6 On that night sleep fled from the king. 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, keepers of the threshold, who had sought to lay hand on king Ahasuerus.

³ And the king said, What honour and dignity has been done to Mordecai for this? And the king's servants that attended upon him said, Nothing has been done for him.

⁴ And the king said, Who is in the court? Now Haman had come into the outward court of the king's house, to speak to the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him.

⁵ And the king's servants said to him, Behold, Haman is standing in the court. And the king said, Let him come in.

⁶ So Haman came in. And the king said to him, What is to be done with the man whom the king delights to honour? Now Haman thought in his heart, To whom would the king delight to do honour more than to me?

⁷ And Haman answered the king, For the man whom the king delights to honour,

⁸ let the royal apparel be brought with which the king arrays himself, and the horse that the king rides upon, and on the head of which the royal crown is set;

⁹ and let the apparel and horse be delivered into the hand of one of the king's most noble princes, and let them array the man whom the king delights to honour, and cause him to ride on the horse through the street of the city, and proclaim before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honour!

¹⁰ And the king said to Haman, Make haste, take the apparel and the horse, as thou hast said, and do so to Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king's gate: let nothing fail of all that thou hast said.

¹¹ And Haman took 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 to the man whom the king delights to honour!

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 to Zeresh his wife and to all his friends all that had befallen him. Then said his wise men and Zeresh his wife to him, If Mordecai be of the seed of the Jews, before whom thou hast begun to fall, thou shalt not prevail against him, but wilt certainly fall before him.

¹⁴ While they were yet talking with him, the king's chamberlains came, and hasted to bring Haman to the banquet that Esther had prepared.

7 And the king and Haman came to drink with Esther the queen.

² And the king said again to 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 done.

³ And Esther the queen answered and said, If I have found grace 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 tongue, although the adversary could not compensate the king's damage.

⁵ And king Ahasuerus spoke and said to Esther the queen, Who is he, and where is he that has filled his heart to do so?

⁶ And Esther said, The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman. Then Haman was terrified before the king and the queen.

⁷ And the king in his wrath rose up from the banquet of wine, [and went] into the palace garden; but Haman stayed to make request for his life to Esther the queen, for he saw that there was evil determined against him by the king.

⁸ And the king returned out of the palace garden into the house of the banquet of wine, and Haman was fallen upon the couch on which Esther was. And the king said, Will he even force the queen before me in the house? The word went forth out of the king's mouth, and they covered Haman's face.

⁹ And Harbonah, one of the chamberlains, said before the king, Behold, also, the gallows fifty cubits high, that Haman made for Mordecai, who spoke good for the king, stands in the house of Haman. And the king said, Hang him on it!

¹⁰ So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. And the king's wrath was appeased.

8 On that day did king Ahasuerus give the house of Haman the Jews' oppressor to Esther the queen. And Mordecai came before the king; for Esther had told what he was to her.

² And the king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.

³ And Esther spoke 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 which he had devised against the Jews.

⁴ And the king held out the golden sceptre toward Esther. And Esther arose and stood before the king,

⁵ and said, If it please the king and if I have found grace before him, and the thing seem right to the king, and I be pleasing in his sight, 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 shall I endure to see the evil that shall befall my people? and how shall I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?

⁷ And king Ahasuerus said to queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and him they have hanged upon the gallows, because he stretched forth his hand against the Jews.

⁸ Write ye then for the Jews as seems good to you, in the king's name, and seal [it] with the king's ring. For a writing that is written in the king's name, and sealed with the king's ring, cannot be reversed.

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, to the Jews, and to the satraps, and the governors, and the princes of the provinces which are from India even to Ethiopia, a hundred and twenty-seven provinces, to every province according to the writing thereof, and to every people according to their language, and to the Jews according to their writing and according to their language.

¹⁰ And he wrote in the name of king Ahasuerus, and sealed [it] with the king's ring, and sent letters by couriers on horseback riding on coursers, horses of blood reared in the breeding studs:

¹¹ [stating] that 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 might 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, upon the thirteenth of the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar.

¹³ That the decree might be given in every province, a copy of the writing was published to all the peoples, and that the Jews should be ready against that day to avenge themselves on their enemies.

¹⁴ The couriers mounted on coursers [and] horses of blood went out, being hastened and pressed on by the king's commandment. And the decree was given at Shushan the fortress.

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 mantle of byssus and purple; and the city of Shushan shouted and was glad.

¹⁶ The Jews had light, and joy, and gladness, and honour.

¹⁷ And in every province, and in every city, wherever the king's commandment and his decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a good day. And many among the peoples of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews had fallen upon them.