Esther 9:24-26

Contemporary English Version

The Reason for the Festival of Purim

²⁴^(A) Haman was the son of Hammedatha and a descendant of Agag. He hated the Jews so much that he planned to destroy them, but he wanted to find out the best time to do it. So he cast lots.^[a]

²⁵Esther went to King Xerxes and asked him to save her people. Then the king gave written orders for Haman and his sons to be punished in the same terrible way that Haman had in mind for the Jews. So they were hanged. ²⁶Mordecai's letter had said that the Jews must celebrate for two days because of what had happened to them. This time of celebration is called Purim,^[b] which is the Hebrew word for the lots that were cast.

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Footnotes

9.24 cast lots: See the note at 3.7.
9.26 Purim: The Jewish festival of Purim got its name from “purim,” which is the Babylonian name for the lots that Haman used. Purim is celebrated each year on the fourteenth and fifteenth of Adar, which is about the first of March.