Esther 8–9

8On that day did the king Ahasuerus give the house of Haman the Jews’ enemy unto Esther the queen. And Mordecai came before the king; for Esther had told ^awhat he was unto her. ²And the king took off ^bhis ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it unto Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman. ³And Esther spake yet again before the king, and fell down at his feet, ^†and besought him with tears to put away the mischief of Haman the ^cAgagite, and his device that he had devised against the Jews. ⁴Then ^dthe king held out the golden sceptre toward Esther. So Esther arose, and stood before the king, ⁵And said, If it please the king, and if I have found favour in his sight, and the thing ^eseem right before the king, and I be pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to reverse the letters ^†devised by Haman the son of Hammedatha the ^cAgagite, ^||which he wrote to destroy the Jews which are in all the king’s provinces: ⁶For how can I ^†endure to see ^fthe evil that shall ^gcome unto my people? or how can I ^†endure to see the destruction of my kindred? ⁷Then the king Ahasuerus said unto Esther the queen and to Mordecai the Jew, Behold, ^hI have given Esther the house of Haman, and him they have hanged upon the gallows, because he laid his hand upon the Jews. ⁸Write ye also for the Jews, as it liketh you, ⁱin the king’s name, and seal it with the king’s ring: for the writing which is written in the king’s name, and sealed with the king’s ring, ^kmay no man reverse. ^9lThen were the king’s scribes called at that time in the third month, that is, the month ^mSivan, on the three and twentieth day thereof; and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded unto the Jews, and to the ⁿlieutenants, and the ^odeputies and rulers of the provinces which are from ^pIndia unto Ethiopia, ^pan hundred twenty and seven provinces, unto every province ^qaccording to the writing thereof, and unto every people after their language, and to the Jews according to their writing, and according to their language. ^10rAnd he wrote ⁱin the king Ahasuerus’ name, and sealed it with the king’s ring, and sent letters by posts on horseback, and riders on ^smules, ^tcamels, and young dromedaries: ^11rWherein the king granted the Jews which were in every city to gather themselves together, and to stand for their life, to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish, all the power of the people and province that would assault them, both little ones and women, and ^uto take the spoil of them for a prey, ^12xUpon one day in all the provinces of king Ahasuerus, namely, upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar. ^13yThe copy of the writing for a commandment to be given in every province was ^†published unto all people, and that the Jews should be ready against that day to avenge themselves on their enemies. ¹⁴So the posts that rode upon ^smules and ^tcamels went out, being hastened and pressed on by the king’s commandment. And the decree was given at Shushan the palace. ¹⁵And Mordecai went out from the presence of the king ^zin royal apparel of ^||blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a garment of ^afine linen and ^bpurple: and ^cthe city of Shushan rejoiced and was glad. ¹⁶The Jews had ^dlight, and gladness, and joy, and honour. ¹⁷And in every province, and in every city, whithersoever the king’s commandment and his decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and ^ea good day. And many of the people of the land became Jews; for ^fthe fear of the Jews fell upon them.

9^*Now ^ain the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when ^bthe king’s commandment and his decree drew near to be put in execution, in the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to have power over them, (though it was turned to the contrary, that the Jews had rule over them that hated them;) ²The Jews ^cgathered themselves together in their cities throughout all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, to lay hand on such as ^dsought their hurt: and no man could withstand them; for ^ethe fear of them fell upon all people. ³And all the rulers of the provinces, and the ^flieutenants, and the ^gdeputies, and ^†officers of the king, helped the Jews; because the fear of Mordecai fell upon them. ⁴For Mordecai was great in the king’s house, and his fame went out throughout all the provinces: for this man Mordecai ^hwaxed greater and greater. ⁵Thus the Jews smote all their enemies with the stroke of the sword, and slaughter, and destruction, and did ^†what they would unto those that hated them. ⁶And in Shushan the palace the Jews slew and destroyed five hundred men. ⁷And Parshandatha, and Dalphon, and Aspatha, ⁸And Poratha, and Adalia, and Aridatha, ⁹And Parmashta, and Arisai, and Aridai, and Vajezatha, ¹⁰ⁱThe ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews, slew they; but ^kon the spoil laid they not their hand.

¹¹On that day the number of those that were slain in Shushan the palace ^†was brought before the king. ¹²And the king said unto Esther the queen, The Jews have slain and destroyed five hundred men in Shushan the palace, and the ten sons of Haman; what have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces? now what is thy petition? and it shall be granted thee: or ^lwhat is thy request further? and it shall be done. ¹³Then said Esther, If it please the king, let it be granted to the Jews which are in Shushan to do ^mto morrow also according unto this day’s decree, and ^†let Haman’s ten sons be hanged upon the gallows. ¹⁴And the king commanded it so to be done: and the decree was given at Shushan; and they hanged Haman’s ten sons. ¹⁵For the Jews that were in Shushan ⁿgathered themselves together on the fourteenth day also of the month Adar, and slew three hundred men at Shushan; but ^oon the prey they laid not their hand. ¹⁶But the other Jews ^pthat were in the king’s provinces ⁿgathered themselves together, and stood for their lives, and had rest from their enemies, and slew of their foes seventy and five thousand, but ^othey laid not their hands on the prey, ¹⁷On the thirteenth day of the month Adar; and on the fourteenth day ^†of the same rested they, and made it a day of feasting and gladness. ¹⁸But the Jews that were at Shushan assembled together ^qon the thirteenth day thereof, and on the fourteenth thereof; and on the fifteenth day of the same they rested, and made it a day of feasting and gladness. ¹⁹Therefore the Jews ^rof the villages, that dwelt in the ^sunwalled towns, made the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of gladness and feasting, and ^ta good day, and of ^usending portions one to another.

²⁰And Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters unto all the Jews that were in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, both nigh and far, ²¹To ^wstablish this among them, that they should keep the ^xfourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, yearly, ²²As the days wherein the Jews rested from their enemies, and the month which was turned unto them from sorrow to joy, and from mourning into ^ta good day: that they should make them days of feasting and joy, and of ^usending portions one to another, and ^ygifts to the poor. ²³And the Jews ^zundertook to do as they had begun, and as Mordecai had written unto them; ²⁴Because Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, ^ahad devised against the Jews to destroy them, and had cast Pur, that is, the lot, to ^†consume them, and to destroy them; ²⁵But ^†when ^bEsther came before the king, he commanded by letters that his wicked device, which he devised against the Jews, should ^creturn upon his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows. ²⁶Wherefore they called these days Purim after the name of ^||Pur. Therefore for all the words of ^dthis letter, and of that which they had seen concerning this matter, and which had come unto them, ²⁷The Jews ^wordained, and ^ztook upon them, and upon their seed, and upon all such as ^ejoined themselves unto them, so as it should not ^†fail, that they would keep ^fthese two days according to their writing, and according to their appointed time every year; ²⁸And that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city; and that these days of Purim should not ^†fail from among the Jews, nor the memorial of them ^†perish from their seed. ²⁹Then Esther the queen, ^gthe daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew, wrote with ^†all authority, to ^wconfirm this ^hsecond letter of Purim. ³⁰And he sent the letters unto all the Jews, to ⁱthe hundred twenty and seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, with words of peace and truth, ³¹To ^wconfirm these days of Purim in their times appointed, according as Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen had ^wenjoined them, and as they had ^wdecreed ^†for themselves and for their seed, the matters of ^kthe fastings and their cry. ³²And the decree of Esther ^wconfirmed these matters of Purim; and it was written in the book.