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The Jews punish their enemies

9 The 13th day of the 12th month (Adar) was the day when the enemies of the Jews had hoped to attack them. But now the king's new law said that the Jews could fight to keep themselves safe on that day. So the Jews won against their enemies. ² In all the cities in each region of the kingdom where the Jews lived, they joined together. They punished anyone who tried to hurt them. Nobody could fight against them because all the people were very afraid of them.

³ All the king's officers and the rulers and leaders of each region decided to help the Jews. They did that because they were afraid of Mordecai's power. ⁴ He was now a very important officer in the king's palace. News about him reached all the regions as he became more and more powerful.

⁵ So when the day arrived, the Jews could do what they wanted to their enemies. They used their swords to attack them and to kill them.

⁶ In Susa city, the Jews killed 500 men. ⁷ They also killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, ⁸ Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, ⁹ Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai and Vaizatha. ¹⁰ Those men were the ten sons of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. But the Jews did not take any of the things that belonged to the people that they killed.

¹¹ On the same day, the king heard how many people they had killed in Susa city. ¹² Then the king said to Queen Esther, ‘In Susa the Jews have killed 500 men and also the ten sons of Haman. So I think that they have killed many more of their enemies in the other regions of my kingdom! Now, what else do you want? If you ask me, I will do anything that you still want me to do.’

¹³ Esther replied, ‘If the king agrees, please let the Jews who live in Susa do the same thing tomorrow. Let your new law continue for one more day. Also, let them hang the dead bodies of Haman's ten sons from the wooden tower.’

¹⁴ The king agreed and he commanded that this should happen. He made another law so that the Jews in Susa could fight again. They also put the dead bodies of Haman's ten sons on the tower.

¹⁵ On the 14th day of the month called Adar the Jews in Susa all met together again. That day they killed 300 more men in Susa. But they did not take their enemies' things for themselves.

^16-17 In the other regions of the kingdom, the Jews came together on the 13th day of Adar. They did that to protect themselves against their enemies. They killed 75,000 of their enemies. But they did not take their enemies' things for themselves. Then, on the 14th day of Adar, the Jews in the regions rested. They ate feasts and they were very happy.

¹⁸ But the Jews in Susa did not rest until the 15th day of the month. That was because they killed their enemies on both the 13th day and the 14th day. On the 15th day they ate feasts and they were very happy.

¹⁹ That is why the Jews who live in towns and villages in the country have a holiday on the 14th day of Adar. On that day, they have feasts and they give gifts to each other, because they are happy.

²⁰ Mordecai wrote down all these events. He sent letters to all the Jews who were living in all the regions where King Xerxes ruled. ²¹ He told them that they should have a holiday on the 14th and 15th days of Adar every year. ²² They should do that to remember the time when they became safe from their enemies. That was the month when they became happy and they were no longer sad. They should eat a feast and they should send gifts of food to each other to show their joy. They should also give gifts to poor people.

²³ The Jews agreed to do everything that Mordecai had written in the letters. They had a feast every year to remember what had happened. ²⁴ They remembered what Hammedatha's son, Haman, the descendant of Agag, had done. He had been the enemy of the Jews and he had tried to destroy them all. He had thrown dice, called Purim, to choose the day when he would attack them and kill them. ²⁵ But Esther went to tell the king what Haman was doing. Then the king stopped the evil thing that Haman wanted to do against the Jews. The king wrote a command to say that Haman should die. The same thing that Haman wanted to do to the Jews should happen to him instead. The bodies of Haman and his sons hung on the wooden tower that his men had built.

²⁶ So the Jews call the days of their feast ‘Purim’. That was the name of the dice that Haman used. They did this because of what Mordecai wrote in his letter. They wanted to remember everything that had happened to them. ²⁷ They made a rule for all the Jews, their descendants, and any other people who came to join them. The rule said that they must all have a holiday on those two days every year. They must do what Mordecai had written in his letter to them. ²⁸ From that time, every Jew must remember to keep the days of Purim as a holiday. Every Jewish family and their children must continue to do this. They must do it in all the cities and all the regions, wherever they lived. And their descendants must continue to do it every year, to remember what happened. ^{[ a ]}

²⁹ Then Abihail's daughter, Queen Esther, and Mordecai wrote another letter. Esther used her authority to say that what Mordecai had written about the feast of Purim was true. ³⁰ So they sent letters to all the Jews who lived in the 127 regions of Xerxes' kingdom. The message was to help them live safely in peace. ³¹ It told the Jews how to have the days of Purim as a holiday at the right time each year. This was a rule that came from the Jewish man, Mordecai, and from Queen Esther. The message also said that the Jews should remember the sad times, and they should fast.

³² Queen Esther's command made those rules about the feast of Purim. The palace secretaries wrote it down in a book.

Footnotes

9:28 Even today, Jews have a feast every year to remember everything that happened.

Victory for the Jews

9 On the 13th day of the twelfth month (Adar), the people were supposed to obey the king’s command. This was the day the enemies of the Jews hoped to defeat them, but now things had changed. The Jews were stronger than their enemies who hated them. ² The Jews met together in their cities in all the provinces of King Xerxes so that they would be strong enough to attack the people who wanted to destroy them. No one was strong enough to stand against them. They were afraid of the Jews. ³ And all the officials of the provinces, the satraps, the governors, and the king’s administrators helped the Jews. All the leaders helped them because they were afraid of Mordecai. ⁴ Mordecai had become a very important man in the king’s palace. Everyone in the provinces knew his name and knew how important he was. And Mordecai became more and more powerful.

⁵ The Jews defeated all their enemies. They used swords to kill and destroy them. They did what they wanted to the people who hated them. ⁶ They killed and destroyed 500 men in the capital city of Susa. ⁷ They also killed these men: Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, ⁸ Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, ⁹ Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha. ¹⁰ These men were the ten sons of Haman. Haman son of Hammedatha was the enemy of the Jews. The Jews killed all the men, but they didn’t take anything that belonged to them.

¹¹ That day the king heard how many men had been killed in the capital city of Susa. ¹² So the king said to Queen Esther, “The Jews have killed 500 men in Susa, including Haman’s ten sons. Now, what do you want done in the other provinces of the king? Tell me, and I will have it done. Ask, and I will do it.”

¹³ Esther said, “If it pleases the king, please let the Jews in Susa do the same thing again tomorrow. Also, hang the bodies of Haman’s ten sons on posts.”

¹⁴ So the king gave the command that it should be done. So the law was given in Susa, and they hanged Haman’s ten sons. ¹⁵ The Jews in Susa met together on the 14th day of the month of Adar. They killed 300 men in Susa, but they didn’t take the things that belonged to them.

¹⁶ At the same time, the Jews living in the other provinces also met together. They met together so that they would be strong enough to protect themselves. And so they got rid of their enemies. They killed 75,000 of their enemies. But the Jews didn’t take anything that belonged to them. ¹⁷ This happened on the 13th day of the month Adar. On the 14th day the Jews rested and made that day a happy day of feasting.

The Festival of Purim

¹⁸ The Jews in Susa had met together on the 13th and 14th days of the month of Adar. And then on the 15th day they rested. So they made the 15th day a happy day of feasting. ¹⁹ So those who live in the country and small villages celebrate Purim on the 14th day of Adar. They keep the 14th day as a happy day of feasting. On this day they have parties and give presents to each other.

²⁰ Mordecai wrote everything down that had happened, and then he sent letters to all the Jews in all of King Xerxes’ provinces. He sent letters far and near. ²¹ He did this to tell the Jews to celebrate Purim every year on the 14th and 15th days of the month of Adar. ²² They were to celebrate those days because on those days the Jews got rid of their enemies. And they were also to celebrate that month as the month when their sadness was turned into joy. It was a month when their crying was changed into a day of celebration. Mordecai wrote letters to all the Jews and told them to celebrate those days as a happy day of feasting. They should have parties, give gifts to each other, and give presents to the poor.

²³ So the Jews agreed to do what Mordecai had written to them. And they agreed to continue the celebration they had begun.

²⁴ Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite was the enemy of all the Jews. He had made an evil plan against the Jews to destroy them. And Haman had thrown the lot to choose a day to ruin and to destroy the Jews. At that time the lot was called a “pur.” ²⁵ Haman did this, but Esther went to talk to the king. So he sent out new commands. These commands not only ruined Haman’s plans, but these commands caused those bad things to happen to Haman and his family! So Haman and his sons were hanged on the posts.

^26-27 At this time lots were called “purim.” So this festival is called “Purim.” Mordecai wrote a letter and told the Jews to celebrate this festival. And so the Jews started the custom of celebrating these two days every year. ²⁸ They do this to help them remember what they had seen happen to them. The Jews and all the people who join them celebrate these two days every year at the right time in just the right way. Every generation and every family remembers these two days. They celebrate this festival in each and every province and in each and every town. And the Jews will never stop celebrating the days of Purim. Their descendants will always remember this festival.

²⁹ So Queen Esther daughter of Abihail, along with Mordecai the Jew, wrote an official letter about Purim. They wrote with full authority of the king to prove that the second letter was true. ³⁰ So Mordecai sent letters to all the Jews in the 127 provinces of King Xerxes’ kingdom. He told the people that the festival should bring peace and make people trust ^{[ a ]} each other. ³¹ He wrote these letters to tell the people to start celebrating Purim. And he told them when to celebrate this new festival. Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had sent out the command for the Jews to establish this two-day festival for themselves and their descendants. They will remember this festival just as they remember the other festivals when they fast and cry about the bad things that had happened. ³² Esther’s letter made the rules for Purim official, and these things were written down in a book.

Footnotes

Esther 9:30 peace … trust Or “fellowship and truth.” Zech. 8:19 teaches that this is how people should celebrate the festivals and why God gave them.

9 Now in the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when the king's commandment and his decree drew near to be put in execution, in the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to have power over them, (though it was turned to the contrary, that the Jews had rule over them that hated them;)

² The Jews gathered themselves together in their cities throughout all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, to lay hand on such as sought their hurt: and no man could withstand them; for the fear of them fell upon all people.

³ And all the rulers of the provinces, and the lieutenants, and the deputies, and officers of the king, helped the Jews; because the fear of Mordecai fell upon them.

⁴ For Mordecai was great in the king's house, and his fame went out throughout all the provinces: for this man Mordecai waxed greater and greater.

⁵ Thus the Jews smote all their enemies with the stroke of the sword, and slaughter, and destruction, and did what they would unto those that hated them.

⁶ And in Shushan the palace the Jews slew and destroyed five hundred men.

⁷ And Parshandatha, and Dalphon, and Aspatha,

⁸ And Poratha, and Adalia, and Aridatha,

⁹ And Parmashta, and Arisai, and Aridai, and Vajezatha,

¹⁰ The ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews, slew they; but on the spoil laid they not their hand.

¹¹ On that day the number of those that were slain in Shushan the palace was brought before the king.

¹² And the king said unto Esther the queen, The Jews have slain and destroyed five hundred men in Shushan the palace, and the ten sons of Haman; what have they done in the rest of the king's provinces? now what is thy petition? and it shall be granted thee: or what is thy request further? and it shall be done.

¹³ Then said Esther, If it please the king, let it be granted to the Jews which are in Shushan to do to morrow also according unto this day's decree, and let Haman's ten sons be hanged upon the gallows.

¹⁴ And the king commanded it so to be done: and the decree was given at Shushan; and they hanged Haman's ten sons.

¹⁵ For the Jews that were in Shushan gathered themselves together on the fourteenth day also of the month Adar, and slew three hundred men at Shushan; but on the prey they laid not their hand.

¹⁶ But the other Jews that were in the king's provinces gathered themselves together, and stood for their lives, and had rest from their enemies, and slew of their foes seventy and five thousand, but they laid not their hands on the prey,

¹⁷ On the thirteenth day of the month Adar; and on the fourteenth day of the same rested they, and made it a day of feasting and gladness.

¹⁸ But the Jews that were at Shushan assembled together on the thirteenth day thereof, and on the fourteenth thereof; and on the fifteenth day of the same they rested, and made it a day of feasting and gladness.

¹⁹ Therefore the Jews of the villages, that dwelt in the unwalled towns, made the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of gladness and feasting, and a good day, and of sending portions one to another.

²⁰ And Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters unto all the Jews that were in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, both nigh and far,

²¹ To stablish this among them, that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, yearly,

²² As the days wherein the Jews rested from their enemies, and the month which was turned unto them from sorrow to joy, and from mourning into a good day: that they should make them days of feasting and joy, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor.

²³ And the Jews undertook to do as they had begun, and as Mordecai had written unto them;

²⁴ Because Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had devised against the Jews to destroy them, and had cast Pur, that is, the lot, to consume them, and to destroy them;

²⁵ But when Esther came before the king, he commanded by letters that his wicked device, which he devised against the Jews, should return upon his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.

²⁶ Wherefore they called these days Purim after the name of Pur. Therefore for all the words of this letter, and of that which they had seen concerning this matter, and which had come unto them,

²⁷ The Jews ordained, and took upon them, and upon their seed, and upon all such as joined themselves unto them, so as it should not fail, that they would keep these two days according to their writing, and according to their appointed time every year;

²⁸ And that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city; and that these days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews, nor the memorial of them perish from their seed.

²⁹ Then Esther the queen, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew, wrote with all authority, to confirm this second letter of Purim.

³⁰ And he sent the letters unto all the Jews, to the hundred twenty and seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, with words of peace and truth,

³¹ To confirm these days of Purim in their times appointed, according as Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen had enjoined them, and as they had decreed for themselves and for their seed, the matters of the fastings and their cry.

³² And the decree of Esther confirmed these matters of Purim; and it was written in the book.

The Jews Destroy Their Enemies

9 Now ^{( A )} in the twelfth month (that is, the month Adar), on ^{( B )} the thirteenth ^{[ a ]} day, ^{( C )} when the king’s command and edict were to be put into effect, on the day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain the mastery over them, it turned out to the contrary so that the Jews themselves gained mastery over those who hated them. ² ^{( D )} The Jews assembled in their cities throughout the provinces of King Ahasuerus to ^{[ b ]} attack those who sought ^{[ c ]} to harm them; and no one could stand against them, ^{( E )} because the dread of them had fallen on all the peoples. ³ Even all the officials of the provinces, ^{( F )} the satraps, the governors, and those who were doing the king’s business were supporting the Jews, because the dread of Mordecai had fallen on them. ⁴ For Mordecai was great in the king’s house, and the news about him spread throughout the provinces; for the man Mordecai ^{( G )} became greater and greater. ⁵ So ^{( H )} the Jews struck all their enemies with ^{[ d ]} the sword, killing and destroying; and they did as they pleased to those who hated them. ⁶ At the citadel in Susa the Jews killed and eliminated five hundred men, ⁷ and they killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, ⁸ Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, ⁹ Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha, ¹⁰ ^{( I )} the ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Jews’ enemy; but ^{( J )} they did not lay their hands on the plunder.

¹¹ On that day the number of those who were killed at the citadel in Susa ^{[ e ]} was reported to the king. ¹² And the king said to Queen Esther, “The Jews have killed and eliminated five hundred men and the ten sons of Haman at the citadel in Susa. What have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces! ^{( K )} Now what is your request? It shall also be granted you. And what is your further wish? It shall also be done.” ¹³ Then Esther said, “If it pleases the king, ^{( L )} let tomorrow also be granted to the Jews who are in Susa to do according to the edict of today; and let Haman’s ten sons be hanged on the wooden gallows .” ¹⁴ So the king commanded that it was to be done so; and an edict was issued in Susa, and Haman’s ten sons were hanged. ¹⁵ The Jews who were in Susa assembled also on the fourteenth day of the month Adar and killed ^{( M )} three hundred men in Susa, but ^{( N )} they did not lay their hands on the plunder.

¹⁶ Now ^{( O )} the rest of the Jews who were in the king’s provinces ^{( P )} assembled, to defend their lives and ^{[ f ]} rid themselves of their enemies, and to kill seventy-five thousand of those who hated them; but they did not lay their hands on the plunder. ¹⁷ This was done on ^{( Q )} the thirteenth day of the month Adar, and ^{( R )} on the fourteenth ^{[ g ]} day they rested and made it a day of feasting and rejoicing.

¹⁸ But the Jews who were in Susa ^{( S )} assembled on the thirteenth and ^{( T )} the fourteenth ^{[ h ]} of the same month, and they rested on the fifteenth ^{[ i ]} day and made it a day of feasting and rejoicing. ¹⁹ Therefore the Jews of the rural areas, who live in ^{( U )} the rural towns, make the fourteenth day of the month Adar a ^{[ j ]} ^{( V )} holiday for rejoicing and feasting and ^{( W )} sending portions of food to one another.

The Feast of Purim Instituted

²⁰ Then Mordecai recorded these events, and he sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far, ²¹ obliging them to celebrate the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day ^{[ k ]} of the same month, annually, ²² because on those days the Jews ^{[ l ]} rid themselves of their enemies, and it was a month which was ^{( X )} turned for them from grief into joy, and from mourning into a ^{[ m ]} holiday; that they were to make them days of feasting and rejoicing, and ^{( Y )} sending portions of food to one another, and gifts to the poor.

²³ So the Jews undertook what they had started to do, and what Mordecai had written to them. ²⁴ For Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the adversary of all the Jews, had schemed against the Jews to eliminate them, and ^{( Z )} had cast Pur, that is the lot, to disturb them and eliminate them. ²⁵ But ^{( AA )} when it came ^{[ n ]} to the king’s attention, he commanded by letter ^{( AB )} that his wicked scheme which he had devised against the Jews ^{( AC )} was to return on his own head, and that he and his sons were to be hanged on the wooden gallows . ²⁶ Therefore they called these days Purim after the name of ^{[ o ]} Pur. ^{[ p ]} And ^{( AD )} because of the instructions in this letter, both what they had seen in this regard and what had happened to them, ²⁷ the Jews established and ^{[ q ]} made a custom for themselves, their ^{[ r ]} descendants, and for ^{( AE )} all those who allied themselves with them, so that ^{[ s ]} they would not fail ^{( AF )} to celebrate these two days according to their ^{[ t ]} regulation and according to their appointed time annually. ²⁸ So these days were to be remembered and celebrated throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city; and these days of Purim were not to ^{[ u ]} be neglected by the Jews, or their memory ^{[ v ]} fade from their ^{[ w ]} descendants.

²⁹ Then Queen Esther, ^{( AG )} daughter of Abihail, with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm ^{( AH )} this second letter about Purim. ³⁰ He sent letters to all the Jews, ^{( AI )} to the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, namely , words of peace and truth, ³¹ to establish these days of Purim at their appointed times, just as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had established for them, and just as they had established for themselves and for their ^{[ x ]} descendants, with ^{[ y ]} instructions ^{( AJ )} for their times of fasting and their mourning. ³² The command of Esther established these ^{[ z ]} customs for ^{( AK )} Purim, and it was written in the book.

Footnotes

Esther 9:1 Lit day in it
Esther 9:2 Lit put out a hand against
Esther 9:2 Lit their harm
Esther 9:5 Lit the stroke of the
Esther 9:11 Lit came before
Esther 9:16 Lit have rest from
Esther 9:17 Lit in it
Esther 9:18 Lit in it
Esther 9:18 Lit in it
Esther 9:19 Lit rejoicing and feasting and a good day and sending
Esther 9:21 Lit in it
Esther 9:22 Lit had rest from
Esther 9:22 Lit good day
Esther 9:25 Lit before the king, he
Esther 9:26 Akkadian for lot
Esther 9:26 Lit Therefore because of all the words
Esther 9:27 Lit received
Esther 9:27 Lit seed
Esther 9:27 Lit it would not pass away
Esther 9:27 Lit writing
Esther 9:28 Lit pass from the midst of
Esther 9:28 Lit end
Esther 9:28 Lit seed
Esther 9:31 Lit seed
Esther 9:31 Lit words
Esther 9:32 Lit words

9 On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, ^{( A )} the edict commanded by the king was to be carried out. On this day the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, but now the tables were turned and the Jews got the upper hand ^{( B )} over those who hated them. ^{( C )} ² The Jews assembled in their cities ^{( D )} in all the provinces of King Xerxes to attack those determined to destroy them. No one could stand against them, ^{( E )} because the people of all the other nationalities were afraid of them. ³ And all the nobles of the provinces, the satraps, the governors and the king’s administrators helped the Jews, ^{( F )} because fear of Mordecai had seized them. ^{( G )} ⁴ Mordecai ^{( H )} was prominent ^{( I )} in the palace; his reputation spread throughout the provinces, and he became more and more powerful. ^{( J )}

⁵ The Jews struck down all their enemies with the sword, killing and destroying them, ^{( K )} and they did what they pleased to those who hated them. ⁶ In the citadel of Susa, the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men. ⁷ They also killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, ⁸ Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, ⁹ Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai and Vaizatha, ¹⁰ the ten sons ^{( L )} of Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews. ^{( M )} But they did not lay their hands on the plunder. ^{( N )}

¹¹ The number of those killed in the citadel of Susa was reported to the king that same day. ¹² The king said to Queen Esther, “The Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men and the ten sons of Haman in the citadel of Susa. What have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces? Now what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? It will also be granted.” ^{( O )}

¹³ “If it pleases the king,” Esther answered, “give the Jews in Susa permission to carry out this day’s edict tomorrow also, and let Haman’s ten sons ^{( P )} be impaled ^{( Q )} on poles.”

¹⁴ So the king commanded that this be done. An edict was issued in Susa, and they impaled ^{( R )} the ten sons of Haman. ¹⁵ The Jews in Susa came together on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, and they put to death in Susa three hundred men, but they did not lay their hands on the plunder. ^{( S )}

¹⁶ Meanwhile, the remainder of the Jews who were in the king’s provinces also assembled to protect themselves and get relief ^{( T )} from their enemies. ^{( U )} They killed seventy-five thousand of them ^{( V )} but did not lay their hands on the plunder. ^{( W )} ¹⁷ This happened on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth they rested and made it a day of feasting ^{( X )} and joy.

¹⁸ The Jews in Susa, however, had assembled on the thirteenth and fourteenth, and then on the fifteenth they rested and made it a day of feasting and joy.

¹⁹ That is why rural Jews—those living in villages—observe the fourteenth of the month of Adar ^{( Y )} as a day of joy and feasting, a day for giving presents to each other. ^{( Z )}

Purim Established

²⁰ Mordecai recorded these events, and he sent letters to all the Jews throughout the provinces of King Xerxes, near and far, ²¹ to have them celebrate annually the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar ²² as the time when the Jews got relief ^{( AA )} from their enemies, and as the month when their sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning into a day of celebration. ^{( AB )} He wrote them to observe the days as days of feasting and joy and giving presents of food ^{( AC )} to one another and gifts to the poor. ^{( AD )}

²³ So the Jews agreed to continue the celebration they had begun, doing what Mordecai had written to them. ²⁴ For Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, ^{( AE )} the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them and had cast the pur ^{( AF )} (that is, the lot ^{( AG )} ) for their ruin and destruction. ^{( AH )} ²⁵ But when the plot came to the king’s attention, ^{[ a ]} he issued written orders that the evil scheme Haman had devised against the Jews should come back onto his own head, ^{( AI )} and that he and his sons should be impaled ^{( AJ )} on poles. ^{( AK )} ²⁶ (Therefore these days were called Purim, from the word pur . ^{( AL )} ) Because of everything written in this letter and because of what they had seen and what had happened to them, ²⁷ the Jews took it on themselves to establish the custom that they and their descendants and all who join them should without fail observe these two days every year, in the way prescribed and at the time appointed. ²⁸ These days should be remembered and observed in every generation by every family, and in every province and in every city. And these days of Purim should never fail to be celebrated by the Jews—nor should the memory of these days die out among their descendants.

²⁹ So Queen Esther, daughter of Abihail, ^{( AM )} along with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm this second letter concerning Purim. ³⁰ And Mordecai sent letters to all the Jews in the 127 provinces ^{( AN )} of Xerxes’ kingdom—words of goodwill and assurance— ³¹ to establish these days of Purim at their designated times, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had decreed for them, and as they had established for themselves and their descendants in regard to their times of fasting ^{( AO )} and lamentation. ^{( AP )} ³² Esther’s decree confirmed these regulations about Purim, and it was written down in the records.

Footnotes

Esther 9:25 Or when Esther came before the king

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Table of Contents

The Jews punish their enemies

Footnotes

Victory for the Jews

The Festival of Purim

Footnotes

The Jews Destroy Their Enemies

The Feast of Purim Instituted

Footnotes

Cross references

Purim Established

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Cross references

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The Jews punish their enemies

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Victory for the Jews

The Festival of Purim

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The Jews Destroy Their Enemies

The Feast of Purim Instituted

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Purim Established

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