And the king spake to the wise men that had understanding in the ordinances of the land - for the king's matters must be handled before all such as have knowledge of the law and judgment,

and servants of the king, his ministers, say, 'Let them seek for the king young women, virgins, of good appearance,

And the maiden pleased him, and she obtained kindness of him; and he speedily gave her her things for purification, with such things as belonged to her, and seven maidens, which were meet to be given her, out of the king's house: and he preferred her and her maids unto the best place of the house of the women.

Now every girl, when her turn came, had to go in to King Ahasuerus, after undergoing, for a space of twelve months, what was ordered by the law for the women (for this was the time necessary for making them clean, that is, six months with oil of myrrh and six months with sweet perfumes and such things as are needed for making women clean):

In those days, when Mordecai is sitting in the gate of the king, hath Bigthan been wroth, and Teresh, (two of the eunuchs of the king, the keepers of the threshold,) and they seek to put forth a hand on king Ahasuerus,

And it will be despised in his eyes to stretch forth the hand against Mordecai alone; for they announced to him the people of Mordecai: and Haman will seek to destroy all the Jews which are in all the kingdom of Ahasuerus, the people of Mordecai.

and the copy of the writing of the law that had been given in Shushan to destroy them he hath given to him, to shew Esther, and to declare it to her, and to lay a charge on her to go in unto the king, to make supplication to him, and to seek from before him, for her people.

All the king's servants, and the people of the king's provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the king into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law of his to put him to death, except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre, that he may live: but I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days.

For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?

Once again, on the second day while drinking wine, the king asked Esther, “Queen Esther, whatever you ask will be given to you. Whatever you seek, even to half the kingdom, will be done.”

Esther the queen answered and said: If I have found grace in thy sight, O king, and if it please the king, then grant me my life at my desire and my people for my petition's sake:

For we have been sold -- both I and my people -- to destruction and to slaughter and to annihilation! If we had simply been sold as male and female slaves, I would have remained silent, for such distress would not have been sufficient for troubling the king."

King Ahasuerus spoke up and asked Queen Esther, “Who is this, and where is the one who would devise such a scheme?”

And the king hath risen, in his fury, from the banquet of wine, unto the garden of the house, and Haman hath remained to seek for his life from Esther the queen, for he hath seen that evil hath been determined against him by the king.

And Habrona, one of the eunuchs in the presence of the king, said, "Look, the same gallows that Haman had prepared for Mordecai who spoke good [for the sake] of the king stands at Haman's house, fifty cubits high." And the king said, "Hang him on it."

The Jews gathered themselves together in their cities throughout all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, to lay hand on such as sought their hurt: and no man could withstand them; for the fear of them fell upon all people.

Thus the Jews smote all their enemies with a sore slaughter, and slew and destroyed, and did after their will unto such as were their adversaries.

The king said to Queen Esther, “In the fortress of Susa the Jews have killed and destroyed 500 men, including Haman’s 10 sons. What have they done in the rest of the royal provinces? Whatever you ask will be given to you. Whatever you seek will also be done.”

For this cause, called they these days Purim, after the name Pur, for this cause, - for all the words of this epistle, - and what they had seen concerning such a matter, and what had reached unto them.

The Jews ordained, and took upon them, and upon their seed, and upon all such as joined themselves unto them, so as it should not fail, that they would keep these two days according to their writing, and according to their appointed time every year;

Mordecai the Jew was second only to King Ahasuerus, famous among the Jews, and highly popular with many of his relatives. He continued to seek good for his people and to speak for the welfare of all his descendants.