Victory for the Jews

9 The ·order [edict; decree] the king had commanded was to be ·done [executed; carried out] on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month [^CMarch 7], the month of Adar. That was the day the enemies of the Jews had hoped to ·defeat [overpower] them, but ·that was changed [the opposite happened]. So the Jews themselves ·defeated [overpowered] ·those who hated them [their enemies]. ² The Jews ·met [assembled] in their cities in all the ·empire [^Lprovinces] of King ·Xerxes [^LAhasuerus] in order to ·attack [strike; ^Llay hands on] those who wanted to ·harm [destroy] them. No one ·was strong enough to fight [^Lcould stand] against them, because ·all the other people living in the empire were afraid of them [^Ldread of them fell on all the peoples]. ³ All the ·important men [nobles] of the ·states [provinces], the governors, ·captains of the soldiers [high officials], and the king’s officers helped the Jews, because they were afraid of Mordecai. ⁴ Mordecai was ·very important [^Lgreat] in the king’s ·palace [^Lhouse]. He was famous in all the ·empire [^Lprovinces], because he was becoming ·a leader of more and more people [more and more powerful/influential].

⁵ And, with their swords, the Jews ·defeated [^Lstruck] all their enemies, ·killing [slaughtering] and destroying them. And they did ·what they wanted [as they pleased] with those people who hated them. ⁶ In the ·palace [citadel; fortress; 1:2] at Susa, they ·killed [slaughtered] and destroyed five hundred men. ⁷ They also killed: Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, ⁸ Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, ⁹ Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha, ¹⁰ the ten sons of Haman, son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews. But the Jews did not ·take [plunder; confiscate] their ·belongings [property; ^Cthis shows they attacked out of self-defense, not for material gain; 8:11; Gen. 14:23].

¹¹ On that day the number killed in the ·palace [citadel; fortress; 1:2] at Susa was reported to the king. ¹² The king said to Queen Esther, “The Jews have ·killed [slaughtered] and destroyed five hundred people in the ·palace [citadel; fortress; 1:2] at Susa, as well as Haman’s ten sons. What then have they done in the rest of the king’s ·empire [provinces]! Now what ·else are you asking [^Lis your petition]? I will do it! What ·else [more] do you want? It will be ·done [granted]!”

¹³ Esther answered, “If it pleases the king, give the Jews who are in Susa permission to do again tomorrow what the king ·ordered [decreed] for today. And let the bodies of Haman’s ten sons be ·hanged [impaled] on the ·platform [gallows; pole].”

¹⁴ So the king ·ordered [decreed] that it be done. A ·law [edict; decree] was given in Susa, and the bodies of the ten sons of Haman were ·hanged [impaled]. ¹⁵ The Jews in Susa ·came together [assembled] on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar [^CMarch 8]. They ·killed [slaughtered] three hundred people in Susa, but they did not ·take [plunder; confiscate] their ·belongings [property; 9:10].

¹⁶ At that same time, all the Jews in the king’s ·empire [^Lprovinces] also ·met [assembled] to ·protect themselves [defend their lives] and get rid of their enemies. They ·killed [slaughtered] seventy-five thousand of those who hated them, but they did not ·take [plunder; confiscate] their ·belongings [property; 9:10]. ¹⁷ This happened on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar [^CMarch 7]. On the fourteenth day they rested and made it a day of joyful ·feasting [banqueting].

The Feast of Purim

¹⁸ But the Jews in Susa ·met [assembled] on the thirteenth and fourteenth days of the month of Adar [^Cand killed their enemies]. Then they rested on the fifteenth day and made it a day of joyful feasting [banqueting].

¹⁹ This is why the Jews who live in the country and small villages celebrate on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar [^CMarch 8]. It is a ·day [holiday] of joyful ·feasting [banqueting] and a day for exchanging ·gifts [gifts of food].

²⁰ Mordecai ·wrote down [recorded] everything that had happened. Then he sent ·letters [dispatches; scrolls] to all the Jews in all the ·empire [provinces] of King ·Xerxes [^LAhasuerus], far and near. ²¹ He ·told [called on] them to celebrate every year on the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar, ²² because that was when the Jews got rid of their enemies [^Ca descendant of Saul (2:5–6) had overcome an Amalekite and descendant of King Agag (3:1), thus completing God’s mandate (Deut. 23:3–6) that Saul failed to accomplish (1 Sam. 15)]. They were also to celebrate it as the month their ·sadness [sorrow] was turned to ·joy [gladness] and their ·crying for the dead [mourning] was turned into ·celebration [a holiday]. He told them to celebrate those days as days of joyful ·feasting [banqueting] and as a time for giving [presents of] food to each other and ·presents [gifts] to the poor [^CPurim thus became an annual festival still celebrated by the Jewish people today].

²³ So the Jews agreed to do what Mordecai had written to them, and ·they agreed to hold the celebration every year [^Lto continue what they had begun]. ²⁴ Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, was the enemy of all the Jews. He had ·made [devised] an evil ·plan [plot] against the Jews to destroy them, and he had thrown the Pur (that is, the lot [^Cdice-like objects]) to choose a day to ·ruin [crush; afflict] and destroy them. ²⁵ But when the king learned of the evil ·plan [plot], he sent out written ·orders [edicts; decrees] that the evil ·plans [plot] Haman had made against the Jews would ·be used against him [^Lfall/return on his own head]. And those ·orders [edicts; decrees] said that Haman and his sons should be ·hanged [impaled] on the ·platform [gallows; pole]. ²⁶ So these days were called Purim, which comes from the word “Pur” (the lot [^Cdice-like objects]). Because of everything written in this ·letter [dispatch] and what they had seen and what happened to them, ²⁷ the Jews set up this ·custom [tradition]. They and their descendants and all those who join them are ·always [^Lwithout fail] to ·celebrate [observe; keep] these two days every year. They should do it ·in the right way [^Las it is written] and at the time Mordecai had ·ordered [decreed]. ²⁸ These two days should be remembered and ·celebrated [observed; kept] ·from now on [^Lthrough every generation] in every family, in every ·state [province], and in every city. These days of Purim should ·always [^Lnot fail to] be ·celebrated [observed; kept] ·by [among] the Jews, and their memory never fade among their descendants.

²⁹ So Queen Esther daughter of Abihail, along with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm this second ·letter [dispatch] about Purim. ³⁰ And Mordecai sent ·letters [dispatches; scrolls] to all the Jews in the one hundred twenty-seven ·states [provinces] of the kingdom of ·Xerxes [^LAhasuerus], writing them ·a message [^Lwords] of peace and ·truth [or security; assurance]. ³¹ He wrote to ·set up [establish] these days of Purim at the ·chosen [proper; appointed] times. Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had sent out the ·order [edict; decree] for the Jews, just as they had ·set up [established] for themselves and their descendants instruction concerning fasting and ·loud weeping [lamentations]. ³² Esther’s ·letter [command] ·set up [established] the rules for Purim, and they were written down in the records.