If it please the king, let there go a royal commandment from
him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the
Medes, that it be not altered, That Vashti come no more before king
Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal estate unto another that is
better than she.
For he sent letters into all the king's provinces, into every
province according to the writing thereof, and to every people after
their language, that every man should bear rule in his own house, and
that it should be published according to the language of every people.
And let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his
kingdom, that they may gather together all the fair young virgins unto
Shushan the palace, to the house of the women, unto the custody of
Hege the king's chamberlain, keeper of the women; and let their things
for purification be given them:
So it came to pass, when the king's commandment and his decree
was heard, and when many maidens were gathered together unto Shushan
the palace, to the custody of Hegai, that Esther was brought also unto
the king's house, to the custody of Hegai, keeper of the women.
And the maiden pleased him, and she obtained kindness of him; and
he speedily gave her her things for purification, with such things as
belonged to her, and seven maidens, which were meet to be given her,
out of the king's house: and he preferred her and her maids unto the
best place of the house of the women.
Now when every maid's turn was come to go in to king Ahasuerus,
after that she had been twelve months, according to the manner of the
women, (for so were the days of their purifications accomplished, to
wit, six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with sweet odours,
and with other things for the purifying of the women;)
In the evening she went, and on the morrow she returned into the
second house of the women, to the custody of Shaashgaz, the king's
chamberlain, which kept the concubines: she came in unto the king no
more, except the king delighted in her, and that she were called by
name.
Now when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abihail the uncle
of Mordecai, who had taken her for his daughter, was come to go in
unto the king, she required nothing but what Hegai the king's
chamberlain, the keeper of the women, appointed. And Esther obtained
favour in the sight of all them that looked upon her.
And Haman said unto king Ahasuerus, There is a certain people
scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all the provinces
of thy kingdom; and their laws are diverse from all people; neither
keep they the king's laws: therefore it is not for the king's profit
to suffer them.
Then were the king's scribes called on the thirteenth day of the
first month, and there was written according to all that Haman had
commanded unto the king's lieutenants, and to the governors that were
over every province, and to the rulers of every people of every
province according to the writing thereof, and to every people after
their language; in the name of king Ahasuerus was it written, and
sealed with the king's ring.
And the letters were sent by posts into all the king's
provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both
young and old, little children and women, in one day, even upon the
thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to
take the spoil of them for a prey.
Also he gave him the copy of the writing of the decree that was
given at Shushan to destroy them, to shew it unto Esther, and to
declare it unto her, and to charge her that she should go in unto the
king, to make supplication unto him, and to make request before him
for her people.
All the king's servants, and the people of the king's provinces,
do know, that whosoever, whether man or women, shall come unto the
king into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law of his
to put him to death, except such to whom the king shall hold out the
golden sceptre, that he may live: but I have not been called to come
in unto the king these thirty days.
For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then
shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another
place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who
knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?
Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan,
and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or
day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in
unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I
perish.
Now it came to pass on the third day, that Esther put on her
royal apparel, and stood in the inner court of the king's house, over
against the king's house: and the king sat upon his royal throne in
the royal house, over against the gate of the house.
Then said Zeresh his wife and all his friends unto him, Let a
gallows be made of fifty cubits high, and to morrow speak thou unto
the king that Mordecai may be hanged thereon: then go thou in merrily
with the king unto the banquet. And the thing pleased Haman; and he
caused the gallows to be made.
And let this apparel and horse be delivered to the hand of one of
the king's most noble princes, that they may array the man withal whom
the king delighteth to honour, and bring him on horseback through the
street of the city, and proclaim before him, Thus shall it be done to
the man whom the king delighteth to honour.
And Haman told Zeresh his wife and all his friends every thing
that had befallen him. Then said his wise men and Zeresh his wife
unto him, If Mordecai be of the seed of the Jews, before whom thou
hast begun to fall, thou shalt not prevail against him, but shalt
surely fall before him.
Then the king returned out of the palace garden into the place of
the banquet of wine; and Haman was fallen upon the bed whereon Esther
was. Then said the king, Will he force the queen also before me in
the house? As the word went out of king's mouth, they covered Haman's
face.
And said, If it please the king, and if I have 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:
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.
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,
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.
Now in the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar, on the
thirteenth day of the same, when the king's commandment and his decree
drew near to be put in execution, in the day that the enemies of the
Jews hoped to have power over them, (though it was turned to the
contrary, that the Jews had rule over them that hated them;)
And the king said unto Esther the queen, The Jews have slain and
destroyed five hundred men in Shushan the palace, and the ten sons of
Haman; what have they done in the rest of the king's provinces? now
what is thy petition? and it shall be granted thee: or what is thy
request further? and it shall be done.
As the days wherein the Jews rested from their enemies, and the
month which was turned unto them from sorrow to joy, and from mourning
into a good day: that they should make them days of feasting and joy,
and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor.
To confirm these days of Purim in their times appointed,
according as Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen had enjoined them,
and as they had decreed for themselves and for their seed, the matters
of the fastings and their cry.