Esther 9
Christian Standard Bible
Victories of the Jews
9 The king’s command and law(A) went into effect on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month,(B) the month Adar. On the day when the Jews’ enemies(C) had hoped to overpower them, just the opposite happened. The Jews overpowered those who hated them.(D) 2 In each of King Ahasuerus’s provinces(E) the Jews assembled in their cities to attack those who intended to harm them.[a] Not a single person could withstand them; fear of them(F) fell on every nationality.(G)
3 All the officials of the provinces, the satraps, the governors, and the royal civil administrators[b](H) aided the Jews because they feared Mordecai.(I) 4 For Mordecai exercised great power in the palace,(J) and his fame spread throughout the provinces as he became more and more powerful.(K)
5 The Jews put all their enemies to the sword, killing and destroying them.(L) They did what they pleased to those who hated them. 6 In the fortress of Susa(M) the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men, 7 including Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, 8 Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, 9 Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha. 10 They killed these ten sons(N) of Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews.(O) However, they did not seize[c] any plunder.(P)
11 On that day the number of people killed in the fortress of Susa was reported to the king. 12 The king said to Queen Esther, “In the fortress 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? Whatever you ask will be given to you. Whatever you seek will also be done.”(Q)
13 Esther answered, “If it pleases the king, may the Jews who are in Susa also have tomorrow(R) to carry out today’s law,(S) and may the bodies of Haman’s ten sons(T) be hung on the gallows.”(U) 14 The king gave the orders for this to be done, so a law was announced in Susa, and they hung the bodies of Haman’s ten sons. 15 The Jews in Susa assembled again on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar(V) and killed three hundred men in Susa, but they did not seize any plunder.(W)
16 The rest of the Jews in the royal provinces assembled, defended themselves, and gained relief from their enemies. They killed seventy-five thousand[d] of those who hated them,(X) but they did not seize any plunder. 17 They fought on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar and rested on the fourteenth, and it became a day of feasting and rejoicing.
18 But the Jews in Susa had assembled on the thirteenth and the fourteenth days of the month. They rested on the fifteenth day of the month, and it became a day of feasting and rejoicing.(Y) 19 This explains why the rural Jews who live in villages observe the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a time of rejoicing and feasting. It is a holiday when they send gifts to one another.(Z)
20 Mordecai(AA) recorded these events and sent letters to all the Jews in all of King Ahasuerus’s provinces, both near and far. 21 He ordered(AB) them to celebrate the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar every year 22 because during those days the Jews gained relief from(AC) their enemies. That was the month when their sorrow was turned into rejoicing and their mourning into a holiday.(AD) They were to be days of feasting,(AE) rejoicing, and of sending gifts to one another and to the poor.
23 So the Jews agreed to continue the practice they had begun, as Mordecai had written them to do. 24 For Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews,(AF) had plotted against the Jews to destroy them. He cast the pur—that is, the lot—to crush and destroy them.(AG) 25 But when the matter was brought before the king,(AH) he commanded by letter that the evil plan Haman had devised against the Jews return on his own head(AI) and that he should be hanged with his sons on the gallows.(AJ) 26 For this reason these days are called Purim, from the word pur.(AK) Because of all the instructions in this letter as well as what they had witnessed and what had happened to them, 27 the Jews bound themselves, their descendants, and all who joined(AL) with them to a commitment that they would not fail to celebrate these two days each and every year according to the written instructions and according to the time appointed. 28 These days are remembered and celebrated by every generation, family, province, and city, so that these days of Purim will not lose their significance in Jewish life[e] and their memory will not fade from their descendants.(AM)
29 Queen Esther, daughter of Abihail,(AN) along with Mordecai the Jew,(AO) wrote this second letter with full authority(AP) to confirm the letter about Purim. 30 He sent letters with assurances of peace and security[f] to all the Jews who were in the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, 31 in order to confirm these days of Purim at their proper time just as Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen had established them and just as they had committed themselves and their descendants to the practices of fasting(AQ) and lamentation.(AR) 32 So Esther’s command confirmed these customs of Purim, which were then written into the record.
Footnotes
- 9:2 Lit cities to send out a hand against the seekers of their evil
- 9:3 Lit and those who do the king’s work; Est 3:9
- 9:10 Lit not put their hands on, also in vv. 15,16
- 9:16 Some LXX mss read 10,107; other LXX mss read 15,000
- 9:28 LXX reads will be celebrated into all times
- 9:30 Or of peace and faithfulness
Esther 9
Common English Bible
The fateful day
9 It was on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month (that is, the month of Adar)[a] that the king’s order and his law were to be enforced. On the very day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to overpower them, the tables were turned against them. The Jews overpowered their enemies instead. 2 The Jews joined together in their towns in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to defend themselves against those who tried to harm them. No one was able to stand in their way because everyone was afraid of the Jews. 3 All the leaders of the provinces, rulers, governors, and those in charge of the king’s business helped the Jews because they were afraid of Mordecai. 4 Because Mordecai was very important in the palace, news about him was sweeping through the provinces. Indeed, Mordecai was becoming more and more important every day. 5 The Jews put down all their enemies with sword blows, killing, and destruction. They did whatever they wanted with those who hated them. 6 In the fortified part of Susa, the Jews killed five hundred people. 7 They also killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, 8 Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, 9 Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha. 10 These were the ten sons of Haman, Hammedatha’s son, the enemy of the Jews. But the Jews didn’t lay a hand on anything their enemies owned. 11 That same day, a report concerning the number killed in the fortified part of Susa reached the king.
12 So the king said to Queen Esther in the fortified part of Susa, “The Jews have killed five hundred people as well as the ten sons of Haman. What have they done in the rest of the royal provinces? What do you wish now? I’ll give it to you. What is your desire? I’ll do it this time too.”
13 Esther answered, “If the king wishes, let the Jews who are in Susa also have tomorrow to do what the law allows for today. And let them also impale the ten sons of Haman on pointed poles.” 14 The king ordered that this be done, and the law became public in Susa. They impaled the ten sons of Haman just as she said. 15 The Jews in Susa joined together again, this time on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar. In Susa, they killed three hundred people, but they didn’t lay a hand on anything the people owned.
16 The Jews out in the royal provinces also joined together to defend their lives. They put to rest the troubles with their enemies and killed those who hated them. The total was seventy-five thousand dead, but the Jews didn’t lay a hand on anything their enemies owned. 17 They acted on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar. Then on the fourteenth day they rested, making it a day of feasts and rejoicing. (18 The Jews in Susa joined together for self-defense on the thirteenth and fourteenth days of the month. But they rested on the fifteenth day of the month and made it a day of feasts and joyous events.) 19 That is why Jews who live in villages make the fourteenth day of the month of Adar a day of rejoicing and feasts, a holiday. It is a day on which they send gifts of food to each other.
The new holiday of Purim
20 Mordecai wrote these things down and sent letters to all the Jews in all the provinces, both near and far, of King Ahasuerus. 21 He made it a rule that Jews keep the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar as special days each and every year. 22 They are the days on which the Jews finally put to rest the troubles with their enemies. The month is the one when everything turned around for them from sadness to joy, and from sad, loud crying to a holiday. They are to make them days of feasts and joyous events, days to send food gifts to each other and money gifts to the poor. 23 The Jews agreed to continue what they had already begun to do—just what Mordecai had written to them. 24 Indeed, Haman, Hammedatha the Agagite’s son, the enemy of all the Jews, had planned to destroy the Jews. He had servants throw pur (that is, the dice) to find the best month and day to trouble greatly and destroy them. 25 But when Esther came before the king, his written order said: The wicked plan that Haman made against the Jews should turn back on him instead. So they impaled him and his sons on pointed poles. 26 That is why people call these days Purim, by using the ancient word pur. It all fit with what this letter said, with what they saw happen, and with what they themselves went through. 27 The Jews agreed that they, their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, as well as all non-Jews who become Jews, should always keep these two days. They agreed to follow the written rules—and at the proper time too—every year. 28 So forever every family, province, and town remembers to keep these days. These days of Purim won’t die out among the Jews. They will remember to keep them forever. 29 Queen Esther daughter of Abihail, along with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with her full royal power to show that this second letter about Purim was correct.[b] 30 Letters conveying good wishes and words of friendship were sent to all the Jews throughout the one hundred twenty-seven provinces in the kingdom of Ahasuerus. 31 Their aim was to make sure that the Jews kept these days of Purim at the proper time, following the rule that Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had made. The rule fit well with what they themselves had agreed to do forever and with other things they did—like fasting and lamenting. 32 Esther’s order made these features of Purim part of the law, so it was written down.
Footnotes
- Esther 9:1 February–March
- Esther 9:29 Or wrote a second time to show that this letter
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