Esther 9

1 On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, the king's order and decree were to be carried out. That day the enemies of the Jews had thought they would crush them, but the exact opposite happened—the Jews crushed their enemies.

Now on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, when the time came for the king's order to be put into effect, on the very day when the haters of the Jews had been hoping to have rule over them; though the opposite had come about, and the Jews had rule over their haters;

2 The Jews gathered in their cities throughout the provinces of King Xerxes to attack those who wanted to destroy them. Nobody could oppose them, because all the other people were afraid of them.

On that day, the Jews came together in their towns through all the divisions of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, for the purpose of attacking all those who were attempting evil against them: and everyone had to give way before them, for the fear of them had come on all the peoples.

3 All the officials of the provinces, the chief officers, the governors, and the king's officials helped the Jews, because they were afraid of Mordecai.

And all the chiefs and the captains and the rulers and those who did the king's business gave support to the Jews; because the fear of Mordecai had come on them.

4 Mordecai had a great deal of power in the royal palace, and his reputation spread throughout the provinces as his power increased.

For Mordecai was great in the king's house, and word of him went out through every part of the kingdom: for the man Mordecai became greater and greater.

5 The Jews attacked their enemies with swords, killing and destroying them, and they did whatever they wanted to their enemies.

So the Jews overcame all their attackers with the sword and with death and destruction, and did to their haters whatever they had a desire to do.

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

And in Shushan the Jews put to death five hundred men.

7 This included Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha,

They put to death Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha,

8 Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha,

Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha,

9 Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha,

Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha,

10 the ten sons of Haman, son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews, but they did not take their possessions.

The ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the hater of the Jews; but they put not a hand on any of their goods.

11 The same day, when the number of those killed in the fortress of Susa was reported to the king,

On that day the number of those who had been put to death in the town of Shushan was given to the king.

12 he said to Queen Esther, “The Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men in the fortress of Susa, including Haman's ten sons. Imagine what they've done in the rest of the royal provinces! Now what is it you'd like to ask? It will be given to you. What more do you want? It will be granted.”

And the king said to Esther the queen, The Jews have put five hundred men to death in Shushan, as well as the ten sons of Haman: what then have they done in the rest of the kingdom! Now what is your prayer? for it will be given to you; what other request have you? and it will be done.

13 “If it please Your Majesty,” Esther replied, “allow the Jews in Susa be allowed to do the same tomorrow as they did today, following the decree. Also, let the ten sons of Haman be impaled on poles.”

Then Esther said, If it is the king's pleasure, let authority be given to the Jews in Shushan to do tomorrow as has been done today, and let orders be given for the hanging of Haman's ten sons.

14 The king ordered this to be done. A decree was issued in Susa, and they impaled the bodies of Haman's ten sons.

And the king said that this was to be done, and the order was given out in Shushan, and the hanging of Haman's ten sons was effected.

15 On the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, the Jews in Susa gathered together again and killed three hundred men there, but again they did not take their possessions.

For the Jews who were in Shushan came together again on the fourteenth day of the month Adar and put to death three hundred men in Shushan; but they put not a hand on their goods.

16 The other Jews in the king's provinces also gathered to defend themselves and get rid of their enemies. They killed 75,000 who hated them, but did not touch their possessions.

And the other Jews in every division of the kingdom came together, fighting for their lives, and got salvation from their haters and put seventy-five thousand of them to death; but they did not put a hand on their goods.

17 This happened on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth day they rested and made it a day of feasting and celebration.

This they did on the thirteenth day of the month Adar; and on the fourteenth day of the same month they took their rest, and made it a day of feasting and joy.

18 However, the Jews in Susa had gathered to fight on the thirteenth and the fourteenth days of the month. So they rested on the fifteenth day, and made that a day of feasting and celebration.

But the Jews in Shushan came together on the thirteenth and on the fourteenth day of the month; and on the fifteenth day they took their rest, and made it a day of feasting and joy.

19 To this day rural Jews, living in the villages, observe the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a day of celebration and feasting, a holiday when they send gifts to one another.

So the Jews of the country places living in unwalled towns make the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of feasting and joy and a good day, a day for sending offerings one to another.

20 Mordecai recorded these events and sent letters to all the Jews throughout the provinces ruled by King Xerxes, near and far,

And Mordecai sent letters to all the Jews in every division of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, near and far,

21 requiring them to celebrate every year the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar

Ordering them to keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar and the fifteenth day of the same month, every year,

22 as the time when the Jews rested from their victory over their enemies, and as the month when their sadness was turned into joy and their mourning into a time of celebration. He wrote them to observe the days as days of feasting and joy and giving gifts of food to one another and presents to the poor.

As days on which the Jews had rest from their haters, and the month which for them was turned from sorrow to joy, and from weeping to a good day: and that they were to keep them as days of feasting and joy, of sending offerings to one another and good things to the poor.

23 The Jews agreed to continue what they had already started doing, following what Mordecai had written to them.

And the Jews gave their word to go on as they had been doing and as Mordecai had given them orders in writing;

24 For Haman, son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted to destroy the Jews, and had cast “pur” (meaning a “lot”) to crush and destroy them.

Because Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the hater of all the Jews, had made designs for their destruction, attempting to get a decision by Pur (that is, chance) with a view to putting an end to them and cutting them off;

25 But when it came to the king's attention, he sent out letters ordering that the evil scheme which Haman had planned against the Jews should rebound on him, and that he and his sons should be impaled on poles.

But when the business was put before the king, he gave orders by letters that the evil design which he had made against the Jews was to be turned against himself; and that he and his sons were to be put to death by hanging.

26 (That's why these days are called Purim, from the word Pur.) As a result of all the instructions in Mordecai's letter, and what they'd seen, and what had happened to them,

So these days were named Purim, after the name of Pur. And so, because of the words of this letter, and of what they had seen in connection with this business, and what had come to them,

27 the Jews committed themselves to adopt the practice that they and their descendants and all who join them should not forget to celebrate these two days as set down, and at the right time every year.

The Jews made a rule and gave an undertaking, causing their seed and all those who were joined to them to do the same, so that it might be in force for ever, that they would keep those two days, as ordered in the letter, at the fixed time every year;

28 These days were to be remembered and celebrated by every generation, family, province, and city, so that these days of Purim would always be observed among the Jews, and they would not be forgotten by their descendants.

And that those days were to be kept in memory through every generation and every family, in every division of the kingdom and every town, that there might never be a time when these days of Purim would not be kept among the Jews, or when the memory of them would go from the minds of their seed.

29 Then Queen Esther, the daughter of Abihail, wrote a letter, along with Mordecai the Jew, giving in her letter full authority to Mordecai's letter about Purim.

Then Esther the queen, daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew, sent a second letter giving the force of their authority to the order about the Purim.

30 Letters expressing peace and reassurance were also sent all the Jews in the 127 provinces of the empire of King Xerxes.

And he sent letters to all the Jews in the hundred and twenty-seven divisions of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, with true words of peace,

31 They established these days of Purim at their given time as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had ordered, committing themselves and their descendants to the times of fasting and mourning.

Giving the force of law to these days of Purim at their fixed times, as they had been ordered by Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen, and in keeping with the rules they had made for themselves and their seed, in connection with their time of going without food and their cry for help.

32 In this way Esther's decree confirmed these practices regarding Purim, which were entered in the official record.

The order given by Esther gave the force of law to the rules about the Purim; and it was recorded in the book.