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But realizing that the king had provided these things to him as a reward instead of for his salvation, for revealing the plot of the eunuchs, he puts on the purple robe and places the necklace around his neck, and mounting the horse, he went around the city in a circle, with Haman going ahead and proclaiming that thus the king honors whom he would love. So, after going around the city, he returns to the king, but Haman returned home and tearfully recounted the events to his wife. Meanwhile, eunuchs came from Esther, hurrying Haman to the dinner. And one of these, seeing the stake in his house, and learning from one of the servants that they had prepared this against Mordecai for a punishment that would be requested, he then departed, but when the banquet was nearing its end, the king permitted the queen to say what she requested, and she lamented the danger of her people, and said that she herself, along with her nation, had been given over to destruction, and that Haman had brought these things about by his request. And when the king was agitated at this and had leapt up from the symposium, Haman began to plead with Esther; and as he fell upon the couch and was supplicating the queen, the king came back in and said, "O most wicked one, are you also attempting to violate my wife?" Meanwhile, the eunuch who was present spoke about the stake which he had seen prepared for Mordecai. 1.282 And the king immediately commanded Haman to be hung on that stake. And so he was destroyed, and the queen received his property as a gift. And when the king learned of Mordecai's kinship with Esther, he gives him the ring which he had previously given to Haman. And the queen granted his possession to Mordecai, and she pleaded with the king to deliver the nation of the Hebrews from danger. And he permitted her to write what she wished in his name concerning the nation. And the things written were of this sort. They accused Haman of being wicked and ungrateful and of having requested the destruction of a nation that had done no wrong, but they called Mordecai a savior, and the Jews people who lived in the best manner and revered God, and not only did they release them from the punishment to which Haman had consigned them by his request, but they also deemed them worthy of honor and permitted them to live in peace, using their own laws, and they gave them leave to defend themselves on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is Adar, against those who wronged them, and they ordered the satraps of the regions to help them, so that they might pursue their enemies. And the Jews in Susa, learning the things concerning Mordecai, considered the good fortune to be a common one, and on the thirteenth of the month Adar, which is called Dystros according to the Macedonians, the Jews in Susa killed about five hundred of their enemies, and those in the other cities and regions destroyed seventy-five thousand. And those in Susa also destroyed three hundred on the following day, as Esther had requested this; and the ten 1.283 sons of Haman were impaled, the king having granted this also to her. And the entire nation made the fourteenth day of the month a festival day. And from then on they celebrate both days, calling them Phrouraia. And Mordecai was great and administered the rule jointly with the king. And when the high priesthood had passed to Joannes the son of Joda, his brother Jesus, who was a friend of Bagoas the general of Artaxerxes' force, received a promise to take the high priesthood. For this reason, therefore, Joannes was provoked and killed his brother in the temple. And Bagoas immediately appeared and entered the temple, saying, "If those who dared the murder in the temple enter into it, I too will enter, being purer than them," and for seven years he afflicted the Jews. And when Joannes ended his life, his son Jaddua succeeds to the high priesthood. And he also had a brother Manasses, to whom Sanaballetes, satrap of Darius the last king of the Persians, gave his own daughter in marriage, who was called Nicaso. But the chief men of the Jerusalemites were in an uproar, because the one of the high priest had married a foreigner

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γνοὺς δὲ ὡς γέρας αὐτῷ ταῦτα ἀντὶ τῆς σωτηρίας παρέσχεν ὁ βασιλεύς, μηνύσαντι τὴν τῶν εὐνούχων ἐπιβουλήν, ἐνδύεται τὴν πορφύραν καὶ περιτίθεται τὸ περιαυχένιον, καὶ ἐπιβὰς τὸν ιππον ἐν κύκλῳ περιῄει τὴν πόλιν, προϊόντος ̓Αμὰν καὶ κηρύσσοντος οτι ουτως τιμᾷ βασιλεὺς ον αν στέρξῃ. ̔Ο μὲν ουν τὴν πόλιν περιελθὼν πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα ἐπάνεισιν, ̓Αμὰν δὲ οικοι ὑπέστρεψε καὶ τὰ συμβάντα κλαίων τῇ γυναικὶ διηγεῖτο. ἐν τούτοις ηκον ἐκ τῆς ̓Εσθὴρ εὐνοῦχοι, ἐπὶ τὸ δεῖπνον τὸν ̓Αμὰν ἐπισπεύδοντες. εις δὲ τούτων ἰδὼν τὸν σταυρὸν ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ αὐτοῦ, καὶ μαθὼν παρά του τῶν οἰκετῶν ὡς ἐπὶ Μαρδοχαῖον τοῦτον ἡτοίμασαν πρὸς τιμωρίαν αἰτηθησόμενον, τότε μὲν ἀπῆλθεν, ὡς δ' ἡ εὐωχία πρὸς τέλος ην, ἐπέτρεπε τῇ βασιλίσσῃ λέγειν ὁ βασιλεὺς τίνα αἰτεῖ, ἡ δὲ τὸν τοῦ λαοῦ κίνδυνον ἀπωδύρετο, καὶ μετὰ τοῦ εθνους ελεγεν ἐκδεδόσθαι καὶ αὐτὴ πρὸς ἀπώλειαν, καὶ τὸν ̓Αμὰν ταῦτα ἐπῆγεν αἰτήσασθαι. ταραχθέντος δὲ πρὸς τοῦτο τοῦ βασιλέως καὶ ἐκπεπηδηκότος τοῦ συμποσίου, τῆς ̓Εσθὴρ ὁ ̓Αμὰν ἐδέετο· καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς κλίνης πεσόντος καὶ ἱκετεύοντος τὴν βασίλισσαν, ἐπεισελθὼν ὁ βασιλεύς "ω κάκιστε" ειπε, "καὶ βιάζεσθαί μου τὴν γυναῖκα ἐπιχειρεῖς;" ἐν τούτοις παρὼν ὁ εὐνοῦχος περὶ τοῦ σταυροῦ ειπεν ον ειδεν ἐπὶ Μαρδοχαῖον ἡτοιμασμένον. 1.282 καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς αὐτίκα κελεύει τὸν ̓Αμὰν ἐπ' ἐκείνου τοῦ σταυροῦ κρεμασθῆναι. καὶ ὁ μὲν ουτως ἀπώλετο, τὴν δὲ οὐσίαν αὐτοῦ δῶρον εσχηκεν ἡ βασίλισσα. γνοὺς δὲ τὴν πρὸς ̓Εσθὴρ τοῦ Μαρδοχαίου συγγένειαν ὁ βασιλεὺς δίδωσιν αὐτῷ τὸν δακτύλιον ον εδωκε πρὶν τῷ ̓Αμάν. καὶ ἡ βασίλισσα τὴν ἐκείνου κτῆσιν τῷ Μαρδοχαίῳ παρέσχετο, καὶ τοῦ κινδύνου ἀπαλλάξαι τὸ τῶν ̔Εβραίων εθνος τοῦ βασιλέως ἐδέετο. καὶ ος γράφειν α βούλεται ἐξ ὀνόματος αὐτοῦ ἐφῆκε περὶ τοῦ εθνους. τὰ δὲ γραφέντα ησαν τοιαῦτα. τοῦ μὲν ̓Αμὰν κατηγόρουν ὡς πονηροῦ καὶ ἀγνώμονος καὶ αἰτησαμένου εθνους ἀπώλειαν μηδὲν ἀδικήσαντος, τὸν δέ γε Μαρδοχαῖον σωτῆρα ἐκάλουν, καὶ τοὺς ̓Ιουδαίους τὸν αριστον πολιτευομένους τρόπον καὶ τὸν θεὸν σεβομένους, καὶ οὐ μόνον σφᾶς τῆς τιμωρίας ἀπέλυον εἰς ην ὁ ̓Αμὰν αὐτοὺς ἐξῃτήσατο, ἀλλὰ καὶ τιμῆς ἠξίουν καὶ τοῖς ἰδίοις νόμοις χρωμένους ζῆν μετ' εἰρήνης ἐπέτρεπον, καὶ ἐδίδουν ἀμύνεσθαι τῇ τρισκαιδεκάτῃ ἡμέρᾳ τοῦ δωδεκάτου μηνός, ος ἐστιν Αδαρ, τοὺς αὐτοὺς ἀδικήσαντας, καὶ τοῖς τῶν χωρῶν σατράπαις ἐκέλευον βοηθεῖν αὐτοῖς, ινα τοὺς ἐχθροὺς μετελεύσονται. Οἱ δὲ ἐν Σούσοις ̓Ιουδαῖοι τὰ κατὰ τὸν Μαρδοχαῖον γνόντες, κοινὴν τὴν εὐπραγίαν ἡγήσαντο, καὶ κατὰ τὴν τρισκαιδεκάτην τοῦ Αδαρ μηνός, ος κατὰ Μακεδόνας ∆ύστρος ὠνόμασται, οι τε ἐν Σούσοις ̓Ιουδαῖοι περὶ πεντακοσίους ἀπέκτειναν τῶν ἐχθρῶν, καὶ οἱ ἐν ταῖς αλλαις πόλεσί τε καὶ χώραις ἑπτακισμυρίους καὶ πεντακισχιλίους ἀπώλεσαν. οἱ δ' ἐν Σούσοις καὶ τῇ ἑξῆς ἡμέρᾳ τριακοσίους διέφθειραν, τοῦτο αἰτησαμένης ̓Εσθήρ· καὶ οἱ δέκα τοῦ ̓Αμὰν 1.283 παῖδες ἀνεσταυρώθησαν, χαρισαμένου καὶ τοῦτο τοῦ βασιλέως αὐτῇ. τὴν δὲ τεσσαρεσκαιδεκάτην τοῦ μηνὸς ἑορτάσιμον τὸ εθνος απαν ἐποίησε. καὶ εκτοτε τὰς ἡμέρας καὶ αμφω ἑορτάζουσι, φρουραίας ταύτας προσαγορεύοντες. ὁ δὲ Μαρδοχαῖος μέγας τε ην καὶ συνδιεῖπε τῷ βασιλεῖ τὴν ἀρχήν. Τῆς δ' ἀρχιερωσύνης εἰς ̓Ιωάνναν μεταπεσούσης τὸν υἱὸν ̓Ιωδαέ, ὁ ἀδελφὸς αὐτοῦ ̓Ιησοῦς, φίλος ω Βαγώα τοῦ στρατηγοῦ τῆς ̓Αρταξέρξου δυνάμεως, ὑπόσχεσιν εσχε τὴν ἀρχιερωσύνην λαβεῖν. διὰ ταύτην γοῦν τὴν αἰτίαν ὁ ̓Ιωάννας παροξυνθεὶς ἐν τῷ ναῷ ἀνεῖλε τὸν ἀδελφόν. καὶ ὁ Βαγώας εὐθὺς ἐπιστὰς εἰς τὸν ναόν τε εἰσῆλθεν εἰπὼν ὡς "εἰ οἱ τὸν φόνον ἐν τῷ ναῷ τολμήσαντες εἰσέρχονται ἐν αὐτῷ, κἀγὼ εἰσελεύσομαι καθαρώτερος τυγχάνων αὐτῶν," καὶ ἐπ' ετεσιν ἑπτὰ τοὺς ̓Ιουδαίους ἐκάκωσε. τοῦ ̓Ιωάννα δὲ τὴν ζωὴν καταστρέψαντος διαδέχεται τὴν ἀρχιερωσύνην ὁ υἱὸς αὐτοῦ ̓Ιωάδ. ην δὲ καὶ τούτῳ ἀδελφὸς Μανασσῆς, ῳ Σαναβαλέτης σατράπης ∆αρείου τοῦ τελευταίου βασιλέως Περσῶν τὴν ἑαυτοῦ θυγατέρα συνῴκισε, Νικασὼ καλουμένην. οἱ δὲ τῶν ̔Ιεροσολυμιτῶν λογάδες ἐστασίαζον, οτι ἀλλοφύλῳ συνῴκησεν ὁ τοῦ ἀρχιερέως