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On that same day King Ahasuerus gave the estate of Haman, the Jews’ enemy, to Queen Esther. Then Mordecai was brought before the king, for Esther had told the king that he was her cousin and foster father.[a] The king took off his ring—which he had taken back from Haman—and gave it to Mordecai appointing him Prime Minister;[b] and Esther appointed Mordecai to be in charge of Haman’s estate.

And now once more Esther came before the king, falling down at his feet and begging him with tears to stop Haman’s plot against the Jews. And again the king held out the golden scepter to Esther. So she arose and stood before him, and said, “If it please Your Majesty, and if you love me, send out a decree reversing Haman’s order to destroy the Jews throughout the king’s provinces. For how can I endure it, to see my people butchered and destroyed?”

Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and Mordecai the Jew, “I have given Esther the palace of Haman, and he has been hanged upon the gallows because he tried to destroy you. Now go ahead and send a message to the Jews, telling them whatever you want to in the king’s name, and seal it with the king’s ring so that it can never be reversed.”[c]

9-10 Immediately the king’s secretaries were called in—it was now the 23rd day of the month of July—and they wrote as Mordecai dictated—a decree to the Jews and to the officials, governors, and princes of all the provinces from India to Ethiopia, 127 in all: the decree was translated into the languages and dialects of all the people of the kingdom. Mordecai wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed the message with the king’s ring and sent the letters by swift carriers—riders on camels, mules, and young dromedaries used in the king’s service. 11 This decree gave the Jews everywhere permission to unite in the defense of their lives and their families, to destroy all the forces opposed to them, and to take their property. 12 The day chosen for this throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus was the 28th day of February![d] 13 It further stated that a copy of this decree, which must be recognized everywhere as law, must be broadcast to all the people so that the Jews would be ready and prepared to overcome their enemies. 14 So the mail went out swiftly, carried by the king’s couriers and speeded by the king’s commandment. The same decree was also issued at Shushan Palace.

15 Then Mordecai put on the royal robes of blue and white and the great crown of gold, with an outer cloak of fine linen and purple, and went out from the presence of the king through the city streets filled with shouting people. 16 And the Jews had joy and gladness and were honored everywhere. 17 And in every city and province, as the king’s decree arrived, the Jews were filled with joy and had a great celebration and declared a holiday. And many of the people of the land pretended to be Jews, for they feared what the Jews might do to them.

Footnotes

  1. Esther 8:1 told the king that he was her cousin and foster father, literally, “had made known how they were related.”
  2. Esther 8:2 appointing him Prime Minister, implied.
  3. Esther 8:8 so that it can never be reversed. Haman’s message, too, had been sealed with the king’s ring and could not be reversed, even by the king. This was part of the famed “law of the Medes and Persians.” Now the king is giving permission for whatever other decree Mordecai can devise that will offset the first without actually canceling it.
  4. Esther 8:12 the 28th day of February. This was the same day set by Haman for the extermination of the Jews.

No taua ra ka homai e Kingi Ahahueruha ki a Kuini Ehetere te whare o Hamana, hoariri o nga Hurai. A ka haere a Mororekai ki te aroaro o te kingi, na Ehetere hoki i whakaatu he whanaunga ia nona.

E unuhia ana e te kingi tona mowhiti i tangohia mai nei e ia i a Hamana, a hoatu ana ki a Mororekai; a i whakanohoia a Mororekai e Ehetere ki te whare o Hamana.

A i korero ano a Ehetere ki te aroaro o te kingi, me te takoto ano ki ona waewae, me te tangi ano, i inoi ki a ia kia karohia te kino a Hamana Akaki, me te whakaaro i whakaaro ai ia mo nga Hurai.

Katahi ka torona atu e te kingi te hepeta koura ki a Ehetere. Heoi ka whakatika a Ehetere, ka tu ki te aroaro o te kingi,

A ka mea, Ki te pai te kingi, ki te manakohia hoki ahau e ia, ki te mea he tika tenei mea ki to te kingi whakaaro, ki te mea he pai ahau ki tana titiro, me tuhituhi kia whakataka nga pukapuka i whakaaroa e Hamana tama a Hamerata Akaki ana i tuhit uhi ai kia huna nga Hurai i nga kawanatanga katoa a te kingi.

Me pehea hoki e ahei ai ahau te titiro ki te he e pa ki toku iwi? me pehea hoki e ahei ai ahau te titiro ki te hunanga o oku whanaunga?

Ano ra ko Kingi Ahahueruha ki a Kuini Ehetere raua ko Mororekai Hurai, Nana, kua oti te hoatu e ahau ki a Ehetere te whare o Hamana; kua oti ano tera te tarona ki runga ki te rakau mo tona ringa i totoro ki nga Hurai.

Ma korua ano e tuhituhi ta korua e pai ai mo nga Hurai, i runga i te ingoa o te kingi, hiri rawa ki te mowhiti o te kingi: he tuhituhi hoki i tuhituhia i runga i te ingoa o te kingi, a i hiritia ki te mowhiti o te kingi, e kore e whakataka.

Katahi ka karangatia nga karaipi a te kingi i taua wa, i te toru o nga marama, ara i te marama Hiwana, i te rua tekau ma toru o nga ra o taua marama; a ka tuhituhia nga mea katoa i whakahau ai a Mororekai ki nga Hurai, ki nga kawana, ratou ko nga kawana iti, ko nga rangatira ano o nga kawanatanga, o Inia mai ano a tae noa ki Etiopia, kotahi rau e rua tekau ma whitu nga kawanatanga; ki tenei kawanatanga, ki tenei kawanatanga, he mea whakarite ki ta ratou tuhituhi; ki tenei iwi, ki tenei iwi, he mea whakarite ano ki to ratou reo; ki nga Hurai ano, he mea whakarite ki ta ratou tuhituhi, ki to ratou reo.

10 Tuhituhia ana e ia i runga i te ingoa o Kingi Ahahueruha, hiri rawa ki te mowhiti o te kingi, a tukua ana nga pukapuka kia maua e nga kaikawe pukapuka i runga hoiho, i eke i runga i nga kararehe tere o nga mahi a te kingi, he momo:

11 E mea ana i roto te tukunga a te kingi i nga Hurai o nga pa katoa kia huihui, kia tu ki runga, kia ora ai ratou, kia whakangaro, kia whakamate, kia huna i nga ope katoa o te iwi o te kawanatanga e tauria ai ratou ko a ratou kohungahunga, ko a ra tou wahine, kia pahua hoki i o ratou taonga hei mea parakete,

12 I taua ra kotahi i nga kawanatanga katoa a Kingi Ahahueruha, ara i te tekau ma toru o nga ra o te tekau ma rua o nga marama, koia nei te marama Arara.

13 I whakapuakina ki nga iwi katoa nga kupu i tuhituhia mo te ture kia whakatakotoria i nga kawanatanga katoa, kia mataara ai nga Hurai i taua ra ki te rapu utu i o ratou hoariri.

14 Heoi haere ana nga kaikawe pukapuka, he mea waha e nga kararehe tere o nga mahi a te kingi, he mea whakahohoro, he mea akiaki e te kupu a te kingi. I homai ano te ture i Huhana, i te whare kingi.

15 Na haere ana a Mororekai i te aroaro o te kingi, ko tona kakahu he kakahu kingi, he puru, he ma, me te karauna koura nui, me tetahi kakahu hoki he rinena pai, he papura. Na hamama ana, hari ana te pa, a Huhana.

16 Na ko nga Hurai i maha, i koa, me te hari me te honore.

17 I nga kawanatanga katoa ano, i nga pa katoa i nga wahi i tae ai te kupu a te kingi me tana ture, he hari, he koa to nga Hurai, he kai hakari, he ra pai. A he tokomaha o nga iwi o te whenua i mea i a ratou hei Hurai; i tau hoki te wehi o nga Hura i ki a ratou.

The King’s Edict in Behalf of the Jews

That same day King Xerxes gave Queen Esther the estate of Haman,(A) the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came into the presence of the king, for Esther had told how he was related to her. The king took off his signet ring,(B) which he had reclaimed from Haman, and presented it to Mordecai. And Esther appointed him over Haman’s estate.(C)

Esther again pleaded with the king, falling at his feet and weeping. She begged him to put an end to the evil plan of Haman the Agagite,(D) which he had devised against the Jews. Then the king extended the gold scepter(E) to Esther and she arose and stood before him.

“If it pleases the king,” she said, “and if he regards me with favor(F) and thinks it the right thing to do, and if he is pleased with me, let an order be written overruling the dispatches that Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, devised and wrote to destroy the Jews in all the king’s provinces. For how can I bear to see disaster fall on my people? How can I bear to see the destruction of my family?”(G)

King Xerxes replied to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Because Haman attacked the Jews, I have given his estate to Esther, and they have impaled(H) him on the pole he set up. Now write another decree(I) in the king’s name in behalf of the Jews as seems best to you, and seal(J) it with the king’s signet ring(K)—for no document written in the king’s name and sealed with his ring can be revoked.”(L)

At once the royal secretaries were summoned—on the twenty-third day of the third month, the month of Sivan. They wrote out all Mordecai’s orders to the Jews, and to the satraps, governors and nobles of the 127 provinces stretching from India to Cush.[a](M) These orders were written in the script of each province and the language of each people and also to the Jews in their own script and language.(N) 10 Mordecai wrote in the name of King Xerxes, sealed the dispatches with the king’s signet ring, and sent them by mounted couriers, who rode fast horses especially bred for the king.

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,[b] and to plunder(O) the property of their enemies. 12 The day appointed for the Jews to do this in all the provinces of King Xerxes was the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar.(P) 13 A copy of the text of the edict was to be issued as law in every province and made known to the people of every nationality so that the Jews would be ready on that day(Q) to avenge themselves on their enemies.

14 The couriers, riding the royal horses, went out, spurred on by the king’s command, and the edict was issued in the citadel of Susa.(R)

The Triumph of the Jews

15 When Mordecai(S) left the king’s presence, he was wearing royal garments of blue and white, a large crown of gold(T) and a purple robe of fine linen.(U) And the city of Susa held a joyous celebration.(V) 16 For the Jews it was a time of happiness and joy,(W) gladness and honor.(X) 17 In every province and in every city to which the edict of the king came, there was joy(Y) and gladness among the Jews, with feasting and celebrating. And many people of other nationalities became Jews because fear(Z) of the Jews had seized them.(AA)

Footnotes

  1. Esther 8:9 That is, the upper Nile region
  2. Esther 8:11 Or province, together with their women and children, who might attack them;