3
And Esther spoke yet again before the king and fell down at his feet and besought him with tears to put away the evil of Haman, the Agagite, and his device that he had devised against the Jews.
4
Then the king held out the golden sceptre toward Esther. So Esther arose and stood before the king,
5
And said, If it pleases the king and if I have found grace in his sight and if the thing is right before the king and if I am good 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 who
are in all the king’s provinces.
6
For how can I endure to see the evil that shall come unto my people? How can I endure to see the destruction of my nation?
7
Then King Ahasuerus said unto Esther, the queen, and to Mordecai, the Jew, Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and they have hanged him upon the gallows because he extended his hand against the Jews.
8
Write ye also for 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 not be revoked.
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 thereof; and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded unto the Jews and to the lieutenants and the captains and the princes of the provinces which
are from India unto Ethiopia, one hundred and twenty-seven provinces, unto each province according to the writing thereof, and unto each people after their language, and to the Jews according to their writing, and according to their language.
10
And he wrote in King Ahasuerus’s name and sealed
it with the king’s ring and sent letters by posts on horseback,
and riders on mules, mules that were born of mares,
11
that the king granted
power to the Jews who
were in all the cities to gather themselves together and to stand for their life, to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish any army of the people or province that would assault them,
and even their little ones and women, and
to take the spoil of them for a prey,
12
upon the same day in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus,
namely, upon the thirteenth
day of the twelfth month, which
is the month Adar.
13
The copy of the writing which was to be given as law in each province
was published unto all people and
said that the Jews should be ready against that day to avenge themselves of their enemies.