Esther 9:18-32
1599 Geneva Bible
18 But the Jews that were in Shushan assembled themselves on the thirteenth day, and on the fourteenth thereof, and they rested on the fifteenth of the same, and kept it a day of feasting and joy.
19 Therefore the Jews of the villages that dwelt in the unwalled towns, [a]kept the fourteenth day of the month Adar with joy and feasting, even a joyful day, and everyone sent presents unto his neighbor.
20 ¶ And Mordecai wrote [b]these words, and sent letters unto all the Jews that were through all the provinces of the King Ahasuerus, both near and far,
21 Enjoining them that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, every year.
22 According to the days wherein the Jews rested from their enemies, and the month which was turned unto them from sorrow to joy, and from mourning into a joyful day, to keep them the days of feasting and joy, and to [c]send presents every man to his neighbor, and gifts to the poor.
23 And the Jews promised to do as they had begun, and as Mordecai had written unto them,
24 Because Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite all the Jews’ adversary had imagined against the Jews to destroy them, and had [d]cast Pur (that is a lot) to consume and destroy them.
25 And when [e]she came before the king, he commanded by letters, Let this wicked [f]device (which he imagined against the Jews) turn upon his own head, and let them hang him and his sons on the tree.
26 Therefore they called these days Purim, by the name of Pur, and because of all the words of this letter, and of that which they had seen besides this, and of that which had come unto them.
27 The Jews also ordained, and promised for them and for their seed, and for all that joined unto them, that they would not [g]fail to observe those two [h]days every year, according to their writing, and according unto their season,
28 And that these days should be remembered, and kept throughout every generation and every family, and every province, and every city: even these days of Purim should not fail among the Jews, and the memorial of them should not perish from their seed.
29 And the Queen Esther the daughter of Abihail and Mordecai the Jew wrote with all [i]authority (to confirm this letter of Purim the second time.)
30 And he sent letters unto all the Jews to the hundred and seven and twenty provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, with [j]words of peace and truth,
31 To confirm these days of Purim according to their seasons, as Mordecai the Jew and Esther the Queen had appointed them, and as they had promised for [k]themselves and for their seed with [l]fasting and prayer.
32 And the decree of Esther confirmed these words of Purim, and was written in the book.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Esther 9:19 As the Jews do even to this day, calling it in the Persian language Purim, that is, the day of lots.
- Esther 9:20 The Jews gather hereof that Mordecai wrote this story: but it seemeth that he wrote but only these letters and decrees that follow.
- Esther 9:22 He setteth before our eyes the use of this feast, which was for the remembrance of God’s deliverance, the maintenance of mutual friendship and relief of the poor.
- Esther 9:24 Read Esther 3.
- Esther 9:25 That is, Esther.
- Esther 9:25 These are the words of the king’s commandment to disannul Haman’s wicked enterprise.
- Esther 9:27 Or, transgress.
- Esther 9:27 Meaning, the fourteenth and fifteenth day of the month of Adar.
- Esther 9:29 Or, strength, or efficacy.
- Esther 9:30 Which were letters declaring unto them quietness, and assurance and putting them out of doubt and fear.
- Esther 9:31 Hebrew, souls.
- Esther 9:31 That they would observe this feast with fasting and earnest prayer, which in Hebrew is signified by this word (they cry).
Geneva Bible, 1599 Edition. Published by Tolle Lege Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles, reviews, and broadcasts.
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