CHAPTER 8
That same
day
King
Xerxes
awarded
Queen
Esther
the estate
of Haman,
the enemy
of the Jews.
And Mordecai
entered
the king’s
presence
because
Esther
had revealed
his relation
to her.
The king
removed
the signet ring
he had recovered
from Haman
and presented it
to Mordecai.
And Esther
appointed
him
over
the estate
of Haman.
And once again,
Esther
addressed
the king.
She fell
at
his feet
weeping
and begged
him to revoke
the evil
scheme
of Haman
the Agagite,
which
he had devised
against
the Jews.
“If
it pleases
the king,”
she said,
“and if I have found
favor
in his sight,
and the matter
seems proper
to the king,
and I
am pleasing
in his sight,
may an order be written
to revoke
the letters
that the scheming
Haman
son
of Hammedatha,
the Agagite,
wrote
to destroy
the Jews
in all
the king's
provinces.
For
how
could I bear
to see
the disaster
that
would befall
my people?
How
could I bear
to see
the destruction
of my kindred?”
So King
Xerxes
said
to Esther
the Queen
and Mordecai
the Jew,
“Behold,
I have given
Haman’s
estate
to Esther,
and he was hanged
on
the gallows
because
he attacked
the Jews.
Now you
may write
in the king’s
name
as
you please
regarding
the Jews,
and seal it
with the royal
signet ring.
For a decree
that
is written
in the name
of the king
and sealed
with the royal
signet ring
cannot
be revoked."
At once
the royal
scribes
were summoned,
and on the twenty-third day
of the third
month
(
the month
of Sivan),
they recorded
all of
Mordecai's
orders
to
the Jews
and to
the satraps,
governors,
and princes
of the 127
provinces
from India
to
Cush—
writing to each province
in its own script,
to every people
in their own language,
and to
the Jews
in their own script
and language.
Mordecai wrote
in the name
of King
Xerxes
and sealed it
with the royal
signet ring.
He sent
the documents
by
mounted
couriers
riding on
swift horses
bred
from the royal
mares.
By these letters
the king
permitted
the Jews
in each
and every city
the right to assemble
and defend
themselves,
to destroy,
kill,
and annihilate
all
the forces
of any people
or province
hostile to them,
including women
and children,
and to plunder
their possessions.
The single
day appointed
throughout all
the provinces
of King
Xerxes
was the thirteenth
day of the twelfth
month,
the month
of Adar.
A copy
of the text,
issued
as law
throughout every
province,
was distributed
to all
the peoples,
so that the Jews
would be
prepared
on that
day
to avenge themselves
on their enemies.
The couriers
rode
out
in haste
on their royal
horses,
pressed on
by the command
of the king.
And the edict
was also issued
in the citadel
of Susa.
Mordecai
went out
from the presence
of the king
arrayed
in royal
purple
and white,
with a large
gold
crown
and a purple
robe
of fine linen.
And the city
of Susa
shouted
and rejoiced.
In every
province
and every
city,
wherever
the king’s
edict
and decree
reached,
there was joy
and gladness
among the Jews,
with feasting
and celebrating.
And many
of the people
of the land
themselves became Jews,
because
the fear
of the Jews
had fallen
upon them.