Second to the King

The reversal of Mordecai's fortune runs through a single sleepless night of the king's, in which the palace chronicles are read to him and he learns Mordecai was never honored for exposing the assassination plot. Ahasuerus asks Haman, who has arrived that morning to request Mordecai's execution, what should be done for a man the king wishes to honor, and Haman, assuming himself meant, describes a royal procession through the city. He is then made to lead that procession for Mordecai himself.

After Esther exposes Haman's plot and he is executed, Mordecai receives Haman's former position and his signet ring, and drafts, with the king's authority, the counter decree letting Jews throughout the empire defend themselves on the day originally set for their destruction. The book closes by naming Mordecai second in rank only to the king, seeking the good of his people and speaking peace to all his descendants, and crediting him and Esther jointly with establishing Purim as an annual observance of the deliverance.