So Mordecai set out to do everything that Esther had instructed him.

Throughout each and every province where the king’s edict and law were announced ¹  there was considerable ²  mourning among the Jews, along with fasting, weeping, and sorrow. ³  Sackcloth and ashes were characteristic ⁴  of many.

Esther was still not divulging her lineage or her people, ¹  just as Mordecai had instructed her. ²  Esther continued to do whatever Mordecai said, just as she had done when he was raising her.

let them bring royal attire which the king himself has worn and a horse on which the king himself has ridden – one bearing the royal insignia! ¹ 

The matter seemed appropriate to the king and the officials. So the king acted on the advice of Memucan.

This young woman pleased him, ¹  and she found favor with him. He quickly provided her with her cosmetics and her rations; he also provided her with the seven specially chosen ²  young women who were from the palace. He then transferred her and her young women to the best quarters in the harem. ³ 

King Ahasuerus then imposed forced labor on the land and on the coastlands of the sea.

The king asked, ¹  “By law, ²  what should be done to Queen Vashti in light of the fact that she has not obeyed the instructions of King Ahasuerus conveyed through the eunuchs?”

Throughout that night the king was unable to sleep, ¹  so he asked for the book containing the historical records ²  to be brought. As the records ³  were being read in the king’s presence,

The king asked, “What great honor ¹  was bestowed on Mordecai because of this?” The king’s attendants who served him responded, “Not a thing was done for him.”

“All the servants of the king and the people of the king’s provinces know that there is only one law applicable ¹  to any man or woman who comes uninvited to the king in the inner court – that person will be put to death, unless the king extends to him the gold scepter, permitting him to be spared. ²  Now I have not been invited to come to the king for some thirty days!”

He also gave him a written copy of the law that had been disseminated ¹  in Susa for their destruction so that he could show it to Esther and talk to her about it. He also gave instructions that she should go to the king to implore him and petition him on behalf of her people.

Memucan then replied to the king and the officials, “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.

So Haman came in, and the king said to him, “What should be done for the man whom the king wishes to honor?” Haman thought to himself, ¹  “Who is it that the king would want to honor more than me?”

Mordecai ¹  wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed it with the king’s signet ring. He then sent letters by couriers on horses, who rode royal horses that were very swift.

The king’s servants who attended him said, “Let a search be conducted in the king’s behalf for attractive young women. ¹ 

Now when the young women were being gathered again, ¹  Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate. ² 

The king’s attendants said to him, “It is Haman who is standing in the courtyard.” The king said, “Let him enter.”

When the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet of wine, Haman was throwing himself down ¹  on the couch where Esther was lying. ²  The king exclaimed, “Will he also attempt to rape the queen while I am still in the building!” As these words left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face.

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