Esther 8

Mordecai Promoted

1On that day King Ahasuerus gave the house of Haman, 1the enemy of the Jews, to Queen Esther; and Mordecai came before the king, because Esther had disclosed 2what he was to her. 2Then 3the king took off his signet ring, which he had taken away from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.

3Then Esther spoke again 4to the king, fell at his feet, wept, and pleaded for his compassion to avert the evil scheme of Haman the Agagite and his plot which he had devised against the Jews. 4And 5the king extended the golden scepter to Esther. So Esther got up and stood before the king. 5Then she said, “6If it pleases the king and if I have found favor before him, and the matter seems proper to the king and I am pleasing in his sight, let it be written to revoke the 7letters devised by Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to eliminate the Jews who are in all the king’s provinces. 6For 8how can I endure to see the disaster which will happen to my people, and how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?” 7So King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Behold, 9I have given the house of Haman to Esther, and they have hanged him on the wooden gallows because he had reached out with his hand against the Jews.

The King’s Decree Avenges the Jews

8Now you write to the Jews 10as you see fit, in the king’s name, and 11seal it with the king’s signet ring; for a decree which is written in the name of the king and sealed with the king’s signet ring 12may not be revoked.”

913So the king’s scribes were summoned at that time in the third month (that is, the month Sivan), on the twenty-third 14day; and it was written in accordance with everything that Mordecai commanded the Jews, the satraps, the governors, and the officials of the provinces which extended 15from India to 16Cush, 127 provinces, to 17every province according to its script, and to every people according to their language, as well as to the Jews according to their script and their language. 10He wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus, and sealed it with the king’s signet ring, and sent letters by couriers on 18horses, riding on royal relay horses, offspring of racing mares. 1119In the letters the king granted the Jews who were in each and every city the right 20to assemble and to defend their lives, 21to destroy, kill, and eliminate the entire army of any people or province which was going to attack them, including children and women, and 22to plunder their spoils, 12on 23one day in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month (that is, the month Adar). 1324A copy of the edict to be 25issued as law in each and every province was published to all the peoples, so that the Jews would be ready for this day to avenge themselves on their enemies. 14The couriers, hurrying and speeded by the king’s command, left, riding on the royal relay horses; and the decree was issued at the citadel in Susa.

15Then Mordecai went out from the presence of the king 26in a royal robe of violet and white, with a large crown of gold and 27a garment of fine linen and purple; and 28the city of Susa shouted and rejoiced. 16For the Jews there was 29light, joy, jubilation, and honor. 17In each and every province and in each and every city, wherever the king’s commandment and his decree arrived, there was joy and jubilation for the Jews, a feast and a 3031holiday. And 32many among the peoples of the land 33became Jews, because the dread of the Jews had fallen on them.