16 and the Jews celebrated(a) with gladness, joy, and honor.(A) 17 In every province and every city, wherever the king’s command and his law reached, joy and rejoicing took place among the Jews. There was a celebration and a holiday.(b)(B) And many of the ethnic groups of the land professed themselves to be Jews because fear of the Jews(C) had overcome them.

Footnotes:

a. Esther 8:16: Lit had light
b. Esther 8:17: Lit good day

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