Esther 9:20–32

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.