And after they had spoken to him day after day<n id="1" /> without his paying any attention to them, they informed Haman to see whether this attitude on Mordecai&#8217;s part would be permitted.<n id="2" /> Furthermore, he had disclosed to them that he was a Jew.<n id="3" />p>

But the thought of striking out against<n id="1" /> Mordecai alone was repugnant to him, for he had been informed<n id="2" /> of the identity of Mordecai&#8217;s people.<n id="3" /> So Haman sought to destroy all the Jews (that is, the people of Mordecai)<n id="4" /> who were in all the kingdom of Ahasuerus.p>

Throughout each and every province where the king&#8217;s edict and law were announced<n id="1" /> there was considerable<n id="2" /> mourning among the Jews, along with fasting, weeping, and sorrow.<n id="3" /> Sackcloth and ashes were characteristic<n id="4" /> of many.

Then Mordecai related to him everything that had happened to him, even the specific amount of money that Haman had offered to pay to the king&#8217;s treasuries for the Jews to be destroyed.

&#8220;Don&#8217;t imagine that because you are part of the king&#8217;s household you will be the one Jew<n id="1" /> who will escape. If you keep quiet at this time, liberation and protection for the Jews will appear<n id="2" /> from another source,<n id="3" /> while you and your father&#8217;s household perish. It may very well be<n id="4" /> that you have achieved royal status<n id="5" /> for such a time as this!&#8221;p>

<p class="bodytext">The king then said to Haman, &#8220;Go quickly! Take the clothing and the horse, just as you have described, and do as you just indicated to Mordecai the Jew who sits at the king&#8217;s gate. Don&#8217;t neglect<n id="1" /> a single thing of all that you have said.&#8221;p>

Haman then related to his wife Zeresh and to all his friends everything that had happened to him. These wise men,<n id="1" /> along with his wife Zeresh, said to him, &#8220;If indeed this Mordecai before whom you have begun to fall is Jewish,<n id="2" /> you will not prevail against him. No, you will surely fall before him!&#8221;p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">On that same day King Ahasuerus gave the estate<n id="1" /> of Haman, that adversary of the Jews, to Queen Esther. Now Mordecai had come before the king, for Esther had revealed how he was related to her.

<p class="bodytext">Then Esther again spoke with the king, falling at his feet. She wept and begged him for mercy, that he might nullify the evil of Haman the Agagite which he had intended against the Jews.<n id="1" />

Now you write in the king&#8217;s name whatever in your opinion is appropriate concerning the Jews and seal it with the king&#8217;s signet ring. Any decree that is written in the king&#8217;s name and sealed with the king&#8217;s signet ring cannot be rescinded.p>

<p class="bodytext">The king thereby allowed the Jews who were in every city to assemble and to stand up for themselves &#8211; to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate any army of whatever people or province that should become their adversaries, including their women and children,<n id="1" /> and to confiscate their property.

The Jews assembled themselves in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to strike out against those who were seeking their harm. No one was able to stand before them, for dread of them fell on all the peoples.

Then the king said to Queen Esther, &#8220;In Susa the citadel the Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men and the ten sons of Haman! What then have they done in the rest of the king&#8217;s provinces? What is your request? It shall be given to you. What other petition do you have? It shall be done.&#8221;p>

<p class="bodytext">Esther replied, &#8220;If the king is so inclined, let the Jews who are in Susa be permitted to act tomorrow also according to today&#8217;s law, and let them hang the ten sons of Haman on the gallows.&#8221;p>

The Jews who were in Susa then assembled on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, and they killed three hundred men in Susa. But they did not confiscate their property.p>

<p class="bodytext">The rest of the Jews who were throughout the provinces of the king assembled in order to stand up for themselves and to have rest from their enemies. They killed seventy-five thousand<n id="1" /> of their adversaries, but they did not confiscate their property.

<t /><p class="bodytext">But the Jews who were in Susa assembled on the thirteenth and fourteenth days, and rested on the fifteenth, making it a day for banqueting and happiness.

This is why the Jews who are in the rural country &#8211; those who live in rural cities &#8211; set aside the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a holiday for happiness, banqueting, holiday, and sending gifts to one another.p>

as the time when the Jews gave themselves rest from their enemies &#8211; the month when their trouble was turned to happiness and their mourning to a holiday. These were to be days of banqueting, happiness, sending gifts to one another, and providing for the poor.p>

But when the matter came to the king&#8217;s attention, the king<n id="1" /> gave written orders that Haman&#8217;s<n id="2" /> evil intentions that he had devised against the Jews should fall on his own head. He and his sons were hanged on the gallows.