Ɛster 9
1 Na Adar bosome (bɛyɛ Ɔbɛnem) da a ɛtɔ so nson, wɔde ɔhene no mmara mmienu no yɛɛ adwuma. Saa ɛda no, na Yudafoɔ no atamfoɔ no ani da so sɛ, wɔbɛsɛe wɔn, nanso ani daneeɛ.
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 Yudafoɔ no boaa wɔn ho ano wɔ wɔn nkuropɔn a ɛwɔ ɔhene amantam no mu no nyinaa so, bɔɔ wɔn ho ban, de tiaa obiara a ɔpɛ sɛ ɔbɛha wɔn. Nanso, obiara antumi ansɔre antia wɔn, ɛfiri sɛ, na obiara suro wɔn.
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 Esiane Mordekai ho hu enti, amantam so asafohene nyinaa, mmapɔmma, amradofoɔ ne ɔhene adwumayɛfoɔ nyinaa boaa Yudafoɔ no.
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 Ɛfiri sɛ na wama Mordekai panin wɔ ahemfie hɔ, ama ne din ahyeta amantam no nyinaa so wɔ ɛberɛ a na ne tumi nso rekɔ soro.
For Mordecai exercised great power in the palace, and his fame spread throughout the provinces as he became more and more powerful.
5 Na da a wɔahyɛ no, Yudafoɔ no kunkumm wɔn atamfoɔ, sɛee wɔn wɔ akofena ano. Wɔkunkumm wɔn atamfoɔ, tɔree wɔn ase, na wɔyɛɛ wɔn a wɔtan wɔn no deɛ wɔpɛ biara.
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 Wɔkunkumm nnipa ahanum wɔ Susa aban no mu.
In the citadel of Susa, the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men,
7 Afei, wɔkumm Parsandata, Dalfon ne Aspata,
including Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha,
8 Porata, Adalia, Aridata,
Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha,
9 Parmasta, Arisai, Aridai ne Waisata
Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha.
10 a wɔyɛ Hamedata babarima Haman a ɔyɛ Yudafoɔ ɔtamfoɔ no mmammarima edu no. Nanso, wɔamfa asadeɛ biara.
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 Ɛberɛ a wɔbɔɔ ɔhene no amaneɛ a ɛfa nnipa dodoɔ a wɔkumm wɔn wɔ Susa aban mu ho anwummerɛ no,
On that day the number of those killed in the citadel of Susa was reported to the king,
12 ɔmaa wɔfrɛɛ Ɔhemmaa Ɛster, na ɔka kyerɛɛ no sɛ, “Yudafoɔ no akunkum nnipa ahanum wɔ Susa aban mu nko ara ne Haman mmammarima edu. Sɛ wɔayɛ saa wɔ ha deɛ a, ɛnneɛ asɛm bɛn na asi wɔ amantam a aka no mu? Afei, ɛdeɛn bio na wohwehwɛ? Wɔde bɛma wo. Ka kyerɛ me na mɛyɛ.”
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 Na Ɛster kaa sɛ, “Ɔhenkɛseɛ, sɛ ɛsɔ wʼani a, ma Yudafoɔ a wɔwɔ Susa no kwan na wɔnyɛ deɛ wɔyɛɛ no ɛnnɛ no bio ɔkyena, na wɔmfa Haman mmammarima edu no amu nsensɛn dua no so.”
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 Na ɔhene no penee so, na wɔbɔɔ mmara no ho dawuro wɔ Susa. Wɔsane de Haman mmammarima edu no amu sensɛnee dua no so.
So the king commanded that this be done. An edict was issued in Susa, and they hanged the ten sons of Haman.
15 Na Yudafoɔ a wɔwɔ Susa no boaa wɔn ho ano Adar bosome (bɛyɛ Ɔbɛnem) da a ɛtɔ so nwɔtwe, na wɔsane kunkumm nnipa ahasa, na bio, wɔamfa asadeɛ biara.
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 Saa ɛberɛ no mu, na Yudafoɔ nkaeɛ no a wɔwɔ Ɔhene no amantam mu nyinaa no aboa wɔn ho ano, rebɔ wɔn nkwa ho ban. Wɔkumm wɔn atamfoɔ no ɔpeduɔson enum, nam so nyaa ɔgyeɛ firii wɔn atamfoɔ nsam. Nanso, wɔamfa asadeɛ biara.
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 Amantam no nyinaa mu, saa ara na wɔyɛɛ Adar bosome (bɛyɛ Ɔbɛnem) da a ɛtɔ so nson no. Adeɛ kyeeɛ no, wɔhomeeɛ, didiiɛ, gyee wɔn ani wɔ wɔn nkonimdie no ho.
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 Nanso, Yudafoɔ a wɔwɔ Susa no toaa so kunkumm wɔn atamfoɔ no da a ɛtɔ so mmienu no nso, na wɔhomee ne nnansa so didiiɛ, gyee wɔn ani.
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 Enti, ɛbɛsi ɛnnɛ yi, Yudafoɔ a wɔtete nkuraa a wɔntwaa afasuo mfaa ho no di saa afirinhyia dapɔnna yi. Wɔdi afoofi saa awɔberɛ da yi mu, sɛpɛ wɔn ho, de akyɛdeɛ mema wɔn ho wɔn ho.
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 Mordekai twerɛɛ saa nsɛm a ɛsisiiɛ yi nyinaa, na wɔde nkrataa kɔmemaa Yudafoɔ a wɔbɛn ne wɔn a wɔwɔ akyiri wɔ ɔhene no amantam nyinaa mu,
Mordecai recorded these events and sent letters to all the Jews in all the provinces of King Xerxes, both near and far,
21 hyɛɛ wɔn nkuran sɛ, wɔnni afirinhyia afahyɛ yi wɔ saa nnanu no mu.
to establish among them an annual celebration on the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar
22 Ɔka kyerɛɛ wɔn sɛ, wɔnhyɛ saa nna no ho fa a adidie ne ɔnom ka ho, na wɔmma wɔn ho wɔn ho ne ahiafoɔ akyɛdeɛ. Yei bɛma Yudafoɔ no akae ɛberɛ a wɔnyaa ɔgyeɛ firii wɔn atamfoɔ nsam, wɔn awerɛhoɔ danee anigyeɛ, na wɔn su bɛyɛɛ ahosɛpɛ no.
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 Enti, Yudafoɔ no faa Mordekai adwenkyerɛ no, hyɛɛ afirinhyia amanneɛ no ase.
So the Jews agreed to continue the custom they had started, as Mordecai had written to them.
24 Na Hamedata, a ɔfiri Agag babarima Haman, a ɔyɛ Yudafoɔ ɔtamfoɔ no pamm sɛ ɔbɛyam wɔn, asɛe wɔn saa da no ne ɔbosome a ɔnam ntontobɔ so nyaeɛ no. (Na wɔfrɛ saa ntonto no Purim).
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 Nanso, Ɛster baa ɔhene anim no, ɔhyɛɛ mmara, nam so maa Haman adwemmɔne no bɔɔ ne tiri so, na wɔsɛnee no ne mmammarima wɔ dua no so.
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 (Ɛno enti na wɔfrɛ saa afahyɛ no Purim no, ɛfiri sɛ, ɛyɛ tete kasa a asekyerɛ ne ntontobɔ.) Esiane Mordekai krataa no ne osuahunu a wɔanya enti,
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 Yudafoɔ a wɔwɔ ahemman no mu no nyinaa penee so sɛ, wɔbɛhyɛ saa amanneɛ no ho fa, na wɔama wɔn awoɔ ntoatoasoɔ ne wɔn a wɔbɛyɛ Yudafoɔ no nyinaa abɛhyɛ bi. Wɔn nyinaa gye too mu sɛ, saa nnanu a wɔayi ato hɔ sɛ wɔnhyɛ fa no afe biara mu no, wɔremma ɛmmpa wɔn tiri so da.
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 Wɔbɛkae saa nna yi, wɔ awoɔ ntoatoasoɔ nyinaa mu na ɛsɛ sɛ abusua biara a ɛwɔ amantam ne nkuropɔn wɔ ahemman no mu no di. Wɔrennyae saa nna yi di wɔ Yudafoɔ mu, na nsɛm a ɛsiiɛ no nso wɔn asefoɔ werɛ remfiri da.
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 Na Ɔhemmaa Ɛster, Abihail babaa no ne Yudani Mordekai twerɛɛ krataa foforɔ a wɔde ɔhemmaa no tumi kɛseɛ foaa krataa no so de hyɛɛ Purim afahyɛ no mu den.
So Queen Esther daughter of Abihail, along with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm this second letter concerning Purim.
30 Ɛno akyi, wɔsoma maa wɔde nkrataa a wɔde bɛma asomdwoeɛ ne banbɔ aba, kɔɔ Yudafoɔ a wɔwɔ amantam ɔha ne aduonu nson no a ɛwɔ Ahasweros ahemman no nyinaa so.
And Mordecai sent letters with words of peace and truth to all the Jews in the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Xerxes,
31 Saa nkrataa yi ma Purim Afahyɛ a ɛyɛ afirinhyiadeɛ a wɔdi no ɛnnɛ yi ara no tim. Yudani Mordekai ne Ɔhemmaa Ɛster na wɔhyɛɛ mmara no. (Nnipa no yɛɛ wɔn adwene sɛ wɔbɛhyɛ saa fa yi, sɛdeɛ wɔasi no gyinaeɛ ama wɔn ho ne wɔn asefoɔ de ama mmuadadie ne agyaadwotwa mmerɛ atim no.)
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 Enti Ɛster ɔhyɛ no sii Purim ho nhyɛhyɛɛ so dua, na wɔtwerɛɛ ne nyinaa guu nkrataa mu.
So Esther’s decree confirmed these regulations about Purim, which were written into the record.
