Esther 8:9-9:19

Christian Standard Bible

⁹ On the twenty-third day of the third month^(A)—that is, the month Sivan—the royal scribes were summoned. Everything was written exactly as Mordecai^(B) commanded for the Jews, to the satraps,^(C) the governors, and the officials of the 127 provinces from India to Cush.^(D) The edict was written for each province in its own script, for each ethnic group in its own language,^(E) and to the Jews in their own script and language.

¹⁰ Mordecai wrote in King Ahasuerus’s name and sealed the edicts with the royal signet ring. He sent the documents by mounted couriers,^(F) who rode fast horses^(G) bred in the royal stables.

¹¹ The king’s edict gave the Jews in each and every city the right to assemble and defend themselves, to destroy, kill, and annihilate every ethnic and provincial army hostile to them, including women and children, and to take their possessions as spoils of war.^{(H) 12} This would take place on a single day throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month Adar.^(I)

¹³ A copy of the text, issued as law throughout every province, was distributed to all the peoples^(J) so the Jews could be ready to avenge themselves against their enemies on that day. ¹⁴ The couriers rode out in haste on their royal horses at the king’s urgent command. The law was also issued in the fortress of Susa.^(K)

¹⁵ Mordecai went from the king’s presence clothed in royal blue and white, with a great gold crown and a purple robe of fine linen.^(L) The city of Susa shouted and rejoiced,^{(M) 16} and the Jews celebrated^[a] with gladness, joy, and honor.^{(N) 17} In every province and every city where the king’s command and edict reached, gladness and joy took place among the Jews. There was a celebration and a holiday.^[b](O) And many of the ethnic groups of the land professed themselves to be Jews because fear of the Jews^(P) had overcome them.

Victories of the Jews

9 The king’s command and law^(Q) went into effect on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month,^(R) the month Adar. On the day when the Jews’ enemies^(S) had hoped to overpower them, just the opposite happened. The Jews overpowered those who hated them.^{(T) 2} In each of King Ahasuerus’s provinces^(U) the Jews assembled in their cities to attack those who intended to harm them.^[c] Not a single person could withstand them; fear of them^(V) fell on every nationality.^(W)

³ All the officials of the provinces, the satraps, the governors, and the royal civil administrators^[d](X) aided the Jews because they feared Mordecai.^{(Y) 4} For Mordecai exercised great power in the palace,^(Z) and his fame spread throughout the provinces as he became more and more powerful.^(AA)

⁵ The Jews put all their enemies to the sword, killing and destroying them.^(AB) They did what they pleased to those who hated them. ⁶ In the fortress of Susa^(AC) 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^(AD) of Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews.^(AE) However, they did not seize^[e] any plunder.^(AF)

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.”^(AG)

¹³ Esther answered, “If it pleases the king, may the Jews who are in Susa also have tomorrow^(AH) to carry out today’s law,^(AI) and may the bodies of Haman’s ten sons^(AJ) be hung on the gallows.”^{(AK) 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^(AL) and killed three hundred men in Susa, but they did not seize any plunder.^(AM)

¹⁶ The rest of the Jews in the royal provinces assembled, defended themselves, and gained relief from their enemies. They killed seventy-five thousand^[f] of those who hated them,^(AN) 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.^{(AO) 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.^(AP)