² the Jews gathered in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to kill^[a] those who had sought their ruin, and no one could withstand them, because the fear of them had fallen upon all peoples.^(A)

¹⁹ Therefore the Jews of the villages, who live in the open towns, hold the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a day for gladness and feasting, a holiday on which they send gifts of food to one another.^(A)

²⁷ the Jews established and accepted as a custom for themselves and their descendants and all who joined them that without fail they would continue to observe these two days every year, as it was written and at the time appointed.^(A)