8That same day King Xerxes gave Queen Esther everything Haman, the enemy of the Jewish people, had left when he died. And Mordecai came in to see the king, because Esther had told the king how he was related to her. ²Then the king took off his signet ring that he had taken back from Haman, and he gave it to Mordecai. Esther put Mordecai in charge of everything Haman left when he died.

³Once again Esther spoke to the king. She fell at the king’s feet and cried and begged him to stop the evil plan that Haman the Agagite had planned against the Jews. ⁴The king held out the gold scepter to Esther. So Esther got up and stood in front of him.

⁵She said, “My king, if you are pleased with me, and if it pleases you to do this, if you think it is the right thing to do, and if you are happy with me, let an order be written to cancel the letters Haman wrote. Haman the Agagite sent messages to destroy all the Jewish people in all of your kingdom. ⁶I could not stand to see that terrible thing happen to my people. I could not stand to see my family killed.”

⁷King Xerxes answered Queen Esther and Mordecai the Jew, “Because Haman was against the Jewish people, I have given his things to Esther, and my soldiers have hanged him. ⁸Now, in the king’s name, write another order to the Jewish people as it seems best to you. Then seal the order with the king’s signet ring, because no letter written in the king’s name and sealed with his signet ring can be canceled.”

⁹At that time the king’s secretaries were called. This was the twenty-third day of the third month, which is Sivan. The secretaries wrote out all of Mordecai’s orders to the Jews, to the governors, to the captains of the soldiers in each state, and to the important men of the one hundred twenty-seven states that reached from India to Cush. They wrote in the writing of each state and in the language of each people. They also wrote to the Jewish people in their own writing and language. ¹⁰Mordecai wrote orders in the name of King Xerxes and sealed the letters with the king’s signet ring. Then he sent the king’s orders by messengers on fast horses, horses that were raised just for the king.

¹¹These were the king’s orders: The Jewish people in every city have the right to gather together to protect themselves. They may destroy, kill, and completely wipe out the army of any state or people who attack them. And they are to do the same to the women and children of that army. They may also take by force the property of their enemies. ¹²The one day set for the Jewish people to do this in all the empire of King Xerxes was the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar. ¹³A copy of the king’s order was to be sent out as a law in every state. It was to be made known to the people of every nation living in the kingdom so the Jewish people would be ready on that set day to strike back at their enemies.

¹⁴The messengers hurried out, riding on the royal horses, because the king commanded those messengers to hurry. And the order was also given in the palace at Susa.

¹⁵Mordecai left the king’s presence wearing royal clothes of blue and white and a large gold crown. He also had a purple robe made of the best linen. And the people of Susa shouted for joy. ¹⁶It was a time of happiness, joy, gladness, and honor for the Jewish people. ¹⁷As the king’s order went to every state and city, there was joy and gladness among the Jewish people. In every state and city to which the king’s order went, they were having feasts and celebrating. And many people through all the empire became Jews, because they were afraid of the Jewish people.

Victory for the Jewish People

9The order the king had commanded was to be done on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar. That was the day the enemies of the Jewish people had hoped to defeat them, but that was changed. So the Jewish people themselves defeated those who hated them. ²The Jews met in their cities in all the empire of King Xerxes in order to attack those who wanted to harm them. No one was strong enough to fight against them, because all the other people living in the empire were afraid of them. ³All the important men of the states, the governors, captains of the soldiers, and the king’s officers helped the Jewish people, because they were afraid of Mordecai. ⁴Mordecai was very important in the king’s palace. He was famous in all the empire, because he was becoming a leader of more and more people.

⁵And, with their swords, the Jewish people defeated all their enemies, killing and destroying them. And they did what they wanted with those people who hated them. ⁶In the palace at Susa, they killed and destroyed five hundred men. ⁷They also killed: Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, ⁸Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, ⁹Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha, ¹⁰the ten sons of Haman, son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jewish people. But the Jewish people did not take their belongings.

¹¹On that day the number killed in the palace at Susa was reported to the king. ¹²The king said to Queen Esther, “The Jewish people have killed and destroyed five hundred people in the palace at Susa, and they have also killed Haman’s ten sons. What have they done in the rest of the king’s empire! Now what else are you asking? I will do it! What else do you want? It will be done!”

¹³Esther answered, “If it pleases the king, give the Jewish people who are in Susa permission to do again tomorrow what the king ordered for today. And let the bodies of Haman’s ten sons be hanged on the platform.”

¹⁴So the king ordered that it be done. A law was given in Susa, and the bodies of the ten sons of Haman were hanged. ¹⁵The Jewish people in Susa came together on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar. They killed three hundred people in Susa, but they did not take their belongings.

¹⁶At that same time, all the Jewish people in the king’s empire also met to protect themselves and get rid of their enemies. They killed seventy-five thousand of those who hated them, but they did not take their belongings. ¹⁷This happened on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar. On the fourteenth day they rested and made it a day of joyful feasting.

The Feast of Purim

¹⁸But the Jewish people in Susa met on the thirteenth and fourteenth days of the month of Adar. Then they rested on the fifteenth day and made it a day of joyful feasting.

¹⁹This is why the Jewish people who live in the country and small villages celebrate on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar. It is a day of joyful feasting and a day for exchanging gifts.

²⁰Mordecai wrote down everything that had happened. Then he sent letters to all the Jewish people in all the empire of King Xerxes, far and near. ²¹He told them to celebrate every year on the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar, ²²because that was when the Jewish people got rid of their enemies. They were also to celebrate it as the month their sadness was turned to joy and their crying for the dead was turned into celebration. He told them to celebrate those days as days of joyful feasting and as a time for giving food to each other and presents to the poor.

²³So the Jewish people agreed to do what Mordecai had written to them, and they agreed to hold the celebration every year. ²⁴Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, was the enemy of all the Jewish people. He had made an evil plan against the Jewish people to destroy them, and he had thrown the Pur (that is, the lot) to choose a day to ruin and destroy them. ²⁵But when the king learned of the evil plan, he sent out written orders that the evil plans Haman had made against the Jewish people would be used against him. And those orders said that Haman and his sons should be hanged on the platform. ²⁶So these days were called Purim, which comes from the word “Pur” (the lot). Because of everything written in this letter and what they had seen and what happened to them, ²⁷the Jewish people set up this custom. They and their descendants and all those who join them are always to celebrate these two days every year. They should do it in the right way and at the time Mordecai had ordered them in the letter. ²⁸These two days should be remembered and celebrated from now on in every family, in every state, and in every city. These days of Purim should always be celebrated by the Jewish people, and their descendants should always remember to celebrate them, too.

²⁹So Queen Esther daughter of Abihail, along with Mordecai the Jew, wrote this second letter about Purim. Using the power they had, they wrote to prove the first letter was true. ³⁰And Mordecai sent letters to all the Jewish people in the one hundred twenty-seven states of the kingdom of Xerxes, writing them a message of peace and truth. ³¹He wrote to set up these days of Purim at the chosen times. Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had sent out the order for the Jewish people, just as they had set up things for themselves and their descendants: On these two days the people should fast and cry loudly. ³²Esther’s letter set up the rules for Purim, and they were written down in the records.

The Greatness of Mordecai

10King Xerxes demanded taxes everywhere, even from the cities on the seacoast. ²And all the great things Xerxes did by his power and strength are written in the record books of the kings of Media and Persia. Also written in those record books are all the things done by Mordecai, whom the king made great. ³Mordecai the Jew was second in importance to King Xerxes, and he was the most important man among the Jewish people. His fellow Jews respected him very much, because he worked for the good of his people and spoke up for the safety of all the Jewish people.

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