Esther 6; Esther 7; Esther 8; Esther 9; Esther 10

1 That same night the king could not get to sleep, so he had the official records of the empire brought and read to him.

2 The part they read included the account of how Mordecai had uncovered a plot to assassinate the king - the plot made by Bigthana and Teresh, the two palace eunuchs who had guarded the king's rooms.

3 The king asked, "How have we honored and rewarded Mordecai for this?" His servants answered, "Nothing has been done for him."

4 "Are any of my officials in the palace?" the king asked. Now Haman had just entered the courtyard; he had come to ask the king to have Mordecai hanged on the gallows that was now ready.

5 So the servants answered, "Haman is here, waiting to see you." "Show him in," said the king.

6 So Haman came in, and the king said to him, "There is someone I wish very much to honor. What should I do for this man?" Haman thought to himself, "Now who could the king want to honor so much? Me, of course."

7 So he answered the king, "Have royal robes brought for this man - robes that you yourself wear. Have a royal ornament put on your own horse.

9 Then have one of your highest noblemen dress the man in these robes and lead him, mounted on the horse, through the city square. Have the nobleman announce as they go: "See how the king rewards someone he wishes to honor!' "

10 Then the king said to Haman, "Hurry and get the robes and the horse, and provide these honors for Mordecai the Jew. Do everything for him that you have suggested. You will find him sitting at the entrance of the palace."

11 So Haman got the robes and the horse, and he put the robes on Mordecai. Mordecai got on the horse, and Haman led him through the city square, announcing to the people as they went: "See how the king rewards a man he wishes to honor!"

12 Mordecai then went back to the palace entrance while Haman hurried home, covering his face in embarrassment.

13 He told his wife and all his friends everything that had happened to him. Then she and those wise friends of his told him, "You are beginning to lose power to Mordecai. He is a Jew, and you cannot overcome him. He will certainly defeat you."

14 While they were still talking, the palace eunuchs arrived in a hurry to take Haman to Esther's banquet.

1 And so the king and Haman went to eat with Esther

2 for a second time. Over the wine the king asked her again, "Now, Queen Esther, what do you want? Tell me and you shall have it. I'll even give you half the empire."

3 Queen Esther answered, "If it please Your Majesty to grant my humble request, my wish is that I may live and that my people may live.

4 My people and I have been sold for slaughter. If it were nothing more serious than being sold into slavery, I would have kept quiet and not bothered you about it; but we are about to be destroyed - exterminated!"

5 Then King Xerxes asked Queen Esther, "Who dares to do such a thing? Where is this man?"

6 Esther answered, "Our enemy, our persecutor, is this evil man Haman!" Haman faced the king and queen with terror.

7 The king got up in a fury, left the room, and went outside to the palace gardens. Haman could see that the king was determined to punish him for this, so he stayed behind to beg Queen Esther for his life.

8 He had just thrown himself down on Esther's couch to beg for mercy, when the king came back into the room from the gardens. Seeing this, the king cried out, "Is this man going to rape the queen right here in front of me, in my own palace?" The king had no sooner said this than the eunuchs covered Haman's head.

9 Then one of them, who was named Harbonah, said, "Haman even went so far as to build a gallows at his house so that he could hang Mordecai, who saved Your Majesty's life. And it's seventy-five feet tall!" "Hang Haman on it!" the king commanded.

10 So Haman was hanged on the gallows that he had built for Mordecai. Then the king's anger cooled down.

1 That same day King Xerxes gave Queen Esther all the property of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. Esther told the king that Mordecai was related to her, and from then on Mordecai was allowed to enter the king's presence.

2 The king took off his ring with his seal on it (which he had taken back from Haman) and gave it to Mordecai. Esther put Mordecai in charge of Haman's property.

3 Then Esther spoke to the king again, throwing herself at his feet and crying. She begged him to do something to stop the evil plot that Haman, the descendant of Agag, had made against the Jews.

4 The king held out the gold scepter to her, so she stood up and said,

5 "If it please Your Majesty, and if you care about me and if it seems right to you, please issue a proclamation to keep Haman's orders from being carried out - those orders that the son of Hammedatha the descendant of Agag gave for the destruction of all the Jews in the empire.

6 How can I endure it if this disaster comes on my people, and my own relatives are killed?"

7 King Xerxes then said to Queen Esther and Mordecai, the Jew, "Look, I have hanged Haman for his plot against the Jews, and I have given Esther his property.

8 But a proclamation issued in the king's name and stamped with the royal seal cannot be revoked. You may, however, write to the Jews whatever you like; and you may write it in my name and stamp it with the royal seal."

9 This happened on the twenty-third day of the third month, the month of Sivan. Mordecai called the king's secretaries and dictated letters to the Jews and to the governors, administrators, and officials of all the 127 provinces from India to Ethiopia. The letters were written to each province in its own language and system of writing and to the Jews in their language and system of writing.

10 Mordecai had the letters written in the name of King Xerxes, and he stamped them with the royal seal. They were delivered by riders mounted on fast horses from the royal stables.

11 These letters explained that the king would allow the Jews in every city to organize for self-defense. If armed men of any nationality in any province attacked the Jewish men, their children, or their women, the Jews could fight back and destroy the attackers; they could slaughter them to the last man and take their possessions.

12 This decree was to take effect throughout the Persian Empire on the day set for the slaughter of the Jews, the thirteenth of Adar, the twelfth month.

13 It was to be proclaimed as law and made known to everyone in every province, so that the Jews would be ready to take revenge on their enemies when that day came.

14 At the king's command the riders mounted royal horses and rode off at top speed. The decree was also made public in Susa, the capital city.

15 Mordecai left the palace, wearing royal robes of blue and white, a cloak of fine purple linen, and a magnificent gold crown. Then the streets of Susa rang with cheers and joyful shouts.

16 For the Jews there was joy and relief, happiness and a sense of victory.

17 In every city and province, wherever the king's proclamation was read, the Jews held a joyful holiday with feasting and happiness. In fact, many other people became Jews, because they were afraid of them now.

1 The thirteenth day of Adar came, the day on which the royal proclamation was to take effect, the day when the enemies of the Jews were hoping to get them in their power. But instead, the Jews triumphed over them.

2 In the Jewish quarter of every city in the empire the Jews organized to attack anyone who tried to harm them. People everywhere were afraid of them, and no one could stand against them.

3 In fact, all the provincial officials - governors, administrators, and royal representatives - helped the Jews because they were all afraid of Mordecai.

4 It was well-known throughout the empire that Mordecai was now a powerful man in the palace and was growing more powerful.

5 So the Jews could do what they wanted with their enemies. They attacked them with swords and slaughtered them.

6 In Susa, the capital city itself, the Jews killed five hundred people.

7 Among them were the ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews: Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha. However, there was no looting.

11 That same day the number of people killed in Susa was reported to the king.

12 He then said to Queen Esther, "In Susa alone the Jews have killed five hundred people, including Haman's ten sons. What must they have done out in the provinces! What do you want now? You shall have it. Tell me what else you want, and you shall have it."

13 Esther answered, "If it please Your Majesty, let the Jews in Susa do again tomorrow what they were allowed to do today. And have the bodies of Haman's ten sons hung from the gallows."

14 The king ordered this to be done, and the proclamation was issued in Susa. The bodies of Haman's ten sons were publicly displayed.

15 On the fourteenth day of Adar the Jews of Susa got together again and killed three hundred more people in the city. But again, they did no looting.

16 The Jews in the provinces also organized and defended themselves. They rid themselves of their enemies by killing seventy-five thousand people who hated them. But they did no looting.

17 This was on the thirteenth day of Adar. On the next day, the fourteenth, there was no more killing, and they made it a joyful day of feasting.

18 The Jews of Susa, however, made the fifteenth a holiday, since they had slaughtered their enemies on the thirteenth and fourteenth and then stopped on the fifteenth.

19 This is why Jews who live in small towns observe the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a joyous holiday, a time for feasting and giving gifts of food to one another.

20 Mordecai had these events written down and sent letters to all the Jews, near and far, throughout the Persian Empire,

21 telling them to observe the fourteenth and fifteenth days of Adar as holidays every year.

22 These were the days on which the Jews had rid themselves of their enemies; this was a month that had been turned from a time of grief and despair into a time of joy and happiness. They were told to observe these days with feasts and parties, giving gifts of food to one another and to the poor.

23 So the Jews followed Mordecai's instructions, and the celebration became an annual custom.

24 Haman son of Hammedatha - the descendant of Agag and the enemy of the Jewish people - had cast lots ("purim," they were called) to determine the day for destroying the Jews; he had planned to wipe them out.

25 But Esther went to the king, and the king issued written orders with the result that Haman suffered the fate he had planned for the Jews - he and his sons were hanged from the gallows.

26 That is why the holidays are called Purim. Because of Mordecai's letter and because of all that had happened to them,

27 the Jews made it a rule for themselves, their descendants, and anyone who might become a Jew, that at the proper time each year these two days would be regularly observed according to Mordecai's instructions.

28 It was resolved that every Jewish family of every future generation in every province and every city should remember and observe the days of Purim for all time to come.

29 Then Queen Esther, the daughter of Abihail, along with Mordecai, also wrote a letter, putting her full authority behind the letter about Purim, which Mordecai had written earlier.

30 The letter was addressed to all the Jews, and copies were sent to all the 127 provinces of the Persian Empire. It wished the Jews peace and security

31 and directed them and their descendants to observe the days of Purim at the proper time, just as they had adopted rules for the observance of fasts and times of mourning. This was commanded by both Mordecai and Queen Esther.

32 Esther's command, confirming the rules for Purim, was written down on a scroll.

1 King Xerxes imposed forced labor on the people of the coastal regions of his empire as well as on those of the interior.

2 All the great and wonderful things he did, as well as the whole story of how he promoted Mordecai to high office, are recorded in the official records of the kings of Persia and Media.

3 Mordecai the Jew was second in rank only to King Xerxes himself. He was honored and well-liked by his fellow Jews. He worked for the good of his people and for the security of all their descendants.