A Happy Ending for the Jews

¹Before the end of the day, King Xerxes gave Esther everything that had belonged to Haman, the enemy of the Jews. Esther told the king that Mordecai was her cousin. So the king made Mordecai one of his highest officials

²and gave him the royal ring that Haman had worn. Then Esther put Mordecai in charge of Haman's property.

³Once again Esther went to speak to the king. This time she fell down at his feet, crying and begging, “Please stop Haman's evil plan to have the Jews killed!”

⁴King Xerxes held out the golden scepter to Esther,

⁵and she got up and said, “Your Majesty, I know that you will do the right thing and that you really love me. Please stop what Haman has planned. He has already sent letters demanding that the Jews in all your provinces be killed,

⁶and I can't bear to see my people and my own relatives destroyed.”

⁷King Xerxes then said to Esther and Mordecai, “I have already ordered Haman to be hanged and his house given to Esther, because of his evil plans to kill the Jews.

⁸I now give you permission to make a law that will save the lives of your people. You may use my ring to seal the law, so that it can never be changed.”[#3 Macc 7.10.]

⁹On the twenty-third day of Sivan, the third month, the king's secretaries wrote the law. They obeyed Mordecai and wrote to the Jews, the rulers, the governors, and the officials of all 127 provinces from India to Ethiopia. The letters were written in every language used in the kingdom, including the Jewish language.[#8.9 The third month of the Hebrew calendar, from about mid-May to mid-June.; #8.9 See the note at 1.1,2.]

¹⁰They were written in the name of King Xerxes and sealed with his ring. Then they were taken by messengers who rode the king's finest and fastest horses.

^11-12-13In these letters the king said:

A copy of this law is to be posted in every province and read by everyone.

^14-15Then the king ordered his messengers to take their fastest horses and deliver the law as quickly as possible to every province. When Mordecai left, he was wearing clothes fit for a king. He wore blue and white robes, a large gold crown, and a cape made of fine linen and purple cloth.

After the law was announced in Susa, everyone shouted and cheered,

¹⁶and the Jews were no longer afraid. In fact, they were very happy and felt that they had won a victory.

¹⁷In every province and city where the law was sent, the Jews had parties and celebrated. Many of the people in the provinces accepted the Jewish religion, because they were now afraid of the Jews.