⁷ In the first month, Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, the pur, or lot,^[a] was cast in Haman’s presence to determine the day and the month for the destruction of Mordecai’s people on a single day, and the lot fell on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, Adar.^(A)

¹⁷ This happened on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar.

The Feast of Purim.^[a] On the fourteenth of the month they rested, and made it a day of feasting and rejoicing.

¹⁸ The Jews in Susa, however, mustered on the thirteenth and fourteenth of the month. But on the fifteenth they rested, and made it a day of joyful banqueting.

^21 [a]He ordered them to celebrate every year both the fourteenth and the fifteenth of the month of Adar

VII. Epilogue: The Rise of Mordecai

Summary of the Story. ^24 (A)Haman, son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the foe of all the Jews, had planned to destroy them and had cast the pur, or lot, for the time of their defeat and destruction. ²⁵ Yet, when the plot became known to the king, the king ordered in writing that the wicked plan Haman had devised against the Jews should instead be turned against Haman and that he and his sons should be impaled on stakes.^{(B) 26} And so these days have been named Purim after the word pur.

Thus, because of all that was contained in this letter, and because of what they had witnessed and experienced in this event, ²⁷ the Jews established and adopted as a custom for themselves, their descendants, and all who should join them, the perpetual obligation of celebrating these two days every year in the manner prescribed by this letter, and at the time appointed.^{(C) 28} These days were to be commemorated and kept in every generation, by every clan, in every province, and in every city. These days of Purim were never to be neglected among the Jews, nor forgotten by their descendants.

Esther and Mordecai Act in Concert.^[a]