Esther 8–10

Esther Intervenes for the Jews

8That same day King Ahasuerus awarded Queen Esther the estate ^hof Haman, the enemy of the Jews. ⁱMordecai entered the king’s presence because Esther had revealed her relationship to Mordecai. ^j2The king removed his signet ring he had recovered from Haman ^kand gave it to Mordecai, and Esther put him in charge of Haman’s estate.

³Then Esther addressed the king again. ^lShe fell at his feet, wept, and begged ^mhim to revoke the evil of Haman the Agagite, ⁿand his plot he had devised against the Jews. ^o4The king extended the gold scepter ^ptoward Esther, so she got up and stood before the king.

⁵She said, “If it pleases the king, and I have found approval before him, if the matter seems right to the king and I am pleasing in his sight, ^qlet a royal edict be written. Let it revoke the documents the scheming Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all the king’s provinces. ^r6For how could I bear to see the disaster that would come on my people? ^sHow could I bear to see the destruction of my relatives?” ^t

⁷King Ahasuerus said to Esther the Queen and to Mordecai the Jew, “Look, I have given Haman’s estate to Esther, ^uand he was hanged on the gallows because he attacked ^vthe Jews. ^w8You may write in the king’s name whatever pleases you ^xconcerning the Jews, and seal it with the royal signet ring. ^yA document written in the king’s name and sealed with the royal signet ring cannot be revoked.” ^z

⁹On the twenty-third day of the third month ^a(that is, the month Sivan), ^bthe royal scribes were summoned. Everything was written exactly as Mordecai ^cordered for the Jews, to the satraps, ^dthe governors, and the officials of the 127 provinces from India ^eto Cush. ^fThe edict was written for each province in its own script, for each ethnic group in its own language, ^gand to the Jews in their own script and language.

¹⁰Mordecai wrote in King Ahasuerus’s name and sealed the edicts with the royal signet ring. He sent the documents by mounted couriers, ^hwho rode fast horses ⁱbred from the royal racing mares.

¹¹The king’s edict gave the Jews in each and every city the right to assemble and defend themselves, to destroy, kill, and annihilate every ethnic and provincial army hostile to them, including women and children, and to take their possessions as spoils of war. ^j12This would take place on a single day throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month Adar. ^kl

¹³A copy of the text, issued as law throughout every province, was distributed to all the peoples ^mso the Jews could be ready to avenge themselves against their enemies on that day. ¹⁴The couriers rode out in haste on their royal horses at the king’s urgent command. The law was also issued in the fortress of Susa. ⁿ

¹⁵Mordecai went from the king’s presence clothed in royal purple and white, with a great gold crown and a purple robe of fine linen. ^oThe city of Susa shouted and rejoiced, ^p16and the Jews celebrated ^qwith gladness, joy, and honor. ^r17In every province and every city, wherever the king’s command and his law reached, joy and rejoicing took place among the Jews. There was a celebration and a holiday. ^stAnd many of the ethnic groups of the land professed themselves to be Jews because fear of the Jews ^uhad overcome them.

Victories of the Jews

9The king’s command and law ^vwent into effect on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, ^wthe month Adar. ^xOn the day when the Jews’ enemies ^yhad hoped to overpower them, just the opposite happened. The Jews overpowered those who hated them. ^z2In each of King Ahasuerus’s provinces ^athe Jews assembled in their cities to attack those who intended to harm them. ^bNot a single person could withstand them; terror of them ^cfell on every nationality. ^d

³All the officials of the provinces, the satraps, the governors, and the royal civil administrators ^efaided the Jews because they were afraid of Mordecai. ^g4For Mordecai exercised great power in the palace, ^hand his fame spread throughout the provinces as he became more and more powerful. ⁱ

⁵The Jews put all their enemies to the sword, killing and destroying them. ^jThey did what they pleased to those who hated them. ⁶In the fortress of Susa ^kthe Jews killed and destroyed 500 men, ⁷including Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, ⁸Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, ⁹Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha. ¹⁰They killed these 10 sons ^lof Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews. ^mHowever, they did not seize ⁿany plunder. ^o

¹¹On that day the number of people killed in the fortress of Susa was reported to the king. ¹²The king said to Queen Esther, “In the fortress of Susa the Jews have killed and destroyed 500 men, including Haman’s 10 sons. What have they done in the rest of the royal provinces? Whatever you ask will be given to you. Whatever you seek will also be done.” ^p

¹³Esther answered, “If it pleases the king, may the Jews who are in Susa also have tomorrow ^qto carry out today’s law, ^rand may the bodies of Haman’s 10 sons ^sbe hung on the gallows.” ^t14The king gave the orders for this to be done, so a law was announced in Susa, and they hung the bodies of Haman’s 10 sons. ¹⁵The Jews in Susa assembled again on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar ^uand killed 300 men in Susa, but they did not seize ^vany plunder. ^w

¹⁶The rest of the Jews in the royal provinces assembled, defended themselves, and got rid of ^xtheir enemies. They killed 75,000 ^yof those who hated them, ^zbut they did not seize ^aany plunder. ¹⁷They fought on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar and rested on the fourteenth, and it became a day of feasting and rejoicing.

¹⁸But the Jews in Susa had assembled on the thirteenth and the fourteenth days of the month. They rested on the fifteenth day of the month, and it became a day of feasting and rejoicing. ^b19This explains why the rural Jews who live in villages observe the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a time of rejoicing and feasting. It is a holiday when they send gifts to one another. ^c

²⁰Mordecai ^drecorded these events and sent letters to all the Jews in all of King Ahasuerus’s provinces, both near and far. ²¹He ordered ^ethem to celebrate the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month Adar every year ²²because during those days the Jews got rid of ^fgtheir enemies. That was the month when their sorrow was turned into rejoicing and their mourning into a holiday. ^hThey were to be days of feasting, ⁱrejoicing, and of sending gifts to one another and the poor.

²³So the Jews agreed to continue the practice they had begun, as Mordecai had written them to do. ²⁴For Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, ^jhad plotted against the Jews to destroy them. He cast the Pur (that is, the lot) to crush and destroy them. ^k25But when the matter was brought before the king, ^lhe commanded by letter that the evil plan Haman had devised against the Jews return on his own head ^mand that he should be hanged with his sons on the gallows. ⁿ²⁶For this reason these days are called Purim, from the word Pur. ^o

Because of all the instructions in this letter as well as what they had witnessed and what had happened to them, ²⁷the Jews bound themselves, their descendants, and all who joined ^pwith them to a commitment that they would not fail to celebrate these two days each and every year according to the written instructions and according to the time appointed. ²⁸These days are remembered and celebrated by every generation, family, province, and city, so that these days of Purim will not lose their significance in Jewish life ^qand their memory will not fade from their descendants. ^r

²⁹Queen Esther daughter of Abihail, ^salong with Mordecai the Jew, ^twrote this second letter with full authority ^uto confirm the letter about Purim. ³⁰He sent letters with messages of peace and faithfulness to all the Jews who were in the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, ³¹in order to confirm these days of Purim at their proper time just as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had established them and just as they had committed themselves and their descendants to the practices of fasting ^vand lamentation. ^w32So Esther’s command confirmed these customs of Purim, which were then written into the record.

Mordecai’s Fame

10King Ahasuerus imposed a tax throughout the land ^xeven to the farthest shores. ^yz2All of his powerful and magnificent accomplishments ^aand the detailed account of Mordecai’s great rank to which the king had honored him, ^bhave they not been written in the Historical Records of the Kings of Media and Persia? ^c3Mordecai the Jew was second only to King Ahasuerus, ^dfamous among the Jews, and highly popular with many of his relatives. ^eHe continued to seek good for his people and to speak for the welfare of all his descendants. ^f