Esther 8–10

CHAPTER 8

Esther Saves the Jews

¹On that day King Ahasuerus gave the house of Haman, ^athe adversary of the Jews, to Queen Esther; and Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told ^bwhat he was to her.

^2aAnd the king removed his signet ring, which he had taken away from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.

³Then Esther spoke again to the king, fell at his feet, wept, and implored him to ¹repeal the evil scheme of Haman the Agagite and his scheme which he had devised against the Jews.

^4aAnd the king extended the golden scepter to Esther. So Esther arose and stood before the king.

⁵Then she said, “^aIf it seems good to the king, and if I have found favor before him and the matter seems proper to the king and I am good in his eyes, let it be written to turn back the ^bletters devised by Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to cause the Jews who are in all the king’s provinces to perish.

⁶“For ^ahow can I endure to see the calamity which will befall my people, and how can I endure to see the perishing of my kinsmen?”

The King’s Decree Avenges the Jews

⁷So King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Behold, ^aI have given the house of Haman to Esther, and him they have hanged on the ¹gallows because he had sent forth his hand against the Jews.

⁸“Now you write to the Jews, according to what is good in your eyes, in the king’s name, and ^aseal it with the king’s signet ring; for a written decree which is written in the name of the king and sealed with the king’s signet ring ^bmay not be turned back.”

^9aSo the king’s scribes were called at that time in the third month (that is, the month Sivan), on the twenty-third ¹day; and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded to the Jews, the satraps, the governors, and the princes of the provinces which extended ^bfrom India to ²Ethiopia, 127 provinces, to ^cevery province according to its script, and to every people according to their tongue as well as to the Jews according to their script and their tongue.

¹⁰And he wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed it with the king’s signet ring and sent letters by the hand of couriers on ^ahorses, riding on steeds sired by the ¹royal stud.

¹¹¹In them the king gave the Jews who were in each and every city the right ^ato assemble and to make a stand for their lives, ^bto destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish the entire military force of any people or province which would act as their adversaries, including little ones and women, and ^cto plunder their spoil,

¹²on ^aone day in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month (that is, the month Adar).

^13aA copy of that which was written down to be given as law in each and every province was revealed to all the peoples, so that the Jews would be ready for this day to avenge themselves on their enemies.

¹⁴The couriers, hurried and hastened by the king’s word, went out, riding on the royal steeds; and the law was given out at the citadel in Susa.

¹⁵Then Mordecai went out from the presence of the king ^ain royal robes of ¹blue and fine white, with a large crown of gold and ^ba garment of fine linen and purple; and ^cthe city of Susa cried aloud and was glad.

¹⁶For the Jews there was ^alight and gladness and joy and honor.

¹⁷And in each and every province and in each and every city, wherever the king’s word and his law reached, there was gladness and joy for the Jews, a feast and a ^1aholiday. And ^bmany among the peoples of the land became Jews, for the dread of the Jews had fallen on them.

CHAPTER 9

The Jews Strike Down Their Enemies

¹Now ^ain the twelfth month (that is, the month Adar), on ^bthe thirteenth ¹day ^cwhen the king’s word and law had reached the point for them to be done, on the day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain power over them, it was turned around so that the Jews themselves gained power over those who hated them.

^2aThe Jews assembled in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to send forth their hand against those who sought their calamity; and no one could stand before them, ^bfor the dread of them had fallen on all the peoples.

³Even all the princes of the provinces, ^athe satraps, the governors, and those who were doing the king’s work ¹advanced the Jews, because the dread of Mordecai had fallen on them.

⁴Indeed, Mordecai was great in the king’s house, and the report about him went throughout all the provinces; for the man Mordecai ^abecame greater and greater.

⁵Thus ^athe Jews struck all their enemies with ¹the sword, killing and causing them to perish; and they did what they pleased to those who hated them.

⁶And at the citadel in Susa the Jews killed and caused to perish 500 men,

⁷and Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha,

⁸Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha,

⁹Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha,

^10athe 10 sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Jews’ adversary; but ^bthey did not send forth their hand for the plunder.

¹¹On that day the number of those who were killed at the citadel in Susa came to the king.

¹²So the king said to Queen Esther, “The Jews have killed and caused to perish 500 men and the 10 sons of Haman at the citadel in Susa. Now in the rest of the king’s provinces, what have they done? ^aSo what is ¹your petition? It shall even be given to you. And what is ²your further request? It shall also be done.”

¹³Then Esther said, “If it is good to the king, ^alet tomorrow also be given to the Jews who are in Susa to do according to the law for today; and let Haman’s 10 sons be hanged on the gallows.”

¹⁴So the king said that it should be done so; and a law was given in Susa, and Haman’s 10 sons were hanged.

¹⁵And the Jews who were in Susa assembled also on the fourteenth day of the month Adar and killed ^a300 men in Susa, but ^bthey did not send forth their hand for the plunder.

¹⁶Now ^athe rest of the Jews who were in the king’s provinces ^bassembled, to make a stand for their lives and obtain rest for themselves from their enemies, and to kill 75,000 of those who hated them; but they did not send forth their hand for the plunder.

¹⁷This was done on ^athe thirteenth day of the month Adar, and ^bon the fourteenth ¹day they rested and made it a day of feasting and gladness.

¹⁸But the Jews who were in Susa ^aassembled on the thirteenth and ^bthe fourteenth ¹of the same month, and they rested on the fifteenth ²day and made it a day of feasting and gladness.

¹⁹Therefore the Jews of the rural areas, who live in ^athe rural towns, make the fourteenth day of the month Adar a ^1bholiday for gladness and feasting and ^csending portions of food to one another.

The Feast of Purim Is Established

²⁰Then Mordecai wrote down these events, and he sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far,

²¹to establish among them to celebrate the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day ¹of the same month, annually,

²²because on those days the Jews obtained rest for themselves from their enemies, and it was a month which was ^aturned around for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a ¹holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness and ^bsending portions of food to one another and gifts to the poor.

²³Thus the Jews fully accepted what they had started to do and what Mordecai had written to them.

²⁴For Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the adversary of all the Jews, had devised against the Jews to cause them to perish and ^ahad cast Pur, that is the lot, to throw them into confusion and cause them to perish.

²⁵But ^awhen it came before the king, he said by letter ^bthat his evil scheme, which he had ¹devised against the Jews, ^cshould return on his own head and that he and his sons should be hanged on the ²gallows.

²⁶Therefore they called these days Purim after the name of Pur. Therefore, ^abecause of the words in this letter, both what they had seen in this regard and what had reached them,

²⁷the Jews established and accepted a custom for themselves and for their seed and for ^aall those who joined themselves to them, so that ^1bcelebrating these two days according to what was written down and according to their fixed time from year to year would not pass away.

²⁸So these days were to be remembered and celebrated throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city; thus these days of Purim were not to pass away from among the Jews, nor their memory come to an end from their seed.

²⁹Then Queen Esther, ^adaughter of Abihail, with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to establish ^bthis second letter about Purim.

³⁰And he sent letters to all the Jews, ^ato the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, namely, words of peace and truth,

³¹to establish these days of Purim at their appointed times, just as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had established for them, and just as they had established for themselves and for their seed with words concerning ^atheir times of fasting and their crying out.

³²And the declaration of Esther established these words concerning ^aPurim, and it was written in the book.

CHAPTER 10

Mordecai’s Greatness

¹Then King Ahasuerus set forced labor upon the land and the ^acoastlands of the sea.

²And the entire work of his authority and his might, and the full account of the greatness of Mordecai, ^awhom the king had made so great, are they not written in ^bthe book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia?

³For Mordecai the Jew was ^asecond only to King Ahasuerus and was great among the Jews and pleasing to his many fellow brothers, ^bone who sought the good of his people and one who spoke for the peace of all his seed.