Old/New Testament

Victory for the Jews

9 On the 13th day of the twelfth month (Adar), the people were supposed to obey the king’s command. This was the day the enemies of the Jews hoped to defeat them, but now things had changed. The Jews were stronger than their enemies who hated them. ² The Jews met together in their cities in all the provinces of King Xerxes so that they would be strong enough to attack the people who wanted to destroy them. No one was strong enough to stand against them. They were afraid of the Jews. ³ And all the officials of the provinces, the satraps, the governors, and the king’s administrators helped the Jews. All the leaders helped them because they were afraid of Mordecai. ⁴ Mordecai had become a very important man in the king’s palace. Everyone in the provinces knew his name and knew how important he was. And Mordecai became more and more powerful.

⁵ The Jews defeated all their enemies. They used swords to kill and destroy them. They did what they wanted to the people who hated them. ⁶ They killed and destroyed 500 men in the capital city of Susa. ⁷ They also killed these men: Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, ⁸ Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, ⁹ Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha. ¹⁰ These men were the ten sons of Haman. Haman son of Hammedatha was the enemy of the Jews. The Jews killed all the men, but they didn’t take anything that belonged to them.

¹¹ That day the king heard how many men had been killed in the capital city of Susa. ¹² So the king said to Queen Esther, “The Jews have killed 500 men in Susa, including Haman’s ten sons. Now, what do you want done in the other provinces of the king? Tell me, and I will have it done. Ask, and I will do it.”

¹³ Esther said, “If it pleases the king, please let the Jews in Susa do the same thing again tomorrow. Also, hang the bodies of Haman’s ten sons on posts.”

¹⁴ So the king gave the command that it should be done. So the law was given in Susa, and they hanged Haman’s ten sons. ¹⁵ The Jews in Susa met together on the 14th day of the month of Adar. They killed 300 men in Susa, but they didn’t take the things that belonged to them.

¹⁶ At the same time, the Jews living in the other provinces also met together. They met together so that they would be strong enough to protect themselves. And so they got rid of their enemies. They killed 75,000 of their enemies. But the Jews didn’t take anything that belonged to them. ¹⁷ This happened on the 13th day of the month Adar. On the 14th day the Jews rested and made that day a happy day of feasting.

The Festival of Purim

¹⁸ The Jews in Susa had met together on the 13th and 14th days of the month of Adar. And then on the 15th day they rested. So they made the 15th day a happy day of feasting. ¹⁹ So those who live in the country and small villages celebrate Purim on the 14th day of Adar. They keep the 14th day as a happy day of feasting. On this day they have parties and give presents to each other.

²⁰ Mordecai wrote everything down that had happened, and then he sent letters to all the Jews in all of King Xerxes’ provinces. He sent letters far and near. ²¹ He did this to tell the Jews to celebrate Purim every year on the 14th and 15th days of the month of Adar. ²² They were to celebrate those days because on those days the Jews got rid of their enemies. And they were also to celebrate that month as the month when their sadness was turned into joy. It was a month when their crying was changed into a day of celebration. Mordecai wrote letters to all the Jews and told them to celebrate those days as a happy day of feasting. They should have parties, give gifts to each other, and give presents to the poor.

²³ So the Jews agreed to do what Mordecai had written to them. And they agreed to continue the celebration they had begun.

²⁴ Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite was the enemy of all the Jews. He had made an evil plan against the Jews to destroy them. And Haman had thrown the lot to choose a day to ruin and to destroy the Jews. At that time the lot was called a “pur.” ²⁵ Haman did this, but Esther went to talk to the king. So he sent out new commands. These commands not only ruined Haman’s plans, but these commands caused those bad things to happen to Haman and his family! So Haman and his sons were hanged on the posts.

^26-27 At this time lots were called “purim.” So this festival is called “Purim.” Mordecai wrote a letter and told the Jews to celebrate this festival. And so the Jews started the custom of celebrating these two days every year. ²⁸ They do this to help them remember what they had seen happen to them. The Jews and all the people who join them celebrate these two days every year at the right time in just the right way. Every generation and every family remembers these two days. They celebrate this festival in each and every province and in each and every town. And the Jews will never stop celebrating the days of Purim. Their descendants will always remember this festival.

²⁹ So Queen Esther daughter of Abihail, along with Mordecai the Jew, wrote an official letter about Purim. They wrote with full authority of the king to prove that the second letter was true. ³⁰ So Mordecai sent letters to all the Jews in the 127 provinces of King Xerxes’ kingdom. He told the people that the festival should bring peace and make people trust^[a] each other. ³¹ He wrote these letters to tell the people to start celebrating Purim. And he told them when to celebrate this new festival. Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had sent out the command for the Jews to establish this two-day festival for themselves and their descendants. They will remember this festival just as they remember the other festivals when they fast and cry about the bad things that had happened. ³² Esther’s letter made the rules for Purim official, and these things were written down in a book.

Mordecai Honored

10 King Xerxes made people pay taxes. All the people in the kingdom, even the faraway cities on the seacoast, had to pay taxes. ² And all the great things Xerxes did are written in the Book of History of the Kings of Media and Persia. Also written in those history books are all the things Mordecai did. The king made Mordecai a great man. ³ Mordecai the Jew was second in importance to King Xerxes. He was the most important man among the Jews. His fellow Jews respected him very much, because he worked hard for the good of his people and brought peace to all the Jews.

Stephen’s Speech

7 The high priest said to Stephen, “Is all this true?” ² Stephen answered, “My Jewish fathers and brothers, listen to me. Our great and glorious God appeared to Abraham, our ancestor, when he was in Mesopotamia. This was before he lived in Haran. ³ God said to him, ‘Leave your country and your people, and go to the country I will show you.’^[a]

⁴ “So Abraham left the country of Chaldea.^[b] He went to live in Haran. After his father died, God sent him to this place, where you live now. ⁵ But God did not give Abraham any of this land, not even a foot of it. But God promised that in the future he would give Abraham this land for himself and for his children. This was before Abraham had any children.

⁶ “This is what God said to him: ‘Your descendants will live in another country. They will be strangers. The people there will make them slaves and mistreat them for 400 years. ⁷ But I will punish the nation that made them slaves.’^[c] And God also said, ‘After those things happen, your people will come out of that country. Then they will worship me here in this place.’^[d]

⁸ “God made an agreement with Abraham; the sign for this agreement was circumcision. And so when Abraham had a son, he circumcised him when he was eight days old. His son’s name was Isaac. Isaac also circumcised his son Jacob. And Jacob did the same for his sons, who became the twelve great ancestors of our people.

⁹ “These ancestors of ours became jealous of their brother Joseph and sold him to be a slave in Egypt. But God was with him ¹⁰ and saved him from all his troubles. Pharaoh was the king of Egypt then. He liked Joseph and respected him because of the wisdom God gave him. Pharaoh gave Joseph the job of being a governor of Egypt. He even let him rule over all the people in Pharaoh’s house. ¹¹ But all the land of Egypt and of Canaan became dry. It became so dry that food could not grow, and the people suffered very much. Our people could not find anything to eat.

¹² “But Jacob heard that there was food in Egypt. So he sent our people there. This was their first trip to Egypt. ¹³ Then they went there a second time. This time Joseph told his brothers who he was. And Pharaoh learned about Joseph’s family. ¹⁴ Then Joseph sent some men to tell Jacob, his father, to come to Egypt. He also invited all his relatives, a total of 75 people. ¹⁵ So Jacob went down to Egypt. He and our other ancestors lived there until they died. ¹⁶ Later, their bodies were moved to Shechem, where they were put in a tomb. It was the same tomb that Abraham had bought in Shechem from the sons of Hamor. He paid them with silver.

¹⁷ “The number of our people in Egypt grew. There were more and more of our people there. The promise that God made to Abraham was soon to come true. ¹⁸ Then a different king began to rule Egypt, one who knew nothing about Joseph. ¹⁹ This king tricked our people. He treated them badly, making them leave their children outside to die.

²⁰ “This was the time when Moses was born. He was a very beautiful child, and for three months his parents took care of him at home. ²¹ When they put him outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him. She raised him as her own son.