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The Book of Esther 9

9 On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month of that year, the month of Adar, it was time for everyone to do what the letters from the king said that he had decreed for them to do. The enemies of the Jews had expected to destroy the Jews on that day. But just the opposite happened. Instead, it was the Jews who destroyed their enemies. 2 Throughout the empire, the Jews joined together in their cities to defend themselves against those who wanted to harm them. No one was able to fight back against them because everyone in the empire had become very afraid of them, so no one helped anyone who attacked the Jews. 3 All the leaders in each province, the royal officials, the governors, and everyone who worked for the king helped the Jews because they had become very afraid of Mordecai. 4 They were afraid of Mordecai because he was a very important royal official. Throughout the empire, everyone was hearing about how great he was because Mordecai kept becoming more and more powerful.

5 On the day when they were allowed to defend themselves, the Jews took their weapons and fought against all of their enemies. The Jews destroyed them completely. They were able to do everything that they wanted to do against their enemies. 6 In the capital city of Susa the Jews killed 500 men. 7 The Jews also killed the ten sons of Haman. The names of his sons were Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, 8 Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, 9 Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha. 10 These were the ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews. The Jews killed them, but they did not take the things that belonged to them. 11 At the end of the day, someone came in and reported to the king how many people the Jews had killed in the capital city of Susa.

12 So the king said to Queen Esther, “Here in the capital city of Susa the Jews have killed 500 men, including the ten sons of Haman. In the rest of my empire, they must have killed many more than that! So, what else do you want? Tell me, and I will do it for you. I will do whatever you ask, so please tell me what you want.” 13 Esther replied, “If it seems like a good plan to you, O king, then please allow the Jews who live here in Susa to do again tomorrow what you allowed them to do today. Also, command your servants to hang the bodies of Haman’s ten sons on wooden poles.” 14 The king did as Esther asked. He issued a decree allowing the Jews in Susa to fight against their enemies again the next day, and he ordered his servants to hang the bodies of Haman’s ten sons. 15 And so on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, the Jews who lived in Susa joined together again and killed 300 more men in Susa. But once again they did not take the things that belonged to those men.

16 The Jews who lived in the other parts of the empire, who had joined together to fight for their lives on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, had defeated their enemies and killed 75,000 of them on that day. But they did not take the things that had belonged to their enemies. 17 After defeating their enemies on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, they rested on the fourteenth day. They devoted the fourteenth day as a day to celebrate joyfully. 18 But the Jews who lived in Susa joined together to fight against their enemies on both the thirteenth and fourteenth days of the month of Adar. They rested on the fifteenth day. They devoted that day to celebrating joyfully. 19 That is why the Jews who live in rural villages observe this holiday on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar rather than on the fifteenth day. They do this by celebrating joyfully and by giving gifts to one another.

20 Mordecai wrote down everything that had happened. Then he sent letters to all the Jews throughout the empire, everywhere that they lived. 21 He established a holiday on the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar. He told the Jews to observe it every single year 22 because those were the days when the Jews rested and no longer had to fight their enemies. That was the month when everything had changed for them. They had been deeply distressed because their enemies were going to destroy them. But then they became very happy after they were safe from all their enemies. So Mordecai told them to observe those days with joyful celebration and by giving gifts to one another. Mordecai also told them that they should help the poor on those days. 23 The Jews were already celebrating those days that way. So they readily agreed to do what Mordecai had instructed them to do.

24 They would celebrate those days to remember how Haman, the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had tried to destroy them. He had thrown a Pur (that is, a lot) to find out what would be the best day to attack the Jews and destroy them completely. 25 They would also remember how Esther dared to come before the king even though he did not summon her. Then the king allowed Mordecai to send a letter throughout the empire saying that the king would make Haman’s evil plan to destroy the Jews happen to Haman instead. The king also ordered his servants to hang Haman on a wooden pole. When the Jews in Susa killed his ten sons, the king had his servants hang their bodies, as well. 26 The Persian word for “lot” is “Pur.” That is why the Jews gave the name Purim to this celebration. Because of all of the amazing things that they had just experienced and because Mordecai then wrote to them to tell them to observe this holiday, 27 the Jews agreed to establish those two days as holidays and to observe them in the way that Mordecai had told them, on those specific days. They agreed that they and their descendants and everyone who became part of the Jewish people would celebrate this festival of Purim every year, forever. 28 So that is why every Jewish family in every generation since has celebrated these days as holidays, everywhere they have lived. The Jewish community and its descendants will always faithfully observe this festival of Purim.

29 Then Queen Esther, the daughter of Abihail, with help from Mordecai the Jew, wrote a second letter about Purim. Because Esther was the queen, she was able to command the Jews to obey what Mordecai had written about Purim in his letter. 30 They sent copies of this second letter to all the Jews throughout the entire empire of Ahasuerus. It encouraged them that their situation was now peaceful and secure. 31 In this second letter, Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther confirmed that Purim should be celebrated on the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar. They also confirmed that the Jews should continue the times of fasting and mourning that the Jews had established for themselves and their descendants. 32 Esther issued a decree establishing Purim as a holiday for the Jews, and the royal scribes wrote it down in the book of laws.

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