1.
On that day, King Ahasuerus gave Queen Esther the house of Haman the adversary of the Jews, and Mordecai came before the king, because Esther had told him what he was to her.
2.
And the king took off his ring, which he had removed from Haman and gave it to Mordecai, and Esther placed Mordecai in charge of the house of Haman.
3.
And Esther resumed speaking before the king, and she fell before his feet, and she wept and beseeched him to avert the harm of Haman the Agagite and his device that he had plotted against the Jews.
4.
Then the king extended the golden scepter to Esther, and Esther arose and stood before the king.
5.
And she said, "If it please the king, and if I have found favor before him, and the matter is proper before the king, and I am good in his sight, let it be written to rescind the letters, the device of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all the king's provinces.
6.
For how can I see the evil that will befall my people, and how can I see the destruction of my kindred?"
7.
Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, "Behold the house of Haman I have given to Esther, and they have hanged him on the gallows because he laid a hand on the Jews.
8.
And you-write about the Jews as you see fit, in the name of the king, and seal [it] with the king's ring, for a writ that is written in the name of the king and sealed with the king's ring cannot be rescinded."
9.
And the king's scribes were summoned at that time, in the third month-that is the month of Sivan-on the twenty-third day thereof, and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded, to the Jews and to the satraps and the governors, and the princes of the provinces from Hodu to Cush, a hundred and twenty-seven provinces, every province according to its script and every nationality according to its tongue, and to the Jews according to their script and according to their tongue.
10.
And he wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed it with the king's ring, and he sent letters by the couriers on horseback, the riders of the king's steeds-the camels, bred of the dromedaries
11.
that the king had given to the Jews who are in every city, [the right] to assemble and to protect themselves, to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish the entire host of every people and province that oppress them, small children and women, and to take their spoils for plunder.
12.
In one day, in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar.
13.
The copy of the writ was that an edict be given in every province, published before all the peoples, and that the Jews be ready for that day, to avenge themselves upon their enemies.
14.
The couriers, those who ride the king's steeds, the camels, went out hastened and pressed by the king's order, and the edict was given in Shushan the capital.
15.
And Mordecai left the king's presence with royal raiment, blue and white and a huge golden crown and a wrap of linen and purple, and the city of Shushan shouted and rejoiced.
16.
The Jews had light and joy, and gladness and honor.
17.
And in every province and in every city, wherever the king's order and his edict reached, [there was] joy and gladness for the Jews, a banquet and a festive day, and many of the peoples of the land became Jews because the fear of the Jews was upon them.
