And the king said, "May God do these things to me, and may he add these other things, if the head of Elisha, the son of Shaphat, will remain on him this day!"
And he considered it pointless to lay his hands on Mordecai alone, for he had heard that he was part of the Jewish people. And so he wanted more: to destroy the entire nation of the Jews, who were in the kingdom of Artaxerxes.