Old/New Testament

The Jews Strike Down Their Enemies

9 Now ^(A)in the twelfth month (that is, the month Adar), on ^(B)the thirteenth ^[a]day ^(C)when the king’s word and law had reached the point for them to be done, on the day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain power over them, it was turned around so that the Jews themselves gained power over those who hated them. ^2 (D)The Jews assembled in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to send forth their hand against those who sought their calamity; and no one could stand before them, ^(E)for the dread of them had fallen on all the peoples. ³ Even all the princes of the provinces, ^(F)the satraps, the governors, and those who were doing the king’s work ^[b]advanced the Jews, because the dread of Mordecai had fallen on them. ⁴ Indeed, Mordecai was great in the king’s house, and the report about him went throughout all the provinces; for the man Mordecai ^(G)became greater and greater. ⁵ Thus ^(H)the Jews struck all their enemies with ^[c]the sword, killing and causing them to perish; and they did what they pleased to those who hated them. ⁶ And at the citadel in Susa the Jews killed and caused to perish 500 men, ⁷ and Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, ⁸ Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, ⁹ Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha, ^10 (I)the 10 sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Jews’ adversary; but ^(J)they did not send forth their hand for the plunder.

¹¹ On that day the number of those who were killed at the citadel in Susa came to the king. ¹² So the king said to Queen Esther, “The Jews have killed and caused to perish 500 men and the 10 sons of Haman at the citadel in Susa. Now in the rest of the king’s provinces, what have they done? ^(K)So what is ^[d]your petition? It shall even be given to you. And what is ^[e]your further request? It shall also be done.” ¹³ Then Esther said, “If it is good to the king, ^(L)let tomorrow also be given to the Jews who are in Susa to do according to the law for today; and let Haman’s 10 sons be hanged on the gallows.” ¹⁴ So the king said that it should be done so; and a law was given in Susa, and Haman’s 10 sons were hanged. ¹⁵ And the Jews who were in Susa assembled also on the fourteenth day of the month Adar and killed ^(M)300 men in Susa, but ^(N)they did not send forth their hand for the plunder.

¹⁶ Now ^(O)the rest of the Jews who were in the king’s provinces ^(P)assembled, to make a stand for their lives and obtain rest for themselves from their enemies, and to kill 75,000 of those who hated them; but they did not send forth their hand for the plunder. ¹⁷ This was done on ^(Q)the thirteenth day of the month Adar, and ^(R)on the fourteenth ^[f]day they rested and made it a day of feasting and gladness.

¹⁸ But the Jews who were in Susa ^(S)assembled on the thirteenth and ^(T)the fourteenth ^[g]of the same month, and they rested on the fifteenth ^[h]day and made it a day of feasting and gladness. ¹⁹ Therefore the Jews of the rural areas, who live in ^(U)the rural towns, make the fourteenth day of the month Adar a ^[i](V)holiday for gladness and feasting and ^(W)sending portions of food to one another.

The Feast of Purim Is Established

²⁰ Then Mordecai wrote down these events, and he sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far, ²¹ to establish among them to celebrate the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day ^[j]of the same month, annually, ²² because on those days the Jews obtained rest for themselves from their enemies, and it was a month which was ^(X)turned around for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a ^[k]holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness and ^(Y)sending portions of food to one another and gifts to the poor.

²³ Thus the Jews fully accepted what they had started to do and what Mordecai had written to them. ²⁴ For Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the adversary of all the Jews, had devised against the Jews to cause them to perish and ^(Z)had cast Pur, that is the lot, to throw them into confusion and cause them to perish. ²⁵ But ^(AA)when it came before the king, he said by letter ^(AB)that his evil scheme, which he had ^[l]devised against the Jews, ^(AC)should return on his own head and that he and his sons should be hanged on the ^[m]gallows. ²⁶ Therefore they called these days Purim after the name of Pur. Therefore, ^(AD)because of the words in this letter, both what they had seen in this regard and what had reached them, ²⁷ the Jews established and accepted a custom for themselves and for their seed and for ^(AE)all those who joined themselves to them, so that ^[n](AF)celebrating these two days according to what was written down and according to their fixed time from year to year would not pass away. ²⁸ So these days were to be remembered and celebrated throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city; thus these days of Purim were not to pass away from among the Jews, nor their memory come to an end from their seed.

²⁹ Then Queen Esther, ^(AG)daughter of Abihail, with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to establish ^(AH)this second letter about Purim. ³⁰ And he sent letters to all the Jews, ^(AI)to the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, namely, words of peace and truth, ³¹ to establish these days of Purim at their appointed times, just as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had established for them, and just as they had established for themselves and for their seed with words concerning ^(AJ)their times of fasting and their crying out. ³² And the declaration of Esther established these words concerning ^(AK)Purim, and it was written in the book.

Mordecai’s Greatness

10 Then King Ahasuerus set forced labor upon the land and the ^(AL)coastlands of the sea. ² And the entire work of his authority and his might, and the full account of the greatness of Mordecai, ^(AM)whom the king had made so great, are they not written in ^(AN)the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia? ³ For Mordecai the Jew was ^(AO)second only to King Ahasuerus and was great among the Jews and pleasing to his many fellow brothers, ^(AP)one who sought the good of his people and one who spoke for the peace of all his seed.

Stephen’s Defense

7 And the high priest said, “Are these things so?”

² And he said, “Hear me, ^(A)brothers and fathers! ^(B)The God of glory ^(C)appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in ^[a]Haran, ³ and said to him, ‘^(D)Leave your country and your relatives, and come into the land that I will show you.’ ^4 (E)Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in ^[b]Haran. ^(F)From there, after his father died, God had him move to this country in which you are now living. ⁵ But He gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot of ground, and ^(G)He promised that He would give it to him as a possession, and to his seed after him, even when he had no child. ⁶ But ^(H)God spoke in this way, that his seed would be sojourners in a foreign land, and that they would ^[c]be enslaved and mistreated for four hundred years. ⁷ ‘And I Myself will judge the nation to which they will be enslaved,’ said God, ‘and ^(I)after that they will come out and ^[d]serve Me in this place.’ ⁸ And He ^(J)gave him ^[e]the covenant of circumcision; and so ^(K)Abraham was the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day; and ^(L)Isaac was the father of Jacob, and ^(M)Jacob of the twelve ^(N)patriarchs.

⁹ “And the patriarchs, ^(O)becoming jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt. Yet God was with him, ¹⁰ and rescued him from all his afflictions, and ^(P)granted him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he appointed him governor over Egypt and all his household.

¹¹ “Now ^(Q)a famine came over all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction with it, and our fathers ^[f]could find no food. ¹² But ^(R)when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers there the first time. ¹³ And on the second visit ^(S)Joseph ^[g]made himself known to his brothers, and ^(T)Joseph’s family was disclosed to Pharaoh. ¹⁴ Then ^(U)Joseph sent word and invited Jacob his father and all his relatives to come to him, ^(V)seventy-five ^[h](W)persons in all. ¹⁵ And ^(X)Jacob went down to Egypt and there he and our fathers died. ¹⁶ And from there they were removed to ^[i](Y)Shechem and placed in the tomb which Abraham had purchased for a sum of money from the sons of ^[j]Hamor in ^[k]Shechem.

¹⁷ “But as the ^(Z)time of the promise was drawing near which God had assured to Abraham, ^(AA)the people increased and multiplied in Egypt, ¹⁸ until ^(AB)another king arose over Egypt who did not know about Joseph. ¹⁹ It was he who ^(AC)deceitfully took advantage of our family and mistreated our fathers to ^[l](AD)set their infants outside so that they would not survive. ²⁰ It was at this time that ^(AE)Moses was born, and he was lovely ^[m]in the sight of God, and he was nurtured three months in his father’s home. ²¹ And after he had been set outside, ^(AF)Pharaoh’s daughter ^[n]took him away and nurtured him as her own son.