¹² Then all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy,^(A) because they now understood the words that had been made known to them.

¹⁹ That is why rural Jews—those living in villages—observe the fourteenth of the month of Adar^(A) as a day of joy and feasting, a day for giving presents to each other.^(B)