Esther 8

1 That day King Ahasuerus gave the house of Haman, enemy of the Jews, to Queen Esther; and Mordecai was admitted to the king's presence, for Esther had revealed his relationship to her.
2 The king removed his signet ring from Haman, and transferred it into the keeping of Mordecai; and Esther put Mordecai in charge of the house of Haman.
3 In another audience with the king, Esther fell at his feet and tearfully implored him to revoke the harm done by Haman the Agagite, and the plan he had devised against the Jews.
4 The king stretched forth the golden scepter to Esther. So she rose and, standing in his presence,
5 said: If it pleases your majesty and seems proper to you, and if I have found favor with you and you love me, let a document be issued to revoke the letters which that schemer Haman, son of Hammedatha the Agagite, wrote for the destruction of the Jews in all the royal provinces.
6 For how can I witness the evil that is to befall my people, and how can I behold the destruction of my race?
7 King Ahasuerus then said to Queen Esther and to the Jew Mordecai: Now that I have given Esther the house of Haman, and they have hanged him on the gibbet because he attacked the Jews,
8 you in turn may write in the king's name what you see fit concerning the Jews and seal the letter with the royal signet ring. For whatever is written in the name of the king and sealed with the royal signet ring cannot be revoked.
9 At that time, on the twenty-third day of the third month, Sivan, the royal scribes were summoned. Exactly as Mordecai dictated, they wrote to the Jews and to the satraps, governors, and officials of the hundred and twenty-seven provinces from India to Ethiopia: to each province in its own script and to each people in its own language, and to the Jews in their own script and language.
10 These letters, which he wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with the royal signet ring, he sent by mounted couriers riding thoroughbred royal steeds.
11 In these letters the king authorized the Jews in each and every city to group together and defend their lives, and to kill, destroy, wipe out, along with their wives and children, every armed group of any nation or province which should attack them, and to seize their goods as spoil
12 throughout the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on a single day, the thirteenth of the twelfth month, Adar. (E:1) The following is a copy of the letter: King Ahasuerus the Great to the governors of the provinces in the hundred and twenty-seven satrapies from India to Ethiopia, and to those responsible for our interests: Greetings! (E:2) Many have become the more ambitious the more they were showered with honors through the bountiful generosity of their patrons. (E:3) Not only do they seek to do harm to our subjects; incapable of bearing such greatness, they even begin plotting against their own benefactors. (E:4) Not only do they drive out gratitude from among men; with the arrogant boastfulness of those to whom goodness has no meaning, they suppose they will escape the vindictive judgment of the all-seeing God. (E:5) Often, too, the fair speech of friends entrusted with the administration of affairs has induced many placed in authority to become accomplices in the shedding of innocent blood, and has involved them in irreparable calamities (E:6) by deceiving with malicious slander the sincere good will of rulers. (E:7) This can be verified in the ancient stories that have been handed down to us, but more fully when one considers the wicked deeds perpetrated in your midst by the pestilential influence of those undeserving of authority. (E:8) We must provide for the future, so as to render the kingdom undisturbed and peaceful for all men, (E:9) taking advantage of changing conditions and deciding always with equitable treatment matters coming to our attention. (E:10) For instance, Haman, son of Hammedatha, a Macedonian, certainly not of Persian blood, and very different from us in generosity, was hospitably received by us. (E:11) He so far enjoyed the good will which we have toward all peoples that he was proclaimed father of the king,' before whom everyone was to bow down; he attained the rank second to the royal throne. (E:12) But, unequal to this dignity, he strove to deprive us of kingdom and of life; (E:13) and by weaving intricate webs of deceit, he demanded the destruction of Mordecai, our savior and constant benefactor, and of Esther, our blameless royal consort, together with their whole race. (E:14) For by such measures he hoped to catch us defenseless and to transfer the rule of the Persians to the Macedonians. (E:15) But we find that the Jews, who were doomed to extinction by this archcriminal, are not evildoers, but rather are governed by very just laws (E:16) and are the children of the Most High, the living God of majesty, who has maintained the kingdom in a flourishing condition for us and for our forebears. (E:17) You will do well, then, to ignore the letter sent by Haman, son of Hammedatha, (E:18) for he who composed it has been hanged, together with his entire household, before the gates of Susa. Thus swiftly has God, who governs all, brought just punishment upon him. (E:19) You shall exhibit a copy of this letter publicly in every place, to certify that the Jews may follow their own laws, (E:20) and that you may help them on the day set for their ruin, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, Adar, to defend themselves against those who attack them. (E:21) For God, the ruler of all, has turned that day for them from one of destruction of the chosen race into one of joy. (E:22) Therefore, you too must celebrate this memorable day among your designated feasts with all rejoicing, (E:23) so that both now and in the future it may be, for us and for loyal Persians, a celebration of victory, and for those who plot against us a reminder of destruction. (E:24) Every city and province, without exception, that does not observe this decree shall be ruthlessly destroyed with fire and sword, so that it will be left not merely untrodden by men, but even shunned by wild beasts and birds forever.
13 A copy of the letter to be promulgated as law in each and every province was published among all the peoples, so that the Jews might be prepared on that day to avenge themselves on their enemies.
14 Couriers mounted on royal steeds sped forth in haste at the king's order, and the decree was promulgated in the stronghold of Susa.
15 Mordecai left the king's presence clothed in a royal robe of violet and of white cotton, with a large crown of gold and a cloak of crimson byssus. The city of Susa shouted with joy,
16 and there was splendor and merriment for the Jews, exultation and triumph.
17 In each and every province and in each and every city, wherever the king's order arrived, there was merriment and exultation, banqueting and feasting for the Jews. And many of the peoples of the land embraced Judaism, for they were seized with a fear of the Jews.

Esther 9

1 When the day arrived on which the order decreed by the king was to be carried out, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, Adar, on which the enemies of the Jews had expected to become masters of them, the situation was reversed: the Jews became masters of their enemies.
2 The Jews mustered in their cities throughout the provinces of King Ahasuerus to attack those who sought to do them harm, and no one could withstand them, but all peoples were seized with a fear of them.
3 Moreover, all the officials of the provinces, the satraps, governors, and royal procurators supported the Jews from fear of Mordecai;
4 for Mordecai was powerful in the royal palace, and the report was spreading through all the provinces that he was continually growing in power.
5 The Jews struck down all their enemies with the sword, killing and destroying them; they did to their enemies as they pleased.
6 In the stronghold of Susa, the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men.
7 They also killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha,
8 Porathai, Adalia, Aridatha,
9 Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha,
10 the ten sons of Haman, son of Hammedatha, the foe of the Jews. However, they did not engage in plundering.
11 On the same day, when the number of those killed in the stronghold of Susa was reported to the king,
12 he said to Queen Esther: In the stronghold of Susa the Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men, as well as the ten sons of Haman. What must they have done in the other royal provinces! You shall again be granted whatever you ask, and whatever you request shall be honored.
13 So Esther said, If it pleases your majesty, let the Jews in Susa be permitted again tomorrow to act according to today's decree, and let the ten sons of Haman be hanged on gibbets.
14 The king then gave an order to this effect, and the decree was published in Susa. So the ten sons of Haman were hanged,
15 and the Jews in Susa mustered again on the fourteenth of the month of Adar and killed three hundred men in Susa. However, they did not engage in plundering.
16 The other Jews, who dwelt in the royal provinces, also mustered and defended themselves, and obtained rest from their enemies. They killed seventy-five thousand of their foes, without engaging in plunder,
17 on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar. 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 feasting and rejoicing.)
19 That is why the rural Jews, who dwell in villages, celebrate the fourteenth of the month of Adar as a day of rejoicing and feasting, a holiday on which they send gifts of food to one another.
20 Mordecai recorded these events and sent letters to all the Jews, both near and far, in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus.
21 He ordered them to celebrate every year both the fourteenth and the fifteenth of the month of Adar
22 as the days on which the Jews obtained rest from their enemies and as the month which was turned for them from sorrow into joy, from mourning into festivity. They were to observe these days with feasting and gladness, sending food to one another and gifts to the poor.
23 The Jews took upon themselves for the future this observance which they instituted at the written direction of Mordecai.
24 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 Esther entered the royal presence, 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 hanged on gibbets.
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 affair,
27 the Jews established and took upon themselves, their descendants, and all who should join them, the inviolable obligation of celebrating these two days every year in the manner prescribed by this letter, and at the time appointed.
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 fall into disuse among the Jews, nor into oblivion among their descendants.
29 Queen Esther, daughter of Abihail and of Mordecai the Jew, wrote to confirm with full authority this second letter about Purim,
30 when Mordecai sent documents concerning peace and security to all the Jews in the hundred and twenty-seven provinces of Ahasuerus' kingdom.
31 Thus were established, for their appointed time, these days of Purim which Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had designated for the Jews, just as they had previously enjoined upon themselves and upon their race the duty of fasting and supplication.
32 The command of Esther confirmed these prescriptions for Purim and was recorded in the book.

Esther 10

1 King Ahasuerus laid tribute on the land and on the islands of the sea.
2 All the acts of his power and valor, as well as a detailed account of the greatness of Mordecai, whom the king promoted, are recorded in the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia.
3 The Jew Mordecai was next in rank to King Ahasuerus, in high standing among the Jews, and was regarded with favor by his many brethren, as the promoter of his people's welfare and the herald of peace for his whole race. (F:1) Then Mordecai said: This is the work of God. (F:2) I recall the dream I had about these very things, and not a single detail has been left unfulfilled- (F:3) the tiny spring that grew into a river, the light of the sun, the many waters. The river is Esther, whom the king married and made queen. (F:4) The two dragons are myself and Haman. (F:5) The nations are those who assembled to destroy the name of the Jews, (F:6) but my people is Israel, who cried to God and was saved. The LORD saved his people and delivered us from all these evils. God worked signs and great wonders, such as have not occurred among the nations. (F:7) For this purpose he arranged two lots: one for the people of God, the second for all the other nations. (F:8) These two lots were fulfilled in the hour, the time, and the day of judgment before God and among all the nations. (F:9) God remembered his people and rendered justice to his inheritance. (F:10) Gathering together with joy and happiness before God, they shall celebrate these days on the fourteenth and fifteenth of the month Adar throughout all future generations of his people Israel.