ES-8:1  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.

ES-8:2  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.

ES-8:3  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.

ES-8:4  Then the king held out the golden sceptre toward Esther.

So Esther arose,

and stood before the king,

ES-8:5  And said, If it please the king, and if I have found

favour 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 which [are] in all

the king's provinces:

ES-8:6  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?

ES-8:7  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.

ES-8:8  Write ye also for the Jews, as it liketh 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.

ES-8:9  Then were the king's scribes called at that time in the

third month, that

[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 lieutenants, and

the deputies and rulers of the provinces which [are] from India

unto Ethiopia, an

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.

ES-8:10  And he wrote in the king Ahasuerus' name, and sealed

[it] with the king's

ring, and sent letters by posts on horseback, [and] riders on

mules, camels, [and]

young dromedaries:

ES-8:11  Wherein the king granted the Jews which [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, [both]

little ones and women, and [to take] the spoil of them for a

prey,

ES-8:12  Upon one day in all the provinces of king Ahasuerus,

[namely], upon the

thirteenth [day] of the twelfth month, which [is] the month Adar.

ES-8:13  The copy of the writing for a commandment to be given

in every province

[was] published unto all people, and that the Jews should be

ready against that day

to avenge themselves on their enemies.

ES-8:14  [So] the posts that rode upon mules [and] camels went

out, being hastened

and pressed on by the king's commandment. And the decree was

given at Shushan the

palace.

ES-8:15  And Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in

royal apparel of

blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a

garment of fine linen and

purple: and the city of Shushan rejoiced and was glad.

ES-8:16  The Jews had light, and gladness, and joy, and honour.

ES-8:17  And in every province, and in every city, whithersoever

the king's

commandment and his decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness,

a feast and a good

day. And many of the people of the land became Jews; for the

fear of the Jews fell

upon them.

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