Old/New Testament
The Jews Destroy Their Enemies
9 In the twelfth month, that is the month of Adar, on the thirteenth day, on which the edict of the king arrived and his law was enacted, on the day in which the enemies of the Jews had hoped to gain power over them but was overturned, and the Jews gained power against their enemies, 2 the Jews gathered in their cities in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to strike against[a] those who sought their destruction, and no one could withstand them,[b] as the fear of them fell on all the people. 3 All the officials of the provinces, the satraps, governors, and those who did the work of the king[c] were supporting the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai had fallen on them. 4 For Mordecai was high-ranking in the king’s palace[d] and his fame spread throughout all the provinces as Mordecai grew more and more powerful.[e] 5 The Jews struck down all their enemies with the sword,[f] killing and destroying them; and they did as they pleased with those that hated them. 6 And in the citadel of Susa the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men, 7 and Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, 8 Portha, Adalia, Aridatha, 9 Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha, 10 the ten sons of Haman, the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews; but they did not touch[g] the plunder.
11 On that day the number of those being killed in the citadel of Susa was reported to[h] the king. 12 And the king said to Queen Esther, “In the citadel of Susa the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men and the ten sons of Haman. What have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces? What is your petition? It will be granted to you. And what further is your request? It will be done.” 13 Esther replied, “If it is good to the king, let tomorrow also be granted to the Jews who are in Susa to do according to the edict of today; and let them hang Haman’s ten sons on the gallows.” 14 And the king said to do so. And a decree was issued in Susa and Haman’s ten sons were hanged. 15 And the Jews were gathered who were in Susa, and on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar and they killed in Susa three hundred men, but they did not touch[i] the plunder.
16 The rest of the Jews who were in the king’s provinces gathered and defended their lives[j] and found repose[k] from their enemies. And they killed seventy-five thousand of those that hated them, but they did not touch[l] the plunder. 17 This was on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar. They rested on the fourteenth day and made it a day of feasting and joy. 18 But the Jews who were in Susa gathered on the thirteenth and on the fourteenth day, and rested on the fifteenth day. And they made it a day of feasting and joy. 19 Therefore the Jews in the rural areas, living in the rural towns, made the fourteenth month of Adar a day of joy and feasting, a festive day of giving gifts to each other.
The Feast of Purim
20 Mordecai wrote down these things and he sent letters to all the Jews who were in all of the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far, 21 to impose on them to keep the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, and the fifteenth day, every year,[m] 22 as the day that the Jews found relief[n] from their enemies, and the month which changed for them from sorrow to joy, and from a mourning ceremony to a festive day;[o] to make them days of feasting and joy, and giving gifts to each other and to the poor. 23 And the Jews adopted what they had begun to do and what Mordecai had written to them.
24 For Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews had plotted against the Jews to destroy them, and he had cast pur, that is the lot, to rout them out and destroy them. 25 But when it came[p] to the attention of[q] the king, he gave orders in writing[r] that his evil plot that he had devised against the Jews should return on his head, and they hung him and his sons on the gallows. 26 Therefore they called these days Purim, because of the name Pur. Thus because of all the words of this letter, and of what they faced concerning this, and of what had happened to them, 27 the Jews established and adopted it for themselves and for their offspring, and for all who joined them. They did not neglect to observe[s] these two days every year as it was written and appointed to them. 28 These days are to be remembered and are to be kept in every generation, and in family, province, and city; and these days of Purim are not to be neglected among the Jews, and their memory shall not come to an end among their offspring.
29 So Queen Esther the daughter of Abihail and Mordecai the Jew wrote in full authority to confirm this second letter of Purim. 30 He sent letters of words of peace and truth to all the Jews, to the one hundred and twenty-seven provinces[t] of Ahasuerus’ kingdom, 31 to establish these days of Purim at their appointed times, just as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had imposed, and just as they had imposed on themselves and their offspring regulations of the fast and their lament. 32 And the command of Esther established these practices of Purim, and it was written on the scroll.
Title
10 King Ahasuerus imposed forced labor on the land and islands of the sea. 2 All the work of his authority and his powerful deeds,[u] and the full accounting of the greatness of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him, are they not written on the scroll of the chronicles[v] of the kings of Media and Persia? 3 For Mordecai the Jew was second-in-command to King Ahasuerus. He was great for the Jews and popular with many of his brothers, for he sought good for his people, interceding for the welfare of all his descendants.[w]
Stephen’s Defense
7 And the high priest said, “Is it so concerning these things?” 2 So he said, “Men—brothers and fathers—listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he[a] was in Mesopotamia, before he settled in Haran, 3 and said to him, ‘Go out from your land and from your relatives and come to the land that I will show you.’ 4 Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and[b] settled in Haran. And from there, after his father died, he caused him to move to this land in which you now live. 5 And he did not give him an inheritance in it—not even a footstep[c]—and he promised to give it[d] to him for his possession, and to his descendants after him, although he did not have[e][f] a child. 6 But God spoke like this: ‘His descendants will be foreigners in a foreign land, and they will enslave them and mistreat them[g] four hundred years, 7 and the nation that[h] they will serve as slaves, I will judge,’ God said, ‘and after these things they will come out[i] and will worship me in this place.’[j] 8 And he gave him the covenant of circumcision, and so he became the father of Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac did so with[k] Jacob, and Jacob did so with[l] the twelve patriarchs. 9 And the patriarchs, because they[m] were jealous of Joseph, sold him[n] into Egypt. And God was with him, 10 and rescued him from all his afflictions and granted him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And he appointed him ruler over Egypt and all[o] his household. 11 And a famine came over all Egypt and Canaan and great affliction, and our fathers could not find food. 12 So when[p] Jacob heard there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first. 13 And on the second visit[q] Joseph was made known to his brothers, and the family of Joseph became known to Pharaoh. 14 So Joseph sent and[r] summoned his father Jacob and all his[s] relatives, seventy-five persons in all. 15 And Jacob went down to Egypt and died, he and our fathers. 16 And they were brought back to Shechem and buried in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.
17 “But as the time of the promise that God had made to Abraham was drawing near, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt 18 until another king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph. 19 This man deceitfully took advantage of our[t] people and[u] mistreated our ancestors, causing them to abandon their infants[v] so that they would not be kept alive. 20 At this time Moses was born, and he was beautiful to God. He[w] was brought up for three months in his[x] father’s house, 21 and when[y] he was abandoned, the daughter of Pharaoh took him up and brought him up as her own son.[z]
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