And in every province where the letters were published, [there was] crying and lamentation and great mourning on the part of the Jews: they spread for themselves sackcloth and ashes.

And the king said to Esther at the banquet on the second day, What is it, Queen Esther? And what [is] your request, and what [is] your petition? And it shall be [done] for you, up to half of my kingdom.

And the king said to Esther, The Jews have slain five hundred men in the city Susa. And what have they done in the rest of the country? What then is your petition, that it may be [done] for you?