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Esther 6-10
New American Standard Bible

The King Plans to Honor Mordecai

6 During that night [a]the king (A)could not sleep, so he gave an order to bring (B)the book of records, the chronicles, and they were read before the king. 2 And it was found written what (C)Mordecai had reported about Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs who were doorkeepers, that they had sought to [b]attack King Ahasuerus. 3 Then the king said, “What honor or dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?” And the king’s servants who attended him said, “Nothing has been done for him.” 4 So the king said, “Who is in the courtyard?” Now Haman had just (D)entered the outer courtyard of the king’s palace in order to speak to the king about (E)hanging Mordecai on the wooden gallows which he had prepared for him. 5 So the king’s servants said to him, “Behold, Haman is standing in the courtyard.” And the king said, “Have him come in.” 6 Haman then came in and the king said to him, “What is to be done for the man (F)whom the king desires to honor?” And Haman said [c]to himself, “Whom would the king desire to honor more than me?” 7 Therefore Haman said to the king, “For the man whom the king desires to honor, 8 have them bring a royal robe which the king has worn, and (G)the horse on which the king has ridden, and on whose head (H)a royal turban has been placed; 9 then order them to hand the robe and the horse over to one of the king’s noble officials, and have them dress the man whom the king desires to honor, and lead him on horseback through the city square, (I)and proclaim before him, ‘So it shall be done for the man whom the king desires to honor.’”

Haman Must Honor Mordecai

10 Then the king said to Haman, “Quickly, take the robe and the horse just as you have said, and do so for Mordecai the Jew, who is sitting at the king’s gate; do not fail to do anything of all that you have said.” 11 So Haman took the robe and the horse, and dressed Mordecai, and led him on horseback through the city square, and proclaimed before him, “So it shall be done for the man whom the king desires to honor.”

12 Then Mordecai returned to the king’s gate, while Haman hurried home, mourning, (J)with his head covered. 13 And Haman informed (K)Zeresh his wife and all his friends of everything that had happened to him. Then his wise men and Zeresh his wife said to him, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is [d]of Jewish origin, you will not prevail over him, but will certainly fall before him.”

14 While they were still talking with him, the king’s eunuchs arrived and quickly (L)brought Haman to the banquet which Esther had prepared.

Esther’s Plea

7 Now the king and Haman came to drink wine with Esther the queen. 2 And the king said to Esther on the second day also [e]as they drank their wine at the banquet, “(M)What is your request, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your wish? (N)Up to half of the kingdom it shall be done.” 3 Then Queen Esther replied, “(O)If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me as my request, and my people as my wish; 4 for (P)we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, (Q)killed, and eliminated. Now if we had only been sold as slaves, men and women, I would have kept silent, because the distress would not be sufficient reason to burden the king.” 5 Then King Ahasuerus [f]asked Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, [g]who would presume to do such a thing?” 6 And Esther said, “(R)A foe and an enemy is this wicked Haman!” Then Haman became terrified before the king and queen.

Haman Is Hanged

7 The king then got up (S)in his anger from [h]drinking wine and went into (T)the palace garden; but Haman stayed to beg for his life from Queen Esther, for he saw that harm had been determined against him by the king. 8 Now when the king returned from the palace garden into the [i]place where they had been drinking wine, Haman was falling on (U)the couch where Esther was. Then the king said, “Will he even assault the queen with me in the house?” As the word went out of the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face. 9 Then Harbonah, one of the eunuchs who stood before the king, said, “Indeed, behold, (V)the wooden gallows standing at Haman’s house [j]fifty cubits high, which Haman made for Mordecai (W)who spoke good in behalf of the king!” And the king said, “Hang him on it.” 10 (X)So they hanged Haman on the wooden gallows which he had prepared for Mordecai, (Y)and the king’s anger subsided.

Mordecai Promoted

8 On that day King Ahasuerus gave the house of Haman, (Z)the enemy of the Jews, to Queen Esther; and Mordecai came before the king, because Esther had disclosed (AA)what he was to her. 2 Then (AB)the king took off his signet ring, which he had taken away from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.

3 Then Esther spoke again [k]to the king, fell at his feet, wept, and pleaded for his compassion to avert the evil scheme of Haman the Agagite and his plot which he had devised against the Jews. 4 And (AC)the king extended the golden scepter to Esther. So Esther got up and stood before the king. 5 Then she said, “(AD)If it pleases the king and if I have found favor before him, and the matter seems proper to the king and I am pleasing in his sight, let it be written to revoke the (AE)letters devised by Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to eliminate the Jews who are in all the king’s provinces. 6 For (AF)how can I endure to see the disaster which will happen to my people, and how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?” 7 So King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Behold, (AG)I have given the house of Haman to Esther, and they have hanged him on the wooden gallows because he had reached out with his hand against the Jews.

The King’s Decree Avenges the Jews

8 Now you write to the Jews [l]as you see fit, in the king’s name, and (AH)seal it with the king’s signet ring; for a decree which is written in the name of the king and sealed with the king’s signet ring (AI)may not be revoked.”

9 (AJ)So the king’s scribes were summoned at that time in the third month (that is, the month Sivan), on the twenty-third [m]day; and it was written in accordance with everything that Mordecai commanded the Jews, the satraps, the governors, and the officials of the provinces which extended (AK)from India to [n]Cush, 127 provinces, to (AL)every province according to its script, and to every people according to their language, as well as to the Jews according to their script and their language. 10 He wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus, and sealed it with the king’s signet ring, and sent letters by couriers on (AM)horses, riding on royal relay horses, offspring of racing mares. 11 [o]In the letters the king granted the Jews who were in each and every city the right (AN)to assemble and to defend their lives, (AO)to destroy, kill, and eliminate the entire army of any people or province which was going to attack them, including children and women, and (AP)to plunder their spoils, 12 on (AQ)one day in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month (that is, the month Adar). 13 (AR)A copy of the edict to be [p]issued as law in each and every province was published to all the peoples, so that the Jews would be ready for this day to avenge themselves on their enemies. 14 The couriers, hurrying and speeded by the king’s command, left, riding on the royal relay horses; and the decree was issued at the citadel in Susa.

15 Then Mordecai went out from the presence of the king (AS)in a royal robe of violet and white, with a large crown of gold and (AT)a garment of fine linen and purple; and (AU)the city of Susa shouted and rejoiced. 16 For the Jews there was (AV)light, joy, jubilation, and honor. 17 In each and every province and in each and every city, wherever the king’s commandment and his decree arrived, there was joy and jubilation for the Jews, a feast and a [q](AW)holiday. And (AX)many among the peoples of the land [r]became Jews, because the dread of the Jews had fallen on them.

The Jews Destroy Their Enemies

9 Now (AY)in the twelfth month (that is, the month Adar), on (AZ)the thirteenth [s]day, (BA)when the king’s command and edict were to be put into effect, on the day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain the mastery over them, it turned out to the contrary so that the Jews themselves gained mastery over those who hated them. 2 (BB)The Jews assembled in their cities throughout the provinces of King Ahasuerus to [t]attack those who sought [u]to harm them; and no one could stand against them, (BC)because the dread of them had fallen on all the peoples. 3 Even all the officials of the provinces, (BD)the satraps, the governors, and those who were doing the king’s business were supporting the Jews, because the dread of Mordecai had fallen on them. 4 For Mordecai was great in the king’s house, and the news about him spread throughout the provinces; for the man Mordecai (BE)became greater and greater. 5 So (BF)the Jews struck all their enemies with [v]the sword, killing and destroying; and they did as they pleased to those who hated them. 6 At the citadel in Susa the Jews killed and eliminated five hundred men, 7 and they killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, 8 Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, 9 Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha, 10 (BG)the ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Jews’ enemy; but (BH)they did not lay their hands on the plunder.

11 On that day the number of those who were killed at the citadel in Susa [w]was reported to the king. 12 And the king said to Queen Esther, “The Jews have killed and eliminated five hundred men and the ten sons of Haman at the citadel in Susa. What have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces! (BI)Now what is your request? It shall also be granted you. And what is your further wish? It shall also be done.” 13 Then Esther said, “If it pleases the king, (BJ)let tomorrow also be granted to the Jews who are in Susa to do according to the edict of today; and let Haman’s ten sons be hanged on the wooden gallows.” 14 So the king commanded that it was to be done so; and an edict was issued in Susa, and Haman’s ten sons were hanged. 15 The Jews who were in Susa assembled also on the fourteenth day of the month Adar and killed (BK)three hundred men in Susa, but (BL)they did not lay their hands on the plunder.

16 Now (BM)the rest of the Jews who were in the king’s provinces (BN)assembled, to defend their lives and [x]rid themselves of their enemies, and to kill seventy-five thousand of those who hated them; but they did not lay their hands on the plunder. 17 This was done on (BO)the thirteenth day of the month Adar, and (BP)on the fourteenth [y]day they rested and made it a day of feasting and rejoicing.

18 But the Jews who were in Susa (BQ)assembled on the thirteenth and (BR)the fourteenth [z]of the same month, and they rested on the fifteenth [aa]day and made it a day of feasting and rejoicing. 19 Therefore the Jews of the rural areas, who live in (BS)the rural towns, make the fourteenth day of the month Adar a [ab](BT)holiday for rejoicing and feasting and (BU)sending portions of food to one another.

The Feast of Purim Instituted

20 Then Mordecai recorded these events, and he sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far, 21 obliging them to celebrate the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day [ac]of the same month, annually, 22 because on those days the Jews [ad]rid themselves of their enemies, and it was a month which was (BV)turned for them from grief into joy, and from mourning into a [ae]holiday; that they were to make them days of feasting and rejoicing, and (BW)sending portions of food to one another, and gifts to the poor.

23 So the Jews undertook what they had started to do, and what Mordecai had written to them. 24 For Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the adversary of all the Jews, had schemed against the Jews to eliminate them, and (BX)had cast Pur, that is the lot, to disturb them and eliminate them. 25 But (BY)when it came [af]to the king’s attention, he commanded by letter (BZ)that his wicked scheme which he had devised against the Jews (CA)was to return on his own head, and that he and his sons were to be hanged on the wooden gallows. 26 Therefore they called these days Purim after the name of [ag]Pur. [ah]And (CB)because of the instructions in this letter, both what they had seen in this regard and what had happened to them, 27 the Jews established and [ai]made a custom for themselves, their [aj]descendants, and for (CC)all those who allied themselves with them, so that [ak]they would not fail (CD)to celebrate these two days according to their [al]regulation and according to their appointed time annually. 28 So these days were to be remembered and celebrated throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city; and these days of Purim were not to [am]be neglected by the Jews, or their memory [an]fade from their [ao]descendants.

29 Then Queen Esther, (CE)daughter of Abihail, with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm (CF)this second letter about Purim. 30 He sent letters to all the Jews, (CG)to the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, namely, words of peace and truth, 31 to establish these days of Purim at their appointed times, just as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had established for them, and just as they had established for themselves and for their [ap]descendants, with [aq]instructions (CH)for their times of fasting and their mourning. 32 The command of Esther established these [ar]customs for (CI)Purim, and it was written in the book.

Mordecai’s Greatness

10 Now King Ahasuerus imposed a tax on the land and the (CJ)coastlands of the sea. 2 And every accomplishment of his authority and power, and the full account of the greatness of Mordecai (CK)with which the king honored him, are they not written in (CL)the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Media and Persia? 3 For Mordecai the Jew was (CM)second only to King Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews and in favor with his many kinsmen, (CN)one who sought the good of his people and one who spoke for the welfare of his entire [as]nation.

Footnotes

  1. Esther 6:1 Lit the king’s sleep fled
  2. Esther 6:2 Or kill; lit put out a hand against
  3. Esther 6:6 Lit in his heart
  4. Esther 6:13 Lit from the seed of the Jews
  5. Esther 7:2 Lit at the banquet of wine
  6. Esther 7:5 Lit said and said to
  7. Esther 7:5 Lit whose heart has filled him
  8. Esther 7:7 Lit the banquet of wine
  9. Esther 7:8 Lit house of the banquet of wine
  10. Esther 7:9 About 75 ft. or 23 m
  11. Esther 8:3 Lit before
  12. Esther 8:8 Lit according to the good in your eyes
  13. Esther 8:9 Lit in it
  14. Esther 8:9 Or Ethiopia
  15. Esther 8:11 Lit Which the king
  16. Esther 8:13 Lit given
  17. Esther 8:17 Lit good day
  18. Esther 8:17 Or posed as Jews
  19. Esther 9:1 Lit day in it
  20. Esther 9:2 Lit put out a hand against
  21. Esther 9:2 Lit their harm
  22. Esther 9:5 Lit the stroke of the
  23. Esther 9:11 Lit came before
  24. Esther 9:16 Lit have rest from
  25. Esther 9:17 Lit in it
  26. Esther 9:18 Lit in it
  27. Esther 9:18 Lit in it
  28. Esther 9:19 Lit rejoicing and feasting and a good day and sending
  29. Esther 9:21 Lit in it
  30. Esther 9:22 Lit had rest from
  31. Esther 9:22 Lit good day
  32. Esther 9:25 Lit before the king, he
  33. Esther 9:26 Akkadian for lot
  34. Esther 9:26 Lit Therefore because of all the words
  35. Esther 9:27 Lit received
  36. Esther 9:27 Lit seed
  37. Esther 9:27 Lit it would not pass away
  38. Esther 9:27 Lit writing
  39. Esther 9:28 Lit pass from the midst of
  40. Esther 9:28 Lit end
  41. Esther 9:28 Lit seed
  42. Esther 9:31 Lit seed
  43. Esther 9:31 Lit words
  44. Esther 9:32 Lit words
  45. Esther 10:3 Lit seed
Close NLT

Esther 6-10
New Living Translation

The King Honors Mordecai

6 That night the king had trouble sleeping, so he ordered an attendant to bring the book of the history of his reign so it could be read to him. 2 In those records he discovered an account of how Mordecai had exposed the plot of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the eunuchs who guarded the door to the king’s private quarters. They had plotted to assassinate King Xerxes.

3 “What reward or recognition did we ever give Mordecai for this?” the king asked.

His attendants replied, “Nothing has been done for him.”

4 “Who is that in the outer court?” the king inquired. As it happened, Haman had just arrived in the outer court of the palace to ask the king to impale Mordecai on the pole he had prepared.

5 So the attendants replied to the king, “Haman is out in the court.”

“Bring him in,” the king ordered. 6 So Haman came in, and the king said, “What should I do to honor a man who truly pleases me?”

Haman thought to himself, “Whom would the king wish to honor more than me?” 7 So he replied, “If the king wishes to honor someone, 8 he should bring out one of the king’s own royal robes, as well as a horse that the king himself has ridden—one with a royal emblem on its head. 9 Let the robes and the horse be handed over to one of the king’s most noble officials. And let him see that the man whom the king wishes to honor is dressed in the king’s robes and led through the city square on the king’s horse. Have the official shout as they go, ‘This is what the king does for someone he wishes to honor!’”

10 “Excellent!” the king said to Haman. “Quick! Take the robes and my horse, and do just as you have said for Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the gate of the palace. Leave out nothing you have suggested!”

11 So Haman took the robes and put them on Mordecai, placed him on the king’s own horse, and led him through the city square, shouting, “This is what the king does for someone he wishes to honor!” 12 Afterward Mordecai returned to the palace gate, but Haman hurried home dejected and completely humiliated.

13 When Haman told his wife, Zeresh, and all his friends what had happened, his wise advisers and his wife said, “Since Mordecai—this man who has humiliated you—is of Jewish birth, you will never succeed in your plans against him. It will be fatal to continue opposing him.”

14 While they were still talking, the king’s eunuchs arrived and quickly took Haman to the banquet Esther had prepared.

The King Executes Haman

7 So the king and Haman went to Queen Esther’s banquet. 2 On this second occasion, while they were drinking wine, the king again said to Esther, “Tell me what you want, Queen Esther. What is your request? I will give it to you, even if it is half the kingdom!”

3 Queen Esther replied, “If I have found favor with the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my request, I ask that my life and the lives of my people will be spared. 4 For my people and I have been sold to those who would kill, slaughter, and annihilate us. If we had merely been sold as slaves, I could remain quiet, for that would be too trivial a matter to warrant disturbing the king.”

5 “Who would do such a thing?” King Xerxes demanded. “Who would be so presumptuous as to touch you?”

6 Esther replied, “This wicked Haman is our adversary and our enemy.” Haman grew pale with fright before the king and queen. 7 Then the king jumped to his feet in a rage and went out into the palace garden.

Haman, however, stayed behind to plead for his life with Queen Esther, for he knew that the king intended to kill him. 8 In despair he fell on the couch where Queen Esther was reclining, just as the king was returning from the palace garden.

The king exclaimed, “Will he even assault the queen right here in the palace, before my very eyes?” And as soon as the king spoke, his attendants covered Haman’s face, signaling his doom.

9 Then Harbona, one of the king’s eunuchs, said, “Haman has set up a sharpened pole that stands seventy-five feet[a] tall in his own courtyard. He intended to use it to impale Mordecai, the man who saved the king from assassination.”

“Then impale Haman on it!” the king ordered. 10 So they impaled Haman on the pole he had set up for Mordecai, and the king’s anger subsided.

A Decree to Help the Jews

8 On that same day King Xerxes gave the property of Haman, the enemy of the Jews, to Queen Esther. Then Mordecai was brought before the king, for Esther had told the king how they were related. 2 The king took off his signet ring—which he had taken back from Haman—and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther appointed Mordecai to be in charge of Haman’s property.

3 Then Esther went again before the king, falling down at his feet and begging him with tears to stop the evil plot devised by Haman the Agagite against the Jews. 4 Again the king held out the gold scepter to Esther. So she rose and stood before him.

5 Esther said, “If it please the king, and if I have found favor with him, and if he thinks it is right, and if I am pleasing to him, let there be a decree that reverses the orders of Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, who ordered that Jews throughout all the king’s provinces should be destroyed. 6 For how can I endure to see my people and my family slaughtered and destroyed?”

7 Then King Xerxes said to Queen Esther and Mordecai the Jew, “I have given Esther the property of Haman, and he has been impaled on a pole because he tried to destroy the Jews. 8 Now go ahead and send a message to the Jews in the king’s name, telling them whatever you want, and seal it with the king’s signet ring. But remember that whatever has already been written in the king’s name and sealed with his signet ring can never be revoked.”

9 So on June 25[b] the king’s secretaries were summoned, and a decree was written exactly as Mordecai dictated. It was sent to the Jews and to the highest officers, the governors, and the nobles of all the 127 provinces stretching from India to Ethiopia.[c] The decree was written in the scripts and languages of all the peoples of the empire, including that of the Jews. 10 The decree was written in the name of King Xerxes and sealed with the king’s signet ring. Mordecai sent the dispatches by swift messengers, who rode fast horses especially bred for the king’s service.

11 The king’s decree gave the Jews in every city authority to unite to defend their lives. They were allowed to kill, slaughter, and annihilate anyone of any nationality or province who might attack them or their children and wives, and to take the property of their enemies. 12 The day chosen for this event throughout all the provinces of King Xerxes was March 7 of the next year.[d]

13 A copy of this decree was to be issued as law in every province and proclaimed to all peoples, so that the Jews would be ready to take revenge on their enemies on the appointed day. 14 So urged on by the king’s command, the messengers rode out swiftly on fast horses bred for the king’s service. The same decree was also proclaimed in the fortress of Susa.

15 Then Mordecai left the king’s presence, wearing the royal robe of blue and white, the great crown of gold, and an outer cloak of fine linen and purple. And the people of Susa celebrated the new decree. 16 The Jews were filled with joy and gladness and were honored everywhere. 17 In every province and city, wherever the king’s decree arrived, the Jews rejoiced and had a great celebration and declared a public festival and holiday. And many of the people of the land became Jews themselves, for they feared what the Jews might do to them.

The Victory of the Jews

9 So on March 7[e] the two decrees of the king were put into effect. On that day, the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, but quite the opposite happened. It was the Jews who overpowered their enemies. 2 The Jews gathered in their cities throughout all the king’s provinces to attack anyone who tried to harm them. But no one could make a stand against them, for everyone was afraid of them. 3 And all the nobles of the provinces, the highest officers, the governors, and the royal officials helped the Jews for fear of Mordecai. 4 For Mordecai had been promoted in the king’s palace, and his fame spread throughout all the provinces as he became more and more powerful.

5 So the Jews went ahead on the appointed day and struck down their enemies with the sword. They killed and annihilated their enemies and did as they pleased with those who hated them. 6 In the fortress of Susa itself, the Jews killed 500 men. 7 They also killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, 8 Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, 9 Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha— 10 the ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews. But they did not take any plunder.

11 That very day, when the king was informed of the number of people killed in the fortress of Susa, 12 he called for Queen Esther. He said, “The Jews have killed 500 men in the fortress of Susa alone, as well as Haman’s ten sons. If they have done that here, what has happened in the rest of the provinces? But now, what more do you want? It will be granted to you; tell me and I will do it.”

13 Esther responded, “If it please the king, give the Jews in Susa permission to do again tomorrow as they have done today, and let the bodies of Haman’s ten sons be impaled on a pole.”

14 So the king agreed, and the decree was announced in Susa. And they impaled the bodies of Haman’s ten sons. 15 Then the Jews at Susa gathered together on March 8[f] and killed 300 more men, and again they took no plunder.

16 Meanwhile, the other Jews throughout the king’s provinces had gathered together to defend their lives. They gained relief from all their enemies, killing 75,000 of those who hated them. But they did not take any plunder. 17 This was done throughout the provinces on March 7, and on March 8 they rested,[g] celebrating their victory with a day of feasting and gladness. 18 (The Jews at Susa killed their enemies on March 7 and again on March 8, then rested on March 9,[h] making that their day of feasting and gladness.) 19 So to this day, rural Jews living in remote villages celebrate an annual festival and holiday on the appointed day in late winter,[i] when they rejoice and send gifts of food to each other.

The Festival of Purim

20 Mordecai recorded these events and sent letters to the Jews near and far, throughout all the provinces of King Xerxes, 21 calling on them to celebrate an annual festival on these two days.[j] 22 He told them to celebrate these days with feasting and gladness and by giving gifts of food to each other and presents to the poor. This would commemorate a time when the Jews gained relief from their enemies, when their sorrow was turned into gladness and their mourning into joy.

23 So the Jews accepted Mordecai’s proposal and adopted this annual custom. 24 Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews, had plotted to crush and destroy them on the date determined by casting lots (the lots were called purim). 25 But when Esther came before the king, he issued a decree causing Haman’s evil plot to backfire, and Haman and his sons were impaled on a sharpened pole. 26 That is why this celebration is called Purim, because it is the ancient word for casting lots.

So because of Mordecai’s letter and because of what they had experienced, 27 the Jews throughout the realm agreed to inaugurate this tradition and to pass it on to their descendants and to all who became Jews. They declared they would never fail to celebrate these two prescribed days at the appointed time each year. 28 These days would be remembered and kept from generation to generation and celebrated by every family throughout the provinces and cities of the empire. This Festival of Purim would never cease to be celebrated among the Jews, nor would the memory of what happened ever die out among their descendants.

29 Then Queen Esther, the daughter of Abihail, along with Mordecai the Jew, wrote another letter putting the queen’s full authority behind Mordecai’s letter to establish the Festival of Purim. 30 Letters wishing peace and security were sent to the Jews throughout the 127 provinces of the empire of Xerxes. 31 These letters established the Festival of Purim—an annual celebration of these days at the appointed time, decreed by both Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther. (The people decided to observe this festival, just as they had decided for themselves and their descendants to establish the times of fasting and mourning.) 32 So the command of Esther confirmed the practices of Purim, and it was all written down in the records.

The Greatness of Xerxes and Mordecai

10 King Xerxes imposed a tribute throughout his empire, even to the distant coastlands. 2 His great achievements and the full account of the greatness of Mordecai, whom the king had promoted, are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Media and Persia. 3 Mordecai the Jew became the prime minister, with authority next to that of King Xerxes himself. He was very great among the Jews, who held him in high esteem, because he continued to work for the good of his people and to speak up for the welfare of all their descendants.

Footnotes

  1. 7:9 Hebrew 50 cubits [23 meters].
  2. 8:9a Hebrew on the twenty-third day of the third month, the month of Sivan, of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. This day was June 25, 474 B.c.; also see note on 2:16.
  3. 8:9b Hebrew to Cush.
  4. 8:12 Hebrew the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. The date selected was March 7, 473 B.c.; also see note on 2:16.
  5. 9:1 Hebrew on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. This day was March 7, 473 B.c.; also see note on 2:16.
  6. 9:15 Hebrew the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. This day was March 8, 473 B.c.; also see note on 2:16.
  7. 9:17 Hebrew on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth day they rested. These days were March 7 and 8, 473 B.c.; also see note on 2:16.
  8. 9:18 Hebrew killed their enemies on the thirteenth day and the fourteenth day, and then rested on the fifteenth day, of the Hebrew month of Adar.
  9. 9:19 Hebrew on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar. This day of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar occurs in February or March.
  10. 9:21 Hebrew on the fourteenth and fifteenth days of Adar, of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar.
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Esther 5
Job 1
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