Esther 8:9-11

International Standard Version

⁹ The king’s scribes were summoned at that time, on the twenty-third day of the third month, which is the month Sivan, and everything that Mordecai commanded the Jewish people, the regional authorities,^[a] the governors, and the provincial officials of the 127 provinces from India to Cush^[b] was written down for each province according to its script, for each people according to their language, and for the Jewish people according to their script and language. 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.^[c]

¹¹ What the king granted the Jewish people in every town was the right^[d] to assemble and defend themselves,^[e] 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.^[f]