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.
Therefore, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which as we have said before is called Adar, when all the Jews were prepared to be executed and their enemies were greedy for their blood, the situation turned around, and the Jews began to have the upper hand and to vindicate themselves of their adversaries.
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.
And they gathered together throughout each city, and town, and place, so as to extend their hands against their enemies and their persecutors. And no one dared to resist them, because their great power had pierced all the peoples.
3 Esiane Mordekai ho hu enti, amantam so asafohene nyinaa, mmapɔmma, amradofoɔ ne ɔhene adwumayɛfoɔ nyinaa boaa Yudafoɔ no.
For even the judges of the provinces, and the rulers, and the procurators, and everyone of dignity, who presided over every place and work, extolled the Jews for fear of Mordecai.
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 they knew him to be the leader of the palace and to have much power. Likewise, the fame of his name increased daily and flew everywhere through word of mouth.
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.
And so the Jews struck their enemies like a great plague and killed them, repaying according to what they had prepared to do to them,
6 Wɔkunkumm nnipa ahanum wɔ Susa aban no mu.
so much so that even in Susa they executed five hundred men, besides the ten sons of Haman the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews, and their names are these:
7 Afei, wɔkumm Parsandata, Dalfon ne Aspata,
Parshandatha, and Dalphon, and Aspatha
8 Porata, Adalia, Aridata,
and Poratha, and Adalia, and Aridatha,
9 Parmasta, Arisai, Aridai ne Waisata
and Parmashta, and Arisai, and Aridai, and Vaizatha.
10 a wɔyɛ Hamedata babarima Haman a ɔyɛ Yudafoɔ ɔtamfoɔ no mmammarima edu no. Nanso, wɔamfa asadeɛ biara.
When they had slain them, they were unwilling to touch the spoils of their belongings.
11 Ɛberɛ a wɔbɔɔ ɔhene no amaneɛ a ɛfa nnipa dodoɔ a wɔkumm wɔn wɔ Susa aban mu ho anwummerɛ no,
And immediately the number of those who had been killed in 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.”
He said to the queen, “In the city of Susa, the Jews have executed five hundred men, and also the ten sons of Haman. How many executions do you think that they have carried out in all the provinces? What more do you ask, and what do you wish, so that I may order it to be done?”
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.”
And she answered, “If it pleases the king, may power be granted to the Jews, so as to do tomorrow in Susa just as they have done today, and that the ten sons of Haman may be hung up 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.
And the king instructed that it should be so done. And immediately the edict was hung up in Susa, and the ten sons of Haman were hung up.
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 Adar, the Jews gathered themselves together, and they executed in Susa three hundred men, but they did not seize their belongings from them.
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.
Moreover, throughout all the provinces which were subject to the king’s dominion, the Jews made a stand for their lives, and they executed their enemies and their persecutors, so much so that the number of those who were killed amounted to seventy-five thousand, and yet no one touched any of their belongings.
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.
Now the thirteenth day of the month Adar was the first day with all of the executions, and on the fourteenth day they ceased the killing. This day they established to be sacred, so that in all times hereafter they would be free for feasting, joyfulness, and celebration.
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.
But, as for those who were carrying out the killings in the city of Susa, they turned to killing on the thirteenth and fourteenth day of the same month. But on the fifteenth day they ceased to attack. And for that reason they established that day as sacred, with feasting and with gladness.
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.
But in truth, those Jews who were staying in unwalled towns and villages, appointed the fourteenth day of the month Adar for celebration and gladness, so as to rejoice on that day and send one another portions of their feasts and their meals.
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,
And so Mordecai wrote down all these things and sent them, composed in letters, to the Jews who were staying in all the king’s provinces, as much to those in nearby places as to those far away,
21 hyɛɛ wɔn nkuran sɛ, wɔnni afirinhyia afahyɛ yi wɔ saa nnanu no mu.
so that they would accept the fourteenth and fifteenth day of the month Adar for holy days, and always, at the return of the year, would celebrate them with sacred esteem.
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.
For on those days, the Jews vindicated themselves of their enemies, and their mourning and sorrow were turned into mirth and joy, so that these would be days of feasting and gladness, in which they would send one another portions of their feasts, and would grant gifts to the poor.
23 Enti, Yudafoɔ no faa Mordekai adwenkyerɛ no, hyɛɛ afirinhyia amanneɛ no ase.
And the Jews accepted as a solemn ritual all the things which they had begun to do at that time, which Mordecai had commanded with letters to be done.
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, the son of Hammedatha of Agag lineage, the enemy and adversary of the Jews, had devised evil against them, to kill them and to destroy them. And he had cast Pur, which in our language means the lot.
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.
And after this, Esther had entered before the king, begging him that his efforts might be made ineffective by the king’s letters, and that the evil he intended against the Jews might return upon his own head. Finally, both he and his sons were fastened to a cross.
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,
And so, from that time, these days are called Purim, that is, of the lots, because Pur, that is, the lot, was cast into the urn. And all things that had been carried out are contained in the volume of this epistle, that is, of this book.
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.
And whatever they suffered, and whatever was altered afterwards, the Jews received for themselves and their offspring and for all who were willing to be joined to their religion, so that none would be permitted to transgress the solemnity of these two days, to which the writing testifies, and which certain times require, as the years continually succeed one another.
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 are the days which no one ever will erase into oblivion, and which every province in the whole world, throughout each generation, shall celebrate. Neither is there any city wherein the days of Purim, that is, of lots, may not be observed by the Jews, and by their posterity, which has been obligated to these ceremonies.
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.
And Esther the queen, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew, also wrote a second letter, so that with all zealousness this day would be confirmed as customary for future generations.
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 they sent to all the Jews, who had been stirred up in the one hundred twenty-seven provinces of king Artaxerxes, that they should have peace and receive truth,
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.)
and observe the days of lots, and celebrate them with joy at their proper time, just as Mordecai and Esther had established. And they accepted these to be observed by themselves and by their offspring: fasting, and crying out, and the days of lots,
32 Enti Ɛster ɔhyɛ no sii Purim ho nhyɛhyɛɛ so dua, na wɔtwerɛɛ ne nyinaa guu nkrataa mu.
and all things which are contained in the history of this book, which is called Esther.
