< Esther 9 >
1 For in the twelfth month, on the thirteenth day of the month which is Adar, the letters written by the king arrived.
Therfor in the thrittenthe dai of the tweluethe monethe, which we seiden now bifore to be clepid Adar, whanne sleyng was maad redi to alle Jewis, and her enemyes settiden tresoun to blood, ayenward Jewes bigunnen to be the hiyere, and to venge hem of aduersaries.
2 In that day the adversaries of the Jews perished: for no one resisted, through fear of them.
And thei weren gaderid togidere bi alle citees, castels, and places, to stretche forth hond ayens her enemyes and pursueris; and no man was hardi to ayenstonde, for the drede of her gretnesse hadde persid alle puplis.
3 For the chiefs of the satraps, and the princes and the royal scribes, honoured the Jews; for the fear of Mardochaeus lay upon them.
For whi bothe the iugis, duykis, and procuratouris of prouynces, and ech dignyte, that weren souereyns of alle places and werkis, enhaunsiden Jewis, for the drede of Mardochee,
4 For the order of the king was in force, that he should be celebrated in all the kingdom.
whom thei knewen to be prince of the paleis, and to mow do ful myche; and the fame of his name encreeside ech dai, and flei bi the mouthis of alle men.
Therfor the Jewis smytiden her enemyes with greet veniaunce, and killiden hem, and yeldiden to tho enemyes that, that thei hadden maad redi to do to `the Jewis,
6 And in the city Susa the Jews killed five hundred men:
in so myche, that also in Susa thei killiden fyue hundrid men, with out the ten sones of Aaman of Agag, the enemye of Jewis, of whiche these ben the names;
7 both Pharsannes, and Delphon and Phasga,
Phasandatha, Delphon, and Esphata,
8 and Pharadatha, and Barea, and Sarbaca,
and Phorata, and Adalia, and Aridatha,
9 and Marmasima, and Ruphaeus, and Arsaeus, and Zabuthaeus,
and Ephermesta, and Arisai, and Aridai, and Vaizatha.
10 the ten sons of Aman the son of Amadathes the Bugaean, the enemy of the Jews, and they plundered [their property] on the same day:
And whanne the Jewis hadden slayn hem, thei nolden take preies of the catels of hem.
11 and the number of them that perished in Susa was rendered to the king.
And anoon the noumbre of hem, that weren slayn in Susa, was teld to the kyng.
12 And the king said to Esther, The Jews have slain five hundred men in the city Susa; and how, think you, have they used them in the rest of the country? What then do you yet ask, that it may be [done] for you?
Which seide to the queen, Jewis han slayn fyue hundrid men in the citee of Susa, and othere ten sones of Aaman; hou grete sleyng gessist thou, that thei haunten in alle prouynces? what axist thou more? and what wolt thou, that Y comaunde to be doon?
13 And Esther said to the king, let it be granted to the Jews so to treat them tomorrow as to hand the ten sons of Aman.
To whom sche answeride, If it plesith the kyng, power be youun to the Jewis, that as thei han do to dai in Susa, so do thei also to morewe, and that the ten sones of Aaman be hangid vp in iebatis.
14 And he permitted it to be so done; and he gave up to the Jews of the city the bodies of the sons of Aman to hang.
And the kyng comaundide, that it schulde be doon so; and anoon the comaundement hangide in Susa, and the ten sones of Aaman weren hangid.
15 And the Jews assembled in Susa on the fourteenth [day] of Adar, and killed three hundred men, but plundered no property.
Therfor whanne the Jewis weren gaderid togidere, in the fourtenthe dai of the monethe Adar, thre hundrid men weren slayn in Susa, and the Jewis token not awei the catel of tho men.
16 And the rest of the Jews who were in the kingdom assembled, and helped one another, and obtained rest from their enemies: for they destroyed fifteen thousand of them on the thirteenth [day] of Adar, but took no spoil.
But also bi alle the prouynces, that weren suget to the lordschip of the kyng, Jewis stoden for her lyues, whanne her enemyes and pursueris weren slayn, in so myche, that fyue and seuenti thousynde of slayn men `weren fillid, and no man touchide ony thing of the catelis of hem.
17 And they rested on the fourteenth of the same month, and kept it as a day of rest with joy and gladness.
Forsothe the thrittenthe dai of the monethe Adar was o dai of sleyng at alle Jewis, and in the fourtenthe dai thei ceessiden to sle; which thei ordeyneden to be solempne, that therynne in ech tyme aftirward thei schulden yyue tent to metis, to ioye, and to feestis.
18 And the Jews in the city Susa assembled also on the fourteenth [day] and rested; and they kept also the fifteenth with joy and gladness.
And thei, that hauntiden sleyng in the citee of Susa, `lyueden in sleyng in the thrittenthe and fourtenthe dai of the same monethe. But in the fiftenthe dai thei ceessiden to sle; and therfor thei ordeyneden the same dai solempne of feestis and of gladnesse.
19 On this account then [it is that] the Jews dispersed in every foreign land keep the fourteenth of Adar [as] a holy day with joy, sending portions each to his neighbour.
Forsothe these Jewis, that dwelliden in borow townes not wallid and vilagis, demeden the fourtenthe dai of the monethe Adar of feestis, and of ioie, so that thei be ioiful therynne, and sende ech to other partis of feestis and of metis.
20 And Mardochaeus wrote these things in a book, and sent them to the Jews, as many as were in the kingdom of Artaxerxes, both them that were near and them that were afar off,
Therfor Mardochee wroot alle these thingis, and sente these thingis comprehendid bi lettris to the Jewis, that dwelliden in alle prouynces of the kyng, as wel to Jewis set nyy as fer,
21 to establish these [as] joyful days, and to keep the fourteenth and fifteenth of Adar;
that thei schulden resseyue the fourtenthe and the fiftenthe dai of the monethe Adar `for feestis, and euer whanne the yeer turneth ayen, `thei schulden halowe with solempne onour;
22 for on these days the Jews obtained rest from their enemies; and [as to] the month, which was Adar, in which a change was made for them, from mourning to joy, and from sorrow to a good day, to spend the whole of it [in] good days of feasting and gladness, sending portions to their friends, and to the poor.
for in tho daies the Jewis vengiden hem silf of her enemyes, and morenyng and sorewe weren turned in to gladnesse and ioie; and these daies schulden be daies of feestis, and of gladnesse, and `that thei schulden sende ech to other partis of metis, and `yyue litle yiftis to pore men.
23 And the Jews consented [to this] accordingly as Mardochaeus wrote to them,
Forsothe the Jewis resseyueden in to solempne custom alle thingis, whiche thei bigunnen to do in that tyme, and whiche thingis Mardochee hadde comaundid bi lettris to be doon.
24 [showing] how Aman the son of Amadathes the Macedonian fought against them, how he made a decree and cast lots to destroy them utterly;
Sotheli Aaman, the sone of Amadathi, of the kynrede of Agag, the enemy and aduersarie of Jewis, thouyte yuel ayens hem, to sle hem and to do awei, and he sente phur, which is interpretid in oure langage `in to lot.
25 also how he went in to the king, telling [him] to hang Mardochaeus: but all the calamities he tried to bring upon the Jews came upon himself, and he was hanged, and his children.
And afterward Hester entride to the kyng, and bisouyte, that `hise enforsyngis schulden be maad voide bi the lettris of the kyng, and that the yuel, which he hadde thouyt ayenus the Jewis, schulde turne ayen in to his heed. `Forsothe thei hangiden on the cros `bothe hym and hise sones.
26 Therefore these days were called Phrurae, because of the lots; (for in their language they are called Phrurae; ) because of the words of this letter, and [because of] all they suffered on this account, and all that happened to them.
And fro that tyme these daies weren clepid `Phurym, that is, of lottis, for `phur, that is, lot, was sent in to a vessel; and the Jewis resseyueden on hem silf, and on her seed, and on alle men that wolden be couplid to her religioun, alle thingis that weren doon, and ben conteyned in the volym of the pistle, `that is, of this book,
27 And [Mardochaeus] established it, and the Jews took upon themselves, and upon their seed, and upon those that were joined to them [to observe it], neither would they on any account behave differently: but these days [were to be] a memorial kept in every generation, and city, and family, and province.
and whiche thingis thei suffriden, and whiche thingis weren chaungid aftirward, that it be not leueful to ony man to passe with out solempnyte these `daies, which the scripture witnessith, and certeyn tymes axen, while the yeeris comen contynuely oon aftir an other.
28 And these days of the Phrurae, [said they, ]shall be kept for ever, and their memorial shall not fail in any generation.
These ben the daies, whiche neuer ony foryetyng schal do awei, and bi alle generaciouns alle prouynces, that ben in al the world, schulen halewe; nether `ony citee is, in which the daies of Phurym, that is, of lottis, schulen not be kept of Jewis, and of the generacioun of hem, which is bounden to these cerymonyes.
29 And queen Esther, the daughter of Aminadab, and Mardochaeus the Jew, wrote all that they had done, and the confirmation of the letter of Phrurae.
And Hester, the queen, the douyter of Abiahel, and Mardochee, the Jew, writiden also the secounde pistle, that this solempne dai schulde be halewid aftirward with al bisynesse.
And thei senten to tho Jewis, that dwelliden in an hundrid and seuene and twenti prouynces of kyng Assuerus, that thei schulden haue pees, and resseyue the trewthe,
31 And Mardochaeus and Esther the queen appointed [a fast] for themselves privately, even at that time also having formed their plan against their own health.
and kepe the daies of lottis, and halewe with ioie in her tyme, as Mardochee and Hester hadden ordeyned; and thei resseiueden the fastyngis, and the cries, and the daies of lottis, to be kept of hem silf and of her seed,
32 And Esther established it by a command for ever, and it was written for a memorial.
and `that thei schulden resseyue among hooli bookis alle thingis that ben conteyned in the storie of this book, which is clepid Hester.