²⁹ So Queen Esther, daughter of Abihail,^(A) along with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm this second letter concerning Purim. ³⁰ And Mordecai sent letters to all the Jews in the 127 provinces^(B) of Xerxes’ kingdom—words of goodwill and assurance— ³¹ to establish these days of Purim at their designated times, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had decreed for them, and as they had established for themselves and their descendants in regard to their times of fasting^(C) and lamentation.^{(D) 32} Esther’s decree confirmed these regulations about Purim, and it was written down in the records.

The Greatness of Mordecai

10 King Xerxes imposed tribute throughout the empire, to its distant shores.^{(E) 2} And all his acts of power and might, together with a full account of the greatness of Mordecai,^(F) whom the king had promoted,^(G) are they not written in the book of the annals^(H) of the kings of Media and Persia? ³ Mordecai the Jew was second^(I) in rank^(J) to King Xerxes,^(K) preeminent among the Jews, and held in high esteem by his many fellow Jews, because he worked for the good of his people and spoke up for the welfare of all the Jews.^(L)