On that day King Ahasuerus gave the house of Haman, the Jews' enemy, to Queen Esther. Mordecai came before the king, because Esther had told what he was to her. The king gave Mordecai the ring he had taken from Haman, and Esther set Mordecai over Haman's house. The orphan and her guardian now held the place of their enemy.
Yet the decree of destruction still stood. Esther spoke again, falling at the king's feet and begging him with tears to put away the mischief of Haman and his plan against the Jews. The king held out the golden scepter. Esther asked how she could endure to see the evil that would come to her people. The king answered that a writing sealed with the king's ring may not be reversed. Esther and Mordecai could write a new decree in the king's name.
The new letters granted the Jews in every city the right to gather and stand for their lives against anyone who would assault them. Couriers on swift horses hurried to all 127 provinces. Mordecai went out in royal apparel of blue and white and a great crown of gold, and Susa shouted and was glad. The Jews had light, gladness, joy, and honor. Many from among the peoples of the land became Jews, for the fear of the Jews had fallen on them. Christians see here a picture of God's power to turn mourning into gladness, as in Psalm 30:11.