Esther 9

1 So in the twelft moneth, which is the moneth Adar, vpon the thirteenth daye of the same, when the Kings commandement and his decree drew neere to be put in execution, in the day that the enemies of the Iewes hoped to haue power ouer them (but it turned contrary: for the Iewes had rule ouer them that hated them)

For in the twelfth month, on the thirteenth day of the month which is Adar, the letters written by the king arrived.

2 The Iewes gathered themselues together into their cities throughout all the prouinces of the King Ahashuerosh, to lay hande on such as sought their hurt, and no man coulde withstande them: for the feare of them fel vpon al people.

In that day the adversaries of the Jews perished: for no one resisted, through fear of them.

3 And all the rulers of the prouinces, and the princes and the captaines, and the officers of the King exalted the Iewes: for the feare of Mordecai fell vpon them.

For the chiefs of the satraps, and the princes and the royal scribes, honoured the Jews; for the fear of Mardochæus lay upon them.

4 For Mordecai was great in the kings house, and the report of him went through all the prouinces: for this man Mordecai waxed greater and greater.

For the order of the king was in force, that he should be celebrated in all the kingdom.

5 Thus the Iewes smote all their enemies with strokes of the sworde and slaughter, and destruction, and did what they woulde vnto those that hated them.

6 And at Shushan the palace slewe the Iewes and destroyed fiue hundreth men,

And in the city Susa the Jews slew five hundred men:

7 And Parshandatha, and Dalphon, and Aspatha,

both Pharsannes, and Delphon and Phasga,

8 And Poratha, and Adalia, and Aridatha,

and Pharadatha, and Barea, and Sarbaca,

9 And Parmashta, and Arisai, and Aridai, and Vaiezatha,

and Marmasima, and Ruphæus, and Arsæus, and Zabuthæus,

10 The ten sonnes of Haman, ye sonne of Ammedatha, the aduersarie of the Iewes slewe they: but they layd not their hands on the spoyle.

the ten sons of Aman the son of Amadathes the Bugæan, the enemy of the Jews, and they plundered [their property] on the same day:

11 On the same day came ye nomber of those that were slayne, vnto the palace of Shushan before the King.

and the number of them that perished in Susa was rendered to the king.

12 And the King sayd vnto the Queene Ester, The Iewes haue slayne in Shushan the palace and destroyed fiue hundreth men, and the ten sonnes of Haman: what haue they done in the rest of the Kings prouinces? and what is thy petition, that it may be giuen thee? or what is thy request moreouer, that it may be performed?

And the king said to Esther, The Jews have slain five hundred men in the city Susa; and how, thinkest thou, have they used them in the rest of the country? What then dost thou yet ask, that it may be [done] for thee?

13 Then sayd Ester, If it please the King, let it be granted also to morow to the Iewes that are in Shushan, to do according vnto this daies decree, that they may hang vpon ye tree Hamans ten sonnes.

And Esther said to the king, Let it be granted to the Jews so to treat them to-morrow as to hang the ten sons of Aman.

14 And the King charged to doe so, and the decree was giuen at Shushan, and they hanged Hamans ten sonnes.

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.

15 So the Iewes that were in Shushan, assembled themselues vpon the fourteenth day of the moneth Adar, and slew three hundreth men in Shushan, but on the spoyle they layd not their hand.

And the Jews assembled in Susa on the fourteenth [day] of Adar, and slew three hundred men, but plundered no property.

16 And the rest of the Iewes that were in the Kings prouinces assembled themselues, and stood for their liues, and had rest from their enemies, and slewe of them that hated them, seuentie and fiue thousand: but they layd not their hand on the spoyle.

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.

17 This they did on the thirteenth day of the moneth Adar, and rested the fourteenth day thereof, and kept it a day of feasting and ioy.

And they rested on the fourteenth of the same month, and kept it as a day of rest with joy and gladness.

18 But the Iewes that were in Shushan assembled themselues on the thirteenth day, and on the fourteenth therof, and they rested on the fifteenth of the same, and kept it a day of feasting and ioy.

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.

19 Therefore the Iewes of the villages that dwelt in the vnwalled townes, kept the foureteenth day of the moneth Adar with ioy and feasting, euen a ioyfull day, and euery one sent presents vnto his neighbour.

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.

20 And Mordecai wrote these words, and sent letters vnto all the Iewes that were through all the prouinces of the King Ahashuerosh, both neere and farre,

And Mardochæus 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,

21 Inioyning them that they shoulde keepe the fourteenth day of the moneth Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, euery yeere.

to establish these [as] joyful days, and to keep the fourteenth and fifteenth of Adar;

22 According to the dayes wherein the Iewes rested from their enemies, and the moneth which was turned vnto them from sorowe to ioy, and from mourning into a ioyfull day, to keepe them the dayes of feasting, and ioy, and to sende presents euery man to his neyghbour, and giftes to the poore.

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.

23 And the Iewes promised to do as they had begun, and as Mordecai had written vnto them,

And the Jews consented [to this] accordingly as Mardochæus wrote to them,

24 Because Haman the sonne of Hammedatha the Agagite al the Iewes aduersarie, had imagined against the Iewes, to destroy them, and had cast Pur (that is a lot) to consume and destroy them.

[shewing] how Aman the son of Amadathes the Macedonian fought against them, how he made a decree and cast lots to destroy them utterly;

25 And when she came before the King, he commanded by letters, Let this wicked deuise (which he imagined against the Iewes) turne vpon his owne head, and let them hang him and his sonnes on the tree.

also how he went in to the king, telling [him] to hang Mardochæus: but all the calamities he tried to bring upon the Jews came upon himself, and he was hanged, and his children.

26 Therfore they called these dayes Purim, by the name of Pur, and because of all the wordes of this letter, and of that which they had seene besides this, and of that which had come vnto them.

Therefore these days were called Phruræ, because of the lots; (for in their language they are called Phruræ; ) because of the words of this letter, and [because of] all they suffered on this account, and all that happened to them.

27 The Iewes also ordeined, and promised for them and for their seede, and for all that ioyned vnto them, that they would not faile to obserue those two dayes euery yeere, according to their writing, and according to their season,

And [Mardochæus] 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.

28 And that these dayes shoulde be remembred, and kept throughout euery generation and euery familie, and euery prouince, and euery citie: euen these daies of Purim should not faile among the Iewes, and the memoriall of them should not perish from their seede.

And these days of the Phruræ, [said they], shall be kept for ever, and their memorial shall not fail in any generation.

29 And the Queene Ester ye daughter of Abihail and Mordecai the Iew wrote with al authoritie (to cofirme this letter of Purim ye second time)

And queen Esther, the daughter of Aminadab, and Mardochæus the Jew, wrote all that they had done, and the confirmation of the letter of Phruræ.

30 And he sent letters vnto al the Iewes to the hundreth and seuen and twentie prouinces of the kingdome of Ahashuerosh, with words of peace and trueth,

31 To confirme these dayes of Purim, according to their seasons, as Mordecai the Iewe and Ester the Queene had appointed them, and as they had promised for them selues and for their seede with fasting and prayer.

And Mardochæus and Esther the queen appointed [a fast] for themselves privately, even at that time also having formed their plan against their own health.

32 And the decree of Ester confirmed these words of Purim, and was written in the booke.

And Esther established it by a command for ever, and it was written for a memorial.