Esther 8:10-12

International Standard Version

¹⁰ He wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed it with the king’s signet ring. He sent the letters by couriers on horseback, riding steeds especially bred for the king.^[a]

¹¹ What the king granted the Jewish people in every town was the right^[b] to assemble and defend themselves,^[c] to annihilate, kill, and destroy every armed force of a people or a province that was hostile to them, including children and women, and to plunder their property.^{[d] 12} Throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, the one day for the Jewish people to do this was the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar.