Esther 9
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 9
Triumph of the Jews.[a] 1 On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month of Adar, the edict of the king was to become effective. It was on this day that the enemies of the Jews had expected to become masters of them. But in a role reversal it was the Jews who became masters of their enemies. 2 The Jews assembled in their cities in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to attack those seeking their destruction. No one could withstand them, because the people of all the other nationalities were afraid of them. 3 Moreover, all of the provinces, the satraps, the governors and the king’s administrators helped the Jews, out of fear of Mordecai. 4 Mordecai was powerful in the palace: his fame spread throughout the provinces, and his power kept on growing.
5 The Jews overcame all their enemies with the sword, killing and destroying them, and did what they pleased to their enemies. 6 In the citadel of Susa, they killed and destroyed five hundred men. 7 They also killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, 8 Porathai, Adalia, Aridatha, 9 Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha, 10 the ten sons of Haman, son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews. However, they did not engage in plundering.
11 On the same day, the number of those slain in the citadel of Susa was reported to the king. 12 He said to Queen Esther, “The Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men and the ten sons of Haman in the citadel of Susa. But what must they have done in the other royal provinces! You shall again be granted whatever you ask, and whatever you request will be honored.”
13 “If it pleases the king,” Esther replied, “let the Jews in Susa be permitted again to carry out this day’s edict tomorrow also, and let the ten sons of Haman be hanged on gibbets.”
14 The king then gave an order that this should be done. An edict was issued in Susa, and they hanged the ten sons of Haman. 15 The Jews in Susa came together on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, and they put to death three hundred men in Susa. However, they did not engage in plundering.[b]
16 Meanwhile, the other Jews who were in the king’s provinces also assembled to protect themselves and to obtain rest from their enemies. They killed seventy-five thousand[c] of them, but they did not engage in plundering. 17 This took place on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth day of the month they rested and made it a day of feasting and joy.
18 The Jews in Susa, however, had assembled on the thirteenth and fourteenth of the month of Adar. On the fifteenth of the month they rested, and made it a day of feasting and joy.
19 That is why rural Jews, who live in villages, observe the fourteenth of the month of Adar as a day of feasting and rejoicing, a holiday on which they give presents to one another. Instead, those who live in large cities celebrate the fifteenth of Adar as a day of feasting and joy and give presents to each other.[d]
20 The Feast of Purim.[e] Mordecai recorded these events, and dispatched letters to all the Jews throughout the provinces of King Ahasuerus, to both those who were near and those who were far off. 21 He commanded them to celebrate every year the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar, 22 as the time when the Jews succeeded in obtaining relief from their enemies and as the month when their sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning into a day of celebration. He wrote them to observe these days as days of feasting and rejoicing, sending food to one another and gifts to the poor.
23 So the Jews accepted all that Mordecai had written to them. 24 For Haman, son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews, had hatched a plot to destroy them and had cast the pur (that is, the lot) for their defeat and destruction. 25 But when Esther entered the royal presence, the king gave written orders that the wicked scheme Haman had devised against the Jews should be turned against him instead and that he and his sons should be hanged on gibbets. 26 (Therefore, these days were called Purim,[f] from the word pur.)
Because of everything mentioned in this letter and because of what they had seen and what they had experienced, 27 the Jews took upon themselves, their descendants, and any who should join them,[g] the inviolable obligation to celebrate these two days every year in the way prescribed and at the time appointed.
28 These days were to be remembered in every generation by every family, and in every province and in every city. Moreover, these days of Purim were never to fall into disuse among the Jews, nor should their memory die out among their descendants.
29 Queen Esther, daughter of Abihail and of Mordecai the Jew, wrote with complete authority to confirm this second letter about Purim. 30 And Mordecai sent documents about peace and security to all the Jews in the one hundred and twenty-seven provinces of Ahasuerus’s kingdom. 31 Thus, there were established, for their appointed time, these days of Purim that Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had designated for the Jews, and as they had established for themselves and for their race, the duty of fasting and supplication. 32 Esther’s decree confirmed these rules concerning Purim, and it was recorded in the book.
Chapter 10
The Greatness of Mordecai.1 King Ahasuerus imposed tribute throughout the land to its distant shores.2 And all his acts of power and might, as well as an account of the greatness of Mordecai, whom the king promoted, are set down in the book of the annals of the kings of Media and Persia.3 Mordecai the Jew was second in rank to King Ahasuerus, preeminent among the Jews, and held in high esteem by his fellow Jews because he worked for the good of his people and was the herald of peace for his whole race.
Epilogue
Chapter F
Mordecai’s Dream Fulfilled.[h]1 Then Mordecai said: “All this is God’s doing,2 for I remember the dream I had about these events, and not one of them has failed to be fulfilled—3 the tiny spring that became a river, the light that shone, the sun, the abundance of water. The river is Esther, whom the king married and established as queen.4 The two dragons are Haman and myself.5 The nations are those who joined together to extinguish the name of the Jews.6 And my nation is Israel who cried to God for deliverance and was saved.
“The Lord has saved his people and delivered us from all these evils. God has performed great signs and wonders such as have never before occurred among the nations.7 To accomplish this he prepared two lots,[i] one for the people of God and one for all the nations.8 These lots were cast at the prescribed hour and time, on the day of judgment before God and all the nations.9 And God remembered his people and rendered a verdict of justice in favor of his heritage.
10 “Therefore, they are to assemble with joy and gladness before God and celebrate these days in the month of Adar, on the fourteenth and fifteenth of that month, from generation to generation among his people Israel forever.”
A Postscript about Purim.11 In the fourth year[j] of the reign of Ptolemy and Cleopatra, Dositheus, who said he was a priest and Levite, and his son, Ptolemy, brought to Egypt the preceding letter about Purim, saying that it was genuine and had been translated by Lysimachus, son of Ptolemy, of the community of Jerusalem.
Footnotes
- Esther 9:1 This episode of blood, in which facts and numbers are certainly exaggerated, illustrates an idea frequently found in the Bible: sooner or later justice is rendered for the oppressed. It is noteworthy that the author thinks of a limited retaliation and excludes plundering. The evolution of conscience takes from the whole Bible, and especially from the New Testament, a sense of God and a respect for persons that were not yet attained at this epoch.
- Esther 9:15 This second massacre accounts for the two dates of the Purim celebration by Jews in Susa—thirteenth and fourteenth of Adar (see v. 18).
- Esther 9:16 Seventy-five thousand: in the Greek version, the number is fifteen thousand. This too may be the result of a literary artifice as in the case of the gallows for Mordecai (see Est 5:14).
- Esther 9:19 Instead . . . other: found only in the Greek.
- Esther 9:20 Haman had cast the lot (pur) to decide to exterminate the Jews. The latter, providentially vindicated, must celebrate annually the anniversary day of this memorable fact. In reality, the true origin of this feast, which was to take place in February–March, is unknown. Probably these celebrations of the beginning of the year were not very religious at their origin and common to other people. But thanks to the Book of Esther, they have become for the Jewish communities a feast of their freedom. This feast began with a fast, and the Book of Esther was read in the synagogue stressing the maledictions against the enemies of Israel. Hence, popular feasts took place with well sprinkled meals and masked manifestations similar to a carnival.
- Esther 9:26 The Feast of Purim is still celebrated among the Jews. The thirteenth day is a fast and the Book of Esther is read; the fourteenth day, after a new reading from the Book of Esther, is spent joyously recalling and celebrating the divine benefits.
- Esther 9:27 Any who should join them: that is, the proselytes, pagans converted to Judaism.
- Esther 9:32 Historically, it is not very likely that a Jew could have carried out the high functions of Mordecai at the Persian court. He has such importance in the present Book that it could also be called “Mordecai the Jew.” Hence, the Feast of Purim was at times known as Mordecai’s Day (2 Mac 15:36).
- Esther 9:32 Two lots: the Greek text here gives a more religious interpretation of Purim, speaking of lots prepared by God to ascertain the destiny of the people of God and that of all the nations. (See Est 3:7 for another explanation for the name of the feast.) Hence, we know that in 114 B.C. a Jewish community in Egypt received the Book of Esther from the established community in Judea, most likely in connection with the Feast of Purim of which the text speaks.
- Esther 9:32 Fourth year: probably 114 B.C. There were three Ptolemys who had a wife called Cleopatra: Ptolemy VIII (114 B.C.), Ptolemy XII (77 B.C.), and Ptolemy XIV (48 B.C.). Most scholars favor the first here. The preceding letter: a reference to the entire Book of Esther, probably including some of the Additions as well.
Esther 9
New King James Version
The Jews Destroy Their Tormentors
9 Now (A)in the twelfth month, that is, the month of Adar, on the thirteenth day, (B)the time came for the king’s command and his decree to be executed. On the day that the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, the opposite occurred, in that the Jews themselves (C)overpowered those who hated them. 2 The Jews (D)gathered together in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to lay hands on those who (E)sought their harm. And no one could withstand them, (F)because fear of them fell upon all people. 3 And all the officials of the provinces, the satraps, the governors, and all those doing the king’s work, helped the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai fell upon them. 4 For Mordecai was great in the king’s palace, and his fame spread throughout all the provinces; for this man Mordecai (G)became increasingly prominent. 5 Thus the Jews defeated all their enemies with the stroke of the sword, with slaughter and destruction, and did what they pleased with those who hated them.
6 And in (H)Shushan[a] the [b]citadel the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men. 7 Also Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, 8 Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, 9 Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vajezatha— 10 (I)the ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews—they killed; (J)but they did not lay a hand on the [c]plunder.
11 On that day the number of those who were killed in [d]Shushan the [e]citadel [f]was brought to the king. 12 And the king said to Queen Esther, “The Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men in Shushan the citadel, and the ten sons of Haman. What have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces? Now (K)what is your petition? It shall be granted to you. Or what is your further request? It shall be done.”
13 Then Esther said, “If it pleases the king, let it be granted to the Jews who are in Shushan to do again tomorrow (L)according to today’s decree, and let Haman’s ten sons (M)be hanged on the gallows.”
14 So the king commanded this to be done; the decree was issued in Shushan, and they hanged Haman’s ten sons.
15 And the Jews who were in [g]Shushan (N)gathered together again on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar and killed three hundred men at Shushan; (O)but they did not lay a hand on the plunder.
16 The remainder of the Jews in the king’s provinces (P)gathered together and protected their lives, had rest from their enemies, and killed seventy-five thousand of their enemies; (Q)but they did not lay a hand on the plunder. 17 This was on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar. And on the fourteenth of [h]the month they rested and made it a day of feasting and gladness.
The Feast of Purim
18 But the Jews who were at [i]Shushan assembled together (R)on the thirteenth day, as well as on the fourteenth; and on the fifteenth of [j]the month they rested, and made it a day of feasting and gladness. 19 Therefore the Jews of the villages who dwelt in the unwalled towns celebrated the fourteenth day of the month of Adar (S)with gladness and feasting, (T)as a holiday, and for (U)sending presents to one another.
20 And Mordecai wrote these things and sent letters to all the Jews, near and far, who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, 21 to establish among them that they should celebrate yearly the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar, 22 as the days on which the Jews had rest from their enemies, as the month which was turned from sorrow to joy for them, and from mourning to a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and joy, of (V)sending presents to one another and gifts to the (W)poor. 23 So the Jews accepted the custom which they had begun, as Mordecai had written to them, 24 because Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, (X)had plotted against the Jews to annihilate them, and had cast Pur (that is, the lot), to consume them and destroy them; 25 but (Y)when [k]Esther came before the king, he commanded by letter that [l]this wicked plot which Haman had devised against the Jews should (Z)return on his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.
26 So they called these days Purim, after the name [m]Pur. Therefore, because of all the words of (AA)this letter, what they had seen concerning this matter, and what had happened to them, 27 the Jews established and imposed it upon themselves and their descendants and all who would (AB)join them, that without fail they should celebrate these two days every year, according to the written instructions and according to the prescribed time, 28 that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city, that these days of Purim should not fail to be observed among the Jews, and that the memory of them should not perish among their descendants.
29 Then Queen Esther, (AC)the daughter of Abihail, with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm this (AD)second letter about Purim. 30 And Mordecai sent letters to all the Jews, to (AE)the one hundred and twenty-seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, with words of peace and truth, 31 to confirm these days of Purim at their appointed time, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had prescribed for them, and as they had decreed for themselves and their descendants concerning matters of their (AF)fasting and lamenting. 32 So the decree of Esther confirmed these matters of Purim, and it was written in the book.
Footnotes
- Esther 9:6 Or Susa
- Esther 9:6 palace
- Esther 9:10 spoil
- Esther 9:11 Or Susa
- Esther 9:11 palace
- Esther 9:11 Lit. came
- Esther 9:15 Or Susa
- Esther 9:17 Lit. it
- Esther 9:18 Or Susa
- Esther 9:18 Lit. it
- Esther 9:25 Lit. she or it
- Esther 9:25 Lit. his
- Esther 9:26 Lit. Lot
Estera 9
Nouă Traducere În Limba Română
Ziua de jale transformată în zi de triumf
9 În luna a douăsprezecea, adică în luna Adar, în ziua a treisprezecea a lunii, când avea să se ducă la îndeplinire porunca şi decretul împăratului, chiar în ziua în care duşmanii iudeilor se aşteptau să pună stăpânire peste ei, situaţia s-a schimbat, astfel că iudeii au pus stăpânire peste cei ce îi urau. 2 Iudeii s-au adunat în cetăţile lor, în toate provinciile împăratului Ahaşveroş, ca să pună mâna pe cei ce căutau să le facă rău. Nimeni nu le-a putut sta împotrivă, căci groaza de iudei cuprinsese toate popoarele. 3 Toţi conducătorii provinciilor, satrapii, guvernatorii şi slujbaşii împăratului îi sprijineau pe iudei, căci îi apucase groaza de Mardoheu, 4 fiindcă Mardoheu era renumit la palatul împăratului şi-i mergea faima prin toate provinciile, deoarece el era un bărbat a cărui influenţă creştea tot mai mult.
5 Iudeii au lovit cu tăişul sabiei pe toţi duşmanii lor; i-au înjunghiat, i-au nimicit şi au făcut celor ce-i urau tot ce au vrut. 6 În citadela Susei iudeii au ucis şi au nimicit cinci sute de oameni, printre care se numărau şi 7 Parşandata, Dalfon, Aspata, 8 Porata, Adalia, Aridata, 9 Parmaşta, Arisai, Aridai şi Vaizata. 10 I-au ucis şi pe cei zece fii ai lui Haman, fiul lui Hamedata, duşmanul iudeilor, dar nu s-au atins de averile lor. 11 În ziua aceea, numărul celor ucişi în citadela Susei a ajuns la cunoştinţa împăratului. 12 Împăratul i-a zis împărătesei Estera:
– În citadela Susei iudeii au ucis şi au nimicit cinci sute de oameni şi pe cei zece fii ai lui Haman. Ce vor fi făcut în celelalte provincii? Dacă mai ai vreo dorinţă, ţi se va împlini. Dacă mai ai vreo cerere, ţi se va răspunde.
13 – Dacă împăratul găseşte că este bine, a zis Estera, să se dea voie iudeilor din Susa să facă şi mâine după decretul de astăzi şi să-i spânzure pe lemn pe cei zece fii ai lui Haman.
14 – Aşa să se facă, a răspuns împăratul, să se dea un decret la Susa prin care să li se dea voie iudeilor să-i spânzure pe cei zece fii ai lui Haman.
15 Iudeii s-au strâns în Susa şi, în ziua a paisprezecea a lunii Adar, au ucis în Susa încă trei sute de oameni. De averile lor însă nu s-au atins. 16 Restul iudeilor din provinciile împăratului s-au strâns şi ei ca să-şi apere vieţile şi şi-au dobândit odihna, scăpând de duşmanii lor. Au ucis şaptezeci şi cinci de mii dintre cei ce îi urau, dar de averile lor nu s-au atins. 17 Aşa s-a întâmplat în ziua a treisprezecea a lunii Adar, iar în a paisprezecea zi s-au odihnit şi au făcut din ea o zi de ospăţ şi de bucurie.
Celebrarea Purimului
18 Iudeii din Susa s-au strâns şi în ziua a treisprezecea a lunii, şi în ziua a paisprezecea a lunii, iar în ziua a cincisprezecea s-au odihnit şi au făcut din ea o zi de ospăţ şi de bucurie. 19 De aceea iudeii de la sate au făcut din ziua a paisprezecea a lunii Adar o zi de bucurie şi de ospăţ, o zi de sărbătoare în care prietenii îşi trimit unii altora daruri.
20 Mardoheu a scris aceste lucruri şi a trimis scrisori tuturor iudeilor din provinciile împăratului Ahaşveroş, celor de aproape şi celor de departe, 21 ca să-i îndemne să sărbătorească în fiecare an ziua a paisprezecea a lunii Adar şi ziua a cincisprezecea a aceleiaşi luni, 22 ca zile în care iudeii au scăpat de duşmanii lor şi ca lună în care întristarea lor s-a transformat în bucurie, iar bocetul lor – în fericire. I-a îndemnat să facă din ele zile de ospăţ şi de bucurie şi să trimită daruri de mâncare prietenilor şi daruri celor săraci. 23 Iudeii au acceptat ceea ce începuseră deja să facă şi au făcut întocmai cum le scrisese Mardoheu. 24 Căci Haman, fiul lui Hamedata, agaghitul, duşmanul tuturor iudeilor, plănuise stârpirea iudeilor, aruncând „Purul“, adică sorţul, pentru ca aceştia să fie zdrobiţi şi nimiciţi, 25 însă împăratul a prins de veste[a] şi a poruncit în scris să se întoarcă asupra capului lui Haman planul cel rău pe care acesta l-a pus la cale împotriva iudeilor şi să fie spânzurat pe lemn atât el, cât şi fiii acestuia. 26 De aceea au numit aceste zile „Purim“, după cuvântul Pur. Astfel, din pricina tuturor celor scrise în acea scrisoare şi din pricina a ceea ce au văzut şi a ceea ce li s-a întâmplat, 27 iudeii au hotărât atât pentru ei, cât şi pentru urmaşii lor, dar şi pentru toţi cei care li se vor mai adăuga, să nu înceteze să sărbătorească aceste două zile, în fiecare an, după cum spunea scrisoarea, la vremea hotărâtă. 28 Zilele acestea trebuiau amintite şi sărbătorite în fiecare generaţie, de către fiecare clan în parte, în fiecare provincie şi în fiecare cetate. Zilele de Purim nu trebuiau să fie desfiinţate niciodată din mijlocul iudeilor, iar amintirea lor nu trebuia să înceteze printre urmaşii lor.
29 Împărăteasa Estera, fiica lui Abihail, şi iudeul Mardoheu au scris cu toată autoritatea, ca să întărească această a doua scrisoare cu privire la Purim. 30 Mardoheu a trimis scrisori tuturor iudeilor din cele o sută douăzeci şi şapte de provincii imperiale ale lui Ahaşveroş. Ele conţineau cuvinte de pace şi de încredere, 31 pentru a întări sărbătorirea acestor zile de Purim la vremea hotărâtă, aşa cum ceruse iudeul Mardoheu şi împărăteasa Estera şi totodată aşa cum ei înşişi îşi rânduiseră, pentru ei şi pentru urmaşii lor, reglementări cu privire la post şi la bocet. 32 Porunca Esterei a întărit aceste reglementări cu ocazia Purimului şi a fost scrisă într-o carte.
Footnotes
- Estera 9:25 Sau: când Estera s-a înfăţişat înaintea împăratului
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Nouă Traducere În Limba Română (Holy Bible, New Romanian Translation) Copyright © 2006 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.