¹¹ The king told him, “Keep the money, and do whatever you want with this race of people.”

¹² So on the thirteenth day of the first month, the royal secretaries were summoned, and at the dictation of Haman they wrote out—in the script of each province and in the language of each people^[a]—an order to the king’s satraps, the governors of every province, and the nobles of the various peoples. This order was written in the name of King Ahasuerus himself and sealed with the royal signet ring. ¹³ This order was sent by couriers^[b] to all the provinces to the effect that all Jews, young and old, including women and children, should be put to death, destroyed, wiped out in one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, Adar, and their goods seized as spoil.