| 1 Now in the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, on the
thirteenth day of the same, when the king's commandment and his decree drew
near to be put in execution, on the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to
have rule over them, (whereas it was turned to the contrary, that the Jews
had rule over them that hated them,) 2 the Jews gathered themselves
together in their cities throughout all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus,
to lay hand on such as sought their hurt: and no man could withstand them;
for the fear of them was fallen upon all the peoples. 3 And all the
princes of the provinces, and the satraps, and the governors, and they that
did the king's business, helped the Jews; because the fear of Mordecai was
fallen upon them. 4 For Mordecai was great in the king's house, and his
fame went forth throughout all the provinces; for the man Mordecai waxed
greater and greater. 5 And the Jews smote all their enemies with the
stroke of the sword, and with slaughter and destruction, and did what they
would unto them that hated them. 6 And in Shushan the palace the Jews slew
and destroyed five hundred men. 7 And Parshandatha, and Dalphon, and
Aspatha, 8 and Poratha, and Adalia, and Aridatha, 9 and Parmashta, and
Arisai, and Aridai, and Vaizatha, 10 the ten sons of Haman the son of
Hammedatha, the Jew's enemy, slew they; but on the spoil they laid not their
hand. 11 On that day the number of those that were slain in Shushan the
palace was brought before the king. 12 And the king said unto Esther the
queen, The Jews have slain and destroyed five hundred men in Shushan the
palace, and the ten sons of Haman; what then have they done in the rest of
the king's provinces! Now what is thy petition? and it shall be granted thee:
or what is thy request further? and it shall be done. 13 Then said Esther,
If it please the king, let it be granted to the Jews that are in Shushan to
do to-morrow also according unto this day's decree, and let Haman's ten sons
be hanged upon the gallows. 14 And the king commanded it so to be done:
and a decree was given out in Shushan; and they hanged Haman's ten sons.
15 And the Jews that were in Shushan gathered themselves together on the
fourteenth day also of the month Adar, and slew three hundred men in Shushan;
but on the spoil they laid not their hand. 16 And the other Jews that were
in the king's provinces gathered themselves together, and stood for their
lives, and had rest from their enemies, and slew of them that hated them
seventy and five thousand; but on the spoil they laid not their hand.
17 This was done on the thirteenth day of the month Adar; and on
the fourteenth day of the same they rested, and made it a day of feasting and
gladness. 18 But the Jews that were in Shushan assembled together on the
thirteenth day thereof, and on the fourteenth thereof; and on the
fifteenth day of the same they rested, and made it a day of feasting
and gladness. 19 Therefore do the Jews of the villages, that dwell in the
unwalled towns, make the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of
gladness and feasting, and a good day, and of sending portions one to
another. 20 And Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters unto all the
Jews that were in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, both nigh and far,
21 to enjoin them that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month
Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, yearly, 22 as the days wherein
the Jews had rest from their enemies, and the month which was turned unto
them from sorrow to gladness, and from mourning into a good day; that they
should make them days of feasting and gladness, and of sending portions one
to another, and gifts to the poor. 23 And the Jews undertook to do as they
had begun, and as Mordecai had written unto them; 24 because Haman the son
of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against
the Jews to destroy them, and had cast Pur, that is the lot, to consume them,
and to destroy them; 25 but when the matter came before the king,
he commanded by letters that his wicked device, which he had devised against
the Jews, should return upon his own head, and that he and his sons should be
hanged on the gallows. 26 Wherefore they called these days Purim, after
the name of Pur. Therefore because of all the words of this letter, and of
that which they had seen concerning this matter, and that which had come unto
them, 27 the Jews ordained, and took upon them, and upon their seed, and
upon all such as joined themselves unto them, so that it should not fail,
that they would keep these two days according to the writing thereof, and
according to the appointed time thereof, every year; 28 and that these
days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family,
every province, and every city; and that these days of Purim should not fail
from among the Jews, nor the remembrance of them perish from their seed.
29 Then Esther the queen, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew,
wrote with all authority to confirm this second letter of Purim. 30 And he
sent letters unto all the Jews, to the hundred twenty and seven provinces of
the kingdom of Ahasuerus, with words of peace and truth, 31 to
confirm these days of Purim in their appointed times, according as Mordecai
the Jew and Esther the queen had enjoined them, and as they had ordained for
themselves and for their seed, in the matter of the fastings and their cry.
32 And the commandment of Esther confirmed these matters of Purim; and it
was written in the book.
Genesis - Public
Domain
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