Esther 9

1 And in the twelfth month — it [is] the month of Adar — on the thirteenth day of it, in which the word of the king, even his law, hath come to be done, in the day that the enemies of the Jews had hoped to rule over them, and it is turned that the Jews rule over those hating them —

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.

2 the Jews have been assembled in their cities, in all provinces of the king Ahasuerus, to put forth a hand on those seeking their evil, and no man hath stood in their presence, for their fear hath fallen on all the peoples.

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.

3 And all heads of the provinces, and the lieutenants, and the governors, and those doing the work that the king hath, are lifting up the Jews, for a fear of Mordecai hath fallen upon them;

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.

4 for great [is] Mordecai in the house of the king, and his fame is going into all the provinces, for the man Mordecai is going on and becoming great.

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

5 And the Jews smite among all their enemies — a smiting of the sword, and slaughter, and destruction — and do with those hating them according to their pleasure,

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

6 and in Shushan the palace have the Jews slain and destroyed five hundred men;

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

7 and Parshandatha, and Dalphon, and Aspatha,

This included Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha,

8 and Poratha, and Adalia, and Aridatha,

Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha,

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

Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha,

10 ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, adversary of the Jews, they have slain, and on the prey they have not put forth their hand.

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

11 On that day hath come the number of the slain in Shushan the palace before the king,

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

12 and the king saith to Esther the queen, 'In Shushan the palace have the Jews slain and destroyed five hundred men, and the ten sons of Haman; in the rest of the provinces of the king what have they done? and what [is] thy petition? and it is given to thee; and what thy request again? and it is done.'

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.”

13 And Esther saith, 'If to the king [it be] good, let it be given also to-morrow, to the Jews who [are] in Shushan, to do according to the law of to-day; and the ten sons of Haman they hang on the tree.'

“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.”

14 And the king saith — 'to be done so;' and a law is given in Shushan, and the ten sons of Haman they have hanged.

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

15 And the Jews who [are] in Shushan are assembled also on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, and they slay in Shushan three hundred men, and on the prey they have not put forth their hand.

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.

16 And the rest of the Jews, who [are] in the provinces of the king, have been assembled, even to stand for their life, and to rest from their enemies, and to slay among those hating them five and seventy thousand, and on the prey they have not put forth their hand;

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.

17 on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, even to rest on the fourteenth of it, and to make it a day of banquet and of joy.

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.

18 And the Jews who [are] in Shushan have been assembled, on the thirteenth day of it, and on the fourteenth of it, even to rest on the fifteenth of it, and to make it a day of banquet and of joy.

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.

19 Therefore the Jews of the villages, who are dwelling in cities of the villages, are making the fourteenth day of the month of Adar — joy and banquet, and a good day, and of sending portions one to another.

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.

20 And Mordecai writeth these things, and sendeth letters unto all the Jews who [are] in all provinces of the king Ahasuerus, who are near and who are far off,

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

21 to establish on them, to be keeping the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, and the fifteenth day of it, in every year and year,

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

22 as days on which the Jews have rested from their enemies, and the month that hath been turned to them from sorrow to joy, and from mourning to a good day, to make them days of banquet and of joy, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the needy.

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.

23 And the Jews have received that which they had begun to do, and that which Mordecai hath written unto them,

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

24 because Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, adversary of all the Jews, had devised concerning the Jews to destroy them, and had caused to fall Pur — that [is] the lot — to crush them and to destroy them;

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.

25 and in her coming in before the king, he said with the letter, 'Let his evil device that he devised against the Jews turn back upon his own head,' and they have hanged him and his sons on the tree,

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.

26 therefore they have called these days Purim — by the name of the lot — therefore, because of all the words of this letter, and what they have seen concerning this, and what hath come unto them,

(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,

27 the Jews have established and received upon them, and upon their seed, and upon all those joined unto them, and it doth not pass away, to be keeping these two days according to their writing, and according to their season, in every year and year;

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.

28 and these days are remembered and kept in every generation and generation, family and family, province and province, and city and city, and these days of Purim do not pass away from the midst of the Jews, and their memorial is not ended from their seed.

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.

29 And Esther the queen, daughter of Abihail, writeth, and Mordecai the Jew, with all might, to establish this second letter of Purim,

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.

30 and he sendeth letters unto all the Jews, unto the seven and twenty and a hundred provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus — words of peace and truth —

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

31 to establish these days of Purim, in their seasons, as Mordecai the Jew hath established on them, and Esther the queen, and as they had established on themselves, and on their seed — matters of the fastings, and of their cry.

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.

32 And a saying of Esther hath established these matters of Purim, and it is written in the Book.

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