Esther 9

1 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;

Now in the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, on the thirteenth day, when the king's law and decree were about to be carried out, on the day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain power over them, it was reversed. The Jews gained power over those who hated them.

2 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.

The Jews assembled in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, to lay hands on those who tried to bring disaster on them. No one could stand against them, for the fear of them had fallen on all the peoples.

3 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.

All the officials of the provinces, the provincial governors, the governors, and the king's administrators, helped the Jews because the fear of Mordecai had fallen on them.

4 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.

For Mordecai was great in the king's house, and his fame spread throughout all the provinces, for the man Mordecai was becoming great.

5 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.

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

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

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

7 They put to death Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha,

They killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha,

8 Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha,

Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha,

9 Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha,

Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, Vaizatha,

10 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.

and the ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews. But they did not take any plunder.

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

That day the number of those killed in the fortress of Susa, was reported to the king.

12 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.

The king said to Queen Esther, “The Jews have killed five hundred men in the fortress of Susa, including 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 you. What is your request? It will be granted to you.”

13 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.

Esther said, “If it pleases the king, let the Jews who are in Susa be permitted to carry out this day's decree tomorrow also, and let the bodies of Haman's ten sons be hanged on gallows.”

14 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.

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

15 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.

The Jews who were in Susa came together on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, and killed three hundred more men in Susa, but laid no hands on the plunder.

16 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.

The rest of the Jews who were in the king's provinces came together to defend their lives, and they got relief from their enemies and killed seventy-five thousand of those who hated them, but they did not lay their hands on the valuables of those they killed.

17 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.

This happened on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar. On the fourteenth day they rested and made that a day of feasting and gladness.

18 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.

But the Jews who were in Susa assembled together on the thirteenth and the fourteenth days. On the fifteenth day they rested and made it a day of feasting and gladness.

19 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.

That is why the Jews of the villages, who make their homes in the rural towns, observe the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a day of gladness and feasting, and as a day on which they send gifts of food to one another.

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

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

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

obligating them to keep the fourteenth and the fifteenth day of Adar every year.

22 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.

These were the days when the Jews got relief from their enemies, and the month when their sorrow turned to joy, and mourning into a day of celebration. They were to make them days of feasting and gladness, and of sending gifts of food to one another, and gifts to the poor.

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

So the Jews continued the celebration they had begun, doing what Mordecai had written to them.

24 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;

At that time Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them, and he threw Pur (that is, he threw lots), to crush and destroy them.

25 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.

But when the matter came before the king, he gave orders by letters that the wicked plan Haman developed against the Jews should come back on his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.

26 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,

Therefore they called these days Purim, after the name of Pur. Because of everything that was written in this letter, and everything that they had seen and that had happened to them,

27 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;

the Jews accepted a new custom and duty. This custom would be for themselves, their descendants, and everyone who joined them. It would be that they would celebrate these two days every year. They would celebrate them in a certain way and at the same time each year.

28 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.

These days were to be celebrated and observed in every generation, every family, every province, and every city. These Jews and their descendants would never cease to faithfully observe these days of Purim, so that they should never forget them.

29 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.

Queen Esther daughter of Abihail and Mordecai the Jew wrote with full authority and confirmed this second letter about Purim.

30 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,

Letters were sent to all the Jews in the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, wishing the Jews safety and truth.

31 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.

These letters confirmed the days of Purim at their appointed times, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther obligated the Jews. The Jews accepted this obligation for themselves and their descendants, just as also they accepted times of fasting and lamenting.

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

The command of Esther confirmed these regulations regarding Purim, and it was written in the book.