30
Then the king went back into the city and called for the official in charge of the treasury. He ordered him to supply the Jews with wines and everything else needed for a seven-day festival. The king decided that the Jews should celebrate their rescue with all joy in the same place where they thought they would meet destruction.
31
So the people who previously had been disgraced and stood near death—at its very brink!—prepared for a festival of deliverance instead of a bitter and most mournful fate. The place that had been prepared for their ruin and burial was joyfully divided up among people in celebration.
32
They stopped singing their sad songs of lament and took up an ancient hymn in praise of their rescuer, the wonder-working God. They threw aside all weeping and wailing and instead sang songs in organized groups as a sign of peaceful joy.
33
The king also assembled a huge banquet because of these events. He kept giving generous praise to heaven for the remarkable rescue that he had experienced.
34
Those who had previously believed that the Jews would be destroyed and would become food for the birds, and who had drawn up the lists of their names and goods with delight, now groaned. For they were clothed with shame, and the fire of their boldness had been thoroughly doused.