Mordecai Persuades Esther to Help

4 When Mordecai learned of all that had been done, he tore his clothes,^(A) put on sackcloth and ashes,^(B) and went out into the city, wailing^(C) loudly and bitterly. ² But he went only as far as the king’s gate,^(D) because no one clothed in sackcloth was allowed to enter it. ³ In every province to which the edict and order of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and wailing. Many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

⁴ When Esther’s eunuchs and female attendants came and told her about Mordecai, she was in great distress. She sent clothes for him to put on instead of his sackcloth, but he would not accept them. ⁵ Then Esther summoned Hathak, one of the king’s eunuchs assigned to attend her, and ordered him to find out what was troubling Mordecai and why.

⁶ So Hathak went out to Mordecai in the open square of the city in front of the king’s gate. ⁷ Mordecai told him everything that had happened to him, including the exact amount of money Haman had promised to pay into the royal treasury for the destruction of the Jews.^{(E) 8} He also gave him a copy of the text of the edict for their annihilation, which had been published in Susa, to show to Esther and explain it to her, and he told him to instruct her to go into the king’s presence to beg for mercy and plead with him for her people.

⁹ Hathak went back and reported to Esther what Mordecai had said. ¹⁰ Then she instructed him to say to Mordecai, ¹¹ “All the king’s officials and the people of the royal provinces know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned^(F) the king has but one law:^(G) that they be put to death unless the king extends the gold scepter^(H) to them and spares their lives. But thirty days have passed since I was called to go to the king.”

¹² When Esther’s words were reported to Mordecai, ¹³ he sent back this answer: “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. ¹⁴ For if you remain silent^(I) at this time, relief^(J) and deliverance^(K) for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”^(L)

¹⁵ Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: ¹⁶ “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast^(M) for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.”^(N)

¹⁷ So Mordecai went away and carried out all of Esther’s instructions.

Esther’s Request to the King

5 On the third day Esther put on her royal robes^(O) and stood in the inner court of the palace, in front of the king’s^(P) hall. The king was sitting on his royal throne in the hall, facing the entrance. ² When he saw Queen Esther standing in the court, he was pleased with her and held out to her the gold scepter that was in his hand. So Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter.^(Q)

³ Then the king asked, “What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom,^(R) it will be given you.”

⁴ “If it pleases the king,” replied Esther, “let the king, together with Haman, come today to a banquet I have prepared for him.”

⁵ “Bring Haman at once,” the king said, “so that we may do what Esther asks.”

So the king and Haman went to the banquet Esther had prepared. ⁶ As they were drinking wine,^(S) the king again asked Esther, “Now what is your petition? It will be given you. And what is your request? Even up to half the kingdom,^(T) it will be granted.”^(U)

⁷ Esther replied, “My petition and my request is this: ⁸ If the king regards me with favor^(V) and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and fulfill my request, let the king and Haman come tomorrow to the banquet^(W) I will prepare for them. Then I will answer the king’s question.”

Haman’s Rage Against Mordecai

⁹ Haman went out that day happy and in high spirits. But when he saw Mordecai at the king’s gate and observed that he neither rose nor showed fear in his presence, he was filled with rage^(X) against Mordecai.^{(Y) 10} Nevertheless, Haman restrained himself and went home.

Calling together his friends and Zeresh,^(Z) his wife, ¹¹ Haman boasted^(AA) to them about his vast wealth, his many sons,^(AB) and all the ways the king had honored him and how he had elevated him above the other nobles and officials. ¹² “And that’s not all,” Haman added. “I’m the only person^(AC) Queen Esther invited to accompany the king to the banquet she gave. And she has invited me along with the king tomorrow. ¹³ But all this gives me no satisfaction as long as I see that Jew Mordecai sitting at the king’s gate.^(AD)”

¹⁴ His wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, “Have a pole set up, reaching to a height of fifty cubits,^[a](AE) and ask the king in the morning to have Mordecai impaled^(AF) on it. Then go with the king to the banquet and enjoy yourself.” This suggestion delighted Haman, and he had the pole set up.

Mordecai Honored

6 That night the king could not sleep;^(AG) so he ordered the book of the chronicles,^(AH) the record of his reign, to be brought in and read to him. ² It was found recorded there that Mordecai had exposed Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s officers who guarded the doorway, who had conspired to assassinate King Xerxes.^(AI)

³ “What honor and recognition has Mordecai received for this?” the king asked.

“Nothing has been done for him,”^(AJ) his attendants answered.

⁴ The king said, “Who is in the court?” Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the palace to speak to the king about impaling Mordecai on the pole he had set up for him.

⁵ His attendants answered, “Haman is standing in the court.”

“Bring him in,” the king ordered.

⁶ When Haman entered, the king asked him, “What should be done for the man the king delights to honor?”

Now Haman thought to himself, “Who is there that the king would rather honor than me?” ⁷ So he answered the king, “For the man the king delights to honor, ⁸ have them bring a royal robe^(AK) the king has worn and a horse^(AL) the king has ridden, one with a royal crest placed on its head. ⁹ Then let the robe and horse be entrusted to one of the king’s most noble princes. Let them robe the man the king delights to honor, and lead him on the horse through the city streets, proclaiming before him, ‘This is what is done for the man the king delights to honor!^(AM)’”

¹⁰ “Go at once,” the king commanded Haman. “Get the robe and the horse and do just as you have suggested for Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king’s gate. Do not neglect anything you have recommended.”

¹¹ So Haman got^(AN) the robe and the horse. He robed Mordecai, and led him on horseback through the city streets, proclaiming before him, “This is what is done for the man the king delights to honor!”

¹² Afterward Mordecai returned to the king’s gate. But Haman rushed home, with his head covered^(AO) in grief, ¹³ and told Zeresh^(AP) his wife and all his friends everything that had happened to him.

His advisers and his wife Zeresh said to him, “Since Mordecai, before whom your downfall^(AQ) has started, is of Jewish origin, you cannot stand against him—you will surely come to ruin!”^{(AR) 14} While they were still talking with him, the king’s eunuchs arrived and hurried Haman away to the banquet^(AS) Esther had prepared.

Haman Impaled

7 So the king and Haman went to Queen Esther’s banquet,^{(AT) 2} and as they were drinking wine^(AU) on the second day, the king again asked, “Queen Esther, what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom,^(AV) it will be granted.^(AW)”

³ Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor^(AX) with you, Your Majesty, and if it pleases you, grant me my life—this is my petition. And spare my people—this is my request. ⁴ For I and my people have been sold to be destroyed, killed and annihilated.^(AY) If we had merely been sold as male and female slaves, I would have kept quiet, because no such distress would justify disturbing the king.^[b]”

⁵ King Xerxes asked Queen Esther, “Who is he? Where is he—the man who has dared to do such a thing?”

⁶ Esther said, “An adversary and enemy! This vile Haman!”

Then Haman was terrified before the king and queen. ⁷ The king got up in a rage,^(AZ) left his wine and went out into the palace garden.^(BA) But Haman, realizing that the king had already decided his fate,^(BB) stayed behind to beg Queen Esther for his life.

⁸ Just as the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall, Haman was falling on the couch^(BC) where Esther was reclining.^(BD)

The king exclaimed, “Will he even molest the queen while she is with me in the house?”^(BE)

As soon as the word left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face.^{(BF) 9} Then Harbona,^(BG) one of the eunuchs attending the king, said, “A pole reaching to a height of fifty cubits^[c](BH) stands by Haman’s house. He had it set up for Mordecai, who spoke up to help the king.”

The king said, “Impale him on it!”^{(BI) 10} So they impaled^(BJ) Haman^(BK) on the pole^(BL) he had set up for Mordecai.^(BM) Then the king’s fury subsided.^(BN)

The King’s Edict in Behalf of the Jews

8 That same day King Xerxes gave Queen Esther the estate of Haman,^(BO) the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came into the presence of the king, for Esther had told how he was related to her. ² The king took off his signet ring,^(BP) which he had reclaimed from Haman, and presented it to Mordecai. And Esther appointed him over Haman’s estate.^(BQ)

³ Esther again pleaded with the king, falling at his feet and weeping. She begged him to put an end to the evil plan of Haman the Agagite,^(BR) which he had devised against the Jews. ⁴ Then the king extended the gold scepter^(BS) to Esther and she arose and stood before him.

⁵ “If it pleases the king,” she said, “and if he regards me with favor^(BT) and thinks it the right thing to do, and if he is pleased with me, let an order be written overruling the dispatches that Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, devised and wrote to destroy the Jews in all the king’s provinces. ⁶ For how can I bear to see disaster fall on my people? How can I bear to see the destruction of my family?”^(BU)

⁷ King Xerxes replied to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Because Haman attacked the Jews, I have given his estate to Esther, and they have impaled^(BV) him on the pole he set up. ⁸ Now write another decree^(BW) in the king’s name in behalf of the Jews as seems best to you, and seal^(BX) it with the king’s signet ring^(BY)—for no document written in the king’s name and sealed with his ring can be revoked.”^(BZ)

⁹ At once the royal secretaries were summoned—on the twenty-third day of the third month, the month of Sivan. They wrote out all Mordecai’s orders to the Jews, and to the satraps, governors and nobles of the 127 provinces stretching from India to Cush.^[d](CA) These orders were written in the script of each province and the language of each people and also to the Jews in their own script and language.^{(CB) 10} Mordecai wrote in the name of King Xerxes, sealed the dispatches with the king’s signet ring, and sent them by mounted couriers, who rode fast horses especially bred for the king.

¹¹ The king’s edict granted the Jews in every city the right to assemble and protect themselves; to destroy, kill and annihilate the armed men of any nationality or province who might attack them and their women and children,^[e] and to plunder^(CC) the property of their enemies. ¹² The day appointed for the Jews to do this in all the provinces of King Xerxes was the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar.^{(CD) 13} A copy of the text of the edict was to be issued as law in every province and made known to the people of every nationality so that the Jews would be ready on that day^(CE) to avenge themselves on their enemies.

¹⁴ The couriers, riding the royal horses, went out, spurred on by the king’s command, and the edict was issued in the citadel of Susa.^(CF)

The Triumph of the Jews

¹⁵ When Mordecai^(CG) left the king’s presence, he was wearing royal garments of blue and white, a large crown of gold^(CH) and a purple robe of fine linen.^(CI) And the city of Susa held a joyous celebration.^{(CJ) 16} For the Jews it was a time of happiness and joy,^(CK) gladness and honor.^{(CL) 17} In every province and in every city to which the edict of the king came, there was joy^(CM) and gladness among the Jews, with feasting and celebrating. And many people of other nationalities became Jews because fear^(CN) of the Jews had seized them.^(CO)

9 On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar,^(CP) the edict commanded by the king was to be carried out. On this day the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, but now the tables were turned and the Jews got the upper hand^(CQ) over those who hated them.^{(CR) 2} The Jews assembled in their cities^(CS) in all the provinces of King Xerxes to attack those determined to destroy them. No one could stand against them,^(CT) because the people of all the other nationalities were afraid of them. ³ And all the nobles of the provinces, the satraps, the governors and the king’s administrators helped the Jews,^(CU) because fear of Mordecai had seized them.^{(CV) 4} Mordecai^(CW) was prominent^(CX) in the palace; his reputation spread throughout the provinces, and he became more and more powerful.^(CY)

⁵ The Jews struck down all their enemies with the sword, killing and destroying them,^(CZ) and they did what they pleased to those who hated them. ⁶ In the citadel of Susa, the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men. ⁷ They also killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, ⁸ Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, ⁹ Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai and Vaizatha, ¹⁰ the ten sons^(DA) of Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews.^(DB) But they did not lay their hands on the plunder.^(DC)

¹¹ The number of those killed in the citadel of Susa was reported to the king that same day. ¹² The king said to Queen Esther, “The Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men and the ten sons of Haman in the citadel of Susa. What have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces? Now what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? It will also be granted.”^(DD)

¹³ “If it pleases the king,” Esther answered, “give the Jews in Susa permission to carry out this day’s edict tomorrow also, and let Haman’s ten sons^(DE) be impaled^(DF) on poles.”

¹⁴ So the king commanded that this be done. An edict was issued in Susa, and they impaled^(DG) the ten sons of Haman. ¹⁵ The Jews in Susa came together on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, and they put to death in Susa three hundred men, but they did not lay their hands on the plunder.^(DH)

¹⁶ Meanwhile, the remainder of the Jews who were in the king’s provinces also assembled to protect themselves and get relief^(DI) from their enemies.^(DJ) They killed seventy-five thousand of them^(DK) but did not lay their hands on the plunder.^{(DL) 17} This happened on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth they rested and made it a day of feasting^(DM) and joy.

¹⁸ The Jews in Susa, however, had assembled on the thirteenth and fourteenth, and then on the fifteenth they rested and made it a day of feasting and joy.

¹⁹ That is why rural Jews—those living in villages—observe the fourteenth of the month of Adar^(DN) as a day of joy and feasting, a day for giving presents to each other.^(DO)

Purim Established

²⁰ Mordecai recorded these events, and he sent letters to all the Jews throughout the provinces of King Xerxes, near and far, ²¹ to have them celebrate annually the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar ²² as the time when the Jews got relief^(DP) from their enemies, and as the month when their sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning into a day of celebration.^(DQ) He wrote them to observe the days as days of feasting and joy and giving presents of food^(DR) to one another and gifts to the poor.^(DS)

²³ So the Jews agreed to continue the celebration they had begun, doing what Mordecai had written to them. ²⁴ For Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite,^(DT) the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them and had cast the pur^(DU) (that is, the lot^(DV)) for their ruin and destruction.^{(DW) 25} But when the plot came to the king’s attention,^[f] he issued written orders that the evil scheme Haman had devised against the Jews should come back onto his own head,^(DX) and that he and his sons should be impaled^(DY) on poles.^{(DZ) 26} (Therefore these days were called Purim, from the word pur.^(EA)) Because of everything written in this letter and because of what they had seen and what had happened to them, ²⁷ the Jews took it on themselves to establish the custom that they and their descendants and all who join them should without fail observe these two days every year, in the way prescribed and at the time appointed. ²⁸ These days should be remembered and observed in every generation by every family, and in every province and in every city. And these days of Purim should never fail to be celebrated by the Jews—nor should the memory of these days die out among their descendants.

²⁹ So Queen Esther, daughter of Abihail,^(EB) along with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm this second letter concerning Purim. ³⁰ And Mordecai sent letters to all the Jews in the 127 provinces^(EC) of Xerxes’ kingdom—words of goodwill and assurance— ³¹ to establish these days of Purim at their designated times, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had decreed for them, and as they had established for themselves and their descendants in regard to their times of fasting^(ED) and lamentation.^{(EE) 32} Esther’s decree confirmed these regulations about Purim, and it was written down in the records.

The Greatness of Mordecai

10 King Xerxes imposed tribute throughout the empire, to its distant shores.^{(EF) 2} And all his acts of power and might, together with a full account of the greatness of Mordecai,^(EG) whom the king had promoted,^(EH) are they not written in the book of the annals^(EI) of the kings of Media and Persia? ³ Mordecai the Jew was second^(EJ) in rank^(EK) to King Xerxes,^(EL) preeminent among the Jews, and held in high esteem by his many fellow Jews, because he worked for the good of his people and spoke up for the welfare of all the Jews.^(EM)