Beginning
6 On that night HaMelech’s sleep fled away, and he commanded to bring the sefer of records of the chronicles; and they were read before HaMelech.
2 And it was found written, that Mordechai had told of Bigtan and Teresh, two of the sarisim of HaMelech, the Mishomrei HaSaf (Keepers of the Door, the Doorkeepers) who conspired to assassinate HaMelech Achashverosh.
3 And HaMelech said, What yekar (honor [see 1:4,20]) and what recognition hath been done to Mordechai for this? Then said the servants of HaMelech that ministered unto him, Nothing has been done for him.
4 And HaMelech said, Who is in the khatzer (court)? Now Haman was come into the Khatzer HaKhitzonah (Outer Court) of the Beis HaMelech, to speak unto HaMelech lit’lot (to hang; see Esth 2:23) Mordechai on HaEtz that he had erected for him. [T.N. See Moshiach Ben Dovid hanging on a tree 2Sm 18:10 as well as the specter of the same fate for this descendant of the first royal family of Israel].
5 And the servants of HaMelech said unto him, Hinei, Haman standeth in the khatzer. And HaMelech said, Let him come in.
6 So Haman came in. And HaMelech said unto him, What shall be done unto the ish whom HaMelech delighteth to show yekar (see 1:4,20: 6:3)? Now Haman thought in his lev, To whom would HaMelech delight to do yekar more than to myself?
7 And Haman answered HaMelech, For the ish HaMelech delighteth to show yekar (honor)
8 Let the levush malkhut (royal robe, clothing) be brought which HaMelech has worn, and the sus (horse) that HaMelech rideth upon, and the keter malkhut (royal crown, crest) which is set upon its head,
9 And let this levush and sus be delivered to the hand of one of the most noble sarim (princes) of HaMelech, that they may array the ish therewith whom HaMelech delighteth to show yekar [see 1:4,20;6:3,6], and bring him on horseback through the rechov of the ir, and proclaim before him, Thus shall it be done to the ish whom HaMelech delighteth to show yekar.
10 Then HaMelech said to Haman, Make haste, and take the levush and the sus, as thou hast said, and do even so to Mordechai HaYehudi, that sitteth at the Sha’ar HaMelech; leave nothing undone of all that thou hast spoken.
11 Then took Haman the levush and the sus, and arrayed Mordechai, and brought him on horseback through the rechov of the ir, and proclaimed before him, Thus shall it be done unto the ish whom HaMelech delighteth to show yekar.
12 And Mordechai came again to the Sha’ar HaMelech. But Haman hasted to his bais, having his head covered in evel (mourning [see 4:3]).
13 And Haman told Zeresh his isha and all his ohavim everything that had befallen him. Then said his chachamim and Zeresh his isha unto him, If Mordechai be of the zera of the Yehudim, before whom thy downfall hast begun, thou shalt not prevail against him, but shalt nafol tipol (surely fall) before him [see Mt 27:19].
14 And while they were yet talking with him, came the sarisim of HaMelech, and hasted to bring Haman unto the mishteh (banquet) that Ester had prepared.
7 So HaMelech and Haman came to banquet with Ester HaMalkah.
2 And HaMelech said again unto Ester on the yom hasheni (second day) at the mishteh hayayin (feast), What is thy she’elah (petition), Ester HaMalkah? And it shall be granted thee; and what is thy bakash (request)? And it shall be performed, even to chatzi HaMalchut.
3 Then Ester HaMalkah answered and said, If I have found chen (favor) in thy sight, O HaMelech, and if it is tov to HaMelech, let nafshi (my life) be given me at my she’elah (petition), and my Am at my bakash (request);
4 For we are sold, Ani (I) and Ami (my People), to be made shmad, to be slain, and to be annihilated. But if we had been sold for avadim and shfakhot, I would have held my tongue, since then the tzoros would not have been such as to injure the interests of HaMelech.
5 Then HaMelech Achashverosh answered and said unto Ester HaMalkah, Who is he, and where is he, who dares to presume in his lev to do such?
6 And Ester said, HaTzar (the foe) and the oyev (enemy) is this Haman HaRah (Vile Haman). Then Haman was terrified before HaMelech and HaMalkah.
7 And HaMelech, arising in his wrath from the mishteh hayayin, went into the palace garden; and Haman stood up to make bakash (request) for his nefesh (life) to Ester HaMalkah; for he saw that harm was determined against him by HaMelech.
8 Then HaMelech returned out of the palace garden into the Bais Mishteh HaYayin, and Haman was fallen upon the mittah (couch, [see 1:6 mittot, couches]) whereon Ester was. Then said HaMelech, Will he ravish HaMalkah also before me in the bais? As the davar (word) went out of the mouth of HaMelech, they covered Haman’s face.
9 And Charvonah, one of the sarisim, said before HaMelech, Hinei, also, HaEtz fifty cubits high, which Haman had made for Mordechai, who has spoken tov for HaMelech, standeth in the Bais Haman. Then HaMelech said, Hang him thereon.
10 So they hanged Haman on HaEtz that he had prepared for Mordechai. Then was the wrath of HaMelech pacified [Ps 24:10; Isa 53:11].
8 On that day did HaMelech Achashverosh give the Bais Haman Tzorer HaYehudim (the estate of Haman the Vexer, Harasser, Enemy of the Jews) unto Ester HaMalkah. And Mordechai came before HaMelech; for Ester had told what he was unto her.
2 And HaMelech took off his taba’at (signet ring), which he had reclaimed from Haman, and gave it unto Mordechai. And Ester set Mordechai over the Bais Haman.
3 And Ester spoke yet again before HaMelech, and fell down at his feet, and she wept and made supplication to him to avert the rah of Haman HaAgagi and the machshevet of him (his scheme, i.e., final solution plan) that he had devised against the Yehudim.
4 Then HaMelech held out the sharvit hazahav (golden sceptre) toward Ester. So Ester arose, and stood before HaMelech,
5 And said, If it is tov to HaMelech, and if I have found chen (favor, grace) in his sight, and the thing seem kosher (fit, right, proper) before HaMelech, and I be tovah (pleasing) in his eyes, let it be written to revoke the seferim machashevet Haman (letters devised by Haman) ben Hamdata the Agagi, which he wrote to destroy the Yehudim which are in all the provinces of HaMelech;
6 For how can I endure to see the ra’ah that shall come unto Ami (my people)? Or how can I endure to see the destruction of my moledet (kindred, Jewish kinsmen)?
7 Then HaMelech Achashverosh said unto Ester HaMalkah and to Mordechai HaYehudi, Hinei, I have given Ester the Bais Haman, and him they have hanged upon the etz, because he laid his hand against HaYehudim.
8 Write ye also in behalf of HaYehudim, as you please, b’shem HaMelech, and seal it with the taba’at (signet ring) of HaMelech; for the writing which is written b’shem HaMelech, and sealed with the taba’at (signet ring) of HaMelech may no man reverse.
9 Then were the soferim of HaMelech summoned at that time in the chodesh hashelishi, that is, the month Sivan, on the three and twentieth day thereof; and according to all that Mordechai ordered it was written unto HaYehudim, and to the satraps, and the governors and nobles of the provinces which are from India unto Ethiopia, an hundred twenty and seven provinces, unto every province according to the script thereof, and unto every people after their leshon, and to the Yehudim according to their script, and according to their leshon.
10 And he wrote b’shem HaMelech Achashverosh, and sealed it with the taba’at of HaMelech, and sent seferim by couriers on horseback riding thoroughbred royal steeds;
11 Wherein HaMelech granted the Yehudim which were in every city to assemble themselves together, and to engage in self-defense, to make shmad, to slay and to annihilate, any chayil (armed force) of any people or province that would attack them, both little ones and nashim, and to plunder their property
12 On yom echad in all the provinces of HaMelech Achashverosh, namely, upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar.
13 A copy of the edict was to be issued as dat (law) in every province and was galui (made known) unto kol ha’amim (all nationalities), and that the Yehudim should be atidim (ready, prepared, [see 3:14]) for yom hazeh to avenge themselves on their oyvim (enemies).
14 So the couriers that rode upon royal steeds went out, being hastened and pressed on by the devar HaMelech. And the dat (decree) was given at Shushan the capital.
15 And Mordechai went out from the presence of HaMelech in levush malkhut (royal robe, clothing) of blue and white, and with an ateret zahav gedolah (a great crown of gold), and with a tachrich (garment, robe, [see OJBC Mt 27:59]) of fine linen and purple; and the city of Shushan celebrated and rejoiced.
16 The Yehudim had orah (light), and simcha, and sasson, and yekar (honor).
17 And in every province, and in every city, whithersoever the devar HaMelech and his dat came, the Yehudim had simcha and sasson, a mishteh (feast) and a yontef. And many of the people of the land mityahadim (became Yehudim); for the pachad HaYehudim fell upon them.
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.
10 And HaMelech Achashverosh laid a tribute upon the land, even to its distant shores.
2 And all the acts of his authority and of his might, and the parashat gedulat Mordechai (full account of the greatness of Mordechai), whereunto HaMelech advanced him, are they not written in the sefer of the divrei hayamim of the kings of Media and Persia?
3 For Mordechai HaYehudi was next unto HaMelech Achashverosh, and gadol among the Yehudim, and esteemed of the multitude of his achim, seeking the tov of his people, and speaking shalom to all their zera. [T.N. The following book was written during the Sixth Century B.C.E. by Daniel HaNavi. See Mt.24:15.]
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