Old/New Testament

9 ^1-2 So on the 28th day of February, the day the two decrees of the king were to be put into effect—the day the Jews’ enemies had hoped to vanquish them, though it turned out quite to the contrary—the Jews gathered in their cities throughout all the king’s provinces to defend themselves against any who might try to harm them; but no one tried, for they were greatly feared. ³ And all the rulers of the provinces—the governors, officials, and aides—helped the Jews for fear of Mordecai; ⁴ for Mordecai was a mighty name in the king’s palace and his fame was known throughout all the provinces, for he had become more and more powerful.

⁵ But the Jews went ahead on that appointed day and slaughtered their enemies. ⁶ They even killed 500 men in Shushan. ^7-10 They also killed the ten sons of Haman (son of Hammedatha), the Jews’ enemy—Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha. But they did not try to take Haman’s property.

¹¹ Late that evening, when the king was informed of the number of those slain in Shushan, ¹² he called for Queen Esther. “The Jews have killed 500 men in Shushan alone,” he exclaimed, “and also Haman’s ten sons. If they have done that here, I wonder what has happened in the rest of the provinces! But now, what more do you want? It will be granted to you. Tell me and I will do it.”

¹³ And Esther said, “If it please Your Majesty, let the Jews who are here at Shushan do again tomorrow as they have done today, and let Haman’s ten sons be hanged upon the gallows.”

¹⁴ So the king agreed, and the decree was announced at Shushan, and they hung up the bodies of Haman’s ten sons. ¹⁵ Then the Jews at Shushan gathered together the next day also and killed 300 more men, though again they took no property.

¹⁶ Meanwhile the other Jews throughout the king’s provinces had gathered together and stood for their lives and destroyed all their enemies, killing 75,000 of those who hated them; but they did not take their goods. ¹⁷ Throughout the provinces this was done on the 28th day of February, and the next day they rested, celebrating their victory with feasting and gladness. ¹⁸ But the Jews at Shushan went on killing their enemies the second day also and rested the next day, with feasting and gladness. ¹⁹ And so it is that the Jews in the unwalled villages throughout Israel to this day have an annual celebration on the second day when they rejoice and send gifts to each other.

²⁰ Mordecai wrote a history of all these events and sent letters to the Jews near and far, throughout all the king’s provinces, ²¹ encouraging them to declare an annual holiday on the last two days of the month, ²² to celebrate with feasting, gladness, and the giving of gifts these historic days when the Jews were saved from their enemies, when their sorrow was turned to gladness and their mourning into happiness.

²³ So the Jews adopted Mordecai’s suggestion and began this annual custom ^24-25 as a reminder of the time when Haman (son of Hammedatha the Agagite), the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted to destroy them at the time determined by a throw of the dice; and to remind them that when the matter came before the king, he issued a decree causing Haman’s plot to boomerang, and he and his sons were hanged on the gallows. ²⁶ That is why this celebration is called “Purim” because the word for “throwing dice” in Persian is pur. ²⁷ All the Jews throughout the realm agreed to inaugurate this tradition and to pass it on to their descendants and to all who became Jews; they declared they would never fail to celebrate these two days at the appointed time each year. ²⁸ It would be an annual event from generation to generation, celebrated by every family throughout the countryside and cities of the empire, so that the memory of what had happened would never perish from the Jewish race.

^29-31 Meanwhile Queen Esther (daughter of Abihail and later adopted by Mordecai the Jew) had written a letter throwing her full support behind Mordecai’s letter inaugurating his annual Feast of Purim. In addition, letters were sent to all the Jews throughout the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus with messages of good will and encouragement to confirm these two days annually as the Feast of Purim, decreed by both Mordecai the Jew and by Queen Esther; indeed, the Jews themselves had decided upon this tradition as a remembrance of the time of their national fasting and prayer. ³² So the commandment of Esther confirmed these dates, and it was recorded as law.

10 King Ahasuerus not only laid tribute upon the mainland but even on the islands of the sea. ² His great deeds, and also the full account of the greatness of Mordecai and the honors given him by the king, are written in The Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Media and Persia. ³ Mordecai the Jew was the Prime Minister, with authority next to that of King Ahasuerus himself. He was, of course, very great among the Jews and respected by all his countrymen because he did his best for his people and was a friend at court for all of them.

7 Then the High Priest asked him, “Are these accusations true?”

² This was Stephen’s lengthy reply: “The glorious God appeared to our ancestor Abraham in Iraq^[a] before he moved to Syria, ³ and told him to leave his native land, to say good-bye to his relatives and to start out for a country that God would direct him to. ⁴ So he left the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran, in Syria, until his father died. Then God brought him here to the land of Israel, ⁵ but gave him no property of his own, not one little tract of land.

“However, God promised that eventually the whole country would belong to him and his descendants—though as yet he had no children! ⁶ But God also told him that these descendants of his would leave the land and live in a foreign country and there become slaves for 400 years. ⁷ ‘But I will punish the nation that enslaves them,’ God told him, ‘and afterwards my people will return to this land of Israel and worship me here.’

⁸ “God also gave Abraham the ceremony of circumcision at that time, as evidence of the covenant between God and the people of Abraham. And so Isaac, Abraham’s son, was circumcised when he was eight days old. Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob was the father of the twelve patriarchs of the Jewish nation. ⁹ These men were very jealous of Joseph and sold him to be a slave in Egypt. But God was with him, ¹⁰ and delivered him out of all of his anguish, and gave him favor before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. God also gave Joseph unusual wisdom so that Pharaoh appointed him governor over all Egypt, as well as putting him in charge of all the affairs of the palace.

¹¹ “But a famine developed in Egypt and Canaan, and there was great misery for our ancestors. When their food was gone, ¹² Jacob heard that there was still grain in Egypt, so he sent his sons^[b] to buy some. ¹³ The second time they went, Joseph revealed his identity to his brothers, and they were introduced to Pharaoh. ¹⁴ Then Joseph sent for his father Jacob and all his brothers’ families to come to Egypt, seventy-five persons in all. ¹⁵ So Jacob came to Egypt, where he died, and all his sons. ¹⁶ All of them were taken to Shechem and buried in the tomb Abraham bought from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father.

^17-18 “As the time drew near when God would fulfill his promise to Abraham to free his descendants from slavery, the Jewish people greatly multiplied in Egypt; but then a king was crowned who had no respect for Joseph’s memory. ¹⁹ This king plotted against our race, forcing parents to abandon their children in the fields.

²⁰ “About that time Moses was born—a child of divine beauty. His parents hid him at home for three months, ²¹ and when at last they could no longer keep him hidden and had to abandon him, Pharaoh’s daughter found him and adopted him as her own son,