ESTHER Chapter 9 (GNB)
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9:1 The thirteenth
day of Adar came, the day on which the royal proclamation was to take effect,
the day when the enemies of the Jews were hoping to get them in their power.
But instead, the Jews triumphed over them. |
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9:2 In the Jewish
quarter of every city in the empire the Jews organized to attack anyone who
tried to harm them. People everywhere were afraid of them, and no one could
stand against them. |
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9:3 In fact, all
the provincial officials---governors, administrators, and royal
representatives---helped the Jews because they were all afraid of Mordecai. |
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9:4 It was
well-known throughout the empire that Mordecai was now a powerful man in the
palace and was growing more powerful. |
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9:5 So the Jews
could do what they wanted with their enemies. They attacked them with swords
and slaughtered them. |
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9:6 In Susa, the
capital city itself, the Jews killed five hundred people. |
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9:7 Among them
were the ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, the
enemy of the Jews: Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha. However, there was no looting. |
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9:8 (SEE 9:7)
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9:9 (SEE 9:7)
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9:10 (SEE 9:7)
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9:11 That same day
the number of people killed in Susa was reported to the king. |
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9:12 He then said
to Queen Esther, "In Susa alone the Jews have killed five hundred
people, including Haman's ten sons. What must they have done out in the
provinces! What do you want now? You shall have it. Tell me what else you
want, and you shall have it." |
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9:13 Esther
answered, "If it please Your Majesty, let the Jews in Susa do again
tomorrow what they were allowed to do today. And have the bodies of Haman's
ten sons hung from the gallows." |
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9:14
The king ordered this to be done, and the proclamation was issued in Susa. The bodies of
Haman's ten sons were publicly displayed. |
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9:15 On the
fourteenth day of Adar the Jews of Susa got together again and killed three
hundred more people in the city. But again, they did no looting. |
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9:16 The Jews in
the provinces also organized and defended themselves. They rid themselves of
their enemies by killing seventy-five thousand people who hated them. But
they did no looting. |
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9:17 This was on
the thirteenth day of Adar. On the next day, the fourteenth, there was no
more killing, and they made it a joyful day of feasting. |
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9:18 The Jews of
Susa, however, made the fifteenth a holiday, since they had slaughtered their
enemies on the thirteenth and fourteenth and then stopped on the fifteenth. |
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9:19 This is why
Jews who live in small towns observe the fourteenth day of the month of Adar
as a joyous holiday, a time for feasting and giving gifts of food to one
another. |
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9:20 Mordecai had
these events written down and sent letters to all the Jews, near and far,
throughout the Persian Empire, |
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9:21 telling them to
observe the fourteenth and fifteenth days of Adar as holidays every year. |
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9:22 These were the
days on which the Jews had rid themselves of their enemies; this was a month
that had been turned from a time of grief and despair into a time of joy and
happiness. They were told to observe these days with feasts and parties,
giving gifts of food to one another and to the poor. |
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9:23 So the Jews
followed Mordecai's instructions, and the
celebration became an annual custom. |
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9:24 Haman son of Hammedatha---the descendant of Agag
and the enemy of the Jewish people---had cast lots ("purim,"
they were called) to determine the day for destroying the Jews; he had
planned to wipe them out. |
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9:25 But Esther
went to the king, and the king issued written orders with the result that
Haman suffered the fate he had planned for the Jews---he and his sons were
hanged from the gallows. |
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9:26 That is why
the holidays are called Purim. Because of Mordecai's letter and because of
all that had happened to them, |
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9:27 the Jews made
it a rule for themselves, their descendants, and anyone who might become a Jew, that at the proper time each year these two days
would be regularly observed according to Mordecai's instructions. |
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9:28 It was
resolved that every Jewish family of every future generation in every
province and every city should remember and observe the days of Purim for all
time to come. |
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9:29 Then Queen
Esther, the daughter of Abihail, along with
Mordecai, also wrote a letter, putting her full authority behind the letter
about Purim, which Mordecai had written earlier. |
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9:30 The letter was
addressed to all the Jews, and copies were sent to
all the 127 provinces of the Persian Empire. It wished the Jews peace and
security |
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9:31 and directed
them and their descendants to observe the days of Purim at the proper time,
just as they had adopted rules for the observance of fasts and times of
mourning. This was commanded by both Mordecai and Queen Esther. |
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9:32 Esther's
command, confirming the rules for Purim, was written down on a scroll. |
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