³ Then Esther spoke again to the king, fell at his feet, wept, and implored him to ^[a]repeal the evil scheme of Haman the Agagite and his scheme which he had devised against the Jews. ^4 (A)And the king extended the golden scepter to Esther. So Esther arose and stood before the king. ⁵ Then she said, “^(B)If it seems good to the king, and if I have found favor before him and the matter seems proper to the king and I am good in his eyes, let it be written to turn back the ^(C)letters devised by Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to cause the Jews who are in all the king’s provinces to perish. ⁶ For ^(D)how can I endure to see the calamity which will befall my people, and how can I endure to see the perishing of my kinsmen?”

The King’s Decree Avenges the Jews

⁷ So King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Behold, ^(E)I have given the house of Haman to Esther, and him they have hanged on the ^[b]gallows because he had sent forth his hand against the Jews. ⁸ Now you write to the Jews, according to what is good in your eyes, in the king’s name, and ^(F)seal it with the king’s signet ring; for a written decree which is written in the name of the king and sealed with the king’s signet ring ^(G)may not be turned back.”

^9 (H)So the king’s scribes were called at that time in the third month (that is, the month Sivan), on the twenty-third ^[c]day; and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded to the Jews, the satraps, the governors, and the princes of the provinces which extended ^(I)from India to ^[d]Ethiopia, 127 provinces, to ^(J)every province according to its script, and to every people according to their tongue as well as to the Jews according to their script and their tongue. ¹⁰ And he wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed it with the king’s signet ring and sent letters by the hand of couriers on ^(K)horses, riding on steeds sired by the ^[e]royal stud. ^11 [f]In them the king gave the Jews who were in each and every city the right ^(L)to assemble and to make a stand for their lives, ^(M)to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish the entire military force of any people or province which would act as their adversaries, including little ones and women, and ^(N)to plunder their spoil, ¹² on ^(O)one day in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month (that is, the month Adar). ^13 (P)A copy of that which was written down to be given as law in each and every province was revealed to all the peoples, so that the Jews would be ready for this day to avenge themselves on their enemies. ¹⁴ The couriers, hurried and hastened by the king’s word, went out, riding on the royal steeds; and the law was given out at the citadel in Susa.

¹⁵ Then Mordecai went out from the presence of the king ^(Q)in royal robes of ^[g]blue and fine white, with a large crown of gold and ^(R)a garment of fine linen and purple; and ^(S)the city of Susa cried aloud and was glad. ¹⁶ For the Jews there was ^(T)light and gladness and joy and honor. ¹⁷ And in each and every province and in each and every city, wherever the king’s word and his law reached, there was gladness and joy for the Jews, a feast and a ^[h](U)holiday. And ^(V)many among the peoples of the land became Jews, for the dread of the Jews had fallen on them.