EstherChapter 9

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¹The king's order and law were to be carried out on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar. On that day the enemies of the Jews had hoped to defeat them. But things were turned around. The Jews defeated those who hated them. ²In all of King Xerxes' provinces, the Jews gathered in their cities. They gathered to attack those who wanted to harm them. No one could stand against them. For all the peoples were afraid of them. ³All the leaders of the provinces helped the Jews. The satraps, the governors, and the king's officials helped them. They did this because they were afraid of Mordecai. ⁴For Mordecai had great power in the palace. People in all the provinces heard about him. He became more and more powerful. ⁵The Jews struck down all their enemies with the sword. They killed them and destroyed them. They did whatever they wanted to those who hated them. ⁶In the fortress city of Susa, the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men. ⁷They also killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, ⁸Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, ⁹Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha. ¹⁰These were the ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews. The Jews killed them. But they did not touch the things they could have taken. ¹¹That same day the king was told how many had been killed in the fortress city of Susa. ¹²The king said to Queen Esther, "In the fortress city of Susa, the Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men. They also killed Haman's ten sons. What have they done in the rest of my provinces? Now what do you wish for? It will be given to you. What else do you want? It will be done." ¹³Esther answered, "If it pleases the king, let the Jews in Susa also do tomorrow what today's order allows. And let the bodies of Haman's ten sons be hung on the pole." ¹⁴So the king ordered it to be done. An order was given in Susa. And they hung up the bodies of Haman's ten sons. ¹⁵On the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, the Jews in Susa gathered again. They killed three hundred men there. But they did not touch the things they could have taken. ¹⁶The rest of the Jews in the king's provinces also gathered. They defended themselves and got rid of their enemies. They killed 75,000 people who hated them. But they did not touch the things they could have taken. ¹⁷This was done on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar. On the fourteenth day they rested. They made it a day of feasting and joy. ¹⁸But the Jews in Susa had gathered on both the thirteenth and fourteenth days of the month. So they rested on the fifteenth day. They made that a day of feasting and joy. ¹⁹That is why the Jews who live in the country villages keep the fourteenth day of the month of Adar. It is a day of joy and feasting. It is a holiday when they send gifts of food to each other. ²⁰Mordecai wrote down these events. He sent letters to all the Jews in all of King Xerxes' provinces, both near and far. ²¹He told them to celebrate every year on the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar. ²²These were the days when the Jews got rest from their enemies. It was the month when their sadness turned into joy. Their mourning turned into a holiday. He wrote that these should be days of feasting and joy. They should send gifts of food to each other and give gifts to the poor. ²³So the Jews agreed to keep on with what they had begun to do. They did what Mordecai had written to them. ²⁴For Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had made a plan against the Jews to destroy them. He had cast the Pur, which means the lot. He did it to crush them and destroy them. ²⁵But when the matter came to the king, he sent out written orders. The evil plan Haman had made against the Jews would fall back on Haman's own head. He and his sons would be hanged on the pole. ²⁶So these days are called Purim, from the word Pur. This was because of everything written in this letter. It was also because of all they had seen and gone through. ²⁷So the Jews made it a rule for themselves. They and their children's children, and all who joined them, must always keep these two days. They must keep them at the right time every year, in the way that was written. ²⁸These days should be remembered and kept in every generation. Every family, province, and city should keep them. These days of Purim should never stop being kept among the Jews. Their children's children should never forget them. ²⁹So Queen Esther, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew wrote a second letter about Purim. They wrote with full power to make it firm. ³⁰Mordecai sent letters to all the Jews in the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Xerxes. The letters had words of peace and truth. ³¹The letters set the days of Purim at their right time. Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had set these days. They had also set times of fasting and mourning for themselves and their children's children. ³²So Esther's order made these rules about Purim firm. They were written down in the record.