Esther 8

¹ That day, King Ahasuerus gave Queen Esther the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. Mordecai came before the king, because Esther had told him what he was to her.

² The king took off the ring he had taken from Haman and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther put Mordecai in charge of Haman’s house.

³ Esther spoke again before the king. She fell at his feet, wept, and pleaded with him to put an end to the evil of Haman the Agagite and the plan he had devised against the Jews.

⁴ The king held out the golden scepter to Esther. Esther rose and stood before the king.

⁵ She said, “If it pleases the king, and if I have found favor with him, and if the matter is right in the king’s eyes, and if I am pleasing in his sight, let it be written that the letters containing the plan of Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews in all the king’s provinces, be revoked.

⁶ For how could I bear to see the disaster that will befall my people? How could I bear to see the destruction of my family?”

⁷ King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and Mordecai the Jew, “Look, I have given Esther Haman’s house, and he has been hanged on the gallows because he raised his hand against the Jews.

⁸ As for you, write about the Jews whatever seems good to you in the king’s name, and seal it with the king’s ring. For a document written in the king’s name and sealed with the king’s ring cannot be revoked.”

⁹ The king’s scribes were summoned at that time, in the third month, the month of Sivan, on its twenty-third day. Everything Mordecai commanded was written to the Jews, the satraps, the governors, and the officials of the provinces from India to Cush—127 provinces—in the writing of each province and the language of each people, and to the Jews in their own writing and language.

¹⁰ He wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed it with the king’s ring. He sent letters by mounted couriers, riding the royal steeds bred from the royal mares.

¹¹ In them, the king granted the Jews in every city the right to assemble and defend their lives: to destroy, kill, and wipe out any armed force of any people or province that attacked them, including children and women, and to plunder their possessions.

¹² This was to happen on a single day throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus: the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar.

¹³ A copy of the document was to be issued as law in every province and made known to all the peoples, so that the Jews would be ready for that day to take vengeance on their enemies.

¹⁴ The couriers, riding the royal steeds, hurried out, driven on by the king’s command. The law was also issued in Susa the citadel.

¹⁵ Mordecai left the king’s presence wearing royal blue and white robes, a great golden crown, and a fine linen and purple mantle. The city of Susa shouted with joy and rejoiced.

¹⁶ For the Jews there was light and joy, gladness and honor.

¹⁷ In every province and every city, wherever the king’s command and law arrived, the Jews had joy and gladness, feasting and celebration. And many people of the land became Jews, because fear of the Jews had fallen upon them.

Read and listen to this chapter in the Shalem app, free: narration, chapter video and reading progress. Get the app