The Jews Destroy Their Enemies

9 ^(A)Now in the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, ^(B)on the thirteenth day of the same, ^(C)when the king's command and edict were about to be carried out, ^(D)on the very day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain the mastery over them, the reverse occurred: the Jews gained mastery over those who hated them. ^2 (E)The Jews gathered in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to lay hands on those who sought their harm. And no one could stand against them, ^(F)for the fear of them had fallen on all peoples. ³ All the officials of the provinces and ^(G)the satraps and the governors and the royal agents also helped the Jews, for the fear of Mordecai had fallen on them. ⁴ For Mordecai was great in the king's house, and his fame spread throughout all the provinces, for the man Mordecai grew ^(H)more and more powerful. ⁵ The Jews struck all their enemies with the sword, killing and destroying them, and did as they pleased to those who hated them. ⁶ In Susa the citadel itself the Jews killed and destroyed 500 men, ⁷ and also killed Parshandatha and Dalphon and Aspatha ⁸ and Poratha and Adalia and Aridatha ⁹ and Parmashta and Arisai and Aridai and Vaizatha, ^10 (I)the ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, ^(J)the enemy of the Jews, ^(K)but they laid no hand on the plunder.

¹¹ That very day the number of those killed in Susa the citadel was reported to the king. ¹² And the king said to Queen Esther, “In Susa the citadel the Jews have killed and destroyed 500 men and also the ten sons of Haman. What then have they done in the rest of the king's provinces! ^(L)Now what is your wish? It shall be granted you. And what further is your request? It shall be fulfilled.” ¹³ And Esther said, “If it please the king, let the Jews who are in Susa be allowed ^(M)tomorrow also to do according to this day's edict. And let the ten sons of Haman be hanged on the gallows.”^{[a] 14} So the king commanded this to be done. A decree was issued in Susa, and the ten sons of Haman were hanged. ¹⁵ The Jews who were in Susa gathered also on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar and they killed 300 men in Susa, but they laid no hands on the plunder.

^16 (N)Now the rest of the Jews who were in the king's provinces also ^(O)gathered to defend their lives, and got relief from their enemies and killed 75,000 of those who hated them, but they laid no hands on the plunder. ¹⁷ This was ^(P)on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth day they rested and made that a day of feasting and gladness. ¹⁸ But the Jews who were in Susa gathered ^(Q)on the thirteenth day and on the fourteenth, and rested ^(R)on the fifteenth day, making that a day of feasting and gladness. ¹⁹ Therefore the Jews of the villages, who live in ^(S)the rural towns, hold the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a day for gladness and feasting, as ^(T)a holiday, and ^(U)as a day on which they send gifts of food to one another.

The Feast of Purim Inaugurated

²⁰ And Mordecai recorded these things and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far, ²¹ obliging them to keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar and also the fifteenth day of the same, year by year, ²² as the days on which the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month that had been turned for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into ^(V)a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, days for sending gifts of food to one another and gifts to the poor.

²³ So the Jews accepted what they had started to do, and what Mordecai had written to them. ²⁴ For Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, ^(W)the enemy of all the Jews, ^(X)had plotted against the Jews to destroy them, and ^(Y)had cast Pur (that is, cast lots), to crush and to destroy them. ²⁵ But when it came before the king, he gave orders in writing ^(Z)that his evil plan that he had devised against the Jews ^(AA)should return on his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows. ²⁶ Therefore they called these days Purim, after the term ^(AB)Pur. Therefore, because of all that was written in ^(AC)this letter, and of what they had faced in this matter, and of what had happened to them, ²⁷ the Jews firmly obligated themselves and their offspring and ^(AD)all who joined them, that without fail they would keep ^(AE)these two days according to what was written and at the time appointed every year, ²⁸ that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, in every clan, province, and city, and that these days of Purim should never fall into disuse among the Jews, nor should the commemoration of these days cease among their descendants.

²⁹ Then Queen Esther, ^(AF)the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew gave full written authority, confirming ^(AG)this second letter about Purim. ³⁰ Letters were sent to all the Jews, ^(AH)to the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, in words of peace and truth, ³¹ that these days of Purim should be observed at their appointed seasons, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther obligated them, and as they had obligated themselves and their offspring, with regard to ^(AI)their fasts and their lamenting. ³² The command of Esther confirmed these practices of ^(AJ)Purim, and it was recorded in writing.

The Greatness of Mordecai

10 King Ahasuerus imposed tax on the land and on ^(AK)the coastlands of the sea. ² And all the acts of his power and might, and the full account of the high honor of Mordecai, ^(AL)to which the king advanced him, are they not written in ^(AM)the Book of the Chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia? ³ For Mordecai the Jew was ^(AN)second in rank to King Ahasuerus, and he was great among the Jews and popular with the multitude of his brothers, for he ^(AO)sought the welfare of his people and spoke peace to all his people.

The Lamb and the 144,000

14 Then I looked, and behold, on ^(A)Mount Zion ^(B)stood the Lamb, and with him ^(C)144,000 who ^(D)had his name and his Father's name written ^(E)on their foreheads. ² And I heard a voice from heaven ^(F)like the roar of many waters and ^(G)like the sound of loud thunder. The voice I heard was like the sound of ^(H)harpists playing on their harps, ³ and they were singing ^(I)a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. ^(J)No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. ⁴ It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for ^(K)they are virgins. It is these ^(L)who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as ^(M)firstfruits for God and the Lamb, ⁵ and ^(N)in their mouth no lie was found, for they are ^(O)blameless.

The Messages of the Three Angels

⁶ Then I saw another angel ^(P)flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to ^(Q)those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people. ⁷ And he said with a loud voice, ^(R)“Fear God and ^(S)give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and ^(T)worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the ^(U)springs of water.”

⁸ Another angel, a second, followed, saying, ^(V)“Fallen, fallen is ^(W)Babylon the great, ^(X)she who made all nations drink ^(Y)the wine of the passion^[a] of her sexual immorality.”

⁹ And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone ^(Z)worships the beast and its image and receives ^(AA)a mark on his forehead or on his hand, ¹⁰ he also will drink ^(AB)the wine of God's wrath, ^(AC)poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and ^(AD)he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. ¹¹ And ^(AE)the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and ^(AF)they have no rest, day or night, these ^(AG)worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.”

^12 (AH)Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who ^(AI)keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.^[b]

¹³ And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: ^(AJ)Blessed are the dead ^(AK)who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, ^(AL)“that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!”

The Harvest of the Earth

¹⁴ Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one ^(AM)like a son of man, ^(AN)with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand. ¹⁵ And another angel ^(AO)came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, ^(AP)“Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for ^(AQ)the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.” ¹⁶ So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped.

¹⁷ Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. ¹⁸ And another angel came out from the altar, ^(AR)the angel who has authority over the fire, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, ^(AS)for its grapes are ripe.” ¹⁹ So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great ^(AT)winepress of the wrath of God. ²⁰ And ^(AU)the winepress was trodden ^(AV)outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as ^(AW)a horse's bridle, for 1,600 stadia.^[c]