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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>Esther 8 Catholic Public Domain Version</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/esther/8.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/esther/8-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">CPDV</a> > Esther 8</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="../menu.htm" width="100%" height="48" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../esther/7.htm" title="Esther 7">◄</a> Esther 8 <a href="../esther/9.htm" title="Esther 9">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top">Catholic Public Domain Version</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/parallel/esther/8-1.htm" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Verses"> Par ▾ </a></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><A name="2"></a><p class="hdg">Esther Appeals for the Jews<p><span class="reftext"><a href="/esther/8-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span><V 12:1>On that day king, Artaxerxes gave the house of Haman, the adversary of the Jews, to queen Esther, and Mordecai entered before the king. For Esther had confessed to him that he was her paternal uncle. <A name="3"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/esther/8-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span><V 12:2>And the king took the ring, which he had ordered to be taken from Haman, and he handed it to Mordecai. And Esther appointed Mordecai over her house.<p> <A name="4"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/esther/8-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span><V 12:3>Not content with these things, she threw herself down at the king’s feet and wept, and, speaking to him, pleaded that he would give orders that the malice of Haman the Agagite, and his most wicked schemes, which he had contrived against the Jews, would be made ineffective. <A name="5"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/esther/8-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span><V 12:4>But he, as was the custom, extended the golden scepter with his hand, which was the sign of clemency, and she rose up and stood before him. <A name="6"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/esther/8-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span><V 12:5>And she said, “If it pleases the king, and if I have found favor in his eyes, and my request is not seen to be disagreeable to him, I beg you that the former letters of Haman, the traitor and enemy of the Jews, by which he instructed them to be destroyed in all the king’s provinces, may be corrected by new letters. <A name="7"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/esther/8-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span><V 12:6>For how will I be able to endure the murder and execution of my people?”<p> <A name="8"></a><p class="hdg">The Decree of Xerxes<p><span class="reftext"><a href="/esther/8-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span><V 12:7>And king Artaxerxes answered Esther the queen and Mordecai the Jew, “I have granted Haman’s house to Esther, and I have ordered him to be fastened to a cross, because he dared to lay hands on the Jews.<p> <A name="9"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/esther/8-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span><V 12:8>Therefore, write to the Jews, just as it pleases you, in the king’s name, sealing the letters with my ring.” For this was the custom, that letters which were sent in the king’s name and were sealed with his ring, no one would dare to contradict.<p> <A name="10"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/esther/8-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span><V 12:9>Then the scribes and copyists were brought in, (now it was the time of the third month which is called Sivan,) on the twenty-third day of the month, and letters were written, as Mordecai wanted, to the Jews, and to the governors, and procurators, and judges, who presided over the one hundred twenty-seven provinces, from India all the way to Ethiopia: to one province and another, to one people and another, in accordance with their languages and letters, and to the Jews, exactly as they were able to read and hear. <A name="11"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/esther/8-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span><V 12:10>And these letters, which were sent in the king’s name, had been signed with his ring, and were sent by swift couriers who were to rush in every direction, through all the provinces, so as to prevent the former letters with new messages. <A name="12"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/esther/8-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span><V 12:11>The king commanded them to bring together the Jews throughout each city, and to instruct them to join together, so as to make a stand for their lives, and to execute and destroy all their enemies, with their wives and children and their entire houses, and to plunder their spoil. <A name="13"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/esther/8-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span><V 12:12>And one day of retribution was established throughout all the provinces, namely, the thirteenth of the twelfth month Adar. <A name="14"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/esther/8-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span><V 13:25>And such was the content of the letter, so that it would be made known in all lands and nations, which are subject to the authority of king Artaxerxes, that the Jews have been made ready to be vindicated of their enemies. <A name="15"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/esther/8-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span><V 13:26>And so the swift couriers departed in haste, carrying through the announcement, and the king’s edict was hung up in Susa.<p> <A name="16"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/esther/8-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span><V 13:27>But Mordecai, going forth from the palace and from the king’s presence, shone in royal apparel the color of hyacinth and of the sky, wearing a golden crown on his head, and clothed with a cloak of silk and purple. And all the city rejoiced and was joyful. <A name="17"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/esther/8-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span><V 13:28>But for the Jews, a new light seemed to rise; there was joy, honor, and dancing. <span class="reftext"><a href="/esther/8-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span><V 13:29>With all the peoples, cities, and provinces, wherever the king’s orders arrived, there was wonderful rejoicing, banquets and feasts, and a solemn holy day, so much so that many of the other nations joined themselves to their religious practices and ceremonies. For a great fear of the name of the Jews had overcome them all.<p><br /></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">Catholic Public Domain Version<br><br>Section Headings Courtesy <a href="https://berean.bible">Berean Bible</i><span class="p"><br /><br /></span></div></div></div></div></td></tr></table></div><div id="left"><a href="../esther/7.htm" onmouseover='lft.src="/leftgif.png"' onmouseout='lft.src="/left.png"' title="Esther 7"><img src="/left.png" name="lft" border="0" alt="Esther 7" /></a></div><div id="right"><a href="../esther/9.htm" onmouseover='rght.src="/rightgif.png"' onmouseout='rght.src="/right.png"' title="Esther 9"><img src="/right.png" name="rght" border="0" alt="Esther 9" /></a></div><div id="botleft"><a href="#" onmouseover='botleft.src="/botleftgif.png"' onmouseout='botleft.src="/botleft.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botleft.png" name="botleft" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="botright"><a href="#" onmouseover='botright.src="/botrightgif.png"' onmouseout='botright.src="/botright.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botright.png" name="botright" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="bot"><iframe width="100%" height="1500" scrolling="no" src="/botmenubhchapnoad.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></td></tr></table></div></body></html>