Esther 9
1 The first law that the king had commanded was to be made effective on March 7th. On that day the enemies of the Jews hoped to get rid of them. But instead, on that same day the Jews defeated their enemies.
And, in the twelfth month, the same, is the month Adar, on the thirteenth day thereof, when the word of the king and his edict arrived to be put in execution, —on the day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to have power over them, though it, was changed, so that the Jews themselves should have power over them who hated them,
2 Throughout the empire, the Jews gathered together in their cities to attack those who wanted to get rid of them. No one could fight against the Jews, because all the other people in the areas where the Jews lived were afraid of them, [so they did not want to help anyone who attacked the Jews].
the Jews assembled themselves together in their cities, throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, to thrust forth a hand against them who were seeking their hurt, and, no man, stood before them, for the dread of them had fallen upon all the peoples.
3 All the governors and [other] officials and important people in all the provinces helped the Jews, because they were afraid of Mordecai.
And, all the rulers of the provinces, and the satraps and the pashas, and the doers of business that pertained to the king, were extolling the Jews, —for the dread of Mordecai, had fallen upon them;
4 They were afraid of him because in all the provinces [they knew that] Mordecai was now the king’s most important official, [with the authority that Haman previously had]. Mordecai was becoming more famous because [the king was giving him] more and more power.
since great was Mordecai, in the house of the king, and, his fame, was going forth throughout all the provinces, —for, the man Mordecai, went on waxing great.
5 [On March 7th, ] the Jews attacked and killed with their swords all of their enemies. They did whatever they wanted to do, to the people who hated them.
So then the Jews smote all their enemies, with the smiting of the sword and slaughter, and destruction, —and they dealt with them who hated them according to their pleasure.
6 [Just] in Susa alone, the capital city, they killed 500 people.
Yea, in Shusan the palace, did the Jews slay and destroy five hundred men.
7 Among those whom they killed were the ten sons of Haman. [Their names were] Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha,
And Parshandatha and Dalphon, and Aspatha;
8 Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha,
and Poratha, and Adalia, and Aridatha;
9 Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha.
and Parmashta, and Arisai, and Aridai, and Vaizatha; —
10 Those were grandsons of Hammedatha and sons of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. The Jews killed them, but they did not take the things that belonged to the people whom they killed.
the ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, the adversary of the Jews, slew they, —but, on the spoil, thrust they not forth their hand.
11 [At the end of] that day someone reported to the king the number of people whom the Jews killed in Susa.
On that day, came in the number of the slain into Shusan the palace, before the king.
12 Then the king said to Queen Esther, “The Jews have killed 500 people here in Susa, including the ten sons of Haman! [So I think that] they must have killed many more people in the rest of my empire [RHQ]! [But okay], now what else do you want me to do for you. You tell me, and I will do it.”
Then said the king unto Esther the queen, In Shusan the palace, have the Jews slain and caused to perish five hundred men, and the ten sons of Haman, —in the rest of the provinces of the king, what have they done? What, then, is thy petition, that it may be granted thee? and what is thy request further, that it may he performed?
13 Esther replied, “If it pleases you, allow the Jews here in Susa to do again tomorrow what [you] commanded [them] to do today. And command that the bodies of Haman’s ten sons be hanged on the gallows/poles.”
Then said Esther, If, unto the king, it seem good, let it be granted, to-morrow also, unto the Jews who are in Shusan, to do according to the edict of to-day, —and that, the ten sons of Haman, be hanged upon the gallows.
14 So the king commanded that the Jews be permitted to kill more of their enemies the next day. After he issued [another] order in Susa, the bodies of Haman’s ten sons were hanged.
And the king commanded it to be done so, and there was given an edict, in Shusan, —and, the ten sons of Haman, they hanged.
15 On the next day, the Jews in Susa gathered together and killed 300 more people. But [again, ] they did not take the things that belonged to the people whom they killed.
So the Jews who were in Shusan assembled themselves together, on the fourteenth day also, of the month Adar, and slew in Shusan three hundred men, —but, on the spoil, thrust they not forth their hand.
16 That happened on March 8th. On the following day, the Jews [in Susa] rested and celebrated. In all the other provinces, the Jewish people gathered together to defend themselves, and they killed 75,000 people who hated them, but [again] they did not take the things that belonged to the people whom they killed.
And, the remainder of the Jews who were in the provinces of the king, assembled themselves together and stood for their life, and then had rest from their enemies, having slain of them that hated them seventy-five thousand, —but, on the spoil, thrust they not forth their hand:
17 That occurred on March 7th, and on the following day they rested and celebrated.
on the thirteenth day of the month Adar, —and then had rest on the fourteenth day thereof, and made it a day of banqueting and rejoicing.
18 After the Jews in Susa gathered together [and killed their enemies] on March 7th and 8th, they rested and celebrated on March 9th.
But, the Jews who were in Shusan, assembled themselves together on the thirteenth day thereof, and on the fourteenth day thereof, —and then had rest on the fifteenth day thereof, and made it a day of banqueting and rejoicing.
19 That is why [every year], on March 8th, the Jews who live in villages now celebrate [defeating their enemies]. They have feasts and give gifts [of food] to each other.
For this cause, the country Jews, who dwelt in the country towns, were making the fourteenth day of the month Adar one of rejoicing and banqueting, and a day of happiness, —and of sending portions every one to his neighbour.
20 Mordecai wrote down all the things that had happened. Then he sent letters to the Jews who lived throughout the empire of King Xerxes.
And Mordecai wrote these things, —and sent letters unto all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, near, and far off;
21 He told them that every year they should celebrate on the 8th and 9th of March,
to establish for them, that they should continue to observe the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day thereof, —always year by year;
22 because those were the days when the Jews got rid of their enemies. He also told them that they should celebrate on those days by feasting and giving gifts [of food] to each other and to poor people. They would remember it as the month in which they changed from being very sorrowful to being very joyful, from crying to celebrating.
according to the days wherein the Jews found rest from their enemies, and the month which was turned for them, from sorrow to joy, and from mourning to a happy day, —that they should make them days of banqueting and rejoicing, and of sending portions, every one to his neighbour, and gifts, unto the needy.
23 So the Jews agreed to do what Mordecai wrote. They agreed to celebrate on those days [every year].
And the Jews took upon them that which they had begun to do, —and that which Mordecai had written unto them;
24 They would remember how Haman, son of Hammedatha, a descendant of [King] Agag, became an enemy of all the Jews. [They would remember] how he had made an evil plan to kill the Jews, and that he had (cast lots/thrown small marked stones) to choose the day to kill [DOU] them.
because, Haman, son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the adversary of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews, to cause them to perish, —and had cast Pur, the same, is the Lot, to terrify them, and to destroy them;
25 [They would remember] that when Esther told the king about Haman’s plan, the king arranged that the evil plan that Haman had made to kill the Jews would fail, and that he [would be killed] instead of the Jews, and that Haman and that his sons were hanged.
but, by [Esther’s] going in before the king, he commanded by letter, that his wicked plot which he had plotted against the Jews, should return, upon his own head, —and that he and his sons should be hanged upon the gallows.
26 [Because the (lot/small marked stone) that Haman threw was called] Pur, the Jews called these days Purim. And, because of everything that ([Mordecai] wrote/was written) in that letter, and because of all that happened to them,
For this cause, called they these days Purim, after the name Pur, for this cause, —for all the words of this epistle, —and what they had seen concerning such a matter, and what had reached unto them.
27 the Jews [throughout the empire] agreed to celebrate in that manner on those two days every year. They said that they would tell their descendants and those people who became Jews to be certain to celebrate this festival every year. They should celebrate just as [Mordecai] told them to do [in the letter] that he wrote.
The Jews established and took upon themselves—and upon their seed, and upon all who should join themselves unto them, that it might not pass away, that they would continue to keep these two days, according to the writing concerning them and at their set time, —always year by year.
28 They said that they would remember and celebrate on those two days every year, in each family, in every city, and in every province. They solemnly declared that they and their descendants would never stop remembering and celebrating those days called Purim.
And, these days, were to be remembered and to be kept, always from generation to generation, by every family, every province, and every city, —that, these days of Purim, should not pass away, out of the midst of the Jews, and, the memorial of them, not cease from their seed.
29 Then Mordecai and Queen Esther, who was the daughter of Abihail, wrote a second letter about the Purim feast. Esther used the authority that she had because of being the queen to confirm that what Mordecai had written in the first letter was true.
Then wrote Esther the queen daughter of Abihail and Mordecai the Jew, with all authority, —to confirm this second epistle concerning the Purim;
30 What they wrote [in the second letter] was, “We wish that all of you will be living peacefully and safely/righteously. We want you and your descendants to celebrate Purim each year on the days that we two established, and to do the things that we two told you to do.” In that letter, Queen Esther and Mordecai also gave them instructions about (fasting/abstaining from eating food) and being sorrowful. Then copies of that letter were sent to all the Jews who were living in the 127 provinces of the empire.
and he sent letters unto all the Jews, throughout the hundred and twenty-seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, —words of peace and stability:
to establish these days of the Purim, in their set times, according as Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen had enjoined upon them, and according as they had enjoined upon their own soul, and upon their seed, —the story of the fastings and of their outcry.
32 The letter that Esther wrote about the manner in which they should celebrate the Purim feast was also written in an official record.
And, the command of Esther, confirmed the story of these Purim, —and it was written in a book.
