³ Queen Esther replied, “If I have found favor with you, O king, and if it pleases your majesty, grant me my life—this is my petition. And spare my people—this is my request.

⁴ For I and my people have been handed over to destruction, slaughter, and extinction. If we had merely been sold as male and female slaves, I would have not said anything, because such distress would not be reason enough to disturb the king.”^[a]