Old/New Testament

The Jews Destroy Those Who Try to Kill Them

9 Now came the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, when the king’s law was about to be carried out. It was the day when those who hated the Jews hoped to get the rule over them. But their plan was turned around, and the Jews ruled over those who hated them. ² The Jews gathered in their cities in all the parts of the nation of King Ahasuerus to hurt those who wanted to kill them. No one could stand in front of them, for the fear of them had come upon all the people. ³ The princes of the nation, the rulers, the leaders, and those who were doing the king’s work all helped the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai had come upon them. ⁴ For Mordecai was great in the king’s house. His name spread through all the nation, for the man Mordecai became greater and greater. ⁵ So the Jews killed and destroyed with sword all those who hated them. They did as they pleased to those who hated them. ⁶ In the city of Susa where the king ruled the Jews killed and destroyed 500 men, ⁷ and Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, ⁸ Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, ⁹ Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha. ¹⁰ These were the ten sons of Haman, the son of Hammedatha, who hated the Jews. But they did not touch anything that belonged to them.

¹¹ On that day the number of those who were killed in the city of Susa where the king lived was told to the king. ¹² And the king said to Queen Esther, “The Jews have killed and destroyed 500 men and the ten sons of Haman in Susa. What then have they done in the rest of the king’s nation! Now what do you ask of me? It will be done for you. What else do you want? It will be done.” ¹³ Esther said, “If it pleases the king, let the Jews in Susa be allowed tomorrow also to carry out today’s law. Let the bodies of Haman’s ten sons be hanged on the tower.” ¹⁴ So the king said that this should be done. He made it known in Susa, and the bodies of Haman’s ten sons were hanged. ¹⁵ The Jews in Susa gathered also on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar and killed 300 men in Susa. But they did not touch anything that belonged to them.

¹⁶ Now the rest of the Jews who were in the king’s nation gathered to fight for their lives and get rid of those who hated them. They killed 75,000 of those who hated them. But they did not touch anything that belonged to them. ¹⁷ This was on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar. On the fourteenth day they rested and made it a day of eating and joy. ¹⁸ But the Jews in Susa gathered on the thirteenth and fourteenth days of the same month. And they rested on the fifteenth day and made it a day of eating and joy. ¹⁹ So the Jews of the villages, who lived in the small towns without walls, made the fourteenth day of the month of Adar a special day of joy and eating and sharing their food with one another.

The Special Supper of Purim

²⁰ Mordecai wrote down these things. And he sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the nation of King Ahasuerus, both near and far. ²¹ He told them to remember the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar each year. ²² Because on those days the Jews got rid of those who hated them. It was a month which was changed from sorrow into joy, from a day of sorrow into a special day. He said that they should make them days of eating and joy and sending food to one another and gifts to the poor.

²³ So the Jews agreed to do what they had started to do, and what Mordecai had written to them. ²⁴ For Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the one who hated all the Jews, had planned to destroy the Jews. He had drawn names, using Pur, to trouble them and destroy them. ²⁵ But when the king heard about it, he made it known by letter that his plan against the Jews should bring trouble upon himself. And he had Haman and his sons hanged on the tower. ²⁶ So they called these days Purim after the name of Pur. Because of what was written in this letter, and what they had seen and what had happened to them, ²⁷ the Jews set apart this special time each year for themselves, for their children and their children’s children, and for all who joined them. They would always remember to keep these two days special, as it was written and at the same time every year. ²⁸ These days were to be remembered and kept as a special time for all their children-to-come, in every family, every land, and every city. These days of Purim were not to be forgotten by the Jews. Their children and their children’s children were to remember them forever.

²⁹ Then Queen Esther, the daughter of Abihail, with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full power to make this second letter about Purim sure. ³⁰ Letters were sent to all the Jews in the 127 parts of the nation of Ahasuerus, in words of peace and truth. ³¹ They made sure that these days of Purim would be kept at the right times, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had told them. These days were set apart for themselves and for their children and their children’s children, with the times they were to go without food and the times they were to be sad. ³² The words of Esther made the rules for keeping Purim sure, and it was written in the book.

Mordecai Is Honored by the King

10 King Ahasuerus put a tax on the people of the nation and the parts beside the sea. ² All the acts of his power and strength, and the whole story of the high honor given to Mordecai by the king, are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia. ³ For Mordecai the Jew was second in power only to King Ahasuerus and great among the Jews. He found favor in the eyes of his people. He worked for the good of his people and spoke for the well-being of all the Jews.

Stephen Speaks about the God of Abraham

7 The head religious leader asked Stephen, “Are these things true?” ² Stephen said, “My brothers and fathers, listen to me. The great God showed Himself to our early father Abraham while he lived in the country of Mesopotamia. This was before he moved to the country of Haran. ³ God said to him, ‘Leave your family and this land where you were born. Go to a land that I will show you.’ ⁴ He went from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. After his father died, he came to this country where you now live. ⁵ God did not give him any land to own, not even enough to put his feet on. But He promised that the land would be his and his children’s after him. At that time he had no children. ⁶ This is what God said, ‘Your children’s children will be living in a strange land. They will live there 400 years. They will be made to work without pay and will suffer many hard things. ⁷ I will say to that nation that it is guilty for holding them and making them work without pay. After that they will go free. They will leave that country and worship Me in this place.’

⁸ “He made a promise with Abraham. It was kept by a religious act of becoming a Jew. Abraham had a son, Isaac. On the eighth day Abraham took Isaac and had this religious act done to him. Isaac was the father of Jacob. Jacob was the father of our twelve early fathers.

⁹ “The sons of Jacob sold Joseph to people from the country of Egypt because they were jealous of him. But God was with Joseph. ¹⁰ He helped him in all his troubles. He gave him wisdom and favor with Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. This king made Joseph leader over Egypt and over all the king’s house.

¹¹ “The time came when there was no food to eat in all the land of Egypt and Canaan. The people suffered much. Our early fathers were not able to get food. ¹² Then Jacob heard there was food in Egypt. He sent our early fathers there the first time.

¹³ “The second time they went to the country of Egypt, Joseph made himself known to his brothers. The family of Joseph became known to Pharaoh. ¹⁴ Joseph asked his father Jacob and all his family to come. There were seventy-five people in the family. ¹⁵ Jacob moved down to Egypt and died there. Our early fathers died there also. ¹⁶ They were brought back to the city of Shechem where they were buried. Abraham paid money for the grave from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

Stephen Speaks about the God of Moses

¹⁷ “The promise God had given Abraham was about to happen. At this time many more of our people were in the country of Egypt. ¹⁸ Then another man became king in Egypt. He was a king who did not know Joseph. ¹⁹ He was hard on our people and nation. He worked against our early fathers. He made them put their babies outside so they would die.

²⁰ “At that time Moses was born. He was beautiful in God’s sight. He was fed in his father’s house for three months. ²¹ Then he was put outside. Pharaoh’s daughter took him and cared for him as her own son.