Esther 9
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Victories of the Jews
9 The king’s command and law(A) went into effect on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month,(B) the month Adar.[a] On the day when the Jews’ enemies(C) had hoped to overpower them, just the opposite happened. The Jews overpowered those who hated them.(D) 2 In each of King Ahasuerus’s provinces(E) the Jews assembled in their cities to attack those who intended to harm them.[b] Not a single person could withstand them; terror of them(F) fell on every nationality.(G)
3 All the officials of the provinces, the satraps, the governors, and the royal civil administrators[c](H) aided the Jews because they were afraid of Mordecai.(I) 4 For Mordecai exercised great power in the palace,(J) and his fame spread throughout the provinces as he became more and more powerful.(K)
5 The Jews put all their enemies to the sword, killing and destroying them.(L) They did what they pleased to those who hated them. 6 In the fortress of Susa(M) the Jews killed and destroyed 500 men, 7 including Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, 8 Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, 9 Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha. 10 They killed these 10 sons(N) of Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews.(O) However, they did not seize[d] any plunder.(P)
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 500 men, including Haman’s 10 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.”(Q)
13 Esther answered, “If it pleases the king, may the Jews who are in Susa also have tomorrow(R) to carry out today’s law,(S) and may the bodies of Haman’s 10 sons(T) be hung on the gallows.”(U) 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 10 sons. 15 The Jews in Susa assembled again on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar(V) and killed 300 men in Susa, but they did not seize[e] any plunder.(W)
16 The rest of the Jews in the royal provinces assembled, defended themselves, and got rid of[f] their enemies. They killed 75,000[g] of those who hated them,(X) but they did not seize[h] 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.(Y) 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.(Z)
20 Mordecai(AA) recorded these events and sent letters to all the Jews in all of King Ahasuerus’s provinces, both near and far. 21 He ordered(AB) them to celebrate the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month Adar every year 22 because during those days the Jews got rid of[i](AC) their enemies. That was the month when their sorrow was turned into rejoicing and their mourning into a holiday.(AD) They were to be days of feasting,(AE) rejoicing, and of sending gifts to one another and the poor.
23 So the Jews agreed to continue the practice they had begun, as Mordecai had written them to do. 24 For Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews,(AF) had plotted against the Jews to destroy them. He cast the Pur (that is, the lot) to crush and destroy them.(AG) 25 But when the matter was brought before the king,(AH) he commanded by letter that the evil plan Haman had devised against the Jews return on his own head(AI) and that he should be hanged with his sons on the gallows.(AJ) 26 For this reason these days are called Purim, from the word Pur.(AK)
Because of all the instructions in this letter as well as what they had witnessed and what had happened to them, 27 the Jews bound themselves, their descendants, and all who joined(AL) with them to a commitment that they would not fail to celebrate these two days each and every year according to the written instructions and according to the time appointed. 28 These days are remembered and celebrated by every generation, family, province, and city, so that these days of Purim will not lose their significance in Jewish life[j] and their memory will not fade from their descendants.(AM)
29 Queen Esther daughter of Abihail,(AN) along with Mordecai the Jew,(AO) wrote this second letter with full authority(AP) to confirm the letter about Purim. 30 He sent letters with messages of peace and faithfulness to all the Jews who were in the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, 31 in order to confirm these days of Purim at their proper time just as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had established them and just as they had committed themselves and their descendants to the practices of fasting(AQ) and lamentation.(AR) 32 So Esther’s command confirmed these customs of Purim, which were then written into the record.
Footnotes
- Esther 9:1 = February–March
- Esther 9:2 Lit cities to send out a hand against the seekers of their evil
- Esther 9:3 Lit and those who do the king’s work; Est 3:9
- Esther 9:10 Lit not put their hands on
- Esther 9:15 Lit not put their hands on
- Esther 9:16 Lit and gained relief from
- Esther 9:16 Some LXX mss read 10,107; other LXX mss read 15,000
- Esther 9:16 Lit not put their hands on
- Esther 9:22 Lit Jews gained relief from
- Esther 9:28 LXX reads will be celebrated into all times
Esther 9
EasyEnglish Bible
The Jews punish their enemies
9 The 13th day of the 12th month (Adar) was the day when the enemies of the Jews had hoped to attack them. But now the king's new law said that the Jews could fight to keep themselves safe on that day. So the Jews won against their enemies. 2 In all the cities in each region of the kingdom where the Jews lived, they joined together. They punished anyone who tried to hurt them. Nobody could fight against them because all the people were very afraid of them.
3 All the king's officers and the rulers and leaders of each region decided to help the Jews. They did that because they were afraid of Mordecai's power. 4 He was now a very important officer in the king's palace. News about him reached all the regions as he became more and more powerful.
5 So when the day arrived, the Jews could do what they wanted to their enemies. They used their swords to attack them and to kill them.
6 In Susa city, the Jews killed 500 men. 7 They also killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, 8 Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, 9 Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai and Vaizatha. 10 Those men were the ten sons of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. But the Jews did not take any of the things that belonged to the people that they killed.
11 On the same day, the king heard how many people they had killed in Susa city. 12 Then the king said to Queen Esther, ‘In Susa the Jews have killed 500 men and also the ten sons of Haman. So I think that they have killed many more of their enemies in the other regions of my kingdom! Now, what else do you want? If you ask me, I will do anything that you still want me to do.’
13 Esther replied, ‘If the king agrees, please let the Jews who live in Susa do the same thing tomorrow. Let your new law continue for one more day. Also, let them hang the dead bodies of Haman's ten sons from the wooden tower.’
14 The king agreed and he commanded that this should happen. He made another law so that the Jews in Susa could fight again. They also put the dead bodies of Haman's ten sons on the tower.
15 On the 14th day of the month called Adar the Jews in Susa all met together again. That day they killed 300 more men in Susa. But they did not take their enemies' things for themselves.
16-17 In the other regions of the kingdom, the Jews came together on the 13th day of Adar. They did that to protect themselves against their enemies. They killed 75,000 of their enemies. But they did not take their enemies' things for themselves. Then, on the 14th day of Adar, the Jews in the regions rested. They ate feasts and they were very happy.
18 But the Jews in Susa did not rest until the 15th day of the month. That was because they killed their enemies on both the 13th day and the 14th day. On the 15th day they ate feasts and they were very happy.
19 That is why the Jews who live in towns and villages in the country have a holiday on the 14th day of Adar. On that day, they have feasts and they give gifts to each other, because they are happy.
20 Mordecai wrote down all these events. He sent letters to all the Jews who were living in all the regions where King Xerxes ruled. 21 He told them that they should have a holiday on the 14th and 15th days of Adar every year. 22 They should do that to remember the time when they became safe from their enemies. That was the month when they became happy and they were no longer sad. They should eat a feast and they should send gifts of food to each other to show their joy. They should also give gifts to poor people.
23 The Jews agreed to do everything that Mordecai had written in the letters. They had a feast every year to remember what had happened. 24 They remembered what Hammedatha's son, Haman, the descendant of Agag, had done. He had been the enemy of the Jews and he had tried to destroy them all. He had thrown dice, called Purim, to choose the day when he would attack them and kill them. 25 But Esther went to tell the king what Haman was doing. Then the king stopped the evil thing that Haman wanted to do against the Jews. The king wrote a command to say that Haman should die. The same thing that Haman wanted to do to the Jews should happen to him instead. The bodies of Haman and his sons hung on the wooden tower that his men had built.
26 So the Jews call the days of their feast ‘Purim’. That was the name of the dice that Haman used. They did this because of what Mordecai wrote in his letter. They wanted to remember everything that had happened to them. 27 They made a rule for all the Jews, their descendants, and any other people who came to join them. The rule said that they must all have a holiday on those two days every year. They must do what Mordecai had written in his letter to them. 28 From that time, every Jew must remember to keep the days of Purim as a holiday. Every Jewish family and their children must continue to do this. They must do it in all the cities and all the regions, wherever they lived. And their descendants must continue to do it every year, to remember what happened.[a]
29 Then Abihail's daughter, Queen Esther, and Mordecai wrote another letter. Esther used her authority to say that what Mordecai had written about the feast of Purim was true. 30 So they sent letters to all the Jews who lived in the 127 regions of Xerxes' kingdom. The message was to help them live safely in peace. 31 It told the Jews how to have the days of Purim as a holiday at the right time each year. This was a rule that came from the Jewish man, Mordecai, and from Queen Esther. The message also said that the Jews should remember the sad times, and they should fast.
32 Queen Esther's command made those rules about the feast of Purim. The palace secretaries wrote it down in a book.
Footnotes
- 9:28 Even today, Jews have a feast every year to remember everything that happened.
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