Esther 9

1 On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, the king’s command and edict were to be executed. On this day the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, but their plan was overturned and the Jews overpowered those who hated them.

Now in the twelfth month (that is the month of Adar), on the thirteenth day, when the king’s command and his decree was about to put into execution, on the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain the mastery over them, then the tables were turned so that the Jews had the mastery over those who hated them.

2 In each of the provinces of King Xerxes, the Jews assembled in their cities to attack those who sought to harm them. No man could withstand them, because the fear of them had fallen upon all peoples.

The Jews gathered together in the cities throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, to attack anyone who tried to harm them. No one could withstand them, for the fear of them had fallen on all the peoples.

3 And all the officials of the provinces, the satraps, the governors, and the king’s administrators helped the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai had fallen upon them.

All the princes of the provinces and the satraps and the governors and they who attended to the king’s business, helped the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai had fallen on them.

4 For Mordecai exercised great power in the palace, and his fame spread throughout the provinces as he became more and more powerful.

For Mordecai was great in the king’s palace, and as his power increased his fame spread throughout all the provinces.

5 The Jews put all their enemies to the sword, killing and destroying them, and they did as they pleased to those who hated them.

The Jews put all their enemies to the sword and, with slaughter and destruction, they did what they wanted to those who hated them.

6 In the citadel of Susa, the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men,

In Susa the capital the Jews killed five hundred people.

7 including Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha,

They killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha,

8 Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha,

Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha,

9 Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha.

Parmashta, Arisia, Aridai, and Vaizatha,

10 They killed these ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews, but they did not lay a hand on the plunder.

the ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Jews’ enemy; but they did not take any plunder.

11 On that day the number of those killed in the citadel of Susa was reported to the king,

On that day the number of those who were slain in Susa was brought before the king,

12 who said to Queen Esther, “In the citadel of Susa the Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men, including Haman’s ten sons. What have they done in the rest of the royal provinces? Now what is your petition? It will be given to you. And what further do you request? It will be fulfilled.”

and the king said to Queen Esther, ‘The Jews have slain five hundred people in Susa, and the ten sons of Haman. What then have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces! Now what is your petition? It will be granted to you. What is your request? It will be done.’

13 Esther replied, “If it pleases the king, may the Jews in Susa also have tomorrow to carry out today’s edict, and may the bodies of Haman’s ten sons be hanged on the gallows.”

‘If it please the king,’ Esther said, ‘let it be granted to the Jews who are in Susa to do tomorrow also according to this day’s decree. Let the bodies of Haman’s ten sons be hanged on the gallows.’

14 So the king commanded that this be done. An edict was issued in Susa, and they hanged the ten sons of Haman.

And the king commanded it to be done. A decree was given out in Susa and they hung the bodies of Haman’s ten sons on the gallows.

15 On the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, the Jews in Susa came together again and put to death three hundred men there, but they did not lay a hand on the plunder.

The Jews who were in Susa gathered themselves together again on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar. They killed three hundred people in Susa. But they did not take any plunder.

16 The rest of the Jews in the royal provinces also assembled to defend themselves and rid themselves of their enemies. They killed 75,000 who hated them, but they did not lay a hand on the plunder.

And the other Jews who were in the king’s provinces gathered themselves together and fought for their lives and overcame their enemies. They killed seventy-five thousand who hated them. But they did not take any plunder.

17 This was done on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth day they rested, making it a day of feasting and joy.

This was on the thirteenth day of Adar. On the fourteenth day of the month Adar the Jews rested and made it a day of feasting and rejoicing.

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

(But the Jews in Susa gathered on both the thirteenth and fourteenth day – and rested on the fifteenth day of the same month and made it a day of feasting and rejoicing.)

19 This is why the rural Jews, who live in the villages, observe the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a day of joy and feasting. It is a holiday for sending gifts to one another.

This is why the Jews who live in the country villages keep the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a day of rejoicing and feasting and a holiday, and a day in which they send gifts of food to each other.

20 Mordecai recorded these events and sent letters to all the Jews in all the provinces of King Xerxes, both near and far,

Mordecai had these things recorded. He sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of the King Ahasuerus, both near and far.

21 to establish among them an annual celebration on the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar

He told them to keep the fourteenth day of the month of Adar and also the fifteenth day every year,

22 as the days on which the Jews gained rest from their enemies and the month in which their sorrow turned to joy and their mourning into a holiday. He wrote that these were to be days of feasting and joy, of sending gifts to one another and to the poor.

as the days on which the Jews had rest from their enemies, and the month which was turned from sorrow to gladness and from mourning into a feast day. They should make them days of feasting and gladness and of sending gifts of food to each other and of gifts to the poor.

23 So the Jews agreed to continue the custom they had started, as Mordecai had written to them.

So what the Jews had begun to do they adopted as a custom, just as Mordecai had written to them.

24 For Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them and had cast the Pur (that is, the lot) to crush and destroy them.

For Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted to destroy them. He had cast “Pur”, that is the lot, intending to consume them and to destroy them.

25 But when it came before the king, he commanded by letter that the wicked scheme which Haman had devised against the Jews should come back upon his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.

But when the matter came before the king, he gave written orders that his wicked plot, which he had planned against the Jews, should come upon his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.

26 Therefore these days are called Purim, from the word Pur. Because of all the instructions in this letter, and because of all they had seen and experienced,

This is why these days are called Purim, after the word Pur. Therefore because of all the words of this letter, as well as all they had seen, and all they had experienced,

27 the Jews bound themselves to establish the custom that they and their descendants and all who join them should not fail to celebrate these two days at the appointed time each and every year, according to their regulation.

the Jews established and made it a custom for them, for their descendants, and for all who should join them, so that it might not be repealed, that they should continue to observe these two days as feasts each year,

28 These days should be remembered and celebrated by every generation, family, province, and city, so that these days of Purim should not fail to be observed among the Jews, nor should the memory of them fade from their descendants.

and that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city. And these days of Purim should not pass away from among the Jews nor the remembrance of them disappear among their descendants.

29 So Queen Esther daughter of Abihail, along with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm this second letter concerning Purim.

Queen Esther, the daughter of Abihail, gave Mordecai the Jew all authority in writing to confirm this second letter of Purim.

30 And Mordecai sent letters with words of peace and truth to all the Jews in the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Xerxes,

He sent letters to all the Jews, to the hundred and twenty-seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, wishing them peace and security,

31 in order to confirm these days of Purim at their appointed time, just as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had established them and had committed themselves and their descendants to the times of fasting and lamentation.

to confirm these days of Purim in their proper times, to be observed as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had directed and as the Jews had proscribed for themselves and their descendants, in the matter of the fastings and their cry of lamentation.

32 So Esther’s decree confirmed these regulations about Purim, which were written into the record.

And the commands of Esther confirmed these matters of Purim; and it was written in the records.