<p class="bodytext">Memucan then replied to the king and the officials, &#8220;The wrong of Queen Vashti is not against the king alone, but against all the officials and all the people who are throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus.

He sent letters throughout all the royal provinces, to each province according to its own script and to each people according to its own language,<n id="1" /> that every man should be ruling his family<n id="2" /> and should be speaking the language of his own people.<n id="3" />p>

There were no restrictions on the drinking,<n id="1" /> for the king had instructed all of his supervisors<n id="2" /> that they should do as everyone so desired.<n id="3" />

<p class="bodytext">The king then inquired of the wise men who were discerners of the times &#8211; for it was the royal custom to confer with all those who were proficient in laws and legalities.<n id="1" />

the woman would go to the king in the following way: Whatever she asked for would be provided for her to take with her from the harem to the royal palace.

<p class="bodytext">Mordecai wrote these matters down and sent letters to all the Jews who were throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far,

For Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had devised plans against the Jews to destroy them. He had cast <i>puri> (that is, the lot) in order to afflict and destroy them.

<p class="bodytext">So Queen Esther, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew wrote with full authority to confirm this second<n id="1" /> letter about Purim.

Letters were sent<n id="1" /> to all the Jews in the hundred and twenty-seven provinces of the empire of Ahasuerus &#8211; words of true peace<n id="2" /> &#8211;

Letters were sent by the runners to all the king&#8217;s provinces stating that<n id="1" /> they should destroy, kill, and annihilate all the Jews, from youth to elderly, both women and children,<n id="2" /> on a particular day, namely the thirteenth day<n id="3" /> of the twelfth month (that is, the month of Adar), and to loot and plunder their possessions.

&#8220;All the servants of the king and the people of the king&#8217;s provinces know that there is only one law applicable<n id="1" /> to any man or woman who comes uninvited to the king in the inner court &#8211; that person will be put to death, unless the king extends to him the gold scepter, permitting him to be spared.<n id="2" /> Now I have not been invited to come to the king for some thirty days!&#8221;p>

For the matter concerning the queen will spread to all the women, leading them to treat their husbands with contempt, saying, &#8216;When King Ahasuerus gave orders to bring Queen Vashti into his presence, she would not come.&#8217;

And let the king appoint officers throughout all the provinces of his kingdom to gather all the attractive young women to Susa the citadel, to the harem<n id="1" /> under the authority of Hegai, the king&#8217;s eunuch who oversees the women, and let him provide whatever cosmetics they desire.<n id="2" />

<t /><p class="bodytext">Some time later<n id="1" /> King Ahasuerus promoted<n id="2" /> Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, exalting him and setting his position<n id="3" /> above that of all the officials who were with him.

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>

<t /><p class="bodytext">Now when Mordecai became aware of all that had been done, he<n id="1" /> tore his garments and put on sackcloth and ashes. He went out into the city, crying out in a loud<n id="2" /> and bitter voice.

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.

Haman then recounted to them his fabulous wealth,<n id="1" /> his many sons,<n id="2" /> and how the king had magnified him and exalted him over the king&#8217;s other officials and servants.

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>

<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.