Esth 8
1
On that day did the king Ahasuerus give 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.
2
And 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.
3
And Esther spoke yet again before the king, and fell down at his feet, and besought
him with tears to put away the mischief of Haman the Agagite, and his device that
he had devised against the Jews.
4
Then the king held out to Esther the golden sceptre. So Esther arose, and stood before
the king.
5
And she said, If it please the king, and if I have found favor in his sight, and the
thing seem right before the king, and I be 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 that are in all the king`s provinces:
6
for 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?
7
Then 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 upon the gallows,
because he laid his hand upon the Jews.
8
Write you also 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, may no man reverse.
9
Then were the king`s scribes called at that time, in the third month Sivan, on the
three and twentieth [day] thereof; 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 twenty and seven provinces, to every province
according to its writing, and to every people after their language, and to
the Jews according to their writing, and according to their language.
10
And he wrote the name of king Ahasuerus, and sealed it with the king`s ring, and sent
letters by post on horseback, riding on swift steeds that were used in the king`s
service, bred of the stud:
11
wherein the king granted the Jews that were in every city to gather themselves together,
and to stand for their life, to destroy, to slay, 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 the spoil of them for a prey,
12
upon one day in all the provinces of king Ahasuerus, [namely], upon the thirteenth
[day] of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar.
13
A 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 against that day to
avenge themselves on their enemies.
14
So the posts that rode upon 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.
15
And Mordecai went forth from the presence of the king in royal apparel 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.
16
The Jews had light and gladness, and joy and honor.
17
And 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 was fallen upon
them.