Esther 8–10

The King’s Edict in Behalf of the Jews

8That same day King Xerxes gave Queen Esther the estate of Haman,^j the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came into the presence of the king, for Esther had told how he was related to her. ²The king took off his signet ring,^k which he had reclaimed from Haman, and presented it to Mordecai. And Esther appointed him over Haman’s estate.^l

³Esther again pleaded with the king, falling at his feet and weeping. She begged him to put an end to the evil plan of Haman the Agagite,^m which he had devised against the Jews. ⁴Then the king extended the gold scepterⁿ to Esther and she arose and stood before him.

⁵“If it pleases the king,” she said, “and if he regards me with favor^o and thinks it the right thing to do, and if he is pleased with me, let an order be written overruling the dispatches that Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, devised and wrote to destroy the Jews in all the king’s provinces. ⁶For how can I bear to see disaster fall on my people? How can I bear to see the destruction of my family?”^p

⁷King Xerxes replied to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Because Haman attacked the Jews, I have given his estate to Esther, and they have impaled^q him on the pole he set up. ⁸Now write another decree^r in the king’s name in behalf of the Jews as seems best to you, and seal^s it with the king’s signet ring^t—for no document written in the king’s name and sealed with his ring can be revoked.”^u

⁹At once the royal secretaries were summoned—on the twenty-third day of the third month, the month of Sivan. They wrote out all Mordecai’s orders to the Jews, and to the satraps, governors and nobles of the 127 provinces stretching from India to Cush.^av These orders were written in the script of each province and the language of each people and also to the Jews in their own script and language.^{w 10}Mordecai wrote in the name of King Xerxes, sealed the dispatches with the king’s signet ring, and sent them by mounted couriers, who rode fast horses especially bred for the king.

¹¹The king’s edict granted the Jews in every city the right to assemble and protect themselves; to destroy, kill and annihilate the armed men of any nationality or province who might attack them and their women and children,^b and to plunder^x the property of their enemies. ¹²The day appointed for the Jews to do this in all the provinces of King Xerxes was the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar.^{y 13}A copy of the text of the edict was to be issued as law in every province and made known to the people of every nationality so that the Jews would be ready on that day^z to avenge themselves on their enemies.

¹⁴The couriers, riding the royal horses, went out, spurred on by the king’s command, and the edict was issued in the citadel of Susa.^a

The Triumph of the Jews

¹⁵When Mordecai^b left the king’s presence, he was wearing royal garments of blue and white, a large crown of gold^c and a purple robe of fine linen.^d And the city of Susa held a joyous celebration.^{e 16}For the Jews it was a time of happiness and joy,^f gladness and honor.^{g 17}In every province and in every city to which the edict of the king came, there was joy^h and gladness among the Jews, with feasting and celebrating. And many people of other nationalities became Jews because fearⁱ of the Jews had seized them.^j

9On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar,^k the edict commanded by the king was to be carried out. On this day the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, but now the tables were turned and the Jews got the upper hand^l over those who hated them.^{m 2}The Jews assembled in their citiesⁿ in all the provinces of King Xerxes to attack those determined to destroy them. No one could stand against them,^o because the people of all the other nationalities were afraid of them. ³And all the nobles of the provinces, the satraps, the governors and the king’s administrators helped the Jews,^p because fear of Mordecai had seized them.^{q 4}Mordecai^r was prominent^s in the palace; his reputation spread throughout the provinces, and he became more and more powerful.^t

⁵The Jews struck down all their enemies with the sword, killing and destroying them,^u and they did what they pleased to those who hated them. ⁶In the citadel of Susa, the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men. ⁷They also killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, ⁸Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, ⁹Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai and Vaizatha, ¹⁰the ten sons^v of Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews.^w But they did not lay their hands on the plunder.^x

¹¹The number of those killed in the citadel of Susa was reported to the king that same day. ¹²The king said to Queen Esther, “The Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men and the ten sons of Haman in the citadel of Susa. What have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces? Now what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? It will also be granted.”^y

¹³“If it pleases the king,” Esther answered, “give the Jews in Susa permission to carry out this day’s edict tomorrow also, and let Haman’s ten sons^z be impaled^a on poles.”

¹⁴So the king commanded that this be done. An edict was issued in Susa, and they impaled^b the ten sons of Haman. ¹⁵The Jews in Susa came together on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, and they put to death in Susa three hundred men, but they did not lay their hands on the plunder.^c

¹⁶Meanwhile, the remainder of the Jews who were in the king’s provinces also assembled to protect themselves and get relief^d from their enemies.^e They killed seventy-five thousand of them^f but did not lay their hands on the plunder.^{g 17}This happened on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth they rested and made it a day of feasting^h and joy.

¹⁸The Jews in Susa, however, had assembled on the thirteenth and fourteenth, and then on the fifteenth they rested and made it a day of feasting and joy.

¹⁹That is why rural Jews—those living in villages—observe the fourteenth of the month of Adarⁱ as a day of joy and feasting, a day for giving presents to each other.^j

Purim Established

²⁰Mordecai recorded these events, and he sent letters to all the Jews throughout the provinces of King Xerxes, near and far, ²¹to have them celebrate annually the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar ²²as the time when the Jews got relief^k from their enemies, and as the month when their sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning into a day of celebration.^l He wrote them to observe the days as days of feasting and joy and giving presents of food^m to one another and gifts to the poor.ⁿ

²³So the Jews agreed to continue the celebration they had begun, doing what Mordecai had written to them. ²⁴For Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite,^o the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them and had cast the pur^p (that is, the lot^q) for their ruin and destruction.^{r 25}But when the plot came to the king’s attention,^a he issued written orders that the evil scheme Haman had devised against the Jews should come back onto his own head,^s and that he and his sons should be impaled^t on poles.^{u 26}(Therefore these days were called Purim, from the word pur.^v) Because of everything written in this letter and because of what they had seen and what had happened to them, ²⁷the Jews took it on themselves to establish the custom that they and their descendants and all who join them should without fail observe these two days every year, in the way prescribed and at the time appointed. ²⁸These days should be remembered and observed in every generation by every family, and in every province and in every city. And these days of Purim should never fail to be celebrated by the Jews—nor should the memory of these days die out among their descendants.

²⁹So Queen Esther, daughter of Abihail,^w along with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm this second letter concerning Purim. ³⁰And Mordecai sent letters to all the Jews in the 127 provinces^x of Xerxes’ kingdom—words of goodwill and assurance—³¹to establish these days of Purim at their designated times, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had decreed for them, and as they had established for themselves and their descendants in regard to their times of fasting^y and lamentation.^{z 32}Esther’s decree confirmed these regulations about Purim, and it was written down in the records.

The Greatness of Mordecai

10King Xerxes imposed tribute throughout the empire, to its distant shores.^{a 2}And all his acts of power and might, together with a full account of the greatness of Mordecai,^b whom the king had promoted,^c are they not written in the book of the annals^d of the kings of Media and Persia? ³Mordecai the Jew was second^e in rank^f to King Xerxes,^g preeminent among the Jews, and held in high esteem by his many fellow Jews, because he worked for the good of his people and spoke up for the welfare of all the Jews.^h