Esther 9
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Destruction of the Enemies of the Jews
9 Now in the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, on the thirteenth day, when the king’s command and edict were about to be executed, on the very day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain power over them but that had been changed to a day when the Jews would gain power over their foes,(A) 2 the Jews gathered in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to kill[a] those who had sought their ruin, and no one could withstand them, because the fear of them had fallen upon all peoples.(B) 3 All the officials of the provinces, the satraps and the governors, and the royal officials were supporting the Jews because the fear of Mordecai had fallen upon them.(C) 4 For Mordecai was powerful in the king’s palace, and his fame spread throughout all the provinces, because the man Mordecai was growing more and more powerful.(D) 5 So the Jews struck down all their enemies with the sword, slaughtering and destroying them, and did as they pleased to those who hated them. 6 In the citadel of Susa the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred people. 7 They 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 touch the plunder.(E)
11 That very day the number of those killed in the citadel of Susa was reported to the king. 12 The king said to Queen Esther, “In the citadel of Susa the Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred people and the ten sons of Haman. What have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces? Now what is your petition? It shall be granted you. And what further is your request? It shall be fulfilled.”(F) 13 Esther said, “If it pleases the king, let the Jews who are in Susa be allowed tomorrow also to do according to this day’s edict, and let the ten sons of Haman be hung on the pole.”(G) 14 So the king commanded this to be done; a decree was issued in Susa, and the ten sons of Haman were hung. 15 The Jews who were in Susa gathered also on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, and they killed three hundred persons in Susa, but they did not touch the plunder.(H)
16 Now the other Jews who were in the king’s provinces also gathered to defend their lives and gained relief from their enemies and killed seventy-five thousand of those who hated them, but they laid no hands on the plunder.(I) 17 This was on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth day they rested and made that a day of feasting and gladness.(J)
The Feast of Purim Inaugurated
18 But the Jews who were in Susa gathered on the thirteenth day and on the fourteenth and rested on the fifteenth day, making that a day of feasting and gladness.(K) 19 Therefore the Jews of the villages, who live in the open towns, hold the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a day for gladness and feasting, a holiday on which they send gifts of food to one another.(L)
20 Mordecai recorded these things and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far, 21 enjoining them that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar and also the fifteenth day of the same month, year by year, 22 as the days on which the Jews gained relief from their enemies and as the month that had been turned for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday, that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, days for sending gifts of food to one another and presents to the poor.(M) 23 So the Jews adopted as a custom what they had begun to do, as Mordecai had written to them.
24 For Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them and had cast Pur—that is, “the lot”—to crush and to destroy them,(N) 25 but when Esther[b] came before the king, he gave orders in writing that the wicked plot that he had devised against the Jews should come upon his own head and that he and his sons should be hung on the pole.(O) 26 Therefore these days are called Purim, from the word Pur. Thus because of all that was written in this letter and of what they had faced in this matter and of what had happened to them,(P) 27 the Jews established and accepted as a custom for themselves and their descendants and all who joined them that without fail they would continue to observe these two days every year, as it was written and at the time appointed.(Q) 28 These days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, in every family, province, and city, and these days of Purim should never fall into disuse among the Jews, nor should the commemoration of these days cease among their descendants.
29 Queen Esther daughter of Abihail, along with Mordecai the Jew, gave full written authority confirming this second letter about Purim.(R) 30 Letters were sent wishing peace and security to all the Jews, to the one hundred twenty-seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus,(S) 31 and giving orders that these days of Purim should be observed at their appointed seasons, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther enjoined on the Jews, just as they had laid down for themselves and for their descendants regulations concerning their fasts and their lamentations.(T) 32 The command of Esther fixed these practices of Purim, and it was recorded in writing.(U)
Esther 9
Orthodox Jewish Bible
9 Now in the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when the devar HaMelech and his dat drew near to be put in execution, in the day that the oyvei HaYehudim hoped to have power over them, (though it was turned to the contrary, that the Yehudim had rule over them that hated them);
2 The Yehudim assembled themselves together in their cities throughout all the provinces of HaMelech Achashverosh, to lay hands on such as sought their hurt, and no man could withstand them, for the pachad of them fell upon all people.
3 And all the nobles of the provinces, and the satraps, and the governors, and officials of HaMelech helped the Yehudim; because the pachad of Mordechai fell upon them.
4 For Mordechai was gadol in the Bais HaMelech, and his fame went out throughout all the provinces; for haish Mordechai grew more and more powerful.
5 Thus the Yehudim struck all their oyvim with makkat cherev, slaughter, destruction, and did what they would unto those that hated them.
6 And in Shushan the capital the Yehudim slew and destroyed 500 men.
7 And Parshandata, Dalphon, Aspata,
8 Porata, Adalya, Aridata,
9 Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizata,
10 The aseret bnei Haman ben Hamdata, tzorer (enemy of) HaYehudim; but on the plunder laid they not their hand.
11 On that day the number of those that were slain in Shushan the capital was brought before HaMelech.
12 And HaMelech said unto Ester HaMalkah, The Yehudim have slain and destroyed 500 men in Shushan the capital, and the ten bnei Haman. What have they done in the rest of the provinces of HaMelech? Now what is thy she’elah (petition)? And it shall be granted thee. Or what is thy bakash further? And it shall be done.
13 Then said Ester, If it be tov to HaMelech, let it be granted to the Yehudim which are in Shushan to do tomorrow also according unto the dat of this day, and let the aseret bnei Haman be hanged upon haetz [see Esth 6:4].
14 And HaMelech commanded it so to be done; and the dat (decree) was given at Shushan; and they hanged aseret bnei Haman.
15 For the Yehudim that were in Shushan assembled themselves together on the 14th day also of the month Adar, and slew 300 men at Shushan; but on the plunder they laid not their hand.
16 But the she’ar (remainder, remnant) of the Yehudim that were in the provinces of HaMelech assembled themselves together, engaged in selfdefense, got relief from their oyvim, slew of those hating them 75,000, but they laid not their hands on the plunder.
17 This was on the 13th day of the month Adar, and on the 14th day of the same rested they, and made it a yom mishteh and simcha.
18 But the Yehudim that were at Shushan assembled together on the 13th day thereof, and on the 14th thereof, and on the 15th day of the same they rested, and made it a yom mishteh and simcha.
19 Therefore the Yehudim of the villages, that dwelt in the unwalled towns, made the 14th day of the month Adar a simcha and mishteh, and a yontef, and of sending presents each one to his neighbor.
20 And Mordechai wrote these things, and sent seferim unto all the Yehudim that were in all the provinces of HaMelech Achashverosh, both near and far,
21 To establish this among them, that they should keep the 14th day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, shanah v’shanah,
22 As the yamim wherein the Yehudim got relief from their oyvim, and the month which was turned unto them from yagon (sorrow) to simcha (joy), and from evel (mourning) into yontef; that they should make them yemei mishteh v’simcha, and of sending presents one to another, and mattanot (gifts) to the evyon (needy, poor).
23 And the Yehudim undertook to do as they had begun, and as Mordechai had written unto them;
24 Because Haman ben Hamdata, the Agagi, the tzorer kol HaYehudim, had devised against the Yehudim to destroy them, and had cast Pur, that is, the goral (lot), to utterly defeat them, and to destroy them;
25 But when Ester came before HaMelech, he commanded by hasefer that his wicked machashevah, which he devised against the Yehudim, should return upon his own head, and that he and his banim should be hanged on the etz.
26 Wherefore they called these yamim Purim after the shem of the Pur. Therefore for all the words of this iggeret (letter), and of that which they had seen concerning this matter, and which had happened unto them,
27 The Yehudim established, and took upon them, and upon their zera, and upon all such as joined themselves unto them, so as it should not fail, that they would keep these two days according to their writing, and according to their appointed time shanah v’shanah;
28 And that these yamim should be remembered and kept dor v’dor (throughout every generation), in every mishpachah, every province, and every city; and that these yemei HaPurim should never cease from among the Yehudim, nor the memorial of them perish from their zera.
29 Then Ester HaMalkah, the bat Avichayil, and Mordechai HaYehudi, wrote with kol tokef (all authority, see Yn 1:12-13), to confirm this second iggeret (letter of) Purim.
30 And he sent seferim unto all the Yehudim, to the hundred twenty and seven provinces of the malchut of Achashverosh, with words of shalom and emes,
31 To confirm these yemei HaPurim in their times appointed, according as Mordechai HaYehudi and Ester HaMalkah had enjoined them, and as they had decreed for themselves and for their zera, the matters of the tzomot (fasts) and their ze’akah (lamentation).
32 And the decree of Ester confirmed these matters of Purim; and it was written in the sefer.
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