Esther 8

1 That same day King Artaxerxes gave Esther everything that had belonged to Haman the slanderer. And Mordecai was summoned before the king, for Esther had told him that Mordecai was her own kin. 2 Then the king took the ring he had taken back from Haman and gave it to Mordecai, and Esther set Mordecai over all that had been Haman’s.

3 And Esther spoke to the king once more. She fell at his feet and begged him to undo the evil of Haman and all that he had done against the Jews. 4 The king held out the golden staff to Esther, and Esther rose and stood beside the king. 5 And Esther said, “If it pleases you, and if I have found favor, let word be sent recalling the letters Haman sent out — the letters written to destroy the Jews in your kingdom. 6 For how could I bear to see the suffering of my people? How could I survive the destruction of my homeland?”

7 And the king said to Esther, “If I have given you all that was Haman’s, and granted it freely, and hanged him on a pole because he raised his hands against the Jews, what more do you ask? 8 Write in my name yourselves, whatever seems good to you, and seal it with my ring; for whatever is written at the king’s command and sealed with my ring cannot be contradicted.”

9 So the scribes were called in on the twenty-third day of the first month — the month of Nisan — of that same year, and orders were written to the Jews: all that the king commanded the stewards and the governors of the satraps, from India to Ethiopia, a hundred and twenty-seven satrapies, province by province, each in its own language. [a] 10 It was written in the king’s name and sealed with his ring, and they sent the letters out by couriers. 11 In them he directed the Jews to live by their own laws in every city, to come to one another’s help, and to deal with their adversaries and with those who attacked them however they pleased, [b] 12 on a single day throughout the kingdom of Artaxerxes — the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar. [c]

And this is a copy of the letter that was sent: “The great king Artaxerxes, to the rulers of the hundred and twenty-seven satrapies of the provinces from India to Ethiopia, and to all who are loyal to our cause: greetings.

Many men, honored again and again by the very generous kindness of their benefactors, have only grown prouder. Not content with seeking to harm our subjects, unable even to carry their own abundance, they take to scheming against their very benefactors. They not only root gratitude out from among men; carried away by the boasting of men who have never known anything good, they even suppose that they will escape the evil-hating justice of God, who sees all things forever. And many times the coaxing of friends who were trusted to manage affairs has made men set in positions of authority sharers in the shedding of innocent blood, and has wrapped them in disasters past all mending — the friends cheating the honest good faith of their rulers with the lying trickery of a malicious nature. This can be seen not so much from the older histories that have come down to us as by looking at what lies at your very feet — things carried out wickedly by the corruption of men unworthy of power. So we must give heed to the time after this, so that we may keep the kingdom quiet and at peace for every man, making the changes that are needed, and always judging what comes before our eyes with an even and fair response.

For Haman son of Hammedatha, a Macedonian — in truth a stranger to Persian blood, and far removed from our kindness — was taken in by us as a guest, and met with the goodwill we hold toward every nation, so fully that he was proclaimed our father, and everyone bowed before him as the second person of the royal throne. But he could not carry his high place. He set himself to strip us of our rule and of our very breath, and with tangled and crooked deceits he asked for the destruction of Mordecai, our rescuer and constant benefactor, and of Esther, the blameless partner of our kingdom, together with their whole nation. For by these means he thought to catch us stripped of friends and to carry the mastery of the Persians over to the Macedonians. But we find that the Jews, whom this thrice-guilty man handed over to be wiped out, are no criminals. They order their lives by the most just of laws; they are sons of the most high, the greatest, the living God, who has kept the kingdom in the finest order for us and for our ancestors.

You will do well, then, not to act on the letters sent out by Haman son of Hammedatha, because the man who worked all this has been hanged with his whole household at the gates of Susa — God, who is master of all things, quickly repaying him the judgment he deserved. Post copies of this letter openly in every place. Let the Jews live by their own customs, and stand with them, so that on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, Adar, on that very day, they may defend themselves against those who attack them in the hour of their trouble; for God, who rules over all things, has turned that day for them from the destruction of the chosen race into gladness. And you also, therefore, among your own named feasts, keep it as a marked day with every kind of good cheer, so that both now and in time to come it may mean rescue for us and for every Persian of good will, but for those who plot against us, a reminder of destruction. And every city — every province, without exception — that does not act on these orders shall be consumed with wrath by spear and fire. It shall be left not only untrodden by men, but hateful for all time even to the wild animals and the birds.”

13 The copies were to be posted in plain sight throughout the kingdom, and all the Jews were to be ready, on that day, to fight their enemies. 14 So the horsemen rode out with all speed to carry out the king’s word, and the decree was posted in Susa as well.

15 And Mordecai went out dressed in the royal robe, wearing a gold crown and a headband of fine purple linen; and when the people in Susa saw him, they rejoiced. 16 For the Jews there was light and gladness 17 in every city and province, wherever the decree was posted. Wherever the proclamation went up there was joy and gladness among the Jews, drinking and gladness. And many of the nations were circumcised and became Jews, out of fear of the Jews. [g]