Esther 9

1 Now in the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, on the thirteenth day of the month, when the king's commandment and his decree drew near to be put in execution, on the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to conquer them, (but it was turned out the opposite happened, that the Jews conquered those who 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 Jews gathered themselves together in their cities throughout all the provinces of the King Achashyerosh, to lay hands on those who wanted to harm them. No one could withstand them, because the fear of them had fallen on all the people.

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

3 And all the officials of the provinces, the satraps, the governors, and those who did the king's business helped the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai had fallen on 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 king's house, and his fame went out throughout all the provinces; for the man Mordecai grew greater and greater.

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

5 The Jews struck all their enemies with the stroke of the sword, and with slaughter and destruction, and did what they wanted to those who hated them.

6 In the citadel of Shushan, the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men.

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

7 They killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha,

both Pharsannes, and Delphon and Phasga,

8 Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha,

and Pharadatha, and Barea, and Sarbaca,

9 Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha,

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

10 the ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Jew's enemy, but they did not lay their hand on the plunder.

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 that day, the number of those who were slain in the citadel of Shushan was brought before the king.

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

12 The king said to Esther the queen, "The Jews have slain and destroyed five hundred men in the citadel of Shushan, 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 shall be granted you. What is your further request? It shall be done."

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 Esther said, "If it pleases the king, let it be granted to the Jews who are in Shushan to do tomorrow also according to this day's decree, and let Haman's ten sons be hanged on the gallows."

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 The king commanded this to be done. A decree was given out in Shushan; and they hanged Haman's ten sons.

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 The Jews who were in Shushan gathered themselves together on the fourteenth day also of the month Adar, and killed three hundred men in Shushan; but they did not lay their hand on the spoil.

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

16 The other Jews who were in the king's provinces gathered themselves together, defended their lives, had rest from their enemies, and killed seventy-five thousand of those who hated them; but they did not lay their hand on the plunder.

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 was done on the thirteenth day of the month Adar; and on the fourteenth day of that month they rested and made it a day of feasting and gladness.

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 Jews who were in Shushan assembled together on the thirteenth and on the fourteenth days of the month; and on the fifteenth day of that month, they rested, and made it a day of feasting and gladness.

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 Jews of the villages, who live in the unwalled towns, make the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of gladness and feasting, a good day, and a day of sending presents of food to one another.

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 Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of the king Achashyerosh, both near and far,

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 to enjoin them that they should keep the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month Adar yearly,

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

22 as the days in which the Jews had rest from their enemies, and the month which was turned to them from sorrow to gladness, and from mourning into a good day; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, and of sending presents of food to one another, and gifts to the needy.

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 The Jews accepted the custom that they had begun, as Mordecai had written to them;

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

24 because Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them, and had cast "Pur," that is the lot, to consume them, and to 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 but when this became known to the king, he commanded by letters that his wicked device, which he had devised against the Jews, should return on his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.

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 Therefore they called these days "Purim," from the word "Pur." Therefore because of all the words of this letter, and of that which they had seen concerning this matter, and that which had come to 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 Jews established, and imposed on themselves, and on their descendants, and on all those who joined themselves to them, so that it should not fail, that they would keep these two days according to what was written, and according to its appointed time, every year;

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 days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city; and that these days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews, nor the memory of them perish among their descendants.

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

29 Then Esther the queen, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew, wrote with all authority to confirm this second letter of Purim.

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 He sent letters to all the Jews, to the hundred twenty-seven provinces of the kingdom of Achashyerosh, with words of peace and truth,

31 to confirm these days of Purim in their appointed times, as Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen had decreed, and as they had imposed upon themselves and their descendants, in the matter of the fastings and their cry.

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 The commandment of Esther confirmed these matters of Purim; and it was written in the book.

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