² And on the second day, ^(A)at the banquet of wine, the king again said to Esther, “What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request, up to half the kingdom? It shall be done!”

³ Then Queen Esther answered and said, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request. ⁴ For we have been ^(B)sold, my people and I, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. Had we been sold as ^(C)male and female slaves, I would have held my tongue, although the enemy could never compensate for the king’s loss.”