Esther 9
1 Igitur duodecimi mensis, quem Adar vocari ante iam diximus, tertiadecima die, quando cunctis Iudæis interfectio parabatur, et hostes eorum inhiabant sanguini, versa vice Iudæi superiores esse cœperunt, et se de adversariis vindicare.
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 Congregatique sunt per singulas civitates, oppida, et loca ut extenderent manum contra inimicos, et persecutores suos. Nullusque ausus est resistere, eo quod omnes populos magnitudinis eorum formido penetrarat.
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 Nam et provinciarum iudices, et duces, et procuratores, omnisque dignitas, quæ singulis locis ac operibus præerat, extollebant Iudæos timore Mardochæi:
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 quem principem esse palatii, et plurimum posse cognoverant: fama quoque nominis eius crescebat quotidie, et per cunctorum ora volitabat.
For Mordecai exercised great power in the palace, and his fame spread throughout the provinces as he became more and more powerful.
5 Itaque percusserunt Iudæi inimicos suos plaga magna, et occiderunt eos, reddentes eis quod sibi paraverant facere:
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 in tantum ut etiam in Susan quingentos viros interficerent, extra decem filios Aman Agagitæ hostis Iudæorum: quorum ista sunt nomina:
In the citadel of Susa, the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men,
7 Pharsandatha, et Delphon, et Esphatha,
including Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha,
8 et Phoratha, et Adalia, et Aridatha,
Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha,
9 et Phermesta et Arisai, et Aridai, et Iezatha.
Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha.
10 Quos cum occidissent, prædas de substantiis eorum tangere noluerunt.
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 Statimque numerus eorum, qui occisi erant in Susan, ad regem relatus est.
On that day the number of those killed in the citadel of Susa was reported to the king,
12 Qui dixit reginæ: In urbe Susan interfecerunt Iudæi quingentos viros, et alios decem filios Aman: quantam putas eos exercere cædem in universis provinciis? Quid ultra postulas, et quid vis ut fieri iubeam?
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 Cui illa respondit: Si regi placet, detur potestas Iudæis, ut sicut fecerunt hodie in Susan, sic et cras faciant, et decem filii Aman in patibulis suspendantur.
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 Præcepitque rex ut ita fieret. Statimque in Susan pependit edictum, et decem filii Aman suspensi sunt.
So the king commanded that this be done. An edict was issued in Susa, and they hanged the ten sons of Haman.
15 Congregatis Iudæis quartadecima die mensis Adar, interfecti sunt in Susan trecenti viri: nec eorum ab illis direpta substantia est.
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 Sed et per omnes provincias, quæ ditioni regis subiacebant, pro animabus suis steterunt Iudæi, interfectis hostibus ac persecutoribus suis: in tantum ut septuagintaquinque millia occisorum implerentur, et nullus de substantiis eorum quidquam contingeret.
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 Dies autem tertiusdecimus mensis Adar primus apud omnes interfectionis fuit, et quartadecima die cædere desierunt. Quem constituerunt esse sollemnem, ut in eo omni tempore deinceps vacarent epulis, gaudio atque conviviis.
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 At hi, qui in urbe Susan cædem exercuerant, tertiodecimo et quartodecimo die eiusdem mensis in cæde versati sunt: quintodecimo autem die percutere desierunt. Et idcirco eundem diem constituerunt sollemnem epularum atque lætitiæ.
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 Hi vero Iudæi, qui in oppidis non muratis ac villis morabantur, quartumdecimum diem mensis Adar conviviorum et gaudii decreverunt, ita ut exultent in eo, et mittant sibi mutuo partes epularum et ciborum.
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 Scripsit itaque Mardochæus omnia hæc, et litteris comprehensa misit ad Iudæos, qui in omnibus regis provinciis morabantur, tam in vicino positis, quam procul,
Mordecai recorded these events and sent letters to all the Jews in all the provinces of King Xerxes, both near and far,
21 ut quartamdecimam et quintamdecimam diem mensis Adar pro festis susciperent, et revertente semper anno sollemni celebrarent honore:
to establish among them an annual celebration on the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar
22 quia in ipsis diebus se ulti sunt Iudæi de inimicis suis, et luctus atque tristitia in hilaritatem gaudiumque conversa sunt, essentque dies isti epularum atque lætitiæ, et mitterent sibi invicem ciborum partes, et pauperibus munuscula largirentur.
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 Susceperuntque Iudæi in sollemnem ritum cuncta quæ eo tempore facere cœperant, et quæ Mardochæus litteris facienda mandaverat.
So the Jews agreed to continue the custom they had started, as Mordecai had written to them.
24 Aman enim, filius Amadathi stirpis Agag, hostis et adversarius Iudæorum, cogitavit contra eos malum, ut occideret illos, atque deleret: et misit phur, quod nostra lingua vertitur in sortem.
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 Et postea ingressa est Esther ad regem, obsecrans ut conatus eius, litteris regis irriti fierent: et malum, quod contra Iudæos cogitaverat, reverteretur in caput eius. Denique et ipsum et filios eius affixerunt cruci,
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 atque ex illo tempore dies isti appellati sunt phurim, id est sortium: eo quod phur, id est sors, in urnam missa fuerit. Et cuncta, quæ gesta sunt, epistolæ, id est libri huius volumine continentur:
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 quæque sustinuerunt, et quæ deinceps immutata sunt, susceperunt Iudæi super se et semen suum, et super cunctos, qui religioni eorum voluerunt copulari, ut nulli liceat duos hos dies absque sollemnitate transigere: quos scriptura testatur, et certa expetunt tempora, annis sibi iugiter succedentibus.
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 Isti sunt dies, quos nulla umquam delebit oblivio: et per singulas generationes cunctæ in toto orbe provinciæ celebrabunt: nec est ulla civitas, in qua dies phurim, id est sortium, non observentur a Iudæis, et ab eorum progenie, quæ his ceremoniis obligata est.
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 Scripseruntque Esther regina filia Abihail, et Mardochæus Iudæus etiam secundam epistolam, ut omni studio dies ista solemnis sanciretur in posterum.
So Queen Esther daughter of Abihail, along with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm this second letter concerning Purim.
30 et miserunt ad omnes Iudæos, qui in centum viginti septem provinciis regis Assueri versabantur, ut haberent pacem, et susciperent veritatem,
And Mordecai sent letters with words of peace and truth to all the Jews in the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Xerxes,
31 observantes Dies sortium, et suo tempore cum gaudio celebrarent: sicut constituerant Mardochæus et Esther, et illi observanda susceperunt a se, et a semine suo ieiunia, et clamores, et Sortium dies,
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 et omnia, quæ libri huius, qui vocatur Esther, historia continentur.
So Esther’s decree confirmed these regulations about Purim, which were written into the record.
