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, has 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 command and edict were to be executed. On this day the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, but their plan was overturned and the Jews overpowered those who hated them.

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

In each of the provinces of King Xerxes, the Jews assembled in their cities to attack those who sought to harm them. No man could withstand them, because the fear of them had fallen upon all peoples.

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

And all the officials of the provinces, the satraps, the governors, and the king’s administrators helped the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai had fallen upon them.

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.

For Mordecai exercised great power in the palace, and his fame spread throughout the provinces as he became more and more powerful.

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

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

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

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

7 and Parshandatha, and Dalphon, and Aspatha,

including 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.

They killed these ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews, but they did not lay a hand on the plunder.

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

On that day the number of those killed in the citadel of Susa was reported to the king,

12 and the king says to Esther the queen, “In Shushan the palace the Jews have 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] your petition? And it is given to you; and what your request again? And it is done.”

who said to Queen Esther, “In the citadel of Susa the Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men, including Haman’s ten sons. What have they done in the rest of the royal provinces? Now what is your petition? It will be given to you. And what further do you request? It will be fulfilled.”

13 And Esther says, “If [it is] good to the king, let it also be given tomorrow, to the Jews who [are] in Shushan, to do according to the law of today; and the ten sons of Haman they hang on the tree.”

Esther replied, “If it pleases the king, may the Jews in Susa also have tomorrow to carry out today’s edict, and may the bodies of Haman’s ten sons be hanged on the gallows.”

14 And the king commands [for it] to be done so; and a law is given in Shushan, and they have hanged the ten sons of Haman.

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

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

On the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, the Jews in Susa came together again and put to death three hundred men there, but they did not lay a hand on the plunder.

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 seventy-five thousand among those hating them, and they have not put forth their hand on the prey;

The rest of the Jews in the royal provinces also assembled to defend themselves and rid themselves of their enemies. They killed 75,000 who hated them, but they did not lay a hand on the plunder.

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 was done on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth day they rested, making it a day of feasting and joy.

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.

The Jews in Susa, however, had assembled on the thirteenth and the fourteenth days of the month. So they rested on the fifteenth day, making it a day of feasting and joy.

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

This is why the rural Jews, who live in the villages, observe the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a day of joy and feasting. It is a holiday for sending gifts to one another.

20 And Mordecai writes these things, and sends letters to all the Jews who [are] in all provinces of King Ahasuerus, who are near and who are far off,

Mordecai recorded these events and sent letters to all the Jews in all the provinces of King Xerxes, both 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,

to establish among them an annual celebration on 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 has 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 to one another, and gifts to the needy.

as the days on which the Jews gained rest from their enemies and the month in which their sorrow turned to joy and their mourning into a holiday. He wrote that these were to be days of feasting and joy, of sending gifts to one another and to the poor.

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

So the Jews agreed to continue the custom they had started, as 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 against the Jews to destroy them and had cast the Pur (that is, the lot) to crush and destroy them.

25 and in her coming in before the king, he commanded with the letter, “Let his evil scheme that he devised against the Jews return on his own head,” and they have hanged him and his sons on the tree,

But when it came before the king, he commanded by letter that the wicked scheme which Haman had devised against the Jews should come back upon his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.

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 has come to them,

Therefore these days are called Purim, from the word Pur. Because of all the instructions in this letter, and because of all they had seen and experienced,

27 the Jews have established and received on them, and on their seed, and on all those joined to them, and it does 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 bound themselves to establish the custom that they and their descendants and all who join them should not fail to celebrate these two days at the appointed time each and every year, according to their regulation.

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 should be remembered and celebrated by every generation, family, province, and city, so that these days of Purim should not fail to be observed among the Jews, nor should the memory of them fade from their descendants.

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

So Queen Esther daughter of Abihail, along with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm this second letter concerning Purim.

30 and he sends letters to all the Jews, to the one hundred twenty-seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus—words of peace and truth—

And Mordecai sent letters with words of peace and truth to all the Jews in the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Xerxes,

31 to establish these days of Purim, in their seasons, as Mordecai the Jew has 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.

in order to confirm these days of Purim at their appointed time, just as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had established them and had committed themselves and their descendants to the times of fasting and lamentation.

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

So Esther’s decree confirmed these regulations about Purim, which were written into the record.