It so happened that on the third day Esther put on her royal attire and stood in the inner court of the palace, ¹  opposite the king’s quarters. ²  The king was sitting on his royal throne in the palace, opposite the entrance. ³ 

In Susa the citadel the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men.

Some time later ¹  King Ahasuerus promoted ²  Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, exalting him and setting his position ³  above that of all the officials who were with him.

On the seventh day, as King Ahasuerus was feeling the effects of the wine, ¹  he ordered Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas, the seven eunuchs who attended him, ² 

Now Haman went forth that day pleased and very much encouraged. ¹  But when Haman saw Mordecai at the king’s gate, and he did not rise nor tremble in his presence, ²  Haman was filled with rage toward Mordecai.

The Jews who were in Susa then assembled on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, and they killed three hundred men in Susa. But they did not confiscate their property.

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

So they hanged Haman on the very gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. The king’s rage then abated.

Esther’s command established these matters of Purim, and the matter was officially recorded. ¹ 

Now he was acting as the guardian ¹  of Hadassah ²  (that is, Esther), the daughter of his uncle, for neither her father nor her mother was alive. ³  This young woman was very attractive and had a beautiful figure. ⁴  When her father and mother died, Mordecai had raised her ⁵  as if she were his own daughter.

When these things had been accomplished ¹  and the rage of King Ahasuerus had diminished, he remembered ²  Vashti and what she had done and what had been decided ³  against her.

who had been taken into exile from Jerusalem ¹  with the captives who had been carried into exile with Jeconiah ²  king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile.

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 

in the third ¹  year of his reign he provided a banquet for all his officials and his servants. The army ²  of Persia and Media ³  was present, ⁴  as well as the nobles and the officials of the provinces.

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.