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.
And in the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar, on the thirteenth day thereof, when the king's command with his law drew near to he put into execution, on the day that the enemies of the Jews had hoped to have power over them, which had been changed nevertheless, so that the Jews had power over those that hated them,
2 In that day the adversaries of the Jews perished: for no one resisted, through fear of them.
The Jews assembled together in their cities, throughout all the provinces of king Achashverosh, to stretch out their hand against those that had sought their injury: and no man could keep standing before them; for the dread of them had fallen upon all the nations.
3 For the chiefs of the satraps, and the princes and the royal scribes, honored the Jews; for the fear of Mardochaeus lay upon them.
And all the rulers of the provinces, and the lieutenants, and the governors, and the superintendents of the affairs of the king, elevated the Jews; because the dread of Mordecai had fallen upon them.
4 For the order of the king was in force, that he should be celebrated in all the kingdom.
For Mordecai was great in the king's house, and his fame went throughout all the provinces; for the man Mordecai became greater and greater.
And the Jews smote all their enemies with the stroke of the sword, and slaughter, and extermination; and they acted with those that hated them according to their pleasure.
6 And in the city Susa the Jews killed five hundred men:
And in Shushan the capital the Jews slew and exterminated five hundred men.
7 both Pharsannes, and Delphon and Phasga,
And Parshandatha, and Dalphon, and Aspatha,
8 and Pharadatha, and Barea, and Sarbaca,
And Poratha, and Adalya, and Aridatha,
9 and Marmasima, and Ruphaeus, and Arsaeus, and Zabuthaeus,
And Parmashtha, and Arissai, and Aridai, and Vayzatha,
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:
The ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the adversary of the Jews, did they slay; but to the spoil did they not stretch forth their hand.
11 and the number of them that perished in Susa was rendered to the king.
On that same day came the number of those that were slain in Shushan the capital before the king.
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?
Then said the king unto Esther the queen, In Shushan the capital have the Jews slain and exterminated five hundred men, and the ten sons of Haman: what have they done in the rest of the king's provinces? Now what is thy petition? and it shall be granted thee: and what is thy request farther? and it shall be done.
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.
Then said Esther, If it please the king, let it tomorrow also be granted to the Jews who are in Shushan to do according to the law of this day, and let the ten sons of Haman be hanged on the gallows.
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 king ordered that it should be done so; and the law was given out at Shushan; and the ten sons of Haman were hanged.
15 And the Jews assembled in Susa on the fourteenth [day] of Adar, and killed three hundred men, but plundered no property.
And the Jews that were in Shushan assembled together also on the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and slew at Shushan three hundred men; but to the spoil they did not stretch forth their hand.
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.
And the remaining Jews that were in the king's provinces assembled together, and stood forward for their life, and procured rest from their enemies, and slew of those that hated them seventy and five thousand; but to the spoil did they not stretch forth their hand,
17 And they rested on the fourteenth of the same month, and kept it as a day of rest with joy and gladness.
On the thirteenth day of the month Adar, and they rested on the fourteenth day thereof, and made it a day of entertainment and joy.
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.
But the Jews that were at Shushan assembled together on the thirteenth day thereof, and on the fourteenth thereof, and rested on the fifteenth thereof, and made it a day of entertainment and joy.
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 neighbor.
Therefore do the Jews of the villages, that dwell in the unwalled towns, make the fourteenth day of the month Adar as one of joy and entertainment, and a feast-day, and of sending portions one to another.
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,
And Mordecai wrote down these events; and he sent letters unto all the Jews that were in all the provinces of king Achashverosh, those nigh and those far away,
21 to establish these [as] joyful days, and to keep the fourteenth and fifteenth of Adar;
To take it on themselves as a duty, that they should celebrate the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same in each and every year,
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.
Like those days whereon the Jews had rest from their enemies, and the month which was changed unto them from sorrow to joy, and from mourning into a feast-day: to make them days of entertainment and joy, and of sending portions one to the other, and gifts to the needy.
23 And the Jews consented [to this] accordingly as Mardochaeus wrote to them,
And the Jews took upon themselves that which they had begun already to do, and that which Mordecai had written unto them.
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;
Because Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the adversary of all the Jews, had devised against the Jews to exterminate them, and had cast the Pur, that is, the lot, to destroy them, and to exterminate them.
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.
But when [Esther] came before the king, he ordered by that letter that his wicked device, which he had devised against the Jews, should return upon his own head: and they hanged him and his sons on the gallows.
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.
Therefore did they call these days Purim, after the name of Pur: therefore, because of all the words of this letter, both for that which they had experienced thereby, and for that which had occurred unto them,
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.
The Jews confirmed it as a duty, and took upon themselves, and upon their seed, and upon all such as join themselves unto them, so that no one should fail therein, that they would celebrate these two days according to their prescription, and at their appointed time, in each and every year.
28 And these days of the Phrurae, [said they, ]shall be kept for ever, and their memorial shall not fail in any generation.
And these days are remembered and celebrated throughout each and every generation, every family, every province, and every city; and these days of Purim will not pass away from the midst of the Jews, nor will their memorial cease from their seed.
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.
Then wrote Esther the queen, the daughter of Abichayil, with Mordecai the Jew, with all due strength, to confirm this letter of Purim the second time.
And he sent letters unto all the Jews, to the hundred and twenty-seven provinces of the kingdom of Achashverosh, word's of peace and truth,
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.
To confirm these days of Purim in their times, just as Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen had enjoined on them, and as they had confirmed for themselves and for their seed, the matters of the fastings and their prayers.
32 And Esther established it by a command for ever, and it was written for a memorial.
And the order of Esther confirmed these matters of Purim; and it was written in the book.
