3 After these things did king Ahasuerus promote Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat above all the princes that were with him. ² And all the king’s servants, that were in the king’s gate, bowed down, and did reverence to Haman; for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai bowed not down, nor did him reverence. ³ Then the king’s servants, that were in the king’s gate, said unto Mordecai, Why transgressest thou the king’s commandment? ⁴ Now it came to pass, when they spake daily unto him, and he hearkened not unto them, that they told Haman, to see whether Mordecai’s ^[a]matters would stand: for he had told them that he was a Jew. ⁵ And when Haman saw that Mordecai bowed not down, nor did him reverence, then was Haman full of wrath. ⁶ But he thought scorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone; for they had made known to him the people of Mordecai: wherefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even the people of Mordecai.

⁷ In the first month, which is the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of king Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that is, the lot, before Haman from day to day, and from month to month, to the twelfth month, which is the month Adar. ⁸ And Haman said unto king Ahasuerus, There is a certain people scattered abroad and ^[b]dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of thy kingdom; and their laws are diverse from those of every people; neither keep they the king’s laws: therefore it is not ^[c]for the king’s profit to suffer them. ⁹ If it please the king, let it be written that they be destroyed: and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those that have the charge of the king’s business, to bring it into the king’s treasuries. ¹⁰ And the king took his ring from his hand, and gave it unto Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews’ enemy. ¹¹ And the king said unto Haman, The silver is given to thee, the people also, to do with them as it seemeth good to thee.

¹² Then were the king’s ^[d]scribes called in the first month, on the thirteenth day thereof; and there was written according to all that Haman commanded unto the king’s satraps, and to the governors that were over every province, and to the princes of every people, to every province according to the writing thereof, and to every people after their language; in the name of king Ahasuerus was it written, and it was sealed with the king’s ring. ¹³ And letters were sent by posts into all the king’s provinces, to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, even upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to take the spoil of them for a prey. ¹⁴ A copy of the writing, ^[e]that the decree should be given out in every province, was published unto all the peoples, that they should be ready against that day. ¹⁵ The posts went forth in haste by the king’s commandment, and the decree was given out in Shushan the palace. And the king and Haman sat down to drink; but the city of Shushan was perplexed.

4 Now when Mordecai knew all that was done, Mordecai rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and cried with a loud and a bitter cry; ² and he came even before the king’s gate: for none might enter within the king’s gate clothed with sackcloth. ³ And in every province, whithersoever the king’s commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and ^[f]many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

⁴ And Esther’s maidens and her chamberlains came and told it her; and the queen was exceedingly grieved: and she sent raiment to clothe Mordecai, and to take his sackcloth from off him; but he received it not. ⁵ Then called Esther for Hathach, one of the king’s chamberlains, whom he had appointed to attend upon her, and charged him to go to Mordecai, to know what this was, and why it was. ⁶ So Hathach went forth to Mordecai unto the broad place of the city, which was before the king’s gate. ⁷ And Mordecai told him of all that had happened unto him, and the exact sum of the money that Haman had promised to pay to the king’s treasuries for the Jews, to destroy them. ⁸ Also he gave him the copy of the writing of the decree that was given out in Shushan to destroy them, to show it unto Esther, and to declare it unto her, and to charge her that she should go in unto the king, to make supplication unto him, and to make request before him, for her people.

⁹ And Hathach came and told Esther the words of Mordecai. ¹⁰ Then Esther spake unto Hathach, and gave him a message unto Mordecai, saying: ¹¹ All the king’s servants, and the people of the king’s provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the king into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law for him, that he be put to death, except those to whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre, that he may live: but I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days. ¹² And they told to Mordecai Esther’s words.

¹³ Then Mordecai bade them return answer unto Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king’s house, more than all the Jews. ¹⁴ For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then will relief and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place, but thou and thy father’s house will perish: and who knoweth whether thou art not come to the kingdom for such a time as this? ¹⁵ Then Esther bade them return answer unto Mordecai, ¹⁶ Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast in like manner; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish. ¹⁷ So Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that Esther had commanded him.

5 Now it came to pass on the third day, that Esther put on her royal apparel, and stood in the inner court of the king’s house, over against the king’s house: and the king sat upon his royal throne in the royal house, over against the entrance of the house. ² And it was so, when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, that she obtained favor in his sight; and the king held out to Esther the golden sceptre that was in his hand. So Esther drew near, and touched the top of the sceptre. ³ Then said the king unto her, What wilt thou, queen Esther? and what is thy request? it shall be given thee even to the half of the kingdom. ⁴ And Esther said, If it seem good unto the king, let the king and Haman come this day unto the banquet that I have prepared for him.

⁵ Then the king said, Cause Haman to make haste, that it may be done as Esther hath said. So the king and Haman came to the banquet that Esther had prepared. ⁶ And the king said unto Esther at the banquet of wine, What is thy petition? and it shall be granted thee: and what is thy request? even to the half of the kingdom it shall be performed. ⁷ Then answered Esther, and said, My petition and my request is: ⁸ If I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it please the king to grant my petition, and to perform my request, let the king and Haman come to the banquet that I shall prepare for them, and I will do to-morrow as the king hath said.

⁹ Then went Haman forth that day joyful and glad of heart: but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king’s gate, that he stood not up nor ^[g]moved for him, he was filled with wrath against Mordecai. ¹⁰ Nevertheless Haman refrained himself, and went home; and he sent and fetched his friends and Zeresh his wife. ¹¹ And Haman recounted unto them the glory of his riches, and the multitude of his children, and all the things wherein the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the princes and servants of the king. ¹² Haman said moreover, Yea, Esther the queen did let no man come in with the king unto the banquet that she had prepared but myself; and to-morrow also am I invited by her together with the king. ¹³ Yet all this availeth me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate. ¹⁴ Then said Zeresh his wife and all his friends unto him, Let a ^[h]gallows be made fifty cubits high, and in the morning speak thou unto the king that Mordecai may be hanged thereon: then go thou in merrily with the king unto the banquet. And the thing pleased Haman; and he caused the gallows to be made.

6 On that night ^[i]could not the king sleep; and he commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles, and they were read before the king. ² And it was found written, that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s chamberlains, of those that kept the threshold, who had sought to lay hands on the king Ahasuerus. ³ And the king said, What honor and dignity hath been bestowed on Mordecai for this? Then said the king’s servants that ministered unto him, There is nothing done for him. ⁴ And the king said, Who is in the court? Now Haman was come into the outward court of the king’s house, to speak unto the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him. ⁵ And the king’s servants said unto him, Behold, Haman standeth in the court. And the king said, Let him come in. ⁶ So Haman came in. And the king said unto him, What shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honor? Now Haman said in his heart, To whom would the king delight to do honor more than to myself? ⁷ And Haman said unto the king, For the man whom the king delighteth to honor, ⁸ let royal apparel be brought which the king useth to wear, and the horse that the king rideth upon, ^[j]and on the head of which a crown royal is set: ⁹ and let the apparel and the horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king’s most noble princes, that they may array the man therewith whom the king delighteth to honor, and cause him to ride on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaim before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honor.

¹⁰ Then the king said to Haman, Make haste, and take the apparel and the horse, as thou hast said, and do even so to Mordecai the Jew, that sitteth at the king’s gate: let nothing fail of all that thou hast spoken. ¹¹ Then took Haman the apparel and the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, and caused him to ride through the street of the city, and proclaimed before him, Thus shall it be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honor. ¹² And Mordecai came again to the king’s gate. But Haman hasted to his house, mourning and having his head covered. ¹³ And Haman recounted unto Zeresh his wife and all his friends everything that had befallen him. Then said his wise men and Zeresh his wife unto him, If Mordecai, before whom thou hast begun to fall, be of the seed of the Jews, thou shalt not prevail against him, but shalt surely fall before him. ¹⁴ While they were yet talking with him, came the king’s chamberlains, and hasted to bring Haman unto the banquet that Esther had prepared.

7 So the king and Haman came ^[k]to banquet with Esther the queen. ² And the king said again unto Esther on the second day at the banquet of wine, What is thy petition, queen Esther? and it shall be granted thee: and what is thy request? even to the half of the kingdom it shall be performed. ³ Then Esther the queen answered and said, If I have found favor in thy sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request: ⁴ for we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I had held my peace, ^[l]although the adversary could not have compensated for the king’s damage. ⁵ Then spake the king Ahasuerus and said unto Esther the queen, Who is he, and where is he, that durst presume in his heart to do so? ⁶ And Esther said, An adversary and an enemy, even this wicked Haman. Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen. ⁷ And the king arose in his wrath from the banquet of wine and went into the palace garden: and Haman stood up to make request for his life to Esther the queen; for he saw that there was evil determined against him by the king. ⁸ Then the king returned out of the palace garden into the place of the banquet of wine; and Haman was fallen upon the couch whereon Esther was. Then said the king, Will he even force the queen before me in the house? As the word went out of the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face. ⁹ Then said Harbonah, one of the chamberlains that were before the king, Behold also, the ^[m]gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman hath made for Mordecai, who spake good for the king, standeth in the house of Haman. And the king said, Hang him thereon. ¹⁰ So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king’s wrath pacified.

8 On that day did the king Ahasuerus give the house of Haman the Jews’ enemy unto Esther the queen. And Mordecai came before the king; for Esther had told what he was unto her. ² And the king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it unto Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.

³ And Esther spake yet again before the king, and fell down at his feet, and besought him with tears to put away the mischief of Haman the Agagite, and his device that he had devised against the Jews. ⁴ Then the king held out to Esther the golden sceptre. So Esther arose, and stood before the king. ⁵ And she said, If it please the king, and if I have found favor in his sight, and the thing seem right before the king, and I be pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to reverse the letters devised by Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews that are in all the king’s provinces: ⁶ for how can I endure to see the evil that shall come unto my people? or how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred? ⁷ Then the king Ahasuerus said unto Esther the queen and to Mordecai the Jew, Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and him they have hanged upon the gallows, because he laid his hand upon the Jews. ⁸ Write ye also ^[n]to the Jews, as it pleaseth you, in the king’s name, and seal it with the king’s ring; for the writing which is written in the king’s name, and sealed with the king’s ring, may no man reverse.

⁹ Then were the king’s scribes called at that time, in the third month, which is the month Sivan, on the three and twentieth day thereof; and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded unto the Jews, and to the satraps, and the governors and princes of the provinces which are from India unto Ethiopia, a hundred twenty and seven provinces, unto every province according to the writing thereof, and unto every people after their language, and to the Jews according to their writing, and according to their language. ¹⁰ And he wrote the name of king Ahasuerus, and sealed it with the king’s ring, and sent letters by posts on horseback, riding on ^[o]swift steeds that were used in the king’s service, bred of the stud: ¹¹ wherein the king granted the Jews that were in every city to gather themselves together, and to stand for their life, to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish, all the power of the people and province that would assault them, their little ones and women, and to take the spoil of them for a prey, ¹² upon one day in all the provinces of king Ahasuerus, namely, upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar. ¹³ A copy of the writing, ^[p]that the decree should be given out in every province, was published unto all the peoples, and that the Jews should be ready against that day to avenge themselves on their enemies. ¹⁴ So the posts that rode upon swift steeds that were used in the king’s service went out, being hastened and pressed on by the king’s commandment; and the decree was given out in Shushan the palace.

¹⁵ And Mordecai went forth from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a robe of fine linen and purple: and the city of Shushan shouted and was glad. ¹⁶ The Jews had light and gladness, and joy and honor. ¹⁷ And in every province, and in every city, whithersoever the king’s commandment and his decree came, the Jews had gladness and joy, a feast and a good day. And many from among the peoples of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews was fallen upon them.