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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 ESV</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="../">ESV</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 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">English Standard Version</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/esv/nas/esther/8.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></tr></table></div></a><div class="chap"><p class="heading">Esther Saves the Jews</p><p class="regular"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/esther/8-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>On that day King Ahasuerus gave to Queen Esther the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told what he was to her. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/esther/8-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>And the king took off his signet ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.</p> <p class="regular"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/esther/8-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>Then Esther spoke again to the king. She fell at his feet and wept and pleaded with him to avert the evil plan of Haman the Agagite and the plot that he had devised against the Jews. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/esther/8-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>When the king held out the golden scepter to Esther, Esther rose and stood before the king. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/esther/8-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>And she said, “If it please the king, and if I have found favor in his sight, and if the thing seems right before the king, and I am pleasing in his eyes, let an order be written to revoke the letters devised by Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, which he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all the provinces of the king. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/esther/8-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>For how can I bear to see the calamity that is coming to my people? Or how can I bear to see the destruction of my kindred?” <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/esther/8-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span>Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and they have hanged him on the gallows,<span class="footnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Or wooden beam (see note on 2:23)">a</a></sup></span> because he intended to lay hands on the Jews. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/esther/8-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>But you may write as you please with regard to the Jews, in the name of the king, and seal it with the king’s ring, for an edict written in the name of the king and sealed with the king’s ring cannot be revoked.”</p> <p class="regular"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/esther/8-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>The king’s scribes were summoned at that time, in the third month, which is the month of Sivan, on the twenty-third day. And an edict was written, according to all that Mordecai commanded concerning the Jews, to the satraps and the governors and the officials of the provinces from India to Ethiopia, 127 provinces, to each province in its own script and to each people in its own language, and also to the Jews in their script and their language. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/esther/8-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>And he wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed it with the king’s signet ring. Then he sent the letters by mounted couriers riding on swift horses that were used in the king’s service, bred from the royal stud, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/esther/8-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>saying that the king allowed the Jews who were in every city to gather and defend their lives, to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate any armed force of any people or province that might attack them, children and women included, and to plunder their goods, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/esther/8-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>on one day throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/esther/8-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>A copy of what was written was to be issued as a decree in every province, being publicly displayed to all peoples, and the Jews were to be ready on that day to take vengeance on their enemies. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/esther/8-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>So the couriers, mounted on their swift horses that were used in the king’s service, rode out hurriedly, urged by the king’s command. And the decree was issued in Susa the citadel.</p> <p class="regular"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/esther/8-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>Then Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal robes of blue and white, with a great golden crown<span class="footnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Or headdress">b</a></sup></span> and a robe of fine linen and purple, and the city of Susa shouted and rejoiced. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/esther/8-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span>The Jews had light and gladness and joy and honor. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/esther/8-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span>And in every province and in every city, wherever the king’s command and his edict reached, there was gladness and joy among the Jews, a feast and a holiday. And many from the peoples of the country declared themselves Jews, for fear of the Jews had fallen on them.</p><A name="footnotes"></a><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"><span class="mainfootnotes"><span class="mainfootnoteshdg">Footnotes:</span><br><span class="footnotesbot">a</span> <span class="fnverse">7</span> Or <i>wooden beam</i> (see note on 2:23)<br /><span class="footnotesbot">b</span> <span class="fnverse">15</span> Or <i>headdress</i><br /></span></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">ESV Text Edition® (2016).<br /><br />The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by <a href="http://www.crossway.org/home/esv/">Crossway Bibles</a>, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved.<br /><br />The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) is adapted from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. 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