7Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and he has been hanged on the gallows, because he laid his hand on the Jews.
8Write also for the Jews as you please, in the king's name, and seal it with the king's ring; for the writing which is written in the king's name and sealed with the king's ring cannot be reversed by any man.
9Then the king's scribes were called at that time, in the third month, which is the month of Sivan, on the twenty-third day; and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded to the Jews, and to the governors and officials and rulers of the provinces from India to Ethiopia, one hundred twenty-seven provinces, to every province according to its script, and to every people in their language, and to the Jews in their writing and language.
10And he wrote in King Ahasuerus' name, and sealed it with the king's ring, and sent letters by mounted couriers on horseback, and riders on mules, camels, and young dromedaries.
11By these letters, the king granted the Jews in every city the right to gather and protect themselves, to destroy, to slay, and to annihilate any armed force of any people or province that might attack them, along with their little ones and women, and to plunder their possessions.
12On a single day in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, namely, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar.
13The copy of the document for a decree to be proclaimed in every province was published to all peoples, that the Jews should be prepared on that day to avenge themselves on their enemies.
14So the couriers who rode on mules and camels went out, being hurried and urged on by the king's command, and the decree was issued in Shushan the palace.