Esther 8:2-10

2Then the king took off his signet ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther put Mordecai in charge of Haman’s property.

3Esther spoke again to the king. She fell down at his feet crying and begged him to have mercy and to undo the evil plot of Haman, who was from Agag, and his conspiracy against the Jews.

4The king held out his golden scepter to Esther, and Esther got up and stood in front of the king.

5She said, “Your Majesty, if it pleases you, and if I have found favor with you, if you consider my cause to be reasonable and if I am pleasing to you, cancel the official orders ⌞concerning⌟ the plot of Haman (who was the son of Hammedatha and was from Agag). He signed ⌞the order⌟ to destroy the Jews in all your provinces, Your Majesty.

6I cannot bear to see my people suffer such evil. And I simply cannot bear to see the destruction of my relatives.”

7King Xerxes said to Queen Esther and Mordecai the Jew, “I have given Haman’s property to Esther, and Haman’s ⌞dead body⌟ was hung on the pole because he tried to kill the Jews.

8You write what you think is best for the Jews in the king’s name. Seal it also with the king’s signet ring, because whatever is written in the king’s name and sealed with the king’s signet ring cannot be canceled.”

9At that time on the twenty-third day of Sivan, the third month, the king’s scribes were summoned. What Mordecai had ordered was written to the Jews and to the satraps, governors, and officers of the 127 provinces from India to Sudan. It was written to each province in its own script, to each people in their own language, and to the Jews in their own script and their own language.

10Mordecai wrote in King Xerxes’ name and sealed the official documents with the king’s signet ring. Then he sent them by messengers who rode special horses bred for speed. ⌞He wrote⌟