1
On that day King Achashverosh gave the house of Haman, the adversary of the Yehudim, to Queen Ester. And Mordekhai came before the king, for Ester had made known what he was to her.
2
And the king removed his signet ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordekhai. And Ester set Mordekhai over the house of Haman.
3
Then Ester spoke again before the king. She fell before his feet and wept and sought favor before him to cause the evil of Haman the Agagite and the scheme which he had devised against the Yehudim to pass away.
4
And the king extended the golden scepter toward Ester. So Ester arose and stood before the king.
5
And she said: “If it is good before the king, and if I have found favor before him, and if the matter is upright before the king, and I am good in his eyes, let it be written to turn back the sefarim devised by Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Yehudim who are in all the king’s provinces.
6
For how can I endure to see the evil that shall come upon my people? And how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?”
7
Then King Achashverosh said to Queen Ester and to Mordekhai the Yehudi: “See, I have given the house of Haman to Ester, and they hanged him upon the tree because he stretched out his hand against the Yehudim.
8
And you yourselves write concerning the Yehudim as is good in your eyes, in the name of the king, and seal it with the king’s signet ring. For a writing which is written in the name of the king and sealed with the king’s signet ring cannot be turned back.”
9
Then the king’s scribes were called at that time, in the third month— that is, the month Sivan— on the twenty-third day of it. And it was written according to all that Mordekhai commanded, to the Yehudim, and to the satraps, and to the governors, and to the rulers of the provinces which were from Hodu to Kush— one hundred and twenty-seven provinces— to every province according to its writing, and to every people according to its tongue, and to the Yehudim according to their writing and according to their tongue.
10
And he wrote in the name of King Achashverosh and sealed it with the king’s signet ring. And he sent sefarim by the hand of mounted couriers, riders upon swift horses, upon royal steeds bred from the king’s stock.
11
In them the king gave to the Yehudim who were in every city the right to assemble and to stand for their lives— to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish every armed force of people or province that might attack them, little ones and women, and to plunder their possessions—
12
in one day throughout all the provinces of King Achashverosh, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month— that is, the month Adar.
13
A copy of the writing was to be given as law in every province, published to all peoples, that the Yehudim might be ready for that day to avenge themselves upon their enemies.
14
The couriers, riders upon the royal horses, went out hastened and pressed onward by the Word of the King. And the decree was given in Shushan the citadel.
15
Then Mordekhai went out from before the king in royal clothing of blue and white, with a great crown of gold and a garment of fine linen and purple. And the city of Shushan shouted and rejoiced.
16
For the Yehudim there was light, and joy, and gladness, and honor.
17
And in every province and in every city, wherever the Word of the King and his decree reached, there was joy and gladness among the Yehudim, a feast and a good day. And many from the peoples of the land declared themselves Yehudim, for fear of the Yehudim had fallen upon them.