Esther 9

1 Now in the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, on the thirteenth day, when the king's law and decree were about to be carried out, on the day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain power over them, it was reversed. The Jews gained power over those who hated them.

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.

2 The Jews assembled in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, to lay hands on those who tried to bring disaster on them. No one could stand against them, for the fear of them had fallen on all the peoples.

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].

3 All the officials of the provinces, the provincial governors, the governors, and the king's administrators, helped the Jews because the fear of Mordecai had fallen on them.

All the governors and [other] officials and important people in all the provinces helped the Jews, because they were afraid of Mordecai.

4 For Mordecai was great in the king's house, and his fame spread throughout all the provinces, for the man Mordecai was becoming great.

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.

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

[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.

6 In the fortress of Susa itself the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men.

[Just] in Susa alone, the capital city, they killed 500 people.

7 They killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha,

Among those whom they killed were the ten sons of Haman. [Their names were] Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha,

8 Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha,

Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha,

9 Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, Vaizatha,

Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha.

10 and the ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews. But they did not take any plunder.

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.

11 That day the number of those killed in the fortress of Susa, was reported to the king.

[At the end of] that day someone reported to the king the number of people whom the Jews killed in Susa.

12 The king said to Queen Esther, “The Jews have killed five hundred men in the fortress of Susa, 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 will be granted you. What is your request? It will be granted to you.”

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.”

13 Esther said, “If it pleases the king, let the Jews who are in Susa be permitted to carry out this day's decree tomorrow also, and let the bodies of Haman's ten sons be hanged on gallows.”

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.”

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

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.

15 The Jews who were in Susa came together on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, and killed three hundred more men in Susa, but laid no hands on the plunder.

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.

16 The rest of the Jews who were in the king's provinces came together to defend their lives, and they got relief from their enemies and killed seventy-five thousand of those who hated them, but they did not lay their hands on the valuables of those they killed.

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.

17 This happened on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar. On the fourteenth day they rested and made that a day of feasting and gladness.

That occurred on March 7th, and on the following day they rested and celebrated.

18 But the Jews who were in Susa assembled together on the thirteenth and the fourteenth days. On the fifteenth day they rested and made it a day of feasting and gladness.

After the Jews in Susa gathered together [and killed their enemies] on March 7th and 8th, they rested and celebrated on March 9th.

19 That is why the Jews of the villages, who make their homes in the rural towns, observe the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a day of gladness and feasting, and as a day on which they send gifts of food to one another.

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.

20 Mordecai recorded these things and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far,

Mordecai wrote down all the things that had happened. Then he sent letters to the Jews who lived throughout the empire of King Xerxes.

21 obligating them to keep the fourteenth and the fifteenth day of Adar every year.

He told them that every year they should celebrate on the 8th and 9th of March,

22 These were the days when the Jews got relief from their enemies, and the month when their sorrow turned to joy, and mourning into a day of celebration. They were to make them days of feasting and gladness, and of sending gifts of food to one another, and gifts to the poor.

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.

23 So the Jews continued the celebration they had begun, doing what Mordecai had written to them.

So the Jews agreed to do what Mordecai wrote. They agreed to celebrate on those days [every year].

24 At that time Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them, and he threw Pur (that is, he threw lots), to crush and destroy them.

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.

25 But when the matter came before the king, he gave orders by letters that the wicked plan Haman developed against the Jews should come back on his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.

[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.

26 Therefore they called these days Purim, after the name of Pur. Because of everything that was written in this letter, and everything that they had seen and that had happened to them,

[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,

27 the Jews accepted a new custom and duty. This custom would be for themselves, their descendants, and everyone who joined them. It would be that they would celebrate these two days every year. They would celebrate them in a certain way and at the same time each year.

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.

28 These days were to be celebrated and observed in every generation, every family, every province, and every city. These Jews and their descendants would never cease to faithfully observe these days of Purim, so that they should never forget them.

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.

29 Queen Esther daughter of Abihail and Mordecai the Jew wrote with full authority and confirmed this second letter about Purim.

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.

30 Letters were sent to all the Jews in the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, wishing the Jews safety and truth.

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.

31 These letters confirmed the days of Purim at their appointed times, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther obligated the Jews. The Jews accepted this obligation for themselves and their descendants, just as also they accepted times of fasting and lamenting.

32 The command of Esther confirmed these regulations regarding Purim, and it was written in the book.

The letter that Esther wrote about the manner in which they should celebrate the Purim feast was also written in an official record.