permission to carry out this day’s edict tomorrow also, and let Haman’s ten sons^(M) be impaled^(N) on poles.”

¹⁴ So the king commanded that this be done. An edict was issued in Susa, and they impaled^(O) the ten sons of Haman. ¹⁵ The Jews in Susa came together on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, and they put to death in Susa three hundred men, but they did not lay their hands on the plunder.^(P)

¹⁶ Meanwhile, the remainder of the Jews who were in the king’s provinces also assembled to protect themselves and get relief^(Q) from their enemies.^(R) They killed seventy-five thousand of them^(S) but did not lay their hands on the plunder.^(T)