1That same day King Xerxes gave Queen Esther everything Haman had owned. Haman had been the enemy of the Jews. Esther had told the king that Mordecai was her cousin. So Mordecai came to see the king.2The king took his ring off. It had his royal mark on it. He had taken it back from Haman. Now he gave it to Mordecai. And Esther put Mordecai in charge of everything Haman had owned.3Esther made another appeal to the king. She fell at his feet and wept. She begged him to put an end to the evil plan of Haman, the Agagite. He had decided to kill the Jews.4The king reached out his gold sceptre towards Esther. She got up and stood in front of him.5She said, ‘King Xerxes, I hope you will think what I’m asking is the right thing to do. I hope you are pleased with me. If you are, and if it pleases you, let an order be written. Let it take the place of the messages Haman wrote. Haman was the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite. He planned to kill the Jews. He wrote orders to destroy us in all your territories.6I couldn’t stand by and see the horrible trouble that would fall on my people! I couldn’t stand to see my family destroyed!’7King Xerxes gave a reply to Queen Esther and Mordecai the Jew. He said, ‘Haman attacked the Jews. So I’ve given Esther everything he owned. My men have stuck a pole through his dead body. And they’ve set it up where everyone can see it.8Now write another order in my name. Do it for the benefit of the Jews. Do what seems best to you. Stamp the order with my royal mark. Nothing that is written in my name and stamped with my mark can ever be changed.’9Right away the king sent for the royal secretaries. It was the 23rd day of the third month. That was the month of Sivan. They wrote down all Mordecai’s orders to the Jews. They also wrote them to the royal officials, the governors and the nobles of the 127 territories in his kingdom. The territories reached from India all the way to Cush. The orders were written down in the writing of each territory. They were written in the language of each nation. They were also written to the Jews in their own writing and language.10Mordecai wrote the orders in the name of King Xerxes. He stamped them with the king’s royal mark. He sent them by messengers on horseback. They rode fast horses that were raised just for the king.11The Jews in every city could now gather together and fight for their lives. The king’s order gave them that right. But suppose soldiers from any nation or territory attacked them, their women or children. Then the Jews could destroy, kill and wipe out those soldiers. They could also take the goods that belonged to their enemies.12A day was appointed for the Jews to do that in all the king’s territories. It was the 13th day of the 12th month. That was the month of Adar.13A copy of the order was sent out as law in every territory. It was announced to the people of every nation. So the Jews would be ready on that day. They could pay back their enemies.14The messengers rode on the royal horses. They raced along. That’s what the king commanded them to do. The order was also sent out in the fort of Susa.
The Jews win the battle over their enemies
15Mordecai left the king and went on his way. Mordecai was wearing royal clothes when he went. They were blue and white. He was also wearing a large gold crown. And he was wearing a purple coat. It was made out of fine linen. The city of Susa celebrated with great joy.16The Jews were filled with joy and happiness. They were very glad because now they were being honoured.17They celebrated and enjoyed good food. They were glad and full of joy. That was true everywhere the king’s order came. It was true in every territory and every city. Many people from other nations announced that they had become Jews. That’s because they were so afraid of the Jews.
English Standard Version
Esther Saves the Jews
1On that day King Ahasuerus gave to Queen Esther the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told what he was to her.2And the king took off his signet ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.3Then Esther spoke again to the king. She fell at his feet and wept and pleaded with him to avert the evil plan of Haman the Agagite and the plot that he had devised against the Jews.4When the king held out the golden scepter to Esther, Esther rose and stood before the king.5And she said, “If it please the king, and if I have found favor in his sight, and if the thing seems right before the king, and I am pleasing in his eyes, let an order be written to revoke the letters devised by Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, which he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all the provinces of the king.6For how can I bear to see the calamity that is coming to my people? Or how can I bear to see the destruction of my kindred?”7Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and they have hanged him on the gallows,* because he intended to lay hands on the Jews.8But you may write as you please with regard to the Jews, in the name of the king, and seal it with the king’s ring, for an edict written in the name of the king and sealed with the king’s ring cannot be revoked.”9The king’s scribes were summoned at that time, in the third month, which is the month of Sivan, on the twenty-third day. And an edict was written, according to all that Mordecai commanded concerning the Jews, to the satraps and the governors and the officials of the provinces from India to Ethiopia, 127 provinces, to each province in its own script and to each people in its own language, and also to the Jews in their script and their language.10And he wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed it with the king’s signet ring. Then he sent the letters by mounted couriers riding on swift horses that were used in the king’s service, bred from the royal stud,11saying that the king allowed the Jews who were in every city to gather and defend their lives, to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate any armed force of any people or province that might attack them, children and women included, and to plunder their goods,12on one day throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar.13A copy of what was written was to be issued as a decree in every province, being publicly displayed to all peoples, and the Jews were to be ready on that day to take vengeance on their enemies.14So the couriers, mounted on their swift horses that were used in the king’s service, rode out hurriedly, urged by the king’s command. And the decree was issued in Susa the citadel.15Then Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal robes of blue and white, with a great golden crown* and a robe of fine linen and purple, and the city of Susa shouted and rejoiced.16The Jews had light and gladness and joy and honor.17And in every province and in every city, wherever the king’s command and his edict reached, there was gladness and joy among the Jews, a feast and a holiday. And many from the peoples of the country declared themselves Jews, for fear of the Jews had fallen on them.
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