13 The letters were sent by means of couriers to all the king’s provinces,* giving the order to annihilate, to kill, and to destroy all the Jews, young and old alike, children and women, on a single day, on the 13th day of the 12th month, that is, the month of Aʹdar,+ and to seize their possessions.+

7 Morʹde·cai told him about everything that had happened to him and the exact amount of money+ that Haʹman had promised to pay to the king’s treasury for the Jews to be destroyed.+ 8 He also gave him a copy of the written decree that had been issued in Shuʹshan*+ for their annihilation. He was to show it to Esther and explain it to her and instruct her+ to go in to the king to beg for his favor and to plead directly with him in behalf of her people.