1On that day the king Ahasuerus gave the house of Haman the Jews’ enemy to Esther the queen. And Mordecai came before the king; for Esther had told what he was to her. 2And the king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman. 3And Esther spoke yet again before the king, and fell down at his feet, and implored him with tears to put away the evil of Haman the Agagite, and his scheme that he had devised against the Jews. 4Then the king held out to Esther the golden scepter. So Esther arose, and stood before the king. 5And she said, If it pleases the king, and if I have found favor in his sight, and the thing seems right before the king, and I am pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to reverse the letters devised by Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all the king’s provinces: 6for how can I endure to see the evil that shall come to my people? or how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred? 7Then the king Ahasuerus said to Esther the queen and to Mordecai the Jew, Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and him they have hanged on the gallows, because he laid his hand on the Jews. 8You also write to the Jews, as it pleases you, in the king’s name, and seal it with the king’s ring; for the writing which is written in the king’s name, and sealed with the king’s ring, no man may reverse. 9Then the king’s scribes were called at that time, in the third month, which is the month Sivan, on its twenty-third day; and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded to the Jews, and to the satraps, and the governors and princes of the provinces which are from India to Ethiopia, a hundred and twenty-seven provinces, to every province according to its script, and to every people according to their language, and to the Jews according to their script, and according to their language. 10And he wrote in the name of king Ahasuerus, and sealed it with the king’s ring, and sent letters by couriers on horseback, riding on swift steeds that were used in the king’s service, bred from the royal stud: 11in which the king granted the Jews who were in every city to gather themselves together, and to stand for their life, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all the power of the people and province that would assault them, their little ones and women, and to take their spoil for a prey, 12on one day in all the provinces of king Ahasuerus, namely, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar. 13A copy of the writing, that the decree should be given out in every province, was published to all the peoples, and that the Jews should be ready for that day to avenge themselves on their enemies. 14So the couriers who rode on swift steeds that were used in the king’s service went out, being hastened and pressed on by the king’s commandment; and the decree was given out in Shushan the palace. 15And Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal clothing of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a robe of fine linen and purple: and the city of Shushan shouted and was glad. 16The Jews had light and gladness, and joy and honor. 17And in every province, and in every city, wherever the king’s commandment and his decree came, the Jews had gladness and joy, a feast and a good day. And many from among the peoples of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews had fallen on them.