⁶ And ^(A)the tongue is a fire, a world of ^[a]iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it ^(B)defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of ^[b]nature; and it is set on fire by ^[c]hell.

¹⁵ Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that same poor man.

Sennacherib’s Defeat and Death^(A)

^20 (B)Now because of this King Hezekiah and ^(C)the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amoz, prayed and cried out to heaven. ^21 (D)Then the Lord sent an angel who cut down every mighty man of valor, leader, and captain in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned ^(E)shamefaced to his own land. And when he had gone into the temple of his god, some of his own offspring struck him down with the sword there.

²² Thus the Lord saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria, and from the hand of all others, and ^[a]guided them on every side.

The Jews Destroy Their Tormentors

9 Now ^(A)in the twelfth month, that is, the month of Adar, on the thirteenth day, ^(B)the time came for the king’s command and his decree to be executed. On the day that the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, the opposite occurred, in that the Jews themselves ^(C)overpowered those who hated them. ² The Jews ^(D)gathered together in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to lay hands on those who ^(E)sought their harm. And no one could withstand them, ^(F)because fear of them fell upon all people. ³ And all the officials of the provinces, the satraps, the governors, and all those doing the king’s work, helped the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai fell upon them. ⁴ For Mordecai was great in the king’s palace, and his fame spread throughout all the provinces; for this man Mordecai ^(G)became increasingly prominent. ⁵ Thus the Jews defeated all their enemies with the stroke of the sword, with slaughter and destruction, and did what they pleased with those who hated them.

⁶ And in ^(H)Shushan^[a] the ^[b]citadel the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men. ⁷ Also Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, ⁸ Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, ⁹ Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vajezatha— ^10 (I)the ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews—they killed; ^(J)but they did not lay a hand on the ^[c]plunder.

¹¹ On that day the number of those who were killed in ^[d]Shushan the ^[e]citadel ^[f]was brought to the king. ¹² And the king said to Queen Esther, “The Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men in Shushan the citadel, and the ten sons of Haman. What have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces? Now ^(K)what is your petition? It shall be granted to you. Or what is your further request? It shall be done.”

¹³ Then Esther said, “If it pleases the king, let it be granted to the Jews who are in Shushan to do again tomorrow ^(L)according to today’s decree, and let Haman’s ten sons ^(M)be hanged on the gallows.”

¹⁴ So the king commanded this to be done; the decree was issued in Shushan, and they hanged Haman’s ten sons.

¹⁵ And the Jews who were in ^[g]Shushan ^(N)gathered together again on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar and killed three hundred men at Shushan; ^(O)but they did not lay a hand on the plunder.

¹⁶ The remainder of the Jews in the king’s provinces ^(P)gathered together and protected their lives, had rest from their enemies, and killed seventy-five thousand of their enemies; ^(Q)but they did not lay a hand on the plunder.

⁸ Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of your kingdom; ^(A)their laws are different from all other people’s, and they do not keep the king’s laws. Therefore it is not fitting for the king to let them remain. ⁹ If it pleases the king, let a decree be written that they be destroyed, and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who do the work, to bring it into the king’s treasuries.”

¹⁰ So the king ^(B)took ^(C)his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the ^(D)enemy of the Jews. ¹¹ And the king said to Haman, “The money and the people are given to you, to do with them as seems good to you.”

^12 (E)Then the king’s scribes were called on the thirteenth day of the first month, and a decree was written according to all that Haman commanded—to the king’s satraps, to the governors who were over each province, to the officials of all people, to every province ^(F)according to its script, and to every people in their language. ^(G)In the name of King Ahasuerus it was written, and sealed with the king’s signet ring. ¹³ And the letters were ^(H)sent by couriers into all the king’s provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all the Jews, both young and old, little children and women, ^(I)in one day, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, and ^(J)to plunder their ^[a]possessions. ^14 (K)A copy of the document was to be issued as law in every province, being published for all people, that they should be ready for that day. ¹⁵ The couriers went out, hastened by the king’s command; and the decree was proclaimed in ^[b]Shushan the ^[c]citadel. So the king and Haman sat down to drink, but ^(L)the city of Shushan was ^[d]perplexed.